It’s almost here — so dig this nearly 40-PAGE SNEAK PEEK!
TwoMorrows’ Marshall Rogers: Brightest Days and Darkest Knights, by Jeff Messer and Dewey Cassell, is one of the year’s most anticipated books on comics. It’s the first comprehensive overview of an artist whose career burned brightly for a relatively short period of time but made a monumental impact — especially where Batman is concerned.
I’ve been a Rogers fan since the late ’70s, when I discovered his work with Steve Englehart on Detective Comics. Their run remains one of the defining stories in the Dark Knight’s history, influencing writers and artists both to this very day.
I’m deeply honored to have contributed a significant part to the 160-page, oversize hardcover: My 2020 interview with Englehart, in which we explored and analyzed the Detective run issue by issue, makes up the entirety of Chapter 7, roughly 35 pages long.
And the book also covers Rogers’ work well beyond Gotham — delving into Doctor Strange, Mister Miracle, Silver Surfer, Coyote, and much more.
So, here’s a whopping, almost 40-page, FIRST LOOK SNEAK PEEK at Marshall Rogers: Brightest Days and Darkest Knights, which you can now pre-order directly from TwoMorrows at $37.95. And if you’d like to support TwoMorrows’ important new relationship with Lunar Distribution, you can get it through your comics shop.
The book is due July 23, 2025.
Dig this:
—
Here’s the official description:
MARSHALL ROGERS: BRIGHTEST DAYS AND DARKEST KNIGHTS
By Jeff Messer and Dewey Cassell
From underdog to icon, Marshall Rogers helped redefine Batman for generations, inspiring readers and up-and-coming artists alike. Initially savaged by editors at DC Comics, his style was uniquely complex with vast and angular architectural design anchoring his storytelling, and it immediately caught on with fans for his depictions of the Darknight Detective, Hugo Strange, the Joker, Silver St. Cloud, Dr. Strange, Cap’n Quick and a Foozle, and more. And though his output was relatively small in comparison to many of his contemporaries, his impact outlived the artist himself, and inspired a loyal following and affection. Now, Rogers’ story is told by friends, collaborators, and family members, delving deep into a complicated and conflicted man and his art, as we feature inker Terry Austin, friend and fellow artist Michael Netzer, Dan Greenfield’s extensive interview with writer Steve Englehart (conducted for 13th Dimension), and others recounting their time and camaraderie with Rogers, alongside an in-depth interview with Marshall himself, and a wealth of art both familiar and rarely seen. Written by Jeff Messer and Dewey Cassell (authors of the Eisner Award-nominated Mike Grell: Life Is Drawing Without an Eraser), this book shines a light on the fan-favorite artist’s brightest moments and darkest days. Featuring a new cover collaboration by Marshall Rogers and Terry Austin!
MARSHALL ROGERS: BRIGHTEST DAYS AND DARKEST KNIGHTS, a 160-page, oversize hardcover, lists for $37.95. You can pre-order it directly from TwoMorrows or get it through your comics shop. (There is also a digital edition for $13.99.) It is due July 23, 2025. ISBN: 978-1-60549-130-1
—
MORE
— EXCLUSIVE: Long-Awaited MARSHALL ROGERS Illustrated Biography Set for 2025. Click here.
— INSIDE THE BATMAN: The STEVE ENGLEHART INTERVIEWS. Click here.
April 19, 2025
Makes me question the skills/talents of anyone who could look at this work (BATMAN DEC’ run) and then proceed to browbeat the creators. It was obvious to the eyes of this fan then as it has maintained over the decades. That collaboration was a treasure. I can’t wait to read this cover-to-cover. My copy has long been pre-ordered. I hope someday the newspaper run is released. And an artist edition would take all but a second to decide to purchase. Facsimile editions? Definitely. Treasury sized facsimiles? Definitely.
April 19, 2025
Holy Cow DC Comics!
We need a treasury edition reprint of these classic issues!
Take My Money!!!
April 19, 2025
I have this in my que. Recently got the Mister Miracle hardcover collection and am in the middle of reading it now. Man what a Detective Comics run, that needed to be much longer.
Seeing Arvell Jones’ interview reminds me that we need to get a “Detroit Mafia” compilation of stories together. So many comic book guys got their start, crossed paths, worked together in the early seventies from metro Detroit.
April 19, 2025
I’m the designer of this book (and other TwoMorrows pubs), I also found the majority of the art for the book. As a very young comic collector, I became a huge fan of Marshall’s as soon as I saw his work in the backup stories in Detective Comics in the ’70s, and proceeded to follow his career very closely. Marshall and I became friends when we met at a con in Silver Spring, MD, we both lived in the DMV area at the time. Working on this book was extremely important to me, I hope it will be enjoyed by not only Marshall’s fans, but also introduce him and his work to a new generation of comic book fans. Dewey and Jeff did a magnificent job writing the book, and this book would not be possible without publisher John Morrow, who is doing more than anyone I know in preserving and keeping comic book history alive for all of us. Please consider not only ordering this book, but going to twomorrows.com and ordering more books, magazines, or subscribing. You can also order at your LCS through the Lunar Distribution catalog.
April 19, 2025
>>> but also introduce him and his work to a new generation of comic book fans…..
I’m doing my part. I have multiple copies of this classic run to hand down to my grandsons. They will definitely know this version of BATMAN.
April 19, 2025
Sorry to say this and I have the greatest respect for his achievements, but Joe Orlando was a dick! Marshall Rogers and Terry Austin’s artistic achievements will live on forever! I can’t understand why Orlando would do this to two new highly talented artists!
April 19, 2025
I only met Joe Orlando once. He din’t seem to like me. I’ve wondered since then what was it I’d said that he didn’t like. After reading this, I don’t feel too bad.