No real preamble for this particular blog entry, aside from one quick mention; I've yet to catch up with another episode or two, but my BIGGEST television surprise is how genuinely entertaining CW's "The Flash" is! I probably should've mentioned this more for yesterday's entry, detailing the media infusion of comics into television and films, but I had to rediscover my "blog voice" for that entry above all else. For the current television offerings that are comic-based, "The Flash" feels the MOST genuine in its love and appreciation for it's comic-bookiness. Super-villains, a hero that BRAZENLY wears his costume, lots of fun tidbits thrown out to long-time DC fans, and a cast that seems to really "get" the comic book tone equals a true highlight for me! It has me curious about wanting to check out the back catalog of "Arrow" episodes, even! (Brief notes on the other offerings: I'm STILL not 100% sold on "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D", but I'll give the Agent Carter series a shot when that launches. I've given a pass on "Gotham" after the first two episodes. And I've not dipped my toes into "Constantine" as of yet.)
Before this year ends, I REALLY want to come up with an appropriate 75th anniversary set of postings about this particular character. But this will require still a bit of study, so expect an in-depth two-part pro and con posting on today's character to come in December, more likely than not. BUT for a sneak peek, I wanted to do a lil' something special as a sampler platter for this year's comic book birthday boy. Y'see, in 2013 we celebrated Superman's 75th birthday... or at least those of us that LOVE the character did. I'm STILL not sure if the company that even HOSTS Superman as part of their universe, DC, gave much of a rip about Kal-El's milestone. But of COURSE their second major company success gets the "red carpet" approach. (I don't mean to sound grouchy about it, but geez... It sometimes feels like today's character has a birthday EVERY year, based on how much love he receives from fans and creators, alike.) But whereas we all know about the contributions of such artists to his legacy like Neal Adams, Jim Aparo, Frank Miller, Greg Capullo, and EVEN Jim Lee, I wanted to provide you readers with a spotlight on artists that don't OFTEN get enough positive word-of-mouth for their visits to the alleyways of Gotham City. Artists that seem to be neglected for their criminal profiles they provided for Commissioner James Gordon. Artists we shall look at today, for their highlight runs on the Dark Knight Detective... the Batman!
Don Newton- This mention is a BIT of a cheat, because Newton's legacy on Batman is not as "forgotten" as others may think. Recently DC published a hardcover collection of Don Newton's contributions to both the "Batman" and "Detective Comics" titles. Heck, I even recently read an issue of "The Brave and the Bold" that was graced by Newton's artwork! What made his Batman so memorable was that he carried over the dynamics of the 70's feel of the character, and gave Batman a definitive polish. Newton's Batman was a certifiable lean, mean, detective-and-fighting machine! And Batman wasn't the ONLY beneficiary of the Newton touch! Outside of the creative genius of Jim Aparo, Don Newton was the OTHER great artist on Aquaman for the late 70's, and Captain Marvel received the signature Newton touch in the early 80's. Such touchstones of Newton's time on the Batman titles was the creation of Maxie Zeus, the death of the Kathy Kane Batwoman, and the first appearance of Jason Todd... who would become the SECOND person to wear the mantle of Robin. The true sorrow of the legacy of Don Newton was how short his time on Earth was, when he died a few months shy of becoming 50 years old in 1984. I'd HIGHLY recommend people that appreciate clean and kinetic storytelling to check out the aforementioned Don Newton collection of Batman stories. And speaking of artists that have JUST RECENTLY received collected volumes...
