HOPE YOU LIKE IT: The Art of DAKOTA ALEXANDER
By DAKOTA ALEXANDER
Continuing with my series of faux comics covers, I thought this week, instead of Marvel, I’d share something I made for the Distinguished Competition. Which, more often than not, means Batman.
There are so many iterations of Batman to enjoy– from fun and campy to the grimmest of grimdark. As a child, I was introduced to Batman via the Neal Adams stories (actually I had a View-Master set of Batman #251’s The Joker’s Five-Way Revenge!) and as such, this particular look for Bats has always had a special place in my heart.
Neal Adams art
Another fun element was that in the early ’70s Bronze Age Batman stories were often focused on the spooky and mysterious. Beyond his appearance on Scooby-Doo, Batman would regularly have his adventures in some haunted setting filled with dark shadows and danger lurking behind every corner.
Sometimes the supposed specters were a clever ruse by the villain of the month, and sometimes Batman was left wondering if there might be such a thing as ghosts.
Adams
Also at this time, DC had its various horror comics, such as House of Mystery and House of Secrets (hosted by Cain and Abel, respectively), Ghosts, The Witching Hour, and Forbidden Tales of Dark Mansion. These books all featured dark, gothic tales of horror meant to both chill the reader to the bone and dazzle them with wonderful artwork from the likes of Bernie Wrightson, Mike Kaluta, and Adams.
Bernie Wrightson
So, for this cover I decided to combine the Batman and the horror, and came up with “The House of the Batman” — complete with an homage to the Disneyland Haunted Mansion.
Hope you like it.
(NOTE From Dan: If you dig Batman/horror comics crossovers, check out Bill Morrison’s What if DC Decided to Make BATMAN a Horror Comic in the 1950s? from 2025! Right on.)
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Want more of THE ART OF DAKOTA ALEXANDER? Come back next week!
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MORE
— A SPIDER-MAN COVER You Never Knew Existed — Because It Didn’t. Click here.
— A CAPTAIN AMERICA COVER You Never Knew Existed — Because It Didn’t. Click here.
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DAKOTA ALEXANDER is an American artist living in Japan. He’s worked on many projects, such as The Liberty Brigade, The Masters, Charon 13, and G.H.O.S.T. Agents. His latest is his love letter to Bronze Age superhero-horror comics, The Hunter, which is now available at his Etsy, Drums of the Serpent.
February 26, 2026
I’ve been re-reading Bronze Age Batman and Batman Family recently. This looks like a great addition to what I’ve been reading. If only…, or, perhaps, Just Imagine…
February 26, 2026
You combined two of my favorite things…Batman and the Haunted Mansion! Great work, and I can see DC doing this back in the day. Heck even Teen Titans kinda sorta became a horror mag!
February 26, 2026
My chapter from the long, sold out TwoMorrows book The Batcave Companion, about the Bronze Age Batman’s encounters with horror and the supernatural will be appearing in the 10th issue of TwoMorrows’ Cryptology Magazine, titled: “Fright Night: Batman and the Horror Genre in the 1970s.” If you’re not getting Cryptology, please give it a try, covering retro horror comics, toys, movies, and more.
February 26, 2026
This could definitely pass for a bronze age cover…and I would have definitely picked this up off the rack. Excellent job. Thank you for sharing.
February 26, 2026
Love it (and these covers)! Keep ’em coming!
February 26, 2026
Dakota! This is awesome! I love it! And fantastic trade dressing!