No other character has more graphic novels and trade paperbacks than the Big, Black Bat. It’s not even close. Ballpark figures, which certainly missed at least a few out of print prestige-format books, rang it at more than 150 titles. That kicks Spider-Man, Superman and every other comic-book characters ass big time.

With so many Batman tales out there, it’s tough to determine which you should read — or at least which you should read first. This is the definitive list of the best of Batman at his best!

10. Batman: Nine Lives

Superman can’t do noir, neither can Wonder Woman or Spider-Man. Batman, however, is a perfect fit for hard-boiled crime. In this Elseworlds tale, Dean Motter imagines a post WWII Gotham City rife with corruption, filled with no good hoodlums and championed by a man dressed like a bat. Nine Lives casts classic Batman villains as gritty noir crooks. Two-Face doesn’t have the acid scars, but he’s still a betrayer. Joker is a manic, card-playing, trigger-happy hustler. Despite the alterations, the bad guys stick to their personalities, which makes it all work brilliantly.

It turns out that everyone’s been in bed with Catwoman — everyone. From the two-bit hoods to private eye Dick Grayson to Bruce Wayne. So when Selina turns up dead, everyone becomes a suspect and the streets of Gotham explode in violence. While the ending falls a little flat,Nine Lives is one of the most unique and pleasurable Batman books ever written.

9. Batman: The Man Who Laughs

Everyone knows the story of how the Joker came to be — He fell into a vat of chemicals while running from The Batman. However, Brubaker examines the first time the Joker and Batman every battled after the accident. This is Batman’s first taste of the madness that would strike Gotham City on a repeated basis and he is not prepared. As the Dark Knight notes, he was ready for pimps and thugs, not madmen.

This year one tale makes for a perfect companion to Alan Moore’s The Killing Joke. It is not an examination of the Joker and his methods or motives. Instead, this is a look at the most critical moment in Gotham’s history. From now on, the city and its citizens would never be the same and neither would The Batman.
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8. JLA: Tower Of Babel

JLA: Tower of Babel is unique among this list. It’s the only JLA title to make the top 25, but it’s also the only book that manages to say a lot of The Batman without having him be on the page. It turns out that Batman has been keeping secret files on every member of the JLA. Not only does he know their weaknesses, but he has plans to take each of them down if necessary — and painfully at that. As the JLA is systematically destroyed, one member at a time, it becomes clear that those files have been stolen.

This compelling story examines the depths of Batman’s paranoia, but also shows admiration for his forethought. Even the JLA, embittered by this betrayal, recognize that perhaps someone should have a contingency plan in case the League becomes mind-controlled or are otherwise in need of incapacitation. But that still doesn’t forgive Batman’s deception. And here you thought Identity Crisis was the beginning of the end for the JLA.

7. Batman: Tales Of The Demon

Ra’s Al Ghul is one of Batman’s greatest foes. No other enemy can match the Dark Detective’s intellect, no other can challenge him in quite the way Ra’s can. Where most collections, like The Greatest Batman Stories Ever Told feel uneven, Tales of the Demon reads brilliantly from cover to cover. This is, in no small part, due to the fact that Denny O’Neil, creator of The Demon’s Head, wrote all eleven stories.

Tales of the Demon shows the first decade of Ra’s in DC comics, from his first meeting with Batman to the introduction of the Lazarus Pit and the marriage (yes, marriage) of Talia Al Ghul to The Batman. Ra’s and Batman act almost like family. It’s just that Papa Al Ghul wants to end all life on Earth and Batman doesn’t, because WayneTech needs investors. Oh, and ’cause he’s a good guy.

6. Batman: A Death In The Family

Poor Jason Todd. So hated was he by comic-book fans that over 5000 paid for phone call votes to assure he bit the dust. Not only was A Death in the Family the first comic to play the Roman game of Yay or Nay with a person’s life, but it did end up being the second most significant event in the life of Bruce Wayne. A shocking moment, however, wouldn’t get this high on the list if the story wasn’t also high-caliber.

