The Definitive Batman Artist Poll

There are many incarnations of Batman and we all have our favorites. Usually the particular look or variation of Batman that we consider ‘definitive’ is the first one that we encountered. For many that would be the Jim Aparo version that graced the page of comic books for many years. In the late 80’s and early 90’s Norm Breyfogle defined Batman. Today, Greg Capullo is the artist on Batman and doing a damned fine job of it.

But is there a DEFINITIVE Batman artist? CBR.cpm wants to know and their poll gives readers a number of options.
(please visit CBR.com to vote)

WHO DO YOU FEEL IS THE DEFINITIVE BATMAN ARTIST?

 Bob Kane

 Dick Sprang

 Neal Adams

 Jim Aparo

 Frank Miller

 David Mazzuchelli

 Norm Breyfogle

 Bruce Timm

 Jim Lee

 Greg Capullo

Personally I love the Mazzuchelli version of Batman, but as it only appeared in one story, Batman: Year One I question his inclusion. Likewise, Frank Miller left his mark on Batman but in a very limited number of issues. Bruce Timm is definitely a popular choice and with good reason as he spearheaded what could be considered one of the most important renditions of the dark knight ever.

As of now, Neal Adams and Jim Aparo are both leading with Frank Miller, Bob Kane and Dick Sprang trailing. I wonder why Carmine Infantino (who drastically redesigned Batman in the 60’s, Bill Finger who practically created the entire rogue’s gallery and Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez whose art graced almost every single bit of merchandising for decades are missing from this list as they defined the character’s look for their respective periods.

What is your opinion? Who is your favorite Batman artist?

Quick reviews: Batman, Detective and Batman and Robin #0

This month DC Comics is celebrating their first anniversary of relaunching their entire comic book line with a series of special issues that explores the origins of each character. Its a confusing notion in my opinion, especially given that some of these zero issues mark the end of a comic and others are the first.

Given that the origin of Batman has been told so many times, the creative teams had quite a challenge set before them to make their stories interesting despite the material being so over-told. Given that Batman Earth One, released around the same time, does the exact same thing is… unfortunate. Thankfully these three are quite good, due in large part to the talent behind each story.

Batman #0

By Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo
Grant Morrison may get the most credit for the success of the modern Batman comic book, but in truth its Snyder, Capullo and Daniel who have done a bulk of the heavy lifting amid the Death and Return of Bruce Wayne and of course the complete reboot of the Bat-verse proper. Throughout all that madness, these creators have not only crafted some exciting stories but have also developed a sophisticated backdrop of Gotham City. In Snyder’s case, the history and legacy of the Gotham became just as much of a character as Batman, Alfred and the rest of the regular cast.

In returning to the early era of Batman, Snyder’s script shows the early flawed side of the great crime fighter. Pitted against the Red Hood gang, he is sloppy, over-confident and despite extensive research, a failure in his attempt to stop the gang’s bank robbery. Capullo reigns in his usual gory style with a more traditional visual, allowing this issue to feel simpler and more innocent rather than raw and gritty as it could have.

Even Alfred seems unsure of just what his master could be hoping to accomplish as he helps Bruce set up a complex crime fighting lab outfitted with high tech weaponry and vehicles when he was almost killed by the police in his recent mission. While Wayne is still learning from his mistakes, he is determined to make his one man war on crime a success. When James Gordon drops by for an unexpected visit, we learn that their is a level of corruption that extends into the corporate realm, a world where Bruce Wayne could be more helpful than Batman.

As a glimpse into the early days of this new Batman, I found this to be a success. Given the common trait of Snyder to develop large scale stories, I am also looking forward to seeing how the Red Hood Gang story connects up to next year’s storyline. I suspect that it will dovetail into the Death of the Family story coming soon.

Detective Comics #0

By Gregg Hurwitz and Tony Daniel

The early days of Batman are rife with tales of education as young Bruce Wayne travels the world learning the very skills he would need to grow into the world’s greatest crime fighter. Many of these stories have of course been told before, significantly in the Legends of the Dark Knight series (sadly no longer with us). Gregg Hurwitz’s story explores young Bruce Wayne’s journey to Tibet where he seeks out the Zen-Buddhist monk Shihan Matsuda. He must first endure the shame of waiting to be worthy of Matsuda’s disgust. Throughout the issue, the master repeatedly informs Wayne that he is less than nothing throughout his instruction in fighting and meditation techniques. It reminded me of grade school only all I learned was D&D.

Wayne feels that the loss of his family makes him special, but Matsuda insists that it does not. The path that Wayne has set himself on requires a complete loss of self, the dissolution of his wants and desires. As he attempts to embrace this, he is offered a completely opposite opportunity after meeting the shop girl Mio. He yearns for companionship and despite the hardening of his heart, he still hopes to find someone to share his life with. This inner conflict creates a schism in his training, widened by master Matsuda’s wife who compels Wayne to seek out the one he loves and desires.