Alan Davis- Yes, Alan Davis' Batman work is ALSO collected in a handsome hardback edition. No, no need to worry, because Alan Davis is still among the living, unlike the tragically gone-too-soon Don Newton. And yes, you probably know Alan Davis from MANY other projects, such as an extended run on Marvel's "Excalibur", and having a hand in co-creating the revised "Captain Britain". But even Alan Davis had a hand in the legend of the Batman. Another student of the "clean and dynamic" style of artwork that portrayed Batman as a lean... but STILL believable beater of butts... Alan cut his teeth on the character via "Batman and the Outsiders". (Heck, if he can make such lame characters like Looker and Geo-Force look good, the man is a MIRACLE!) And for a brief stretch of time, Alan Davis was a MAIN creative driver on "Detective Comics", where in his run as an artist, he helped revert Catwoman back to her villainous ways, gave us a truly interesting take on the Scarecrow, and gave a truly lunatic polish to the Joker. Editorial differences caused Alan to vacate "Detective" in the opening stretch of the "Year Two" event storyline, but he DID later return for a graphic novel sequel, "Batman: Full Circle", and in two of my favorite original series, gave us ANOTHER shot at Batman via "JLA: The Nail" and "JLA: Another Nail". (Both of which are some of the BEST "Elseworlds" titles that DC published, and it would be awesome if they were given the omnibus/Absolute treatment!) But while his overall time on Batman wasn't an extended run, Alan Davis' run on Batman helped establish a truly engaging legacy on the character!
Irv Novick- It's kind of unheard of for artists to have a NEARLY 50-year career in comics, and to be so instrumental in so many varied titles for a given company, but Irv Novick accomplished JUST that for DC comics for the 60's until about the 90's. Irv was present for the latter phases of the "new look" Batman phase that arose in the wake of Julius Schwartz' editorial run with the character. Irv also DRAMATICALLY evolved his artwork to match the "Dark Knight" return to form at the cusp of the 70's, and proved to be a nearly seamless transition of styles from what Neal Adams contributed to the title! (I also may be so bold as to suggest that the ladies of Gotham city NEVER had it so good under Irv's pencils! YOWZA!) Irv may be BEST known for his LLLOOONNNGGG 70's stretch on "The Flash", but he also had extended runs on "Batman" and "Detective Comics". Notice how I seem to give notice to a lot of artists that keep Batman in more of a trim fighting shape. (Against my admiration of Greg Capullo, I REALLY am not a huge fan of a "bulky" Batman. To me, he's a character that's best served to be more of an athletic build.) But Irv Novick has a true legacy in the DC Universe, not only having gifted his talents to adventures of the Dark Knight, along with his strong Flash... pardon the pun... "run", but he ALSO contributed to the stories of Superman and Wonder Woman during his time as a regular DC artist. Such key moments for Irv's run on the Batman titles include being the artist behind "One Bullet Too Many", the story that served as a splitting between Batman and Robin for the onset of the 70's solo "Creature of the Night" Batman, AND he was the launch artist for the truly unusual experimental title of the 70's, "The Joker" solo series! In my eyes, Irv Novick is one of the artists that has left an undeniable stamp on the DC Universe as a whole!
Dick Dillin- Admittedly his time on the solo Batman titles was rather limited, but there's one artist that is often forgotten for his LENGTHY portrayals of the Batman in comics... and who also had an unfortunately short life... it was Dick Dillin. People may recognize a bulk of his portrayals of the darker ego of Bruce Wayne in a nearly-continuous 12-YEAR RUN on "Justice League of America", along with participating in one of the most unique sagas in the pages of "World's Finest Comics", the "Super Sons Saga". Another acolyte in the lean-and-mean Batman artistic style, Dick's portrayal of Batman is probably the one that stuck with me the longest of time in my collecting life. It was due to the JLA DC Digests that I REALLY started reading about the DC Universe in more detail, and I appreciated the figure work that Dick Dillin gave in portraying the key heroes of the Universe, Batman included. A lot of people tend to criticize his work as being "stiff", but I still feel there's an energy to his style that it just takes the right mind-set to connect to. And anyone that devotes nearly 12 years of their life to one given character is SURELY worthy of note. Major developments that Dillin contributed to the team-work aspect of the Batman's life include an apparent "son" that would carry the legacy of Bruce Wayne's crime-fighting career, the departure of the Martian Manhunter from the JLA, the introduction of the android Red Tornado to the team, the first DC appearances of the acquired Fawcett characters... and Batman TOTALLY macking on Green Arrow's steady lady, Black Canary!
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