Concluding our 70th celebration of Superman and Batman (Robin, too) teaming up for the first time.
Why so serious?
Why, indeed.
DC has typically been afraid of too much humor in its traditional superhero storytelling. Frightening flashbacks to Batman ’66, in all likelihood.
But somehow, management green lit this great “Bizarro” graphic novel anthology, lovingly edited by my longtime* pal Joey Cavalieri, and featuring alternative interpretations of the world’s greatest superheroes.
I considered it a home run, and obviously others did as well because it’s an Eisner and Harvey winner, and an acknowledged classic. (They had me at the Matt Groening cover.)
Evan Dorkin (Milk and Cheese) wrote a few of the stories, and drew this one as well. I smile every time I look at it.
*Fun Fact: I’ve know Joey 50 years. And if tell you I KNEW he would be a star in the comics and/or animation field way back then, well, you can trust me on this.
Our third annual Halloween tribute continues now through October 31.
Ash Wood has accomplished much in his career, but I still miss his trippy interior comic art. As clearly exemplified here.
And Ghost Rider 2099? That was the easily the trippiest of the 2099 Universe, spearheaded by my long-time pal Joey Cavalieri.
Most of the 2099 material has yet to be collected, but given the passionate enthusiasm in 90s comic art material of late, it won’t surprise me if an omnibus or two is coming our way shortly.
(I’d buy the Ghost Rider material just to revisit the art — even if I’m still not entirely sure I could explain the narrative clearly.)
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).
Continuing our celebration of the 80th anniversary of The Spirit, with additional creators’ takes on the beloved and influential character.
David Hine (Spider-Man Noir) authors a clever tale where pretty much every page is a splash — with the Spirit title included as part of the art. John Paul Leon hits the concept out of the park successfully homaging Will Eisner’s original brilliant splash pages with innovations of his own.
On this page, the final one of the story, Leon perhaps finds inspiration for the logo from 1946 — from the classic tale, “The Man Who Killed The Spirit” AKA “The Last Trolley.”
Fun fact: This issue — and this entire series — was edited by the ultra-talented Joey Cavalieri, a pal of mine for nearly 50 years. Joey and I first met as kids hunting down comics in the candy stores, newsstands and luncheonettes of the lovely seaside town of Long Beach, New York.
Variations on a theme: The original 1946 Spirit strip with the blowing letters — and two later (and slightly different) reprint versions.
