The artist and animation impresario turns 64…

Warner Bros. print by Timm based on the Superman: The Animated Series 3-parter “Worlds’ Finest”
By CHRIS FRANKLIN
When you think of Bruce Timm (born Feb. 5, 1961) the first thing that comes to mind is his work on the various animated series featuring DC’s pantheon of superheroes. From Batman: The Animated Series to Superman: The Animated Series, The New Batman Adventures to Batman Beyond, and Justice League to Justice League Unlimited, Timm was one of the lead producers and showrunners, and also the primary visual guide, designing a lion’s share of the characters and setting the template for these shows.
The DC Animated Universe or, DCAU, is therefore often referred to as “the Timmverse” and rightfully so. Other great creators contributed to these groundbreaking shows, but Timm was the steady hand that remained from the first BTAS episode in 1992, to the finale of JLU in 2006.

Timm tried to get a vampire on BTAS for years to no avail. In this sketch from arglebarglin.blogspot.com/ we can see what a Batman/Hammer mashup may have looked like… if the censors were looking the other way!
And of course, he’s been either behind or involved in other DC animated projects since then, such as last year’s Batman: Caped Crusader series on Amazon Prime. Of particular interest to this article is Justice League: Gods and Monsters, the 2015 direct-to-home-media film Timm executive produced, featuring an Elseworlds Batman who is a vampiric Kirk Langstrom.

