Loot Crate Magazine

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

THIS MONTH’S THEME IS HEROES 2The return of the good, the great, and the gallant!

WONDER WOMAN AND BATMAN: A BRIEF HISTORYFrom flirting to fighting and everything in between!

MEGA CRATE & MINI MEGA CRATEThis month’s Mega Crate is worth over $2,500!

FEATURED LOOTERSCheck out our heroic Loot Force!

Q&A WITH JON SCHNEPPWe talk to the man behind The Death of “Superman Lives”

NEW LIMITED EDITION CRATEWe’re cracking open the vault...

LOOT CRATE IS AT PAX PRIMEEpic gaming gear at our booth

EPIC ITEMSEverything you need to save the world!

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THIS MONTH’S THEME IS HEROES 2The return of the good, the great, and the gallant!

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DIGITAL EXPERIENCECheck out this month’s interactive digital experience at loot.cr/experience

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Wonder Woman and Batman: A Brief History

Batman and Wonder Woman are two of the longest-running and most-recognized superheroes that exist. Their shared history extends all the way back to the 1940s, when their Golden Age incarnations were both members of The Justice Society of America. The pair has been portrayed in various ways, primarily as good friends and trusted partners in (fighting) crime; but, as you’ll see, they have been known to disagree, fight and even flirt. Okay, mostly flirt.

An Animated AffairWonder Woman and Batman enjoy an extended flirtation across many seasons of the Justice League cartoon. They dance and share a few kisses and while this doesn’t sound romantic, in one episode Batman sings a song to release Wonder Woman from an enchantment that turned her into a pig, and trust me -- it was super romantic. The voice actors for the characters, Kevin Conroy and Susan Eisenberg, have also been known to flirt on Twitter, leading to much fan swooning.

Bats Gets The BootIn Wonder Woman: The Hiketeia, Batman tries to take a criminal away from Wonder Woman’s protection (it’s complicated and involves an ancient Greek ritual). He fails. She throws him out a window, and later, they have a bit of a squabble and she literally steps on his face and warns him to not get up. He stays down. He’s smart like that.

Batman and Wife?Eros, the Greek God of Love, believes Wonder Woman has forgotten her mission to bring love to man’s world, and decides to do something about it in an issue of The All-New Batman The Brave And The Bold. The god’s love rays make Batman propose, but thanks to a bunch of supervillains objecting to the match by crashing the wedding, our heroes remain single and ready to mingle.

A Kiss Before DyingOur two heroes also share an extended flirtation in the pages of the JLA comic, ignited by a pre-battle kiss and a battle that ends with them dying while holding hands during a story arc called The Obsidian Age. Their deaths are short-lived (heh) and so is their budding relationship after Wonder Woman examines a few potential scenarios for their future with the help of a kooky machine built by Martian Manhunter and decides to keep Batman in the friend zone. He’s cool with it. He’s smart like that.

Blackest Night … Knight

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Batman and Wonder Woman are two of the longest-running and most-recognized superheroes that exist. Their shared history extends all the way back to the 1940s, when their Golden Age incarnations were both members of The Justice Society of America. The pair has been portrayed in various ways, primarily as good friends and trusted partners in (fighting) crime; but, as you’ll see, they have been known to disagree, fight and even flirt. Okay, mostly flirt.

An Animated AffairWonder Woman and Batman enjoy an extended flirtation across many seasons of the Justice League cartoon. They dance and share a few kisses, and while this doesn’t sound romantic, in one episode Batman sings a song to release Wonder Woman from an enchantment that turned her into a pig, and trust -- it was super romantic. The voice actors for the characters, Kevin Conroy and Susan Eisenberg, have also been known to flirt on Twitter, leading to much fan swooning.

Bats Gets The BootIn Wonder Woman: The Hiketeia, Batman tries to take a criminal away from Wonder Woman’s protection (it’s complicated and involves an

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ancient Greek ritual). He fails. She throws him out a window, and later, they have a bit of a squabble and she literally steps on his face and warns him to not get up. He stays down. He’s smart like that.

Batman and Wife?Eros, the Greek God of Love, believes Wonder Woman has forgotten her mission to bring love to man’s world, and decides to do something about it in an issue of The All-New Batman The Brave And The Bold. The god’s love rays make Batman propose, but thanks to a bunch of supervillains objecting to the match by crashing the wedding, our heroes remain single and ready to mingle.

A Kiss Before DyingOur two heroes also share an extended flirtation in the pages of the JLA comic, ignited by a pre-battle kiss and a battle that ends with them dying while holding hands during a story arc called The Obsidian Age. Their deaths are short-lived (heh) and so is their budding relationship after Wonder Woman examines a few potential scenarios for their future with the help of a kooky machine built by Martian Man-hunter and decides to keep Batman in the friend zone. He’s cool with it. He’s smart like that.

Blackest Night … KnightJust the thought of Batman (presumed dead during the Blackest Night event) and the hallucination of a bat-kiss are all it takes to put a temporarily undead Black Lan-tern Wonder Woman back in the pink as a Star Sapphire. Just the very thought of him! I think we found Batman’s second superpower. The first is being an extremely rich guy, which, granted, is the best superpower.

