Posted By Dan Greenfield on Jul 29, 2024 | 4 comments

MORRISON MONDAYS!

This week’s MORRISON MONDAYS is a little more meta than Bill’s typical weekly column — a riff on Neal Adams’ 1971 cover for the classic Batman #234, as if it were drawn by Golden Age stalwart Dick Sprang (whose birthday was Sunday).

“For years I’ve wondered what if Batman’s ‘New Look’ had never happened in 1964 and Dick Sprang continued to draw the Caped Crusader into the Bronze Age,” sez Bill. “Maybe the stories and cover graphics evolved but the art style stayed the same. This piece is my idea of what that scenario might have looked like” — colored by our pal Walt Grogan:

Here’s the uncolored version, followed by Adams’ original:

So what makes this more meta than your typical homage cover? Well, see, it’s my belief that Adams was doing his version of a Sprang illustration to begin with. He once told me that his famed Batman #251 cover was basically inspired by Jerry Robinson’s tendency to draw the Joker as an oversize figure on his Bat-covers. So, when you see Morrison’s version of Adams, this splash page from 1953’s Batman #81 — by Sprang and inker Charles Paris — jumps out:

There are no coincidences, folks.

By the way, Adams even homaged himself in 2021:

That’s a whole lotta meta going on…

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