[Stu]

Yeah, I just think that would be funny.

[Batman]

Jim Aparo

Jim Aparo drew a page a day, pencils, inks, and letters. His start at DC was drawing Aquaman in 1968, but he switched to the Brave and the Bold, a Batman team-up book, in 1971. He drew Batman books almost without a break from 1971 till 1993. His art is just as amazing as that of artists like Adams or Marshall Rogers or Dave Mazzuchelli who made a big splash but then quickly disappeared. (Or more so.) There's just a lot more of it. His Batman is probably the definitive Batman. Beyond that, his pages are simply a visceral pleasure to look at.

Here, look at the pretty pictures:















Links: Aparo at wiki and lambiek. Obits at art&artifice and comics101.

[Stu]

"I'm not a murderer Jim, just a vandal!"


Ra's' non-reaction to that disguise proves he's a lunatic.

[Batman]

stu said:

"I'm not a murderer Jim, just a vandal!"

Well, and then there's two counts of assault and battery on a police officer, resisting arrest, and obstruction of justice.

Ra's' non-reaction to that disguise proves he's a lunatic.

Well, yes. That and committing suicide in order to frame Batman for his own murder. Now that's coldblooded.

But didn't you read that Ra's was "expecting" him?

"Yes, I knew that you'd break into prison to confront me, and put a guard's uniform over your costume, so that from a distance you would seem to blend in, but if anyone saw you close up they wouldn't wonder, 'why is Bruce Wayne wearing a prison guard uniform?' Yes, it was all part of my plan. Mwuhahaha!"

[salmonjunkie]

sergeial said:

To-MAY-yo, to-MAH-to. I feel I should point out that's not supposed to actually be Batman, but the demonic conception of Batman of an artist within the story. Henry Flint drew the inside pages of the "comic within a comic" and they are also insanely cool. Those three issues are well worth picking up if you happen upon them.

Actually, the Joker looks awful on that one cover, IMO.

That 2nd Kane cover is awesome, especially considering the time it came from. Already, Bats is established as a dark hero.

[Batman]

I agree, that's a good'un. And (as has been mentioned) one that's been homaged more than once.

I really like the Sprang cover where they're working on the car.



Batman & Robin: gearheads extraordinaire!

I hate it when the writers decide, "Well, gee! He's a great detective, scientist, acrobat, disguise artist, escape artist, and martial artist. It would just be too unlikely for him to be a mechanic as well."

[Lucky]

salmonjunkie said:

sergeial said:

Actually, the Joker looks awful on that one cover, IMO.

Apparently Joker feels that the best defense against the Bathound is by snapping his own neck. And boy does Batgirl's positioning seem natural. And anyone see the eyes on Batman's victim in the 1st cover? And his jazz hands? And the fact that Batman's blast appears to be rotating him sideways?

I gotta say Serg, those Sprang covers (the Modern ones, not the old ones) strike me as the sort of redundant '90s tripe I'd expect you to dislike. Only there's a Golden Age feel to it.

[Stu]

salmonjunkie said:

That 2nd Kane cover is awesome, especially considering the time it came from. Already, Bats is established as a dark hero.

The Batman of that time was a killer too, and shot criminals, threw them off roofs, and (in something I saw flicking through the Batman Chronicles once) strung them up with a noose! Also more comically, I saw him throw a vase a guy, which make him stumble backwards and fall out off the window.

[Batman]

Marshall Rogers

Rogers only drew a few issues in 1977 and 1978, but his run is still remembered with great fondness. He is often mentioned in the same breath with Adams as the great Batman artists of the 70s. (Because people take Aparo for granted. But, still . . .) He brought a pop-art sensibility to Batman's art, which had been dominated by Adams-inspired photo-realism for years.











The team behind those issues (Rogers, along with writer Steve Englehart and inker Terry Austin) returned for a sequel in the late 90s. It was not very well received, (likely due to excessively-high expectations) but the art was still pretty darn good.





Links: Rogers at wiki and lambiek. Obit at comics101.

[Batman]

Lucky:

Unmitigated tripe -



Acquired taste -

[Stu]

Elite assassin Deadshot can't handle some cops by himself?
Great art. I read Dark Detective, and thought the story for it was a bit weak, and it was confusing where it was supposed to be in continuity (Atkins was still commish and Batman was wanted by the police, but Harvey was Two Face, two things that are inconsistent with each other).

[Lucky]

Well I never called it Liefeld bad. But if you like the Golden Age stuff I guess you like weird ass Golden Age perspectives and proportions with Modern Age colorization and detail.

[Batman]

Frank Miller

Now we have come to one Batman artist who needs no introduction. Miller is probably the most famed comic book creator of modern times.

Almost everyone claims that his Dark Knight Returns (1986) and Batman: Year One (1987) returned Batman to his dark, gritty roots and finally threw off the campiness and gimmicks of the Batman TV show. It's funny, because I could have sworn that actually happened almost 20 years before that, right? Or had Batman gradually slipped back to camp in the intervening years? Well, here's one of the last issues (with art by Tom Mandrake) before Frank Miller's makeover.



