Posted By Dan Greenfield on Aug 24, 2026 | 2 comments

MORRISON MONDAYS!

By BILL MORRISON

One of the most iconic Batman and Robin images of all time has to be the classic 1966 rooftop pin-up by Carmine Infantino and Murphy Anderson. It’s inspired some of the best comics artists in the business to pay tribute to it far more times than I can count.

I’ve even given it the business myself a handful of times — and it’s been featured frequently here at 13th Dimension, most recently during the spring’s 1966 BATMAN PINUPALOOZA.

I recently came across one that I’d forgotten about, a piece I drew as a self-promotion image back in the late ’90s that I just discovered while looking for something else.

At the time, I liked to take on occasional freelance work, even though I had my hands full as Creative Director at Bongo Comics. I had this idea that if Bongo ever went belly-up, I needed to have a plan B, so I retained an artist representative who would promote me as a freelance illustrator to art directors.

One of my versions

The rep wanted me to specialize in rendering animated characters, playing up the work I’d done for Disney movie posters, a string of Tex Avery character cover images I’d drawn for Dark Horse Comics, and, of course, my work on The Simpsons and Futurama.

I realized my portfolio was lacking in the area of superheroes, and I decided to work up a Bruce Timm-style piece. My love for the classic Infantino/Anderson rooftop image came to mind and I thought it would be fun to pay homage to that brilliant pinup with a Batman: The Animated Series twist.

I did this drawing around 30 years ago, before I had even given a thought to learning how to color in Photoshop. And since my schedule didn’t allow me the time it would take to paint the image with an airbrush, I showed my ink drawing to Bongo Art Director Nathan Kane, and he agreed to add digital color to the piece.

I was excited to rediscover this image and wanted to share it with a group that I knew would appreciate it — the 13th Dimension audience!

Speaking of collaborating with Nathan Kane, tune in next week to read more about those Tex Avery comics covers — the ones I didn’t include in my recent article on Red Hot Riding Hood!

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Want more MORRISON MONDAYS? Come back next week! Want a commission? See below!

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MORE

— Signet’s Lovable 1966 BATMAN Reprint Paperbacks Were All We Had — But They Were a Goldmine. Click here.

— YOUR GUIDE to All the Contents of the 1966 SIGNET BATMAN Reprint Paperbacks. Click here.

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