C’mon, let’s face it: Being Batman can be fun…
I’ve long lamented that I miss a Batman who can smile. I’m not looking for goofy. I just prefer a Dark Knight who isn’t so emotionally constipated that he can’t appreciate a good moment.
The first-rate new series Batman: Dark Matters by Dan Watters and Hayden Sherman is pretty damn dark, but even so, this Batman seems to maybe just enjoy his work… at least a little.
Unlettered page from Batman: Dark Matters #1
Then there’s Batman & Robin: Year One by Mark Waid and Chris Samnee, which, as I’d hoped, has given us moments of humor insterspersed with the action and drama. (Issue #3 is out Wednesday.)
So when I saw artist Dakota Alexander’s latest on Facebook, my eyes lit up:
Damn, wouldn’t you love to see a series like this after Batman & Robin: Year One wraps next fall? I sure would.
Dakota also did a newsprint version:
December 17, 2024
Even Frank Miller’s Batman smiled…
December 17, 2024
I thought of that as I wrote this! I should have noted it.
December 17, 2024
° Don’t most reddit users go to the subject groups to complain? I would think results from that platform would come pre-skewed toward the negative.
° I recall that Lee Falk would occasionally remind Phantom artists to show that character smiling from time to time. While artists tended to show the Phantom’s grim demeanor, Falk wanted the character to sometimes be seen enjoying his work.
° I was once part of leading an informal study in which we showed middle school kids various DC comics from the silver and bronze ages, then-current modern age, and the “Adventures” series (like Batman Adventures, etc.). We asked them to tell us which looked more appealing in terms of the way the were drawn. Most said the “Adventures” books were too cartoony, the modern age “photo-realistic” books were to dark, the vintage silver and bronze age books were most appealing. We took it to mean that the silver and bronze age versions of the characters are what is foremost in people’s minds, and surmised that it is likely because the Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez style guide versions were still so heavily used in licensed marketing at the time. But it very well could have been because those Garcia-Lopez style guide versions were so often seen smiling.
December 17, 2024
I think it might also be that silver and bronze age art emphasized storytelling over pinups.
December 17, 2024
Now this is a Batman I can get behind! Awesome work, Dakota!
December 17, 2024
Mike W. Barr & Alan Davis excelled with that exact balance of light and dark in their criminally short Detective run.
December 17, 2024
I would love to draw a series
like that!
December 17, 2024
I would love to see you draw a series like that!
December 18, 2024
A Batman who smiles is something that I can most definitely get behind.
December 18, 2024
The Phantom, as played in the 90s movie by Billy Zane, seemed to be having a lot of fun in most scenes, and I think it was refreshing.
December 18, 2024
I’m glad we’re finally turning a corner. The one-note grim, humorless, expert-in-everything Batman that has defined the character in comics and cartoons since the 2000’s seemed out-of-character. There was a brief bright spot when Dick Grayson became Batman during Morrison’s run, during which Batman was, you know, conquering death.