Having discovered the his birth mother is still alive and one of three women living abroad, Jason Todd runs away from home for a family reunion. As bad luck would have it, the Joker has stolen a nuclear missile and has gone off to the Mid-East to sell to the highest bidder. When Batman follows after the Joker and runs into Jason Todd it sets of a series of events that lead to one of the most memorable splash pages in the history of comics. The final issue turns out to be the real gem as Batman must deal with his thirst for vengeance — and it’s Superman who stands in his way.

5. Batman: Son Of The Demon

Created by Dennis O’Neil, Ra’s Al Ghul has grown into one of the best foils for the Batman. Oddly enough, the best Ra’s story ever told was written by Mike Barr and not O’neil. Son of the Demon is unlike just about any Batman story you’ve ever read. Much of this tale has Batman not just at Ra’s Al Ghul’s side, but as his son. Having married Talia, Batman trains Ra’s men in non-lethal combat and aides Ra’s on several missions.

Son of the Demon explores an area of the Batman mythos often ignored by others — family. Sure, the Al Ghul clan might make for a very dysfunctional family, but there’s a real sense of communion between Ra’s and Batman. Bingham’s art is as good as the story being told, always keeping the action movie. What’s truly amazing is that Son of the Demon features no splash pages, but is one of the most well-paced action tales you’ll ever read.

4. Batman: Hush Vol. 1 & 2

The controversial Hush is as “love it or leave it” as they come. The year-long epic didn’t just make one or two major changes to the Batman universe, it made more than perhaps any story arc in Batman history. Batman starts dating Catwoman, Two-Face gets his mug and mind repaired, Jason Todd goes missing from his grave and the Riddler finally becomes respectable.

Hush doesn’t follow the same cadence as The Long Halloween or Dark Victory. This story has a much more modern feel. There are some truly unforgettable moments, such as when Batman kicks Superman’s ass (and is thanked for it) or when the Joker pleads his own innocence and means it. Yes, there are some aspects that are hard to swallow, particularly the identity of Hush and a Clayface trick that was already used in the early ’90s. Still, Jim Lee’s artwork is unbelievable and whether you love the changes or not, it’s tough to deny Hush is impossible to put down.

3. Batman: The Dark Knight Returns

Prior to 1986, futuristic tales of heroes were often fluff and fancy. They were joking tales, they were forgettable farce. Frank Miller forever changed the landscape of superhero tales with The Dark Knight Returns, a futuristic imagining of a Batman without hope. Having been retired for ten years following the death of Jason Todd, Bruce Wayne finds himself compelled to don the mantle of the bat once more. This in turn revives the insane criminals who’d been almost comatose for the past decade.

The Dark Knight Returns is not only brilliant for showcasing the best damn ass-kicking Superman will ever receive, it also shines a light on the very nature of Batman. Without the Dark Knight, the city has fallen into despair. With no one to look up to (or to fear), the youth have revolted against society, taken up with a false god and forgotten all sense of order or rationality. But the Batman’s return changes all of that. There is no more visceral or satisfying Batman book than this.

2. Batman: Year One

Batman: Year One defined the Batman for a new generation. This parallel story follows Jim Gordon as he arrives in Gotham from Chicago and Bruce Wayne as he returns from many years of training abroad. Both find that Gotham is a dying city overwhelmed by corruption from top to bottom. Through Gordon’s eyes we see Gotham as it appears to the man on the street. Through Bruce Wayne we see the city from a distance as one might look to solving a complex puzzle. Both men want to save the city, but each follows a different path. It’s Year One that shows how these two paths came to meet and an indelible partnership formed.

Miller takes a brilliant turn towards the end of Year One. He allows Gordon to see Bruce Wayne’s unmasked and it’s quite clear that the game is up, that Batman’s days are over. But Gordon offers plausible denial, stating he really can’t see anything without his glasses. Rather than making Gordon a sap who couldn’t connect the dots between Wayne and Batman, Miller has Gordon choose to ignore the truth in order to help save his city.

