[Batman]

Neal Adams




vs.

Jim Aparo





We could have gotten old school vs. new school in the finals, but old school managed to triumph in both semis. I hope that doesn't keep the supporters of the new school away from the finals. It's true that Aparo and Adams have a lot in common. They both have a primarily photo-realistic style, and they both got their start on Batman in that late-60s/early-70s period that was a creative low-point for most superhero comics, but a peak for Batman's titles.

But they have a lot of differences, too. Adams was the genius who turned the Batman franchise on its head with just a handful of brilliant stories, but all too soon moved on to other pursuits. Aparo was the underrated workman, unfairly dismissed as derivative of Adams, who helped define the look of Batman for multiple generations of readers with a record-setting run on his titles.

This is for all the marbles, so vote up, bitches!!!

[The Jewish Cunthead]

Serg, who do you want to win?

[Batman]

This is an awesome final. Either of these guys would be a great champ of Batman Artists. I ranked Aparo higher on my ballot, but I haven't voted yet. I think I need to think about it. I posted a lot of each of these guys' art in the threads of their previous rounds. Look it over and make a call, I don't want to influence anybody, because these two guys are really very evenly matched.

[The Jewish Cunthead]

Damn it, I was hoping to piss off one of you geeks.

Uhhh Aparo it is.

[Jack Quinn]

pfffft loser

its obviously Adams

if you don't realize that, they you can just go back to reading your Archie & Friends comics

[Stu]

Been trying to find the alternate page Aparo did for if Jason had lived through Death in the Family (later got used in Batman Annual #25), because the smile Batman has in it is scary, but I can't.

[Batman]

Wow, Neal Adams is poised to win this, despite the fact that I haven't been able to find a single good example of his interior art. Well, that's finally changed.

For comparison's sake, here's the crappy airbrushed look:



And here's the same page with the original flat color:



Isn't that better?

When Adams was up against Lee, I wanted to counter Stu's post of a Batman/Ra's swordfight with the original Batman/Ra's swordfight, but I couldn't find it. Well, now I have it:







Here's Neal Adams's take on the old "Who I Am and How I Came To Be":




. . . with a quick three-panel Robin origin thrown in for good measure!

Batman fights a leopard:



Batman fights Ubu:



You can easily imagine the same guy saying "this isn't a mud-pit, this is an operating table."

Batman and Ra's go mountain climbing:



The first appearance of the Lazurus Pit:



I raved about "Night of the Reaper," here are some highlights:













I voted Aparo, I could make a case for Aparo, but I have to admit, Adams was a freakin' genius back then.

[Batman]

I think Aparo doesn't get all the credit he should because the bulk of his career was spent on Brave & the Bold and Outsiders, which are by their nature lighter in tone, and not as moody and noir-ish as Batman's solo books. He didn't become the regular artist on a Batman solo book till 1987. Here's a few pages from some of the few solo Batman stories he did earlier in his career:




Wordless pages are always nice for showcasing an artist's storytelling.


Check out Batman and Gordon backlit by the moon in panel 3. Nice and moody.




Wow, a bad guy that takes Scott Evil's advice. "I have a gun, in my room . . ." Still didn't work, of course.

I doubt this is going to win Aparo enough votes to overtake Adams, but I figure it's my last chance.

[Stu]

2 Cracktacular covers.
Adams:

Aparo:

[Batman]

That B&B cover looks like Cardy to me. I'll check.

Nope. Irv Novick. I was right that it wasn't Adams, though.

Here's some Neal Adams on crack for ya, though:

[Stu]

That's no way to talk to the man who taught you how to box.
We really need some miniseries or something about Bruce's years of training.

[Batman]

Well there are four people who voted last round who haven't voted in this one. (creepyjackalopeeye, Loki, Pun, wld, mrjustinb) The leader has a five vote lead. So I don't think there's much chance of the outcome being affected. But some of you may want to vote just to show your preference for one or the other, so I'll keep it open for one more day. (Actually, I take it back. Lots of people never check this site on the weekends, so I think I'll make Monday the last day.)

Time is running out to make your vote count towards choosing the all-time greatest Batman artist: Neal Adams? Or Jim Aparo?

[JayBee]

Yeah, I'm kinda split here.

Looks like it's in the bag anyways. I'll vote for the underdog just to keep it close.

[Batman]

Oh, I almost forgot. That was just Adams's run on Batman. Here are some of his more outstanding pages from his run on Detective Comics:

Batman faces another death-trap:



First appearance of Man-Bat:





Batman fights the night-vision robbers:



Batman versus yet another death-trap:

[Batman]

I wasn't planning to post any more Adams or Aparo, but then I came across an awesome Aparo-drawn tale in an issue of Batman Family from the late 70s. The villain is a young, handsome athlete who is disfigured in an accident, and becomes so embittered that he decides to disfigure other "beautiful people." Oddly, this is almost the exact same premise as Osamu Tezuka's Alabaster. This can only be a coincidence since--outside of Astro Boy--Tezuka's work was almost entirely unknown and untranslated in the English speaking world then.

The story concludes with this awesome twist:



Shades of Lee & Kirby's Dr. Doom origin, foreshadowing of Miller's take on Two-Face. Fuckin' A. And perfectly conveyed by Aparo's storytelling, naturally.

[Lucky]

I apparently just tuned out for this showdown. Sorry for that, Serg. Not your showdown, I've been tuning out to them all of late. Burned out.

But it doesn't look like it mattered. And honestly? I can not for the life of me tell the difference between the two. I read both, I like both. I just wouldn't guess it was 2 different artists from anything on this page.

And that airbrushed page looks horrible. Hate that shit.

[Batman]

You're right, they have a lot more in common than most of the artists in this showdown. They both fall under photo-realism, but Adams uses a lot more dramatic close-ups so that he can really show off how photo-realistic his faces are. Where Aparo will use dramatic back-lighting to create big swathes of negative space, Adams uses more crosshatching.

luckylopez said:

And that airbrushed page looks horrible. Hate that shit.

Well, there's something we agree on. Glad I finally found the original flat color version. It's a great page, I love the way Batman's forceful gesture cuts out of his panel--but the re-coloring just wrecks it.

Anyhow Adams wins and is the king of Batman artists. Truly a worthy winner to an exciting showdown with lots of surprises and epic battles. Thanks for playing, everybody!

Winner: Neal Adams!

[Stu]

It's a great page, I love the way Batman's forceful gesture cuts out of his panel--but the re-coloring just wrecks it.

The image always makes me think he's singing a bit of Voodoo Chile
"#Well, I stand up next to a mountain
And I chop it down with the edge of my hand" ;D

[Batman]

You should make a photoshop of that. "Then, in Calcutta I STAND UP NEXT TO A MOUNTAIN!"

Man, it's weird that this is over. I've grown accustomed to having a reason to talk about the great Batman artists on pretty much a daily basis.