A passing word on Citizens for Batman and The Dark Knight

I received this in the mail two days hence: It’s my “booster kit” from the Citizens for Batman movement. You may have read about them in the Gotham Times. They are a group of like-minded citizens who feel the Batman is more freedom fighter than fear mongerer. CFB’s founder, Brian Douglass, has encouraged everyone to sport their Batman Pride for a major show of force on July 8th. CFB’s main website counts ominously down to 7pm PST on the 8th, whose event is still as much of a mystery as the Batman himself.

While the Gotham City Police Department labels the Batman a “vigilante menace”, most Gothamites would disagree, and if there’s one thing Harvey Dent’s recent successful campaign bid for District Attorny has taught us, it’s that the GCPD has dropped the ball on keeping our streets safe.

And what’s Dent’s take on the Batman? Well, he’s determined to put Batman out of business as well, but not for the same reasons as the GCPD. Dent feels that after he officially takes office as District Attorney and gets down to brass tacks, he’ll be the impetus needed to eradicate the corruption that has been strangling Gotham City cold. After that’s been done, there won’t be any need for the Batman, according to Dent.

And that is just a fraction of an update into the world of the The Dark Knight viral marketing game/storyline created for the upcoming film. Not only has 42 Entertainment outdone themselves this time, but I think I’ll be hard pressed to find a promotional tie-in as elaborate and successfully executed as the Why So Serious? campaign has been. It’s been an incredible ride, to say nothing for the puzzles and activities themselves, that’s done far more than just create “buzz” and promote a summer blockbuster movie, but rather 42E has managed to consctruct a living, breathing Gotham that demonstrates a world where these characters exist when not on the screen (Adding to this effect is an impressive amount of participation from the principle cast of the film, filming and recording bits for the viral’s plotline and appearing on the Gotham Cable News network).

The lot of us plan on hitting the midnight IMAX premiere in full costume. I’ve retained my Clown Prince of Crime costume from a couple months back, and with the addition of a few slight alterations, will be present and accounted for. Daniel has tossed around the idea of going as Jim Gordon; I’m not sure if Lori has decided on anything yet; Kraig has mentioned wanting to try to pull off a Dick Grayson/Nightwing sort of thing; we’ve all concluded Mike would make a great Riddler.

Catherine’s costume is turning out to be more of a thrill to help produce then my own was. She’s decided to go as a Gotham Girl Guide and I’d venture to say her costume is about 40% completed. I’m doing a custom designed GGG logo (as pictured here) in Illustrator and calling around about getting an actual patch created out of it. And of course, there is ample opportunity to dye more fabrics green, as we did with my vest!

As the July 18th release date draws near, The Joker’s to-do list reveals only three items left to go before it’s all over and he leaves his mark. For a guy whose number one love is storytelling, this past year has been an absolute treat for me. I haven’t been this excited for a movie since wating for Star Wars: Episode 1, and even as I cast my glace back I realized most of it was due to the fun we all had building ourselves up for it and the eventual opening day celebration. However, where Episode 1 may have faltered in expectaions, I am confident that this movie has been crafted with such a loving hand and attention to detail–as evident of the effort put into the viral alone–that it will surely put a smile on my face…