The misses and I took our kids to a Halloween party on Saturday where I got my picture taken with a pregnant Batman (see image, that's me on the left).

This image led on to a conversation at work today which I found quite fascinating and led me to a few questions which I thought I would share as an article with you.

My work colleague said after seeing the picture “Well it can’t really be Batman as they are pregnant and Bruce Wayne being a guy is not going to fall pregnant is he?”

I could see where they were coming from BUT I then felt compelled to start explaining the multiverse concept to them whilst simultaneously explaining Flashpoint too.

I was explaining that in flashpoint ‘The Flash (Barry Allen)’ in his attempt at saving his mother's life went back in time to stop the killer which in avertedly alters the entire course of history in the DC Universe, it changes Batman to become Thomas Wayne and not his son Bruce, it also changes The Joker to become Martha Wayne and not the guy we have known for so long, not to mention what happens to everyone else in the DC Universe like Kal-El, Aquaman, Hal and Wonder Woman to name just a few whose lives were altered by Flashpoint.

Take this into account with the multiverse (or meta-universe, metaverse) which is the hypothetical set of multiple possible universes (including the historical universe we consistently experience and mainly read about in the DC comics) that together comprise everything that exists and can exist: the entirety of space, time, matter, and energy as well as the physical laws and constants that describe them, then I think that the possibility for a pregnant Batman is there or thereabout.

The DC Multiverse consists of numerous worlds, most of them outside DC's main continuity or the DC universe where our main DC hero’s live. The first time DC used this was way back in 1953 where Wonder Woman fell through a space-time warp and encountered her other self, so tell me why couldn’t a flashpoint type scenario have happened on one of the multiverse universes, its earth 1, 2, 3, or whatever???

NOW taking all this into account AND the fact there is already a guy who gave birth to children (Thomas Beatie), granted he used to be a woman but lives his life as a man and gave birth to the children as a man (if you haven’t seen before please check Google) this leaves me with a few questions.

Could a multiverse Batman who has gone through a Flashpoint event become pregnant?

Could Batman go though a possible transgender operation on a multiverse which turns him from a man into a female that can give birth?

Could this Flashpoint type event have altered Thomas and Martha’s pregnancy which in turn then makes Bruce Wayne a she who could then become a man and give birth?

Could multiverse Bat's get a woman's womb implanted into him to carry a child?

So many questions/theories my head may explode!!!!!!!!

Time for me to finish for the week but before I go I will tell you that YES!!!! This is the stuff that goes through my head on a daily basis, so if you ever speak to my misses please say well done as she has to put up with this type of conversations on a daily basis.

Regards

Muldwych

Battle, ambush and race your way to leaderboard domination in bigger and improved challenge mode.

The latest news from Rocksteady Studios is that Batman Arkham City will be five times bigger than Arkhum Asylum, so no suprises to fans that the roaming areas have been expanded to give more character freedom and cure one of the few faults of the original game Arkham Asylum, one of the best gaming titles to be released to date.

Great news is the return of the challenge mode, after you complete the campaign mode and collect all the Riddler trophies, a more expansive and competitive challenge mode awaits to play as either the Batman, Catwoman or Robin and we all give thanks to the developers for including these playable characters free of charge and resisting the temptation to charge us for the extra content. I wouldn’t be surprised if a villains pack was available to download some time after release to compete in challenge mode but that’s just me thinking of how they’re going to hit our pockets and keep the game fresh during some really major release titles in the months after this baby hits shelves, pure speculation on my behalf.

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So, after a week’s hiatus, Behind The Masks returns, and this week, for the first time, we’re turning our attention to the bad guys. Lets face it, a superhero is nothing without a good villain to battle against. The bad guys aren’t necessarily always more interesting characters, but when it comes to playing them on screen, they can be more fun for the actors. There’s just something about playing a super villain which allows them to really let go and have a blast.