In many ways it is difficult to compare Year One against The Dark Knight Returns. There are aspects of each story that outweigh the other. Ultimately, Year One is the best tale. Perhaps it’s not as grand as TDKR, but no other book before or since has quite captured the realism, the grit and the humanity of Gordon and Batman so perfectly. The colors are almost muddy, as if Gotham were constantly enveloped in a haze. The city, like the panels, is a murky place. This book is just the beginning, but it could not start any other way.

1. Batman: The Killing Joke

“A funny thing happened on the way to the insane asylum…” Our number one story not because #2 & #3 lack anything, it’s just this one focuses squarely on the relationship that defines the Bat; the one he shares with the Joker! The origin of the Joker has long been a mystery. That is until Alan Moore exposed a “possible” origin for the Clown Prince of Crime. For the first time we are shown the Joker as a sympathetic character, of a good man driven to insanity by a pair of unfortunate accidents. In fact, the Joker attempts to earn sympathy from the Batman of all people through a heinous act.

Attempting to drive Commissioner Gordon insane, the Joker shoots and paralyzes his daughter then sets him on a carnival ride from hell. The Joker hopes to prove that given the proper set of tragedies any reasonable man can be driven insane. Why the Joker suddenly desires understanding is unclear, but it’s hard to find fault with the plan. The only problem is, it doesn’t work. The Killing Joke is, eerily enough, the Joker at his most rational. Perfectly paced, beautifully illustrated and ending with a killer punchline, this is the finest Joker story ever told and, in turn, one of the best Batman stories of all time.

Write-ups sourced from IGN.com

These guys have spliced together the top hundred viral videos with the maximum number of views on YouTube … all of them in under four minutes! How many have you seen?

We look at a few mind-boggling works of art found on Indian streets, designed by some very, very talented people. And you thought graffiti was exclusively a gangsta’ concept!

Football Fever (Kolkata) (Photos: Akshay M)

Devi (Mumbai) by Poch,Rock

Teenage Kicks (Mumbai) by Poch, Rock

The Indian Family (New Delhi) by C215

Smoke (New Delhi) by C215

Blow Horn Please (Bangalore) by Poch,Rock

Piece (Mumbai) by Poch, Rock

]]> http://mobmag.in/culture/street-art-in-india/feed/ 1 http://mobmag.in/seriously/the-mallu-man-indias-foremost-drunk/ http://mobmag.in/seriously/the-mallu-man-indias-foremost-drunk/#comments Fri, 12 Mar 2010 08:13:01 +0000 Kuriakose Saju http://mobmag.in/?p=3932

Jacob Varghese says he began drinking when he was nine years old, sipping on his father’s unfinished whisky and brandy in glass tumblers. It’s a terrifying story of a descent into alcoholism for this 40-year-old health inspector. At school, he consumed cheap local liquor. He lived in a haze of alcohol through his teens and dropped out of college.

He lost a job, cut his wrists twice trying to end his life, landed up in rehabilitation centres and at the age of 32, was reduced to begging on the streets to fund his alcohol habit. “Drinking is a disease in Kerala,” he says, his voice dropping to a whisper. “I lost my kin, my respect and all my money chasing alcohol. Everyone encourages you to have it – your friends, the government.” This was before he was dragged to the local Alcoholics Anonymous chapter by friends. This, after 17 years of drinking had reduced him to a mental wreck and a pauper.

Mr Varghese has been sober for the past eight years, and is now married with children and holds down a job. “Many of my friends have not been as lucky. So many of my drinking buddies died, and others landed up in mental asylums,” he says.

Kerala is India’s tippler country. It has the highest per capita consumption – over eight litres (1.76 gallons) per person a year – in the nation, overtaking traditionally hard-drinking states like Punjab and Haryana. Also, in a strange twist of taste, rum and brandy are the preferred drink in Kerala in a country where whisky outsells every other liquor. Alcohol helps in giving Kerala’s economy a good high – shockingly, more than 40% of revenues for it’s annual budget come from booze.

A state-run monopoly sells alcohol – the curiously named Kerala State Beverages Corporation (KSBC) – runs 337 liquor shops, open seven days a week. Each shop caters on average to an astonishing 80,000 clients. This fiscal year the KSBC is expected to sell $1bn (£0.6bn) of alcohol in a state of 30 million people, up from $12m when it took over the retail business in 1984. Similarly, revenues from alcohol to the state’s exchequer have registered a whopping 100% rise over the past four years.

