Michael Keaton is trending this week because of the Oscars “Batman” moment between him and Arnold Schwarzenegger/ Danny DeVito this past Sunday.
Many of the comments discuss Keaton being the “best” Batman.
Now, as I’ve said previously, I never loved the way his face looked in that original cowl. That’s partly the fault of the costume, and perhaps partly Keaton’s face shape. And the resulting style guide art was… not great.
That said —
Keaton is still the most enjoyable version of Bruce Wayne on screen. By far.
Keaton’s Wayne is both charming and offbeat. He’s very self-aware, has a sense of a humor and charisma, but still on the edge — likely bordering on psychotic. He provides many, many shades to the Wayne persona. His main scene with Bassinger and Wuhl is one of the great moments from the first film.
And hilariously, the whole “Keaton is the best Batman” thread is one of the most ironic critiques in entertainment history.
Why? Because even without the Internet and social media, the trolls managed to make so much negative noise about Keaton cast as Batman in Tim Burton’s 1989 feature.
“The guy from Beetlejuice? Seriously?”
The long knives were out for Burton, Warner Brothers, DC, and pretty much anyone and everyone associated with film prior to release.
Seriously, I don’t how the casting would have survived if social media had existed in 1988.
Which reminds us of the late, great William Goldman’s classic comment:
I was a huge fan of the Planet of the Apes Franchise, and when I first saw the promo image (The Comics Reader, probably) for the cover of issue #1, I became miffed.
Why would Jack rip off POTA? Was the King finally out of original ideas?
Ah to be that young and foolish again. Kamandi quickly became a favorite. And little did I know that the Statue of Liberty “end of human civilization trope was already a SF trope by the time Rod Serling incorporated into his brilliant POTA screenplay. (See below.)
And, if you’re going to end human civilization with one breed of animals develop advanced intelligence, why not do it with all of them.
Heh.
That’s why the King is the King.
And, it gets better. Turns out Jack was incorporating some similar ideas he had previously used in a short story in Alarming Tales, 15 years prior to Kamandi. (Also, see below.)
So, what did I know? Not much, apparently. Like I said, to be that young and foolish again.
This page is the final issue Mike Royer inked, and the first that D Bruce Berry (working apprentice style) had a hand in. He took over solo the following issue. Tom Kraft of the Jack Kirby Museum believes both worked on this specific page.
Kamandi, apes and tigers — all on one page. What more could I ask for?
Now, or then.
A post apocalyptic and buried (land or water) Statue of Liberty had appeared at least three times prior to the first POTA film. (I’m not exactly sure when the reprint of After The Rain first appeared, but the cover art is much stronger this time around.)A destroyed Statue has appeared countless times since Planet of Apes.Before and after comics; the dreadful Mighty Samson (1965) & John Byrne’s Doomsday + 1 (1975) cover that pays homage to Kirby and POTA.Kirby’s original tale (pun intended) of advanced animal species fighting. with each other in a post apocalyptic world first appeared in Harvey’s Alarming Tales #1 (1957.)
Nothing pleases an editor (and publisher) more than when a creative team gels in such a way that they define a character(s) for a long time, and deliver consistently quality storytelling issue after issue.
The readers, obviously, notice.
Case in point: Writer Peter Tomasi, penciller Patrick Gleason and inker Mick Gray delivered a great run on Batman and Robin during the “New 52” period.
(They had actually created a cool three-parter in the “Batman Reborn” period prior. So many eras, so little time.)
This page is the phenomenal closing splash from a prequel “zero” issue featuring the full origin of Damien Wayne, the (genetically-engineered) offspring of Bruce Wayne and Talia al Ghul. As you can see from the published page, this is the first time father and son meet.
The composition and use of negative space work seamlessly. Batman looks pissed, and the much-smaller Damien isn’t intimidated at all upon meeting his legendary father.
Giants. Annuals. King-Size Specials. It didn’t matter what you called them, but for 25 cents I was all in.
The DC oversize reprints appeared frequently when I was a kid. And I had no regular access to back issues until later on, so these definitely scratched the “classics” itch.
This Gil Kane Batman page comes from a short “bookend” story tying the theme of the reprints together.
I don’t think DC used this bookending approach all that often.
It’s always nice to pick up a page from a story you specifically remember well. It tweaks the Batman origin a bit, although I’m pretty sure this specific thread was never picked up again.
And Silver Age Kane Batman pages are a rarity in themselves. (Although he did draw some Batgirl back-up stories, which often featured Batman as well.)
(The story itself has never been reprinted elsewhere, a challenge with many DC comics of the same period.)
Batman and Spectre in the same issue with Kelley Jones on pencils? You KNOW some weirdness is most definitely in store.
Sign me up.
Jones (with writer Doug Moench of course) channels some of the classic sadistically vengeful Fleisher and Aparo Spectre in this issue — the second part of a two-part story. This wraith is not fooling around. (You can see why the infamous Comics Code Authority was completely meaningless at this point.)
And let’s just say Batman and Spectre disagree about a few things. Like capital punishment. And eternal Hell. Those sorts of things.
Terrific art team (John Beatty on inks), terrific page. Overall, a great run of Batman.
Continuing our art showcase in honor of the annual “Batman Day.”
