Continuing our 70th celebration of Superman and Batman (Robin, too) teaming up for the first time.
I can’t quite put my finger on it… But I always appreciated George Tuska’s art s at DC more than I did at Marvel.
I think it’s because — in my mind’s eye at least— George’s art seemed much more suited to the Bronze Age DC house style.
Or it could just be my imagination.
Here we have a “inventory” story intended for World’s Finest that appears to have never seen the light of day. Dynamic action featuring both Superman and Batman. What more could you possibly ask for?
Except possibly the published page to go with it.
I never understood DC’s policy regarding inventory and cancelled stories. Once they’re fully inked, and in many cases lettered, it’s really difficult to lose money coloring it and publishing it. The prior sunk cost is already sunk.
Except… as my friends in finance would happily point out, the investment in the story and artwork counts as an asset. If you never actually put it out, you never have to write the whole thing off.
Tricky, very tricky.
I’ve owned pages from quite a few DC cancelled stories. There’s an omnibus in there somewhere. Assuming (big assumption) all the scans and files have survived myriad changes in management over the years, and a few physical moves as well.
Continuing our 70thcelebration of Superman and Batman (Robin, too) teaming up for the first time.
Pete Poplaski’s 1990 promo art of the Dynamic Duo and the Man of Steel makes me happy.
It appears informally modeled after World’s Finest Comics #2, the issue that changed titles from the original World’s Best Comics. (Which, as noted previously, was the successor to World’s Fair Comics. No worries, there’s never a quiz on this material, especially since I’d probably be the first one to mess it up.)
Of course, as we’ve posted previously, all of Pete’s gorgeous retro work makes me happy.
Remnants of a different era, indeed.
Poplaski’s great covers for the original DC strip reprints from Kitchen SinkSuperman and Batman finally get together in 1952… and Lois runs off with Robin. Thats wrong, for a lot of reasons.
Superman and Batman — along with Robin — first appeared together on the cover of the 2nd annual issue of World’s Fair Comics in 1940, issued to commemorate the 39/40 World Fair in New York City.
Shortly thereafter, that comic morphed into the ongoing World’s Finest Comic, and Superman and Batman appeared together on the covers all time.
But inside? Separate stories featuring DC’s most popular characters.
It wasn’t until 12 years later (1952) that The Caped Crusader and The Man of Steel actually met in one story. (More on that in our next post on Thursday.)
Meanwhile…
John Byrne creates an adventure that involves the aforementioned World’s Fair in his clever Generations series from 1999.
This is my favorite page from the series. It features all three heroes, plus Lois Lane, and sure enough, in that top inset panel, Lex Luthor as well.
Has there ever been another page this iconic in nature? All five characters in one small panel. And a gigantic splash of the four main ones. I missed acquiring this page once previously, but fortunately, I didn’t make the same mistake the second time around, albeit with a bit more pain in the wallet.
Much of “The Batman” is brilliant. It’s not necessarily my personal cup of Joe, but Matt Reeves has delivered an inventive and occasionally extraordinary film that incorporates elements of some great “contemporary” Batman comic book story lines and motifs. (Batman Year One, The Long Halloween, Cooke and Brubraker’s Catwoman, et al.)
It’s nice to see the world’s greatest detective actually detecting again.
The cast is superb. Robert Pattinson as Batman was excellent. I didn’t much care for his emo version of Bruce Wayne, but we hardly see him in the Bruce persona anyway. (He also wins for best bat-jawline). Zoe Kravitz and Paul Dano are also excellent, and Colin Farrell as the Robert DeNiro/Al Capone (Untouchables) version of the Penguin was good fun. He definitely has enthusiasms.
Jeffrey Wright as “Lt. Gordon” also great.
As for the story — I didn’t think it would be possible to incorporate Catwoman, Riddler and Penguin into one film without creating a bit of a mess; but the filmmakers made it work, and it worked pretty well.
And of course, developing the Riddler character as a serial killer is amazingly effective. Those real-life maniacs are always writing letters and taunting law enforcement so it was more than a logical character choice. Much of the first act of the film channels David Fincher’s Se7en and Zodiac. (Later on, it throws in elements of LA Confidential and Chinatown for good measure.)
As for the scarred side of the Two-Face coin?:
Upping the ante on Gotham as a modern Sodom and Gomorrah is wearying, even when done well. Why does anyone with more than 50 cents to their name live there? What the hell is the draw? It rains all the damn time, the nights last 16 hours or more, and it apparently has the most ineffective police force in urban history. It’s clearly the most dangerous and corrupt city in the USA, and it makes NYC in the 70s seem like a gleaming paradise. It’s becoming its own cliché.
(I’m beginning to think Ra’s al Ghul was right. Wipe Gotham off the map and start over.)
And riddle me this? Why are the non-“rouges gallery” villains always portrayed as one-dimensional cartoon characters? From Burton to Nolan to Reeves: The mobsters in these films are mostly not believable as mobsters. (Not to mention the cops, especially “senior management.” Also cartoons.)
And the bodies… just keep piling up… and up… and up. Maybe someone should call the state police. Or the FBI. Or… anyone.
As for the length of the film…
“I’m sorry I wrote you such a long letter. I didn’t have time to write you a short one.” – Blaise Pascal.
Seriously… it needed to be 20-30 minutes shorter. Do that and I think you not only have a terrific “superhero film”, but also a much more effective film, period. (No offense, it’s not the Godfather, which clocks in at about the same length.) And I would have watched the “extended” version on HBO a year from now anyway.
One final thought. A few film critics and fans have called this movie a “film noir.”
Nope.
Does it contain some of the tropes? Of course it does. So do a lot of films. (The whole dark and rainy thing again.) But, In actuality, you could argue the Batman’s arc in this film is the complete opposite of a film noir.
