GlenBricker's Review: Assault on Wayne Manor Campaign Page

Welcome to the campaign page of the Wayne Manor Modular.

We now have 50% of the required votes for our goal and also in the top 7 of all Cuusoo projects!

This page is dedicated to content that we can't fit or host on the Cuusoo page.

DC Comics Campaign

The single greatest thing that could happen to this project would be a posting on an official Batman page. So if you really want this to happen, please consider contacting DC comics directly here.

Here is a message you can send them about our project. Hopefully if enough people will send it in, they will post it to Facebook and Twitter!

"Hello DC comics! There is a fan campaign to create a Lego Wayne Manor ( http://lego.cuusoo.com/ideas/view/50007 ). At a lifetime average of more than 45 support per day, this is the fastest growing project on Lego Cuusoo! It only needs 8000 more votes for Lego to review it.

We realize that getting a set produced is a long shot, but please consider sharing this project with true Batman fans via your facebook and twitter feeds to help us get this project to the review phase and celebrate this homage to the world greatest detective."

Rogue's "Gallery"

For the first two months of this project we sought feedback from the fans on which characters you would like to "Assault" Wayne Manor.

We have received over 800 votes and after much discussion we have locked down our proposed cadre of villainy for this set.

Our proposal will include:

Ra's al Ghul
Red Hood (Jason Todd)
Firefly

The Selection

Ra's al Ghul and Red Hood are excellent characters to include in a set depicting Wayne Manor.

They are of but a small hand-full of nefarious characters that know Batman's alter ego as Bruce Wayne.

Their depth of character and complex histories with Batman also speak well to the goal here of showcasing and celebrating the extremely wide and divergent history of the Detective over a variety of media and decades of story telling in a singular set.

Firefly is likely a bit of a ringer for most people. Firefly is in fact an excellent choice. Of all of the villains the Batman might encounter, Firefly is likely the greatest threat to Wayne Manor itself...besides, using Firefly in a set will give new purpose to all those Lego firefighters we Lego fans have.

Red Hood

Red Hood is presented as inspired by his original character design. As his Hood is very form fitting we propose printing directly on a red head piece, just as with a Bane or Spider-man figure.

Ra's al Ghul

Ra is presented here in his most classic style: A gentleman of refinement bedecked is not only a suit but ALSO a cape (refinement squared). Ra comes armed with a large scimitar.

Firefly

This was a very fun character to design. We pulled aspects from the Animated Series as well as more modern takes on the character. Firefly comes with a "jet pack" that has wings that fold up when not in use, a short flame thrower, and a flaming sword.

The Poll

Here are the results of the Poll that we used to help aid in our decision of which rogues to include in this proposal.

References to Batman

The Wayne Manor Modular is full of references to Batman. Some subtle some blunt. We have however tried to draw from as many different sources of Batman Lore as possible to populate the Manor.

What follows is a few examples of these references

The Desk Corner

A. Grandfather Clock

A Grandfather Clock is in almost every incarnation of Wayne Manor. In most continuities it is the access to the Batcave as well. In this case, we are not able to use it as the access as a figure is quite broad.

Note that the Clock is set to 10:48. This is the time that unlocks the entrance.

B. Man of the Year Award

In the Lego Batman 2 Game, Bruce Wayne beats out Lex Luthor for the Man of the Year Award.

C. Painting of Bruce Wayne on a horse with a dog at his side

This is a double reference both to The Dark Knight Returns and Ace the Bat-hound.

Bruce Wayne is rarely seen with horses, but he does have horses in The Dark Knight Returns which grants Batman a significant advantage at a critical point in the story. DKR is way to mature for the Lego's target audience, and it obvious takes place in Batman's future, so this is a just a subtle reference to one of Batman's epic tales.

Ace the Bat-hound is, as the name implies, is a dog who aids Batman. He originated in the 1950s but did not transition the Crisis. He has re-appeared in Batman Beyond, Krypto the Super Dog, and Batman: Brave and the Bold.

D. Armor and Sword Display

We have based this build off of a display in the 1989 Batman movie by Tim Burton. Hopefully the picture speaks for itself.