Superwoman and OwlmanThe DC Universe is complex and ever-changing, but usually, there are alternate earths around, and on some of those alternate earths Wonder Woman and Batman are evil and call themselves Superwoman and Owlman. Even in the versions of the characters where Superwoman is married to Ultraman, the evil Superman, she still likes to spend quality evil time with Owlman, giving him evil kisses and whatever else it is evil people do together.

Bat-trayalsIn the JLA run collected as JLA: Tower of Babel, Ra’s Al Ghul uses Batman’s “How I Would Defeat Every Member Of The Justice League” files to temporarily incapaci-tate the entire league, including Wonder Woman. Her trap? A nanite that made her hallucinate an enemy she couldn’t defeat and Batman’s insight that Wonder Woman would never give up the fight. He’s smart like that.

Two-Thirds of a TrinityBatman/Superman/Wonder Woman: Trinity reworked the specifics of how DC Com-ics’ big three met and spent their early days together. In this miniseries, Batman and Wonder Woman’s first meeting isn’t terribly heroic. Batman sees Wonder Woman bathing, and finds her so beautiful that he is overcome with, um, let’s call it “emo-tion,” and he plants a surprise bat-smooch on her. That ends how you’d think -- she punches him.

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Between the releases of Superman IV: Quest for Peace in 1987 and Super-man Returns in 2006, numerous Superman films languished in development hell. The most infamous is 1998’s “Superman Lives” which would’ve been directed by Tim Burton and had Nicolas Cage set to star as the Man of Steel. Of course, that movie sounds incredible so Jon Schnepp decided to make a documentary titled The Death of “Superman Lives”: What Happened? to find out what the world missed out on.We got the chance to talk to Jon about his awesome, new documentary and here’s what he had to say!

Q: What inspired you to make The Death of “Superman Lives”?A: I was inspired by some of the concept art that was published in the 2000’s, and really got re-interested after seeing Superman Returns. I real-ized I didn’t want to see any more homages to Donner’s film, but something new and different. Burton’s take was like a weird cosmic fairytale, and I started searching online for any scrap of concept art I could find, and kept a folder on my desktop. Many years later, in late 2012, I met SPFX artist Steve Johnson, who had made the “Rainbow” light-up suits for “Superman Lives.” I told some friends over dinner about this, and they suggested I make a doc, and raise money on Kickstarter. I told them “NO WAY!” but a few months later, the idea would not leave my head, and I thought, this could be fun, and if not me, who would ever do this? So I launched the Kickstarter in January 2013, and found out lots of people were actually really interested in what happened.

Q: What surprised you the most when you started asking people about “Superman Lives”?A: How so many people had the wrong information and the wrong percep-tion on what the film was actually going to be. Overwhelmingly at first, most people would laugh when we asked them about the “Superman Lives” proj-ect, or told them about it. As we moved forward with uncovering and digging into the past, we found that this project was so much closer to Superman than most people realized, and that this film would have been incredibly original and cosmically creative, as revealed in the production design, the concept art, the casting, and the ideas behind the actual scripts. This itera-tion of Clark Kent/Kal-El would be like no other before or since, because it came with a special take that only talent like Tim Burton and Nicolas Cage could bring to it.




Q: Was it difficult to get some of your interviewees to talk about the movie? A: Yes, it took some of the people over a year to decide whether they wanted to be involved in the film, and ultimately everyone who participated really enjoyed not only the interviewing experience, but the finished film as well. Our small team of myself (Writer/Producer/Director/Co-Editor), Producer Holly Payne, Co-Editor Marie Jamora, Technical Producer Chris Graybill, and Executive Producer Rob Pierce worked on all the different aspects of getting this film shot, edited, and finished. We were in our last three months of production, and I had all but given up on securing an interview with the Producer of “Superman Lives,” Jon Peters, but Holly Payne kept on me, insisting that I not give up. Though I actually didn’t want to, I did keep at it, trying to find some way or someone to establish a contact, and I eventually did get to Jon Peters. We interviewed him, and it was incredibly entertaining and eye opening, and one of the highlights for us, and now a highlight for the film!

Q: Who was your favorite person to interview? A: I don’t have any favorites, but I’ll say the most interesting was talking with Tim Burton, since he really opened up about his directing process of discovery and creativity, the funniest interview of course was Kevin Smith, the most sardonically direct and artfully exploratory was with ex-concept artist Sylvain Despretz, and the most unexpected was from Producer Jon Peters. I have to say I enjoyed talking with the concept artists, and sharing with them their designs for the film as they shared with us their experience. Q: Is there anyone you really wanted to talk to that you didn’t get a chance to inter-view?A: I really wanted to have Nicolas Cage involved, and to get an interview with him, but he didn’t want to talk about his past and declined to be interviewed for the film. Ultimately, the footage of him and Tim that we have from over fifteen years ago really gets into what they both were creatively going for in their version of Superman, so in essence we got the truest and most meaningful footage of him from when he was actually “Superman,” both in-character and discovering the character with Tim. It truly is the holy grail of the “Superman Lives” footage!

