Batman 186 - Staz Johnson

VERY pleased to be posting this up! Back when i initially approached Staz with a view to having a go at this lil' project, he cam back to me with "do you mind if i do it in the style of the 60's ABC bubblegum cards?" Mind? Of course i don't mind - (A) One of the appeals of this undertaking is to see folk go their own way with the basic three elements of the image and what they do is up to them, (B)i was semi-obssesed by those cards back then. So i was very happy to receive this prelim a while back for approval:

Love it just at this stage, but was even more blown away when the finished piece arrived today:

Love. It. Love how Staz has maintained the basic positioning of the figures, while changing the angles, love the teethwork on all three, love the creepiness of the lil' fella, love the grey giving everything weight, especially love the very authentic Bat-caption. Staz - you the (Bat) man!

Coming soon...

Dark Knight Rises - tiny spoliers

Saw it today and, as its opening day, really can't say too much. Just some capsule comments then: It was alright i guess. Far too long. Far too clever for its own good. A bit choppy - though that could be trimming to make it a 12A here Quite a surprising amount of non-sensical moments. And, sorry, didn't like Bane at all. Nor the multiple endings. Best thing by a VERY long stretch - Catwoman. Whoops - she's not called that in the film is she? Ann Hathaway was a revalation. Always thought her a bit wet but here she's channelling Michelle P and is just fantastic. And looks great. Oh, and The Bat. Want a kit of it now. Not as good as Dark Knight, bit better than Batman Begins.

Double Bill

With Dark Knight Rises out on Friday and my cinema showing a double bill of Batman Begins and Dark Knight tomorrow night, this morning saw me putting on both to check the quality of the prints, flitting from one to the other, having both screens totally to myself. Sometimes a Projectionists job is the best in the world.

Batman Double Double Comics 3

Popped into my local comic shop yesterday and he had a box full of late 60's/early 70's comics he'd taken as a job lot off someone. Had a trawl and got a few, including an issue of this title, which i've read about, but never got back then. Its clearly British, with its 2/6 then 12p price tags, but its packed full of sixties thrills from the Bat-universe:

Well, i say that, but its all pretty duff: Bruce reminded of a high school wimps humiliation before, wouldn't you know it, he pops up up still bearing a grudge from that time:

Clearly its 1966, with the strip emulating the TV show, or the TV show emulating the strip with its action and sound effects:

But we've got a reproducion of Batman Issue 186, which as i've said, is THE issue for me from my childhood. Apart from the amazing cover, these two images have stayed with me all these years - the blow up Robin and the house being lifted up. Dunno why, but i'm trying to think back to to the mind of a 7 year-old, and that ain't easy:

My favourite Dark Knight Rises image so far.

So, the cinema i work in has started to fill up with variant quads, one-sheets, rather lame standee's and lovely 8 foot banners. Best image so far is one fo those banners and is thsi - don't she look great? Love the pose, the outfit material, the fact the mask has no eyes, and the barely discernable cat ears. Terrific stuff.

Batman 186 - Dave Taylor

Batman was my world when i was little (well, him, dinosaurs and Romans), the spin-off from the Adam West TV show was the first film i ever saw at the cinema, my collecting of the bubblegum cards was borderline obssesive and, according to my big sisters, i could read before i started school, mainly from reading the imported Batman titles. I loved them - reading and re-reading them endlessly and cutting out the characters from the lovely glossy cover paper to use as puppets (ouch). I loved them all dearly, but its issue 186 that's left the biggest mark. This image i was fascinated by, mainly the lil' guy and his pointy nose, i used to study it and study it and study it. Of course, my original copy has long gone and i got my replacement i guess about 20 years agao. Just as well, 60's editions have really rocketed in price these last few years. Just looking at this JPEG now, it still dredges up those feelings that i can't quite explain - a mixture of nostalgia and something a bit unsettling. Read the story and its complete tosh - the Joker decides if Batman can have a junior partner, why not him? But, that cover. I love it dearly. And i got to thinking, last year when i was asking artists if they could depict certain favourite comic characters of mine from my childhood, that it might be an idea to ask for recreations of this cover - send the image to the artist and ask them for their take on it. I'm hoping to collect quite a few of these and it'll be interesting to see folks' takes on it. First to deliver the goods has been Dave Taylor. Dave has been a top bloke to me, what with producing a piece for my old characters project and a lovely robot design for an ad i was producing. I follow his Blog anyway but, since he started on his Batman, Death By Design project, i pop in to see what he's up to even more. It was seeing the fantastic teasers he was putting up, along with his clear love of the character, that made me ask if he'd be up for it. He sure was, although i'd have to wait till his decks were cleared. Well, they've been cleared and here's what he's come up with! Dave done an interesting thing with Bats, a sort of halfway point between the Infantino 60's original and his Death By Design version. His Joker also seems to a hybrid between the original and his take on the fella seen in that Arkham special a while back. He's really gone to town on the lil' guy though, which is great as he was the focal character for me as a nipper. But this one is far more menacing and downright strange than the original. Love it!