The monopoly is so professionally run that consumers can even send text messages from their phones to a helpline number to record their grievances. “If we delay opening any of our shops by even five minutes, clients send us text messages saying that they are waiting to buy liquor,” says KSBC chief N Shankar Reddy. That’s not all. There are some 600 privately-run bars in the state and more than 5,000 shops selling toddy (palm wine), the local brew. There is also a thriving black market liquor trade.

Despite a growing number of people who demand a ban on the sale and consumption of alcohol, there is an equally spirited group of hard-core drinkers who lobby for cheaper and more widely distributed liquor. One of them is well-known actor NL Balakrishnan, a veteran of more than 200 films, who launched a lobby group called Forum for Better Spirit in 1983.

The forum’s manifesto asks the government to provide liquor through the state-subsided public distribution system, boost toddy production, slash prices for elderly drinkers and supply free alcohol to drinkers over 90. The jolly and convivial Mr Balakrishnan, 67, says his father “initiated” him into drinking when he was four. “We used to go to the cinema together. After the show was over, he would take me to a toddy shop where he would drink. He would give me a few spoons of toddy too. It was an amazing experience,” he says. Apparently, when his father died at the ripe age of 98 after a “lifetime of heavy drinking”, he wet his lips with liquor and not holy water, as is the Hindu custom. Mr Balakrishnan says that on his average day out with his drinking buddies he downs 22 shots of his favourite brandy – and “never has any problems”. “If you have will power and have enough food to go with your drink, booze will never harm you,” he says cheerily.

But drinking is killing a lot of people and exacting a heavy social cost, say doctors and activists. Rising numbers of divorces in Kerala are linked to alcohol abuse. Johnson J Edayaranmula, who runs the Alcohol and Drug Information Centre, a leading NGO, puts the figure as high as 80%. And the majority of road deaths in the state – nearly 4,000 during 2008-2009 – are due to drink driving, he says. Hospitals and rehab centres are packed with patients suffering from alcohol-related diseases.

The situation is so grim that, ironically, the KSBC itself is planning to open a hospital specialising in treating alcohol-related problems. It also runs a campaign to combat alcohol abuse. But why do people in Kerala drink so heavily?

Jacob Varghese says it is a “societal problem” – what he possibly means is that drinking liquor is almost a social rite of passage, taken very seriously. But he elaborates other, perhaps more important, reasons – high unemployment, easy access to alcohol and the fact that drinking has become a “part of upwardly mobile living”. Most activists believe that “prohibition” is not the solution – it just drives buyers and sellers underground. “The solution possibly lies in introducing drinks with mild alcohol content. And since drinking is also a cultural problem, people need to be made aware of the havoc that alcohol can wreak on their lives,” says Mr Edayaranmula. Until then alcohol will continue to dominate the lives of many of Kerala’s people – and boost its exchequer’s finances.

Sourced from bbc.com

10 MPH is a comical documentary that follows a pair of aspiring filmmakers as they quit their jobs and turn a friend’s ludicrous idea into a movie. The impulsive purchase of a two-wheeled Segway scooter sets this story in motion when the two friends decide to travel from Seattle to Boston at 10 MPH in an attempt to change their lives forever. What ensues is a road trip like none other with a haphazard cast of characters you could only find on a zany 100-day trek through America’s back roads. Each poignant story the two friends discover along the way inspires a craving inside to go out and do that thing you’re supposed to do. 10 MPH has had a favorable reaction at screenings and film festivals and has won several awards all over the world, including nominations at Cannes! Dev Benegal, is this what inspired your closer-to-home version?

Everybody wants a seat. But how many get it?

President Obama is sending as many as 30,000 more troops to combat Taliban and Al Qaeda forces in Afghanistan this year, but are they missing the true target? PBS’ NOW Show reports directly from Pakistan’s dangerous and pivotal border with Afghanistan, where Pentagon war planners acknowledge many of the enemy fighters and their leaders are based. The US has been relying on Pakistan to act against Taliban militants there, but the Pakistani army’s commitment is in question.