If it really was a noir, Batman would have completely fallen for Catwoman, done something really stupid because of his infatuation, and ended up floating face down in Wayne Manor’s swimming pool or dying in a hail of bullets.
Or, conversely, Bats would have done something “heroic” on Catwoman’s behalf that ultimately causes her to end up in a pool of her own blood.
And, spoiler alert (ok, I fibbed) they’re both alive at the end of the film.
Batman Adventures #8, May 1993 & Batman Adventures #13, October 1993
Two great pages from the late Mike Parobeck wrap up our 2021 celebration of “Batman Day.”
As I’ve written previously, I was a big fan of Mike’s work; he was terrifically gifted from the start. Most of his art shares the same terrific qualities: Simple. Clear. Clean. Powerful.
He died much, much too early from diabetes at age 31.
September 18 was DC’s annual “Batman Day.” Although not exactly a national holiday, DC and Warner have used the occasion to commemorate the caped crusader and launch and market new products around the event.
So, as in the past two years, we continue to honor the celebration with the rest of the month’s posts devoted to The Dark Knight….
Bob Hall launches the new Millennium with a pretty cool Batman graphic Novel, Batman DOA.
Infected with a lethal virus unleashed by the deadly trio of Joker, Penguin and Two-Face, the rapidly deteriorating Batman has only 24 hours left to live… precious little time (as they say) to find a cure andrescue a kidnapped little girl whose life is on the same timetable. Its over-arching plotline (and title) is borrowed from the classic 1950 film noir “DOA” — albeit (spoiler alert) with a much happier ending.
Bob had already delved into a Frank Miller Sin City art style in the late 90s with his own creation Armed and Dangerous for Acclaim / Valiant/ Armada Comics. Although it was occasionally a bit too derivative for my own tastes, it was definitely evolving, and I would have liked to see more material in this vein. He ultimately did a few more comics before he mostly retired from the industry to focus on playwriting and theatre directing.
Bob Hall’s noir creation Armed and Dangerous borrowed generously from Frank Miller’s Sin City.
Edmond O’Brien in the absolute classic film noir DOA (1950).
Batman / Superman / Wonder Woman: Trinity #2, September 1993
September 18 was DC’s annual “Batman Day.” Although not exactly a national holiday, DC and Warner have used the occasion to commemorate the caped crusader and launch and market new products around the event.
Batman shows off his typically charming personality — to Wonder Woman and Superman — in this iconic bat-panel from Matt Wagner’s Trinity 2004 series.
(And the Amazon princess is not amused.)
The overarching plot of this deluxe three-parter involves Ra’s al Ghul enlisting Bizarro to create… well, chaos.
But the critical (and very entertaining) theme of the title is how DC”s three iconic heroes reconcile their personality and philosophy differences and figure out a way to work together without defeating each other, instead of the bad guys.
Last Saturday (September 18) was DC’s annual “Batman Day.” Although not exactly a national holiday, DC and Warner have used the occasion to commemorate the caped crusader and launch and market new products around the event.
So, as in the past two years, we continue to honor the celebration with the rest of the month’s posts devoted to The Dark Knight….
Here’s a terrific page by the late, great Don Newton, who drew some of my favorite Batman stories of the era.
Newton made turned complex stories into smooth storytelling, and he always accomplished it with quality draftsmanship and artistic flair.
This was yet another early find for me when I came back to original art collecting about 15 years ago.
Newton passed away much too young just shy of fifty, felled by a heart attack in 1984.
This past Saturday (September 18) was DC’s annual “Batman Day.” Although not exactly a national holiday, DC and Warner have used the occasion to commemorate the caped crusader and launch and market new products around the event.
So, as in the past two years, we continue to honor the celebration with the rest of the month’s posts devoted to The Dark Knight….
This Tom Mandrake Batman page was among the first pieces of original art I acquired when I re-entered collecting again about 15 years ago.
In many ways, it’s the perfect Batman page. It’s dark and moody, and Batman is actually “detecting”, something his many writers occasionally forget is actually one of his primary skills.
Mandrake delivers some knockout art in this issue. And Sam Kieth’s terrific cover is the cherry on top.
Detective in the first panel, and Dark Knight mysteriously swooping over the wrecked car in the last. Yes, definitely pretty perfect.
Today, Saturday, September 18, is DC’s annual “Batman Day.” Although not exactly a national holiday, DC and Warner have used the occasion to commemorate the caped crusader and launch and market new products around the event.
So, as in the past two years, we continue to honor the celebration with the rest of the month’s posts devoted to The Dark Knight… and a special doubleheader todayfrom a unique Batman story.
In more than eighty years of Batman stories, there is nothing quite like Paul Dini’s Vertigo graphic novel, based on a brutal mugging that happened to him personally in 1993: Batman and the rogues gallery become imaginary voices helping and hindering Dini’s state of mind as he attempts to physically and emotionally recover from the horrific beating.
Listening to Paul describe the incident in detail on a podcast at the time of the book’s publication was harrowing.
And the art pages, while gorgeous from start to finish, took an initial emotional toll on the Emmy-winning writer. As he told the Hollywood Reporter in 2015:
“When I first downloaded the pages from the attack, I looked at them very quickly once, horrified. Then I put them away for a week,” Dini recalls. “I burst into tears. I couldn’t look at them.”
The two-page sequence here, which I acquired last year, is a critical part of the story. (The pages are even specifically called out on Wikipedia). The “imaginary” Joker taunts Dini’s misery, until Batman shows up in the final panel of the sequence, and dispatching the clown prince of crime, tells Dini to stop feeling sorry himself, and get back to work.
Fortunately, for him (and us), get back to work he did.