And there isn’t a villain that’s more true of than the Joker. There probably hasn’t been a character, let alone a super villain, who’s been interpreted in such distinctly different ways by the different actors who have played him, but then, when you think about it, that’s not really a surprise. The Joker in the comics can veer wildly between the buffoonish clown just out to cause mischief, the dangerous, psychotic and downright sinister serial killer and the force of nature out to bring nothing but chaos to the streets of Gotham City. We’ve seen all these sides of the character play out on screen, and there have been some absolutely brilliant screen Jokers.

As ever, I put the question of which Joker was the absolute best to the people of the internet, and you know what? For the first time ever, we don’t have a definitive answer. The Joker would approve. There was a tie, with two actors receiving the exact same number of votes (I should also say, this is the most votes I’ve ever received for one of these columns). For you guys, Heath Ledger and Mark Hamill are your joint favourite Jokers. But which five actors made the cut for this list? Read on and find out…

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Link: http://ibistro.cardiff.gov.uk/uhtbin/webcat?Language=

Hola amigos, this week is a Batman-a-palooza of a review with two stories of DC’s greatest detective. As with the JSA I’m going to do a quick info bit on what’s been happening and who the major players are in the stories.

First up is Batman: Life After Death, written and illustrated by Tony Daniel (Batman RIP) along with art by Guillen March, Sandra Florea, and Norm Rapmund. This is a good book to pick up after reading Battle for the Cowl as it follows on loosely from the end of that story. So who’s who in this book?

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Link: http://splashpage.mtv.com/2009/06/01/new-joker-video-from-batman-arkham-asylum-hits-the-net/

Believe it or not I'm actually trying to put less trailers up on the site but then I realised it's E3 this week so that idea goes out the window. Batman: Arkham Asylum Joker trailer. Nuff Said!

Looks pretty cool huh?! Even though I may've been a little tough on some of the character re-designs (Harley Quinn!!) I'm really looking forward to this game, it looks as though we could finally be getting the game a character like Batman deserves. I'll try to resist putting up anymore from E3 and maybe do a round-up at the end of the week, don't hold that against me though when something too awesome to wait comes out.

Link: http://www.xbox360achievements.org/news/news-2544-Batman--Arkham-Asylum---Meet-Harley-Quinn.html

Thanks to X-Centric Ned we've got another Batman: Arkham Asylum trailer for your perusal and although I'm still really looking forward to the game (relesed date to be confirmed in the UK but hit's US June 2009) I'm going to have to take umbrage with the treatment of miss Harley Quinn. Watch the video to see for yourselves then read on for full on rant.

See what I mean? No?! Did you not watch the video of Super-Skank versus Batman? Well just in case you couldn't be bothered to watch the video I'll spell it out for you with this picture:

Why bother going to the trouble of hiring the most excellent Arleen Sorkin, original voice of Harley Quinn in Batman: The Animated Series, and then completely change the look of the character? I'll tell you why, Sex. That's right beleive it or not sex sells, especially in video games or at least that must be what games designers think. Harley Quinn was a character so popular that even though she was created solely for an animated version of Batman she eventually made it into the comics and is now an important charater in her own right. She has gone way beyond just being the Joker's girlfriend, fronting many comics all on her lonesome and forming relationships and partners much further affield that Gotham city. Her influence reaches so far that Kevin Smith of Clerks, Chasing Amy, Jay & Silent Bob, Zak & Miri Make a Porno, etc fame, named his first born daughter after her...his first born!

My point is fans like her the way she is, the way she was drawn. She isn't a sex symbol at least not in the conventional sense, she's a psychotic insecure little girl with a delusional love for the man she likes to call 'Mr J' A.K.A The Joker. I don't hate the re-design, it makes me feel kinda funny in the pants department which in it's sefl is a little worrying but it's quite a good look. I guess I'm just a fan of the original Harley and saw no point in sexifying her up. I'm also pretty surprised that Paul Dini and Bruce Timm her original creators and collaborators on this self same game saw fit to change her, were they not happy with the original design? Is this the way they always wanted to go but were restricted by the constraints of saturday morning cartoons? If anyone knows the answers I'd be more than willing to hear them, until then enjoy the original and always classy Harley Quinn.