Yep. . . . an axe and a shrunken head--very campy and light-hearted. But Frank Miller's take on Batman did bring more media and mainstream popular culture attention to Batman than the character had had in years. I think that a lot of people became aware of a Batman other than Adam West's Sock! Pow! version for the first time ever, and just assumed that diverging from that image was Miller's innovation. I don't mean to take anything away from Miller, though. Even though his take on Batman wasn't such a great departure in tone as reputed, he brought genius, (and not just competence) to Batman for the first time in a number of years.

One other misconception that I suspect is common: "Miller drew Batman thick and stocky 'cause he didn't know how to draw him right, 'cause he totally sucks." Evidence in Miller's defense:



So yes, he was perfectly capable of drawing Batman more traditionally. But in the Dark Knight Returns we got a thicker, middle-aged Batman. Who kicked ass.



Superman's ass.



Who doesn't want to see that? Also DKR did a great job of projecting what Batman might be like as an older man, and each issue had a great final confrontation: first with Two-Face, then a random (but tough) thug, then with Joker, and finally with Superman, as pictured above.

Some more images from DKR:







He followed up this perfect tale of Batman's end with an equally on-the-money take on his beginning. But he didn't draw that one himself, so that's a story for next time.

Links: Wiki and lambiek.

[Stu]

DKR done for the second Dini/Timm Batman Animated Series:
uk.youtube.com/watch?v=9nZa4XInp6A

[Lucky]

Yeah, I always kinda figured that DKR Batman was stocky because he was old. Unable to keep the sleep build he added muscle and got bulkier. Gave up agility for strength. Kinda like how a baseball fan might see Roger Clemens.

[Batman]

That's exactly what I was thinking! (Other than the reference to a specific athlete. I don't know enough about sports to have been able to point out a specific example.)

[Batman]

I came across this completely by accident while I was looking for a little more art to add to my Frank Miller profile:



How freaking cool is that? (Yes, I know you don't like it, Lucky.)

I did a little research, and not only is that genuine Bob Kane art, (and not a ghost,) but that's the mechanical T-Rex that later ends up in the Batcave trophy room!

I'm going to go add this to my Kane profile now.

[Batman]

I think adherents.com is pretty silly--speculating about the religion of fictional characters. But you can find some awfully nice scans there. I've added a few pieces of art to my Miller profile.

[Batman]

Dave Mazzucchelli

After telling the quintessential tale of Batman's end, Miller decided to tackle his beginning, too. But this time, he only wrote the story, and brought in a relative newcomer to handle the art. Miller and Mazzucchelli had just finished a celebrated run on Daredevil, but "Year One" ended up overshadowing that.

"They're both awesome, but which is more awesome, DKR or 'Year One'?" is a debate that often comes up among geeks. I love DKR, but to me, there is no question that "Year One" is the sine qua non. These two pages probably had a bigger impact on me than any others ever:





Keep in mind, Mazzucchelli only ever drew four issues of Batman. Yet his influence is still seen in the visual approach towards Batman of artists as acclaimed as Tim Sale and Matt Wagner to this day.

More images from "Year One":









Links: Wiki and lambiek.

[Batman]

Norm Breyfogle

Breyfogle drew Batman from 1987 to 1995. He was pretty damn good. Sorry, I'm running out of things to say about Batman artists.

Look, pictures!





His first cover is still my favorite:











Links: Wiki and lambiek.

[Batman]

Mike Parobek

Parobeck did almost all of his Batman art on Batman Adventures, a title that was intended for younger readers based on the popular animated series.



He took over the art with issue 7 in 1993, and drew almost every issue until health issues forced him to drop it with issue 36 in late '95. He had been diagnosed with Type I Diabetes. In retrospect, his friends theorize that he just didn't have the right temperament for the strict regimen needed to manage this disease. He was dead within a year.

I can imagine quite a case can be made against him being an all-time great. Sadly, his career wasn't long enough; his best-known work was based on someone else's character designs--Bruce Timm's animated take on the Batman mythos; his style went against the grain of his times. To me, the impressive thing is the impact he made, and how fondly his work is remembered, in spite of all of those things. I have no doubt that if he had lived, his place as one of the all-timers would be indisputable. Personally, I think he belongs in that pantheon anyway.

Examples of his work:

This is from one of his first issues of Batman Adventures.





That's one of the most exciting, dynamic two-page spreads I've ever seen.

This moody, cinematic sequence is from near the end of his run.







A few covers:







Links: Wiki and lambiek. Obit at Newsarama.

[Batman]

OK, I'm done.

Whew!

If I've skipped anyone who you feel is worthy of consideration as greatest Batman artist, please post some pictures, like Stu did for Tim Sale.

[Stu]

I was under the impression you were going to do Jim Lee?

[Batman]

I was going to. He's certainly the defining look of Batman today.

But after doing twelve Batman artist profiles in two days, I said to hell with it. Let someone who is actually a fan of his take on Batman do it.

[OpTard]

you talked about millar, but what about mazzucceli? he only did 4 issus, but he did as much to define batman's look as miller did to define his story.