Of course the whole situation is a ruse, one that allows Mio access to Matsuda’s impenetrable fortress for a late night meeting with Bruce. Unfortunately, Mio is not a simple shop girl but an expert assassin working with Matsuda’s wife. In the ensuing conflict, both husband and wife murder each other while Bruce deals with Mio. In his death throes, Matsuda completes his lesson by saying ‘this is what closeness brings you.’

It’s a marvelous issue that in another age would have earned a graphic novel status or at least a prestige format release. An emotionally-charged and moving adventure, this is a great sign of things to come as Hurtwitz becomes another member of the Bat-bullpen.

Batman and Robin #0

By Peter J. Tomasi and Patrick Gleason

I learned early on that Batman and Robin was not a popular series due to the inclusion of snot-nosed brat Damian. I think that’s an unfair disrespect as he makes the comic worth reading. The friction and between father and son is what brings the strength of this comic to the fore, along with the outstanding artwork of Patrick Gleason. Despite all that, my interest in this series has waned in recent months due to guest artists and a few less than impressive issues following the War of the Robins storyline.

Nevertheless, this issue saved the comic by filling in a number of details on Damian’s upbringing and the hatred imbued in him by his mother. The over the top martial arts action that pervades this series makes it very distinctive (what other comic has bat-ninja carnage as gory as this??) but Peter J. Tomasi’s writing is so soulful that it is also a very edgy emotional series as well.

The daughter of Ra’s al Ghul, Talia used her relationship with her father’s intended heir to create the perfect successor to her Ra’s empire. Damian is the ideal killer, the most brilliant tactician and the cruelest of adversaries, but in this issue we see an innocent side to him that is heartbreaking in its simplicity. Curious about the contents of a chest in his mother’s room, Damian breaks into it only to find a funny costume that he of course puts on:

Damian’s path seems to be chosen for him as he was genetically bred to rule the world. Yet when he decides to make his own path, the consequences are dire. Talia al Ghul becomes Leviathan, a destructive force that is in opposition of her father’s dream to rule the planet for its own good. Scarred and hurt from neglect, Talia is a demonic threat far more dangerous than anyone could have imagined.

________________________________________________

These issues could have been a complete waste of time and paper, but I found them to be very enjoyable and also an extension of the further development of the Batman universe.

Quick review: Batman #1

Batman #1

By Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo and Jonathan Glapion
It’s another trip to the grimy crime-ridden streets of Gotham City in Batman #1. A fresh start for new readers, the issue explodes with a break-out in Arkham Asylum (strangely mirrored in Batman Dark Knight #1). Fighting an army of his deadliest foes, Batman is joined in battle by the most unlikely of cohorts, the Joker.

The sequence of the Joker and Batman fighting side by side was definitely arranged for shock value, to get readers screaming ‘Howe dare they!!?’ at their comics. While Batman is depicted as a public enemy in Detective Comics, in this series hew is accepted by the police when he arrives on the scene to take control of the situation. It’s very odd that editorially there has been so little consistency in the DCU. Characters seem to be living in different iterations of the same universe rather than a unified one. In the case of Batman, there are four separate ongoing books this month and they barely jive with one another. It’s a little quibble, but it is hardly the best way to start a new line of comics.

Aide from a lack of consistency, another common thread in the new DC Comics is an over-reliance of extreme violence. From the dismembered infants in Swamp Thing to the serial killers in Batgirl, Nightwing, Detective Comics and here in Batman it seems that the new DCU is a far more violent world than ever before. In most cases, I don’t have a real problem with this but as Warner Bros. as been heavily marketing their brand more than ever before, why include a scene where Batman inspects a corpse pinned to the wall by throwing knives?

Interviewed by Newsarama, Snyder hints that things are going get darker and morte interconnected with the rest of the Bat-family:

Newsarama: Scott, how does it feel to have the #1 comic for the month of September?

Scott Snyder:I can’t even believe it! I woke up to that news that day and it was insane. I feel like the luckiest guy. I can’t believe how supportive everyone’s been. And I’m extremely grateful to the fans for picking this up.

Nrama: One of the most noticeable changes to Bruce Wayne in the relaunch is that he’s very much a mentor, particularly in this comic, and is much more engaging with Gotham and his supporting cast. Was that an agreed-upon direction for Bruce in the relaunch? Or was it something that just served this story well?

Snyder:We were all talking a little bit about it. I think the idea is that Bruce’s time as the devil-may-care playboy who has no investment in the city beyond it being a kind of playground feels a little bit dated to most of us in the Bat-world — not only because of what Grant was doing, but also because of the times. I think it’s OK now to make him a bit more civic minded and invested in Gotham, and invested in the idea that he has a responsibility as someone who cares about making it a better place both in and outside the mask.

In that way, we wanted him to be a stronger character as Bruce Wayne as well, a character who has goals that are separate from Batman in some ways, and an agenda that is sometimes separate from Batman — someone who is a formidable person in his own right, and not just a disguise for Batman.