Gene Colan was a perfect choice for Batman.
Dark, moody noir? Check.
Acrobatics that defy the laws of physics? Check.
Shadowy forays into the supernatural and horrific? Check.
Gene had left Marvel after some heated disagreements with EIC Jim Shooter, and drew a number of titles for DC, but Batman was easily the best and most logical of the group.
This title page comes from his team-up with writer Doug Moench, following tales he created with Gerry Conway. It was interesting era for Batman, and included Batman’s return to the Wayne manor and his original Batcave for the first time in more than 10 years.
Colan had helped Bruce make the move back a few years prior to this moody splash page.
Today is officially “Batman Day”, so here is a gallery of all the Batman images published prior to this year’s celebration. Click on any name to see larger images and the original post.
Graham Nolan delivers an action-packed three-panel page from the peak period of the his and Chuck Dixon’ Batman run in the early 90s. This is of course the same dynamic duo that brought us the supervillain Bane a year earlier.
(I still break into a cold sweat from that page where Bane breaks Batman’s back. But I digress.)
I’m fascinated that 100 percent horizontal panel layouts took such a long time to become more commonplace, especially given the frequent storytelling relationship between comic books and film. Although Hollywood introduced widescreen in the 50s (a marketing ploy primarily to lure audiences away from their TV sets) the square format panel was standard for many years.
Now of course the horizontal panel layout is ubiquitous, but even in 1993 it stood out among the crowd. And this one specifically is a dynamic example of how it can enhance the action.
(All The Batman books had “Zero” issues as part of the broader Zero Hour DC crossover event.)
Fun fact #1:
The first bar I ever (illegally) hung out at as a kid in my Long Island hometown was built by Graham’s grandfather — who had sold it by then. (Pub still there, by the way, hopefully it will survive Covid.)
Fun fact #2:
My pal Joey Cavalieri and I both had an English HS teacher who was a classic barfly at said bar. (Good teacher though).
Here’s a splashy Neal Adams page from his fourth overall Batman story.
As always, Neal’s facial emotions are spot on. I love Bork’s smug face, Commissioner Gordon’s shocked expression, and Batman’s frustration with the entire situation. The body language on all the characters on the page also adds drama to the storytelling.
Vince Colletta was the first inker on the story, and Neal wasn’t happy with the results so he and Dick Giordano re-inked some of it. You can see some corrections on this page, and others in the story, when viewing scans of the original art.
Neal Adams Batman from the Silver Age — Definitely pleased to own this one.
Green Arrow is back on the air (CW) for its eighth and final season, so before the emerald archer fades into the TV sunset, we’re focusing a few posts on Green Arrow originals.
Neal Adams had a big year for DC in 2016. In addition to a themed-cover month in February, Neal started drawing the variant covers for the Green Arrow Rebirth series ands drew 17 in a row. Not too shabby, and pretty appropriate, since he created the first Green Arrow “rebirth” 50 years ago.
With a semi-monthly schedule, Neal suddenly had a lot of covers. And… a lot of deadlines. So, most of the covers are inked by others.
This specific Adams cover — paying tribute to the Mike Grell reboot of the character in 1987’s Longbow Hunters — is inked by the talented (and underrated) Sandra Hope. The inks are terrific, very complimentary to Neal’s style; you’ll get no argument from Neal himself, who revisited and praised the inks last week at NYCC.
That’s the easy part. The more difficult side of the equation? It’s inked on a “blue-line” copy of Neal’s pencils. DC sent a digital scan to Sandra, who then printed it out, inked it, scanned it and then sent it back to DC for colors and final production. When you absolutely, positively have to have it overnight, forget FedEx. Digital is the wave of the present.
Now this version is the printed cover, no argument from anyone. (DC added Neal’s and Sandra’s signature digitally to the final published version.) But here’s the rub: The pencils themselves exist on a separate board. Neal has kept them or sold them — doesn’t really matter for this discussion. They exist separately. There are technically no Adams “pencils” on this page.
This subject drives many art dealers (especially those that specialize in vintage material) — and some collectors (ditto) — absolutely bananas. They prefer, and I think most of us do, the pencils and inks on the same board. Blue-lines, gray-lines, whatever, for many it reeks as “incomplete” if the inks are rendered over pencil copies. After all, it’s the penciller’s illustration that sets the stage for the inker.
But… it’s 2019. Digital is a way of life. We’re fortunate that any material is still created the “traditional” way. And comics are now truly an international profession — we may be dealing with a penciller in Brazil and a separate inker in Romania. No amount of priority shipping is going to solve that deadline crunch.
So yes, I absolutely still prefer a Jack Kirby page that has Mike Royer inks rendered directly over jack’s original pencils. Or, a Steve Ditko original where I can see the faint pencil lines of his original layouts. Etc.
And I respect that pages with pencils and inks both should, and will always, command a premium price.
But 20 years from now, a kid who loved, say, the Ivan Reis / Joe Prado Man of Steel #1 cover is going to grow up to be a Wall Street financier. Or a successful Hollywood producer. And he’s going to want the original of the published cover, and not care one whit that Joe inked the cover from Ivan’s digital scan. By then, practically everything will be digital, and hand-drawn original comic book art will be a scarce commodity.
And… a killer published cover… is still a killer published cover.
