Friday, June 25, 2010

Batman and Plop!



Plop was a DC humor comic in the 70's with an impressive roster of creators including Wally Wood, Basil Wolverton and Sergio Aragones. I mainly liked it for Aragones, I was a big fan of his cartoons in Mad Magazine, and it was nice to see his work on a DC title, in color. This was a request/challenge and when I first heard it I had no idea of how to make it work, as there wasn't a central character for Plop along the lines of Alfre E. Neuman. I chose one of the unmistakable Wolverton creations from one of the covers instead.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Batman and OMAC



This is another early one, I was still getting the gist of it.

I never read the original OMAC series, but I remember being very impressed with a guest appearance that he made in DC Comics Presents. I later picked up his B&W mini-series by John Byrne, but that did not make much of an impression on me. DC tried to give OMAC a big push a couple of years back, but they changed the concept a bit too much for my tastes.

It wasn't until I saw him appear on a recent episode of Batman: The Brave and the Bold (A show I hope all fans of this site watch regularly!) that I really saw his potential. The writers on that show really know how to distill a character down to their most appealing qualities. They did the same with another of Kirby's creations, Kamandi, in the episode he appeared in - I would be into an animated show featuring either of these properties based on their treatment on the show.

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Batman and Nova



I'd be interested to hear any opinions of Nova's most recent series at Marvel. I remember quite liking his original series and various guest appearances. From what I read of his time in New Warriors, that series didn't do him justice in my opinion. Erik Larsen's series was fun, but too short to really gain momentum. I had read some nice reviews of his latest exploits, but It seemed that his series was very tied in with the overall Annihilation group of cosmic Marvel books, and I would have to buy multiple other titles to get the whole story. If the Nova series can stand solidly when read on its own, I might be tempted to pick up some of the TPB's

This is one of the team-ups I would really like to see, Just because the two heroes are so dissimilar in personality and method.

Monday, June 21, 2010

Batman and Nightwing and Flamebird



This is one of my earlier covers and is a little rough. It's a bit bare, I should have probably added a caption or word balloon.

Nightwing and Flamebird was a cool concept that was right at home in the silver age: Superman, powerless in the Bottle City of Kandor, joins forces with Jimmy Olsen as a Natman and Robin type team. Fun stuff. DC has recently tried to revive the Nightwing and Flamebird names with two new characters who recently headlined Action Comics for a year. I can't speak to how well they held up the mantle, not having read the stories - but they certainly had some big shoes to fill.

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Batman and Nighthawk



I am not sure what Nighthawk's current status is, but I always enjoyed his adventures in The Defenders. I liked the design of his costume, especially the rigid cape. I hope to see a revival of the classic Defenders line-up, I miss Hulk calling him Bird-nose.

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Batman and Nightcrawler



I understand that Nightcrawler has been killed off recently in the X-Men titles. I haven't followed the X-universe closely in a while, but that really bummed me out to hear. Kurt Wagner has one of the most unique appearances, personalities and sets of abilities in comics, and deserves better than that. Hopefully, he will join the list of "only briefly dead" heroes and make his way back to the land of the living.

Friday, June 18, 2010

Batman and Night Nurse



Here's another example of a character that had to wait decades before being given another shot. Night Nurse has shown up in the past few years in Daredevil and the mini series Dr. Strange: The Oath in a role that makes so much sense I can't believe nobody has thought of it before. She runs a secret treatment center for superheroes injured on the job. It's a cool concept and I hope to see it used further. I also quite liked her relationship with Dr. Strange, so if he is given another series, it would be nice to see her as a supporting character.

Batman and Infinity, Inc.



I am amazed that with the resurgence of the JSA in the past decade that DC has still not reprinted the first 12 issues of Infinity, Inc. Hopefully that will be rectified soon because those are some of the best comics of the 80's and contain some absolutely gorgeous Jerry Ordway artwork.

My one disappointment with the series was that the Earth-2 adult Robin did not play a larger role, he was always a favorite character of mine. At least he is back from his Crisis induced oblivion in a way, as seen in the recent Justice Society of America Annual - apparently there is a new Earth-2 out there with classic versions of all the JSAers and Infinitors. Hopefully we will see more of them.

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Batman and Nick Fury



I think it is pretty cool how Marvel took their biggest WWII hero and through the plot device of "vita-rays" were able to continue to give him adventures in the present day. Like James Bond on steroids, Fury was always the ultimate in cool because not only did he have the best vehicles and weapons, he also had all the best connections. Good guy to know!

It's too bad that he is being muscled out of the on-screen Marvel Universe, but Sam Jackson is pretty cool, so I can live with his Ultimate Universe counterpart. Still, it is unfortunate that Fury's only live action appearance was performed by David Hasselhoff!

Batman and Ms. Marvel



Ms. Marvel is a character that I am glad to see having been given a boost in the last five years or so. Her recent solo series was unfortunately encumbered with tie-ins from one crossover to another and never really got the chance to find its own identity. Hopefully she will get another chance soon and will still be able to maintain a high profile in the team books she is a part of.

Monday, June 14, 2010

Batman and Mr. Terrific



The Michael Holt Mr. Terrific is one of my favorite versions of a legacy character at DC. I really enjoyed his introduction in the excellent Spectre series by John Ostrander and Tom Mandrake and was disappointed when the character looked to languish in comics limbo when that run ended. Fortunately Geoff Johns and James Robinson decided to use him the the newly revamped JSA and his popularity and exposure have risen since.