A more literal and horrific Batman from Justice League: Gods and Monsters.
Fans who know Timm’s work outside of the DCAU shouldn’t be surprised by the injection of horror. He’s shown over the years to be a fan of classic fright films, in particular those produced by England’s Hammer Film Productions. In a move that could not be a coincidence, the opening theme to Justice League is shockingly similar to the title theme from Hammer’s Twins of Evil.
Timm has produced many sketches and paintings that recreate or homage the blood-splattered gothic films from Hammer, often featuring genre legends Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing, as well as the leading ladies who typify “Hammer Glamour.” The style he uses ranges from one similar to his more famous DCAU look, to a photorealistic approach. Yet Timm’s hand is still evident in each one. These images have appeared in such publications as his own book, Naughty and Nice: The Good Girl Art of Bruce Timm, as well as on the covers of Little Shoppe of Horrors, a magazine dedicated to Hammer Studios and British horror.
My wife Cindy and I cover Timm’s DCAU legacy on our JLUCast, and Hammer films in our “House of Franklin-Stein” series on our Super Mates podcast, both available on the Fire and Water Podcast Network. So, it makes perfect sense for me to celebrate Timm’s 64th birthday by taking a look at some of his ventures into the hallowed halls of Hammer’s House of Horror.
We start at the beginnings of Hammer Horror with their first gothic film, The Curse of Frankenstein (1957), directed by Terrence Fisher, starring Peter Cushing as Baron Frankenstein. Christopher Lee’s hideous Creature (with makeup design by Philip Leakey) was equal parts horrific and pathetic, which Timm ably captures in this moody piece.
Lee’s portrayal of Dracula in Hammer’s first film in the series (known as Horror of Dracula in the US, 1958) was a huge departure from Bela Lugosi’s aristocratic Count. Lee’s truly frightening and animalistic take on the Prince of Darkness is captured here, with a little more of Timm’s animated flair.
Hammer was as well known for its beautiful, buxom leading ladies as it was for its gothic atmosphere and gore. Above, Timm illustrates some of the studio’s most famous imperiled females. Clockwise from top left, Hazel Court from The Curse of Frankenstein; Yvonne Romain from The Curse of the Werewolf; Veronica Carlson from Dracula Has Risen from the Grave/Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed/Horror of Frankenstein; Yvonne Monlaur from The Brides of Dracula; and Barbara Shelley from Dracula: Prince of Darkness.
For the 23rd issue of Little Shoppe of Horrors magazine, Timm created this piece featuring memorable images from The Reptile and The Plague of the Zombies (both 1966), both directed by John Gilling, and starring Jacqueline Pierce.
Timm’s back cover for Little Shoppe of Horrors #32 features another interpretation of Lee’s Dracula mesmerizing Linda Hayden from Taste the Blood of Dracula (1970). Looming in the background is the formidable brow of Kiwi Kingston’s rather crudely designed monster from The Evil of Frankenstein (1964) and Oliver Reed’s savage but tragic Leon from The Curse of the Werewolf (1961).
Timm illustrated perhaps the darkest moment in Hammer’s horror films with this piece. Under pressure from their US distributors to add sex to the film, studio head James Carreras insisted that director Terrence Fisher add a previously unplanned rape scene to Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1969). Fisher and the actors forced to enact the scene, Peter Cushing and Veronica Carlson, complied but were vocal about feeling how exploitative and unnecessary the addition was.
As the 1970s began, Hammer went full-on exploitation with their Karnstein trilogy of films, initially adapting and then extrapolating on Sheridan Le Fanu’s pre-Dracula vampire novelette, Carmilla. Timm created the evocative collage above from some of the series’ most memorable moments, featuring the films’ beautiful but deadly female vampires.
From left to right, Ingrid Pitt as Carmilla seduces Kate O’Mara in the excellent and surprisingly faithful adaptation, The Vampire Lovers (1970); the bloody figure of Yutte Stensgaard as a resurrected Carmilla looms large, despite Lust for a Vampire (1971) being the weakest entry in this series; and finally, Madeleine Collinson as one of the Twins of Evil (1971), a film that transcends its potentially puerile subject matter, and gives Peter Cushing one of his greatest roles as a fanatical witch hunter.
As the final entry in their unrelated series of Mummy films, Hammer adapted Bram Stoker’s “Jewel of the Seven Stars” as Blood from the Mummy’s Tomb (1971). Timm depicts star Valerie Leon as the modern-day Margaret, and her resurrected ancestor Tera.
From the back cover of Little Shoppe of Horrors #26, Timm interprets one of Hammer’s more obscure and violent horrors, The Hands of the Ripper (1971). Timm depicts Angharad Ross in her role as the daughter of Jack the Ripper, surrounded by the murderous mayhem she inflicts, and the psychiatrist, played by Eric Porter, who tries to help her end her father’s curse.
Hammer attempted to revitalize their long-running Dracula franchise by bringing the Count to modern times, and reuniting him with Peter Cushing, as a descendant of Van Helsing. The results were mixed, but here Timm combines both Dracula A.D. 1972 (1972) and The Satanic Rites of Dracula (1973) into one dynamic image. Central is the captivating Caroline Munro (favorite of 13th Dimension as the greatest Talia Al Ghul who never was, along with Lee himself as her father Ra’s Al Ghul). Michael Coles, Stephanie Beachum and Christopher Neame round out the supporting players in the image here.
Munro had a more prominent role in Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter (1974), the subject of Timm’s cover for Little Shoppe of Horrors #18. Through his unique style, the artist captures not only Munro’s likeness, but that of the titular star Horst Janson (who recently passed away) and the scarred vampire played by William Hobbs. Hammer had high hopes for a franchise featuring the swashbuckling captain, but Hammer’s fortunes had definitely turned by this point. The film was completed two years before finally getting limited distribution.
Hammer’s last gothic horror took them back to the beginning, with Peter Cushing playing Baron Frankenstein one last time, in original director Terrence Fisher’s final film. Frankenstein and the Monster From Hell (1974) featured the most inhuman of the baron’s creations, played by none other than Darth Vader himself, David Prowse. In the illustration above from Little Shoppe of Horrors #50, Timm depicts a rather cartoony Cushing trying to corral his creation, while doe-eyed Madeline Smith looks on.
Timm eschewed his animated stylings for the back cover to Little Shoppe of Horrors #35, a tribute to Christopher Lee after his death. Timm adopts an almost Frazetta-like approach to capture Lee in his three most famous monstrous roles for Hammer: as the sympathetic but powerful Kharis from The Mummy (1959), the pitiful creature from The Curse of Frankenstein, and, of course, the commanding and most terrifying of them all, Count Dracula.
—
MORE
— SIMPLY GORGEOUS: The Superhero Art of BRUCE TIMM. Click here.
— BEFORE THE ANIMATED SERIES: Dig This Early BRUCE TIMM BATMAN Illustration — From 1980. Click here.
—
13th Dimension contributor Chris Franklin is a graphic designer, illustrator, writer, and podcaster, who co-hosts and produces several shows on the Fire and Water Podcast Network, including JLUCast and Super Mates, featuring the horror-themed “House of Franklin-Stein” series.
February 5, 2025
Forget the DC Timm-Verse; I want the Hammer Timm-Verse to be a thing! Those are gorgeous!
February 5, 2025
They are indeed! I’d be down for a Hammer animated project by Timm for certain!
February 5, 2025
Love seeing Bruce Timm work I had never seen before! He’s a treasure!
February 5, 2025
He definitely is! A few of these were new to me as I researched this article as well.
February 5, 2025
I’ve never seen most of these pieces! Thanks Chris!
February 5, 2025
Glad to oblige Rob! I’m obviously a fan of both Timm and Hammer!
February 7, 2025
Sensational!
February 7, 2025
Let me see Dark TimmShadows. I bet those images would be awesome as well