A lot of the time, you get the sense that “Bruce” is just Batman’s disguise, and that Batman is who Bruce is in his core. I agree with that in a lot of ways, that he’s very much Batman. It’s contrasted with how, a lot of time, Superman is Clark at heart, and Superman is more his mask.

But I think it’s important to also explore the idea that Bruce, out of the cowl, has a life as a person, that he’s someone who cares about his city and the population. I think maybe that idea of Bruce always having to find some front with beautiful women — that can still be a part of his life, but it doesn’t need to be the only part.

Nrama: The first issue seemed to celebrate the Batman world, with a lot of villains and familiar faces, from Vicki Vale to Leslie Thompkins. Was your idea for this first issue to brush up against different faces from Batman’s world and clearly establish who he is and what his backdrop will be in these stories?

Snyder:Yeah, we wanted a celebration of all the characters who make up Batman’s world, his allies and his contacts and his villains. Even if the issue didn’t introduce people like Leslie to new readers, we wanted to put that whole cast on display.

Batman is going to be not just about Batman and Gotham. The repercussions of what happens to Batman will be felt across the whole Bat-family.

Nrama: Speaking of that “whole Bat-family” idea, as the first issue ended, Dick Grayson was implicated as the perpetrator of a crime. He’s also implicated in his own title, Nightwing by Kyle Higgins. Was that on purpose?

Snyder:Yes. They’re coordinated. It’s not one big mystery that’s going to be in both books, where it’s solved in Batman and begun in Nightwing, or vice versa. It’s just something that we wanted to play up concurrently. There is a mystery that’s going to connect both Nightwing and Batman as we go forward.

The things that Dick Grayson discovers in Nightwing will bleed into Batman, and the things that Bruce discovers will bleed into Nightwing.

In Batman, it’s a story about a villain who has ties to Gotham historically and has manipulated events and has been a huge influence on the shape of Gotham, both physically in its architecture and in its politics and its social geography.

So in that way, we really wanted it to have revelations that had to do with all the families, from the Waynes to the Graysons to the Drakes to the Cobblepots. It’s about all of them.

I don’t want to give readers the sense that they have to read them both to understand what’s going on, because that’s not true. And they are separate mysteries. They’re two strands of the same DNA.

But thematically, it will be similar in Nightwing and Batman, as we play up the tension that exists between Dick Grayson and Bruce. It’s something that’s going to come into play in a big way in Batman, and I think in Nightwing down the line.

They’re extremely close, and Bruce obviously cares a lot about Dick. And Dick cares a lot about Bruce. But they also have a lot of tension between them, and Bruce isn’t very good at showing how he cares for people a lot of the time, and he pushes them away. Part of him wants to be alone as Batman. And all that stuff ebbs and flows with them and becomes something that at times brings them close together, and sometimes brings them at odds.

This story will be about both those things, that they’re really close, but it will also hint about things that can drive them apart as well.

Nrama: Is there anything else coming up in Batman that you want to tell readers about?

Snyder:You’re going to start to see a lot of bad guys soon. Stay tuned for the introduction for our new owl-themed villains in Batman, and for big twists and turns that have to do with the history of Gotham and some surprises about the characters you really like, things that are buried in their history that are going to be brought to bear against them in the present.

And it’s going to get very dark and twisted. There are a lot of fun waters ahead for all of us, I promise. It’s going to be a good ride. We’re really excited about it, so we hope you guys are too. This is the Batman story we’d tell if we only got one chance to do it.

Batman #1 is a traditional superhero/detective series that tries very hard to appeal to longtime readers and bring new ones up to speed. For instance, a pair of contact lenses that allows Batman to interact with the Bat Computer is a neat idea but quickly turns into the most elaborate form of exposition I have ever witnessed. Granted, the fact that he is surrounded by three young dark-haired white guys in tuxedos… maybe he really needs this kind of thing. Like our parents calling us by our sibling’s name from time to time, has Batman ever called Dick ‘Tim’? That would be awkward.

Like Detective Comics, this is another superb Batman book as it depicts our hero as a brilliant inventor and detective as well as an avenging dark creature of the knight kicking villains in the gut. It’s Batman as he should be in a Gotham City more over-run by extreme crime than ever before. On the trail of a killer that has eluded both the police and the Dark Knight, the path seems to lead to the most unlikely of suspects, Nightwing.

The comic looks great with art by Greg Capullo who draws every member of Batman’s rogue’s gallery in superb flair. Likewise, fan favorite Scott Snyder has brought the goods here by delivering an exciting comic that sets the stage for horror, action and mystery all at once. I have high hopes that this series will be the hit that DC Comics has needed for a long time. Based on sales estimates for last month, it looks like my bet is a safe one.

Batman #1 has sold out but a second and third print are both available. If you’d rather read a digital copy, it is available for direct download at Comixology.