Therefore, we want to know what you love about the DC Comics/Movie/TV Universe and more importantly, we’d love to see part, all or just a single item from your DC collection, whether it be your favourite item, your most prized possession or even the strangest item that you own.

We hope you would like to get involved and, if like our opening DC fan below, Claire, you want to share then please email john@dcworld.org.uk, or a DM via my twitter account @DC_ComicsGeek or even through the DC World twitter account, @_DCWorld, and it will be passed on. I look forward to hearing from you. If you do contact us then I will get back to you, preferably via an email address and we will go through the necessary questions and, providing you all agree, ask for a few pictures; maybe one of yourself for the article as well as photos of the items from your collection.

As mentioned above, my first “victim” is DC World’s very own Claire Payne.  Claire, probably – no, easily, the biggest Gotham fan I know, very kindly agreed to be first up so we can show you how this series of articles will look.  Therefore, my extreme gratitude to Miss Payne (Hold on, there’s a great name for a Gotham character if ever I saw one – maybe Reggie’s long lost daughter??).

Anyway, on with the article – please enjoy and, if you would like to get involved, then please use the contact details above.

CONFESSIONS OF A DC GEEK #1 – CLAIRE PAYNE

First of all, tell me a bit about yourself – name, age (if willing), where you’re from and what you do for a living, anything else you wish to mention.

Claire Payne, 40. From Plymouth Devon uk.  I run my own business specialising in skin care and Colonic Hydrotherapy.

What, or who, helped kickstart your DC Comics fandom and when?

I have always adored film and television.  The first Batman movie directed by Tim Burton got me fully involved in the DC Universe.  Quirkier the better and fantasy is probably my favourite genre.  Even Christopher Reeves as Superman, thinking back, had a huge impact on what I enjoyed, being so impressed that he could fly, bulletproof, strength and having X-ray vision.

Who is your favourite DC Superhero?

To be honest I don’t really have one. I admire lots of them for different reasons. I think Wonder Woman, more recently, just edges it slightly as they managed to find a great actress like Gal Gadot to play her.  For me she stole the Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice movie.  The Wonder Woman solo film has been one of the best so far in the DC universe.  I was one of those people who turned their nose up at her unveiling as I wasn’t sure on her Amazonian looking outfit.  Batman, I think, has a great origin to why he became a vigilante and why he wants to help the city of Gotham, also he has no super powers.  Superman was DC’s first superhero, an alien that has more humanity than humans, so he definitely would be in my top five. I do feel that now we are being introduced to more superheroes, for example Black Lightning, it has now made a positive impact on life situations that have not been talked about before.

Who is your favourite DC Villain?

When I saw Jack Nicholson as the Joker in Batman I thought he was extremely vibrant and clever and dangerous with his manic behaviour.  Batman Returns made me appreciate two villains, CatWoman and The Penguin.  I was skeptical about Bruno Hellers and Danny Cannon’s Gotham as I had already accepted Danny Devito as my favourite Oswald ‘The Penguin’ Cobblepot.  The whole concept of Gotham as a television show, concentrating on the city itself and seeing how these villains become who they actually are, made me skeptical as at the time i didn’t really want to watch anyone else be “The Penguin” apart from Danny Devito.  This is why Gotham is my favourite DC show, it has peeled back layers of these famous villains and I love watching how Robin Lord Taylor brings Oswald Cobblepot to life as an extremely complexed, intelligent, emotional villain. With each season of Gotham he is becoming the Penguin more and more, even though he is already using this nickname.

Overall, who is your favourite DC character?

That is actually impossible for me to say!  I really like so many characters and I am discovering and learning about new ones.  I recently started to read a lot more about Dr. Fate, a powerful sorcerer.

What is your favourite DC Movie?

Batman Returns is probably my most watched out of the DC movies.  I really love Tim Burton’s style of direction and creative difference he brought to the Batman story.  Wonder Woman was outstanding and everything a DC movie should be.  Christopher Nolan took the Batman story in a different direction which was creatively inspiring; definitely a trilogy I will always watch.

TV shows – which is your favourite DC effort? – Not sure I need to ask this to Claire…

Without even thinking about it, Gotham is my absolute favourite and I feel it is strongly underrated.  It’s definitely the darkest of all the DC shows and the least cheesy.  I don’t think I have ever watched a show and liked every single character for what ever reason.  The character development for some characters has been faster than others and I don’t think that is a bad thing.  I was already sold on Gotham when I saw young Selina Kyle running over the rooftops and then stealing milk for her ally cats.  Gordon and Bullock I loved instantly as a detective duo and I wasn’t too worried if I didn’t like the rest of the characters.  Fish Mooney got a lot of criticism which wasn’t deserved.  Fish is exactly how I imagined a lady underworld boss to be like.  Still to this day, the sound of Master Bruce screaming over his dead parents body haunts me.  It’s visually and cinematically stunning with an outstanding cast of actors.  To be blunt Gotham doesn’t need three other shows to cross over with to make it look good.

The DC Universe has featured many, many actors on TV and in the movies, as well as animated movies/series’, so I ask you – who is your favourite actor, anyone who has made some sort of appearance within a DC creation?

There is so many to name.  When superb actors like Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman work together on a Batman film it’s really exciting.  I always thought Jim Carrey did an excellent job as the Riddler in Batman Forever, I liked how his Nygma was obsessed with Bruce Wayne. When actors like Laurence Fishburne, Viola Davis, Amy Adams, Cillian Murphy, Tom Hardy start appearing in DC films and fit the part so well it’s a joy to watch and I find if people are fans of these actors and they have never seen a DC film before they will watch it and maybe decide that they like this side of film universe.  Henry Cavill was in The Tudors before he suited up as Superman, which I think is really cool going from a very successful television show to Hollywood.

