J.E. Mark Takes Batman' Rogues Gallery And Makes Them Real...

I love fan art, especially fan art that depicts the residents of Gotham City. But my man J. E. Marks has taken the Bats villains to a new height with his realistic illustrations of the Rogue Gallery. These versions of Poison Ivy, Joker, Penguin, Riddler, Mr. Freeze and Harvey Dent make my skin crawl... they are so realistic and life like, and yet they highlight the comic attributes that we know and love about these characters so much. I think my fave may be the Penguin, even though she is probably my least favorite villain of the group. Mr. Freeze is pretty amazing as well. Check out more of Mark's work by clicking here, and see the best of the best after the jump...

Batman... Or Badman????

College Humor really brings the heat with there short films and skits, and this is especially true with their Nolan Batman skits. They really hit home to the grunting, scowling Batman from the Nolan films (played masterfully once again by Pete Holmes), albeit a little more pea brained than the World's Greatest Detective (his moniker in the comics). Case in point: The Penguin (played by the always wonderful Patton Oswald!) tries to explain to him that he can't employ extreme violence on his enemies without doing some major damage... like death! But the Dark Knight just doesn't seem to get it... hilarity ensues and this is one of the best ones yet! Enjoy the video after the jump...

Badtz Maru Is The Coolest Penguin You Never Heard Of... Get Familiar!!!

Ever since the first time I laid eyes on the character Badtz Maru, I have always thought he was the coolest thing going in the Sanrio stable. My boy Tony T (Happy bday kid!!!) used to work at the Sanrio store in Aventura Mall (MIA represent) and hipped me to the bad ass penguin that made its home alongside such adorable mainstays as Hello Kitty, My Melody, The Twin Little Stars, Keropi the Frog, and Monkichi the Monkey. Now listen up... Sanrio has hundreds of characters (click here for a complete list), but none have the edge that Badtz posses. While most of the characters are cute and cuddly, Badtz is much darker and mischevious. This has lead to his immense popularity that has propelled right up to the top of the Sanrio character list. He is almost as recognizable as company spokes-character Hello Kitty... although people rarely know his name! His birthday is April Fools Day 1993, and he is one of the few characters that has his own subset of characters himself. He is often featured with Hana-Maru the seal, Pandaba the girl panda, and Pochi the watch dog (he is really an alligator... those crazy japanese!!!)

So in honor of my boy Tony T of Stixfigure Clothing's bday yesterday and this event jogging my memories of Sanrio & Badtz, here are a few pics of Badtz to enjoy. Hope you like 'em! Who is your favorite Sanrio character? Tell us in the comment section below... we want to know!