BATMAN’S HOT-LINE | 13th Dimension, Comics, Creators, Culture

Sep07

This Groovy Retro CATWOMAN Illustration Will Make Your Day

Posted by Dan Greenfield on Sep 7, 2019

This Groovy Retro CATWOMAN Illustration Will Make Your Day

Animator James Tucker gives an old design sizzling new life… I love it when I scroll through Twitter or Facebook and see an image that just knocks my socks off. Like Chris Samnee’s annual Batman Inktober sketches (click here), or Jorge Fornes’ amazing Batman images (click here), or a dynamite Batman illustration by Sandy Jarrell (click here). (Hmm. I’m detecting a Bat-theme here.) And so it was the other night that this groovy image by animator James Tucker popped into my Facebook feed: C’mon, that’s just criminally good. In this image, Tucker — probably best known for his brilliant work producing Batman: The Brave and the Bold and the two animated Batman ’66 features — accomplishes something I don’t think any other artist ever has: He’s made the oft-maligned “pirate Catwoman” outfit, which premiered in 1969 and was used through the mid-’70s, look damn cool. And that’s really saying something when you consider the major talents who’ve taken a crack at this particular costume over the years, such as Frank Robbins — who designed it, based on the Golden Age Black Cat … … Neal Adams … … Irv Novick (inked by Joe Giella) … … Nick Cardy … … Jim Aparo … … Dick Giordano… … and, of course, the fine folks at Mego: Now, again, that’s not to knock the work of these exceptional talents. Hardly. It’s just that Tucker saw something in the design and was able to amplify it in a way that others never have, even as he utilizes some of the same heavy line work that was Robbins’ artistic hallmark. Simply put, he works it. Tucker drew it just a few days ago, as it happens, and I asked him what prompted him to revisit this relatively obscure piece of Cat-history. “Just felt like it,” he messaged me. “No deep thought. LOL. This look was a sentimental favorite of mine because it was the first version of the character that was in the comics when I started reading in the early ’70s. Until then, I only knew of Julie Newmar’s look. I had no idea until fairly recently that Frank Robbins had designed it and that he based it on the Black Cat costume design from the ’40s. “This version of the costume appeared in Batman, Wonder Woman, a Batman 100-Page Spectacular (the...

Sep05

The TOP 13 BATMAN STORIES, Picked by PAUL LEVITZ

Posted by Dan Greenfield on Sep 5, 2019

The TOP 13 BATMAN STORIES, Picked by PAUL LEVITZ

The former DC chief takes you on a Bat-history tour… Back in March, we convened a blue-ribbon panel of experts to pick the 13 greatest Batman stories ever – in any medium – and ran each selection daily as THE TOP 13 BATMAN COUNTDOWN, in celebration of the Caped Crusader’s 80th anniversary. (Click here. You’ll dig it.) Included on the panel was former DC chief and Batman editor Paul Levitz, who Sept. 12 will be appearing at Manhattan’s Society of Illustrators for a 90-minute discussion on the Darknight Detective with longtime colleague and acclaimed Bat-scribe Denny O’Neil. (Click here for tickets and further details.) With that event in the offing, it seemed like a good idea to revisit Levitz’s TOP 13 ballot. So, I asked him if he’d care to elaborate on his selections, and he graciously agreed, providing the guest column below. Meanwhile, it’s worth noting that the Society’s magnificent Batman exhibits – featuring rare, original art stretching from the Golden Age to today — are still running. Click here to check out our INSIDE LOOK. — Dan — By PAUL LEVITZ 1. The Dark Knight Returns, by Frank Miller, Klaus Janson and Lynn Varley, 1986. The comic that smashed the glass ceiling – this was the one that made the general public aware that comics could be smart and challenging fare for adults, that Batman wasn’t simply the goofy guy Adam West had played, and established the format for the American graphic novel. — And, in chronological order (including publication date): The Case of the Chemical Syndicate, by Bill Finger and Bob Kane, Detective Comics #27, 1939. As we’ve learned, it’s largely borrowed from a Shadow story, and contains just traces of what Batman would become, but it’s still the start of the magic. — Robin, the Boy Wonder, by Bill Finger, Bob Kane and Jerry Robinson, Detective Comics #38, 1940. There’s a lot about Robin that I dislike as an adult (no sane person should ever endanger a child like that, seriously!) but none of it occurred to me when I was a kid, and I think that cheerful oblivious appreciation was shared by millions. — The Joker, by Bill Finger, Bob Kane and Jerry Robinson, Batman #1, 1940. The Joker emerges from the pulp tradition and early film, but somehow transcends them and becomes comics’ most...

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