I always got a kick out of his predecessor, Terry Sloane, as well. I remember being truly shocked when the killed him off in an issue of Justice League of America - that was back when comic hero deaths were rare and permanent. I am glad I came up with a cover concept to use them both.

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Batman and Four Famous Co-Stars! (Colossus, Superman: Red Son, Crimson Dynamo & Red Star)




I've been wanting to use the B&B #100 cover layout with 4 guest stars for a long time but I could never come up with the right concept. I was trying to think of a Batman/Colossus concept when I thought it might be fun to throw in some more Russia based characters.

Red Star was originally called Starfire, but he relinquished that name to the more popular Teen Titan.

Crimson Dynamo was always my favorite of Iron Man's armored adversaries/allies - I thought his armor had a great formidable tank quality to it.

Superman: Red Son is from the excellent Elseworlds story of the same name. Easily one of Mark Millar's best works, I highly recommend it.

Colossus is, of course, the very popular X-Men member. I used an image by his co-creator, Dave Cockrum.

Batman and Detective Chimp



One thing I like about DC is that no character or concept is too old or off of center for them to dust off and give another shot every once in a while. Detective Chimp had fallen well off the radar when he was reintroduced as a member of Shadowpact. I really enjoyed the work that Bill Willingham did with him on the title.

My favorite JLA/JSA crossover was the George Perez-penciled 3-parted featuring the Secret Society of Super Villains. It was there I was introduced to the Ultra-Humanite, in his simian form. I've been a big fan of his ever since, and was happy to finally find a cover to use him in.

Friday, June 11, 2010

Batman and Hellboy



Mike Mignola has really done a great job of exercising quality control with Hellboy, whether it be in comics, movies or animation. He has managed to get his creator-owned character out there in a variety of formats, always maintaining a high standard of quality and fidelity.

The comics speak for themselves, scary, funny, gothic action packed mysteries filled with innovative concepts and characters. While the film versions changed a few elements, they got the look perfectly and were a lot of fun. I hope that Guillermo Del Toro completes the trilogy. The two animated movies (featuring the cast of the films on vocal chores) are very well done, I highly recommend them.

Batman and Mr. Fantastic



Mr. Fantastic was always cool because his intellect and personality made him stand out against the other more humorous themed stretching super heroes. I remember liking the fact that that most artists resisted the urge to show Reed Richards stretching his neck, because that would be undignified for a man of his stature.

I am enjoying Jonathan Hickman's take on Reed in the current Fantastic Four series, full of big ideas, but not forgetting the importance of family - which is what the FF is all about to me.

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Batman and Agents of Atlas



I picked up the first Agents of Atlas TPB on a whim because I liked the What If? issue it was inspired by and I had read a few positive reviews. I was surprised with how much I enjoyed it. It's a great group of eclectic characters, each with complex layers of history and personality. I liked the second TPB as well and definitely plan to keep following this team.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Batman and Dazzler



Dazzler is a character that has had a hard time finding a niche. As is often the case in comics she was created to capitalize on a fad just as it was dying out. With disco and roller skates no longer a draw, she relied guest stars to prop up her series. After its cancellation, she was given a makeover and membership in the X-Men, but that didn't seem to raise her profile very much. She does have interesting powers and a unique back story, so I think there is still potential to be mined. Perhaps the best angle would be to go back to the original look in kind of a retro chic vibe. I'm a firm believer that every minor character is just one clever writer away from the big leagues. Hey, I live in hope.

Monday, June 7, 2010

Batman and Morbius



I was first introduced to Morbius in one of my all-time favorite Spider-Man arcs, where Spidey grows two extra sets of arms. There have been other attempts to merge vampires with super-heroes or super-villains, but I think Morbius was the most successful. Like the best Spider-Man villains, he was a true threat, but also had a sense of tragedy about him.

I had a hard time finding an image for this cover, and finally located one in an unlikely place - a set of Marvel stickers that came out in the 70's. Boy did that bring back memories. Each sticker featured a character with a speech balloon containing a one liner or a bad pun (For instance Medusa said, "Only my hairdresser knows for sure!") Ah, those were the days.

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Batman and Moondragon



I have to admit, the main reason I used to kind of like Moondragon was that she reminded me of Persis Khambatta, the beautiful actress who appeared in Star Trek: The Motion Picture. I'd have to check publication dates to see if there is a chance that she was inspired by the actress. Usually she was written with a less than inviting personality, but at least that created conflict and made for some interesting story lines. I'm not sure what her status is these days, the last I remember reading of her was in Peter David's Captain Marvel series some years back.

The Marvel Two-In-One cover I used here is by the incomparable George Perez. I had the pleasure of meeting him briefly this past year, and he could not have been more gracious. His love of comics is infectious and clearly shows through in his artwork.

Saturday, June 5, 2010

Batman and Moon Knight



Since Moon Knight is the closest character Marvel has to Batman, I always felt that this would be a natural and interesting team-up. I love the character's look and the multiple secret identity angle is a cool one. Unfortunately too often he is played as borderline (or over the border) crazy and seems to fight the same couple of villains over and over, which has turned me off to his more recent titles. I still think he has great potential, and always check in when a new creative team takes a crack at his adventures. Hopefully someone will find the right balance and recapture some of the excitement of his original series.

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