Sourced from pbs.org

He doesn’t bother with private jets, shuns flashy offices, and for most of the 1990s made do with a plastic watch. And while he does have a laptop, he is adamant that he does not use it, saying: “I’m a paper man, not electronic.”

Not the kind of attributes you might expect from someone who has now been named the richest man in the world by Forbes magazine. Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim is now worth $53.5bn (£35.8bn). That puts him above Bill Gates and Warren Buffet, but unlike his US rivals, he remains relatively unknown outside of his native Latin America. There, he controls more than 200 companies. These range from telecoms, where he first made his fortune, to infrastructure, banking and retail. In order to maintain his influence over his expanding empire, his sons and sons-in-law have been put in charge of many businesses.

One of the most significant in Mr Slim’s empire is America Movil, Latin America’s largest mobile phone company, which operates in 11 countries and serves more than 150 million customers. His telecoms interests also extend to Telmex – the company he fought to take control of in 1990 when it was nationalised. It now operates around 90% of Mexico’s telephone lines. Mr Slim, whose heavy-set figure belies his name, also owns the Inbursa financial group and the Grupo Carso industrial conglomerate, whose interests range from retail stores to restaurants.Meanwhile, the infrastructure firm he owns, Ideal, is working on a project to develop a shopping centre, schools and a hospital in Mexico City.

The baseball-mad engineering graduate made enough money from working in property early in his career to invest in the stock market. By the age of 26, he was worth $40m, but it was during the Latin American economic crisis of the early 1980s that Mr Slim made a name for himself as a man who could make money in a recession. He was able to buy a number of struggling companies at very low prices before transforming their fortunes. Like Mr Buffett, Mr Slim has done some canny deals in the stock market – not least, buying shares in Apple when they were $17 each. They are now worth well over $200.

The son of Lebanese immigrants, Mr Slim is known for his philanthropy – though not on the scale of Mr Gates or Mr Buffett. Most recently, he linked up with former US President Bill Clinton and Canadian mining figure Frank Giustra to launch an anti-poverty campaign in Latin America, and in March pledged $6bn for his three charitable foundations. In Mexico where, according to World Bank data, about 50% of people are living in poverty, many feel that he has not donated enough, especially given how ubiquitous his companies are in day-to-day life. However his supporters say that some of that criticism is unfair, not least because of his relatively recent elevation to the ranks of the mega-rich. And Mr Slim maintains he is not convinced that philanthropy is the best way to help people. “(Bill) Gates has to study how he can (fight poverty) in the same way that Microsoft…succeeded in business, because charity has not solved the problem,” he told USA today. “It’s based on my conviction that poverty is not fought with donations, charity or even public spending, but that you fight it with health, education and jobs.”

Still working, the tycoon has indicated he has no desire to retire from business to concentrate more on charitable work, as Mr Gates has done. As he said in a recent interview: “Wealth is like an orchard. You have to share the fruit, not the trees.”

If you have yet to hear of Carlos Slim, that may be about to change. In recent years the tycoon has sought to expand his businesses abroad, including investments in 2008 in the New York Times newspaper and in the struggling bank Citigroup. In the UK he has been linked with investments in company behind the Independent and Independent on Sunday newspapers. Analysts suggest he is trying to replicate his Latin American success on a global scale. That remains to be seen, but his rise to the number one spot on the world rich list shows that a global economic downturn is unlikely to slow his progress.

Text sourced from bbc.com

When Microsoft releases Office 2010 later this year, will it be an upgrade worth pursuing, or will it, like Office 2007, be one that you can easily let pass? That’s a question that’s no doubt on the minds of many existing Office users – as well as more than a few executives at Microsoft. Here’s looking into why you should go for an upgrade.