Now we have the necessities from Claire, on to the reasons for this feature, your DC collectables/memorabilia or whatever you wish to call them.

First up, do you collect large amounts of DC merchandise or is it just a select variety of items that appeal to you, which you like to pick up?

I have collected more DC merchandise since I started watching Gotham.  I have always liked looking at the different items for sale and asked myself truthfully “would I wear that?” as I am not really in to T-Shirts, but I did treat myself to a Wonder Woman Christmas jumper!  Any kind of behind the scenes making of movie books I would definitely buy.  I have a GCPD hardback notebook which is beautiful as there are coloured photograph of scenes from Gotham inserted.  I also own two scarfs with the umbrella logo on for Oswalds nightclub.  The biggest thing I have collected recently are the Gotham trading cards made by Cryptozoic Entertainment.  George Nadeau is the developer for licensed collectables.  I have collected different trading cards in the past from other movies like Lord of the Rings and television shows, The X-Files and Angel.  They have never contained authentic autographs and wardrobe cards.  To actually own a piece of Oswald Cobblepot waistcoat from season 1 and 2 of Gotham is incredibly special.  The autograph cards also give you a chance to get autographs that maybe would be impossible to obtain.  The Funko Pop vinyls have been fun to collect too, I have the full Gotham set.  I am collecting the Wonder Woman Funko pops because there are some unique ones, especially from the Wonder Woman movie.  I have never owned a Barbie so collecting the Gotham select figures have been fun, the likeness of the actors from Gotham is pretty good.

 

Of the items you own, do you have a most prized possession? – I’m not asking for your favourite here, but the one you cherish most of all. Why does it mean so much to you?

To be honest I have three items and they have different meanings. My first cherished item is my group photo I had taken with five members of Gotham at HVFF London. I felt I was the only Gotham fan that had not met any of them yet, even though I know that isn’t true. The photo-op experience was fantastic, fun, friendly and experience I am looking forward to repeating this May.

December 2016, I was fortunate to win a T Shirt that Robin Lord Taylor wore in a film he made called “Doll in the Dark”, which Robin made in 2009/2010 but the film didn’t get released until November 2016. The director A.D. Calvo gave it to the film’s distributor, SafeCracker pictures, to promote the film. I still can’t believe I won his actual shirt. I took it with me to HVFF London for Robin to sign, he was delighted to see it and was so happy to talk about the film now that it had been finally released.

My Gotham trading card collection of season 1 and 2 I do cherish. The variant in the wardrobe cards and autograph cards alone make them unique. To have Carol Kane’s autograph is something special as I will probably never get the chance to meet her. One of the wardrobe cards I own from the season 1 collection is a piece of the Arkham Asylum Officer badge that was worn by Ben McKenzie (Jim Gordon), in the episode “Rogues Gallery”, it’s one of the rare variants. This card means so much to me as it’s one of my favourite episodes from season 1. I have been extremely lucky when I have purchased sealed boxes, I managed to pull Robin Lord Taylor’s autograph from season 1 and 2 collection and some rare wardrobe cards, like a piece of Edward Nygma‘s tie. I took my season 1 collection for David, Sean, Drew and Robin to sign the inside of the binder where I store the cards. They were all fascinated to see which bits of their wardrobe had ended up in the collection. There isn’t any wardrobe cards for Butch Gilzean, as his suits were either sold on or reused in season 2.

 

If, by chance, these aren’t your favourite items then please tell us what the favourite item is within your collection and why?

George Nadeau was promoting the season 2 Gotham trading cards and he posted a couple of photos of a pair of green plaid pyjamas on Twitter.  The idea is that you had to guess which show they were from and which character wore them? I recognised them instantly, being the geek i am, they belonged to Oswald Cobblepot.  He wore them in the scene in episode 9 – “Bitter pill to swallow”  – where Ed saved Oswald’s life after being shot.  I posted my answer, there was no reaction or answer from George for about 24 hours.  George posted a message on Twitter saying I had got it correct but was not expecting anyone to get it right that quick!  So I have to say that the pyjama wardrobe card from season 2, worn by Oswald, is my favourite.

Is there something in your collection that you would consider the strangest? If so, what made you buy it?

I thought long and hard about this question I haven’t got anything in my DC collection I would call strange.  I do own the cd soundtrack to the Troy movie, I despise the film.  I think I brought it because parts of the score I did like.

Cheeky question, but most and least expensive collectible you own?

My most expensive item is the Arkham Asylum Officer badge wardrobe card.  I won’t tell you the exact price because it still makes my eyes water, it cost me £150 plus.  My least expensive is my Gotham iPhone case which cost me £5.

And so, there we have it, the first entry in the “Confessions Of A DC Geek” series.  I do hope that you have enjoyed reading this and my huge gratitude to, our very own, Claire Payne, for agreeing to be first up.  I am sure you will all agree that she really is a DC Geek (Or Gotham Geek probably being more precise).  You can find Claire on Twitter @gothamiteclaire (are you surprised at the username?).

If you wish to leave a comment then please do so below or on any of our social media pages, we would love to hear from you and, if you would like to take part, then please contact myself, or the team, at the contact details below.

Email: john@dcworld.org.uk

John’s Twitter: @DC_ComicsGeek

Team Twitter: @_DCWorld

Cheers, John