Q: The documentary was funded through platforms like Kickstarter and FanBacked. Did that present any unique challenges or opportunities?A: The challenge to crowdfunding any project is asking your participants to put in their money in advance of a completed “anything,” and to have the blind faith to believe in you actually being able to deliver the goods to them. I have run several successful crowdfunders for myself, along with having successfully produced and directed series for TV over the past ten years, so people tend to feel more comfortable with “investing” in me and my projects. I love crowdfunding, because it allows me to make completely independently produced projects.

Q: How do you think “Superman Lives” would’ve changed the landscape of superhe-ro cinema?A: It would have come out at a time when we weren’t getting eight blockbuster superhe-ro films a year, we were lucky to get one every three years! This would have been com-peting in the same space as Blade, at a time when Marvel Comics was going through bankruptcy, and was even being considered as a purchase to be absorbed by DC comics. I believe “Superman Lives” would have been a smash hit, and would have given fans exactly what they wanted, a new version of a beloved character. This film would have altered the landscape of the superhero genre that exists now, because we would have had multiple “Superman” sequels, “Batman” would have returned much earlier,


along with a “Justice League” in 2003 or 2004. Would Iron Man have ever gotten made? Most niche marketed fans, especially comic book fans, don’t want their characters to be altered or changed in any way, until they are done so successfully, and then those changes are embraced, accepted, and then again demanded to not be changed. People believe they want the same thing until they are given something different.

Q: What do you think Nic Cage would’ve brought to the role of Superman that we haven’t yet seen from the other actors who’ve played the character?A: Nicolas Cage would have brought a vulnerability to a character that is like a god, and most perceive to be invulnerable and unrelatable. By taking on Superman as an outsider, as an alien who does not feel like he fits in on this planet, he would have actually created an empathy with most people in high school who don’t feel like they fit in, or those who are bullied, or those who are in the margins, like comic book readers, and feel alone. I think Nicolas Cage would have finally humanized Superman for the movie going audi-ence. Q: It was recently announced that a documentary is being made about George Miller’s unmade “Justice League Mortal” film, which has drawn comparisons to The Death of “Superman Lives” and Jodorowsky’s Dune. What do you think draws peo-ple to explore these unfinished films and what advice do you have for the documen-tarians looking into them?A: It is an honor to have jumpstarted the “superhero documentary of unmade films” genre, which now seem to be popping up all over the place. I made this documentary due to my love of the creative process, and the idea that there was something lost and or missing from the perception of the general public that I felt needed to be explored. I think that is what draws others to making these types of films. My advice would be to follow your heart as to why you want to make a film or documentary, and be prepared to push yourself beyond the limits you’ve experienced. Now that I have fully explored this and completed the documentary, I am eager to create other projects and see them come to life, including a comedic superhero television series, a horror musical feature film, and some other ideas as well.

Thanks so much for taking the time to talk to us, Jon!

The Death of “Superman Lives”: What Happened? was released on July 9th, featuring never-be-fore-seen footage of “Superman Lives” and interviews with Tim Burton, Kevin Smith, Jon Peters, and much, much more! Follow @TDOSLWH on Twitter! Anyone interested in buying the Feature Film Documentary The Death of “Superman Lives”: What Happened? can go to www.tdoslwh.com, where it is available as a digital download, Blu-ray, or DVD. You can check out more of Jon’s work by following him on Twitter or Instagram at @jonschnepp or watching “Sweaty Nerds with Jon Schnepp” on TheStream.tv!


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Wonder Woman Poster (DC Collectibles)If anyone can get the job done, it’s Wonder Woman! As this World War II “Bomber” art-style poster shows, she’s up to any challenge.



Legend of Zelda Sweatband (Bioworld)Suit up for battle with this black terrycloth wristband that features an embroidered Triforce emblem.


Batman Multi-Tool Keychain (Paladone)The Dark Knight would never dream of leaving the Batcave without this indispensable gadget, and neither will you. Not only does it look really cool, but it also includes Phillips and flathead screwdrivers and a bottle opener too!


EXCLUSIVE The League of Regrettable Superheroes (Quirk Books)This special Loot Crate edition features some of our favorite comic book superheroes you’ve never met! Spanning the Golden, Silver, and Modern ages of comics, you’ll be introduced to 50 of the strangest superheroes ever to see print.


EXCLUSIVE TV Series Batman Q-Pop Figure (Quantum Mechanix)Perched atop a skyscraping gargoyle, our throwback Caped Crusader, inspired by the classic ‘60s TV show, is poised for crime-fightin’ action.


EXCLUSIVE Brawlhalla Download Card (Blue Mammoth Games)Brawl with the best of ‘em using these exclusive skins, weapons, and characters from the epic battle game!

Heroes 2 Button (Loot Crate Labs)Switch on the Loot Signal! This month’s button is perfect for pinning to any shirt, backpack or cherished Loot Crate button collection that needs a watchful protector, silent guardian or dark knight!

Star Trek Auto Air Freshener (Plasticolor)Live long, prosper, and smell great while doing it! Hang it from the rear view mirror of your car or spacecraft, and you’ll enjoy the fresh scent of vanilla for months to come.



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