1. Ribbon Bars Everywhere

The ‘ribbon bar’ was Office 2007’s most controversial feature — and one that dissuaded many from upgrading to Office 2007. The ribbon bar did away with conventional menus in favour of a tabbed, context- specific top row that grouped functions likely to be needed or wanted. Menu addicts will be disappointed to hear that not only has the ribbon bar not disappeared in Office 2010, it has been enhanced. You’ll now have the ability to customise the ribbon bar by adding the tabs that you think should appear, and you can add or remove functions or features within tabs. You’ll also find the ribbon bar throughout Office 2010. In Office 2007, the ribbon bar was missing from Outlook and OneNote, Microsoft’s note-taking and information management tool. There’s still no option to bring back classic menus, but the improvements will be welcome to those who don’t mind the change.

2. The Outlook on Microsoft Outlook

The e-mail application Outlook is probably the suite’s most-used application. Microsoft has managed to introduce fairly dramatic changes to Outlook 2010 without making the programme a drag on productivity. Most of the essential features remain intact and are located where you’d expect them to be. The many interface enhancements focus on making Outlook feel lighter weight and more responsive. At the same time, users will be able to customise to a level never before possible with Outlook. It’s easy, for example, to hide the ribbon bar, folders, and other interface elements of Outlook 2010, retaining just the message list and preview pane. Bringing back interface elements you’ve hidden is simple … just click an unobtrusive left or right arrow icon along the top edges.

3. On The Whole

The round Office button that appeared on ribbon-enabled applications in Office 2007 has been replaced by a tab labeled File at the far left of the ribbon bar. Click it, and you’ll see a new feature that Microsoft calls Backstage View. Occupying the entire application window, Backstage View gathers together all of the operations you’re likely to need when readying a file for distribution, including ‘checking for issues’ (spelling and grammar checking), establishing read and write permissions, turning on change tracking, and previewing how the file will appear when it’s printed. The traditional Save, Save As, Share, and other file-related activities are also included. Clicking the File tab again takes you back to the open document.

4. Preview Cut+Copy+Paste

Paste Preview is another suite-wide enhancement that attempts to address the fact that many people undo a paste operation once they see how the text or object actually looks in the document. As its name implies, Paste Preview gives you a preliminary look at how something pasted from the clipboard will appear. To use Paste Preview, you’ll first right-click and let your mouse hover over the Paste Preview options, seeing in real-time how the material will look. A new Insert Screen Shot feature enables quick and easy screen captures to be pasted into the existing document. This will be a handy time-saving tool for those who frequently need to send or use sample screens during their daily work. For those who work with images, Office 2010’s background removal tool does a fair job of detecting and automatically removing background colours, allowing the background colour of the document itself to take its place.

5. Never-seen-before Office Web

One of Office 2010’s most anticipated new features, Office Web, has yet to be officially unwrapped. Office Web will be Microsoft’s answer to Google Docs and other cloud-based office suites that allow you to work on browser-based word processors, spreadsheets, and presentation programs. Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote will all be offered in the Office Web suite. And they will be free. The ‘free’ business model no doubt presents a problem for Microsoft, which generates significant revenue from its traditional Office suite. Microsoft’s answer with Office Web is to provide pared-down versions of its primary Office applications for free to Windows Live users. The strategy could very well pay off, since it leverages the huge installed base of Office users – both at home and in corporations – and ensures these users full compatibility with existing documents while withholding enough of the functionality of the full products to make maintaining licenses appealing.

The Verdict

If you’re still using Office 2003, you’ll still face a considerable learning curve when moving to the 2010 version of Office.  The fact that you cannot bring back classic menus will mean that you’ll have to spend some time learning how Microsoft has chosen to structure the many features of each application. If you’ve memorised keyboard shortcuts from Office 2003 – for example, Alt-T, O for bringing up the Options panel – you’ll be happy to know, however, that the same keyboard combinations bring up those familiar features. Those moving from Office 2007 will likely appreciate the improvements to the ribbon bar, the Backstage View, and the overall aesthetic improvements, as well as the lightweight feel of each Office 2010 application.  In terms of features, though, we’re still talking about relatively incremental improvements in what was already, as of Office 2003, a mature suite. The most innovative changes occur with Office Web – and for that, you won’t need to shell out any money at all.

Download the Office 2010 beta from http://www.microsoft.com/office/2010.

Text sourced from infotech.indiatimes.com