E. The "Waynes"

Of course everyone has their favorite Robin. We have tried to include an acceptable presentation of each in this wall portrait.

The line up from Left to Right: Dick Grayson, Damian Wayne, Bruce Wayne, Tim Drake, and Alfred Pennyworth.

The above image was generated using Mini Mi as a base followed up with photoshopping.

Additional References

A. & B. Gray Ghost Fedora and Action Figure

Batman the Animated Season 1 Episode 18 "Beware the Gray Ghost" is one of the greatest episodes of the any Batman cartoon. Here is a great review of the episode. It introduces a childhood hero of Bruce Wayne, the Gray Ghost who is voiced by none other than Adam West. It also includes voicing by Bruce Timm, the series co-creator.

Batman's Gray Ghost Collection

To further expand the significance of the Gray Ghost to all things Batman, the Fedora re-appears in Batman Beyond, utilized by Bruce Wayne as an impromptu disguise when Inque catches a ride to the Batcave...That's right, we even have a Batman Beyond reference.

Bruce dons the Grey Ghost Fedora as an impromptu disguise

Bruce Wayne dons the Gray Ghost Fedora as an impromptu disguise

C. A Foil

The Wayne's are returning form "Mask of Zorro" on that fateful night. Zorro is also one of Bob Kane's inspirations in the creation of Batman.

D. & E. A Book of Gotham Nursery Rhymes and Blueprints to Building by the Alan Wayne Trust

These are references to the Court of Owls.

F. Shakespeare Bust

A Shakespeare Bust with a "pez action" head conceals the button that opens the Batcave in the original television series.

G. Man of the Year Award

In the Lego Batman 2 Game, Bruce Wayne beats out Lex Luthor for the Man of the Year Award.
(I realize I mention this twice. I will update the picture to get rid of it shortly)

H. Detective Comics #27 in Plastic Case

The issue that introduces Batman to the world!

Special Thanks to David Willis

David Willis was the first "connected" person to retweet our project giving this project our first real boost on the net.

David is a web comic creator and blogger of Transformers, G.I. Joe, and a variety of other action figures, not to mention being a fan of Batman.

As a thank you I have Legoized four characters from his ongoing series about unconventional people working at a toy store, Shortpacked: Robin, Mike, Amber, and Ethan.

Batman shows up from time to time in David's work. Often saying "I'm Batman" or giving some insightful jibe at the status of his action figures.

Special Thanks to iFanboy

Getting to 10,000 Votes requires a great idea and a lot of help getting the message out.

For this reason, no small thanks go to the great guys at iFanboy for posting the Wayne Manor on their facebook page. Their podcast on each week in comics is informative and entertaining.

As I special thank you I have rendered iFanboy's founders:Ron Richards, Conor Kilpatrick, and Josh Flanagan, in minifigure form. Hopefully some day these guys will be able to visit and official Wayne Manor set.

A larger version of the picture can be found here. I based this rendition of the trio off this image.

Special Thanks to MC Chris

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgxCBp0WTyk

One of the awesome things about running a Cuusoo project is getting boosts of support from awesome people. To, be sure, everyone who supports is by definition an exceptional person, much better than all those other people.

Every now and then someone you "know of" not only supports, but makes a big deal about it and tells the people that "know of" them.

Nerd Rapper MC Chris certainly qualifies! Every time I put on a backpack, there is a 5.7% chance I think about jets due to his epic Fett's Vette (caution on the lyrics). He is also a fan of the Dark Knight (much more kid friend).

On December 6th, MC Chris posted our project on his facebook page bringing a huge surge of support to our project. The image above is inspired by the animated pilot he kickstarted.

A larger version of the image can be found here.

Media Postings

The Response has been Phenomenal! We thank each and every one of you. There is no way this list could be complete but we wanted to point out some great help we have received from the project’s fans that have really helped to get the word out:

David Willis, Creator of Shortpacked

Scott Snyder , CURRENT WRITER OF BATMAN!

iFanboy, the very best podcast on Comic Books out there

All Star Comics: “A vote for Wayne Manor is a vote for AWESOME!”

Fire Wire

/Film

GlenBricker's Review

Assault on Wayne Manor Campaign Page