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NEW! For 2012!! Our Good Friend and Ace Bat-Reporter BatDave said he spotted a fun new piece of Batman Merchandise the other night while at Target, a Huge BATMAN BAT-SYMBOL LOGO BEACH TOWEL! It's the Classic Comic Book version, the "yellow oval"... sweet! It's 100% cotton, measures about 28" x 58", and has a decent Retail Price of $10.99. ( Thanks BatDave! ) Hey, keeping up with all the brand new Batman merchandise is going to be a nightmare soon so if ANY Bat-Blog Readers out there see anything fresh in stores then please let us know!
Our Good Buddy Frank came across this most excellent Batman "Pencil Sketch" T-Shirt at Kohl's the other night and was nice enough to shoot us this wonderful photo ( Thanks Frank! ). I really like the design of this thing. The "Original Comic Book Art" motif is very cool! It seems like clothing with the Dark Knight is getting very popular and being sold almost everywhere, that's great! If any other BAT-BLOG Readers out there ( that includes YOU ) spot ANY brand-new Batman Merchandise anywhere then please let us know.
OK, This is a fun post. For many years now many Comic Book Historians have believed that the very first "Batmobile Car", which appeared in Detective Comics #48 in 1941 ( drawn by Bob Kane ), was based on a Cord. But now, a Writer for the "Cars In Depth" website named Ronnie Schreiber has discovered what he thinks to be the original inspiration, a 1938 Graham Paige “Sharknose”! Now, I don't know much about Old Cars, but Ronnie's argument seems pretty valid. For more details be sure to read his article by clicking HERE!
Right now, at the BEAR and BIRD Boutique and Gallery, they're having a Comic Book Art Exhibit titled "PROOF OF HEROES, The Julius Schwartz Printer’s Proof Cover Collection". The Art Gallery is located upstairs at TATES COMICS in Lauderhill, Florida. The show runs from January 20th to March 3rd, 2012.The basic concept: It's an art exhibition featuring nearly 300 comic book cover printer’s proofs, spanning a decade (1964-1974) of Julius Schwartz’ 42 year run as Editor at DC Comics.Julius Schwartz began working as an editor at DC Comics in 1944! During the 1950's and 60's, he oversaw the revival of superheroes such as the Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman, the Batman, and the Atom, which led to the Silver Age of comic books.These one-of-a-kind Printer’s Proof’s were originally sent to Schwartz for his final approval, before their commercial print run. The covers feature artwork from such icons as Nick Cardy, Murphy Anderson, Neal Adams, Carmine Infantino, Mike Kaluta and many, many more!The proofs are being sold to benefit "The Hero Initiative", a great charity. For more information, CLICK HERE!
We recently got an email where a Friend named Paul shared these wonderful photos with us. This is Paul at an Office Party they had at his work and he showed-up as Batman, The Dark Knight!! I'm always impressed with how creative the "Cosplay People" get at making their special clothing and costumes. The attention to detail is very clever. This Bat-Suit is AWESOME! I really like the Bat-Logo on the chest, a modern version, and the military-style pouches for the Bat-Belt... nice! Thanks for sending these in Paul, good job.
According to the Bat-Blog History Files today is a great day! Today, January 22nd, the Legendary Comic Book Artist Marshall Rogers was born in Flushing, New York ( a Borough of Queens ). In High School he was inspired by a Mechanical Drawing class and decided he wanted to be an Architect. But later, after attending Kent State University, he discovered that Calculus was just wayyy too hard, ha! Plus, he wanted to be more creative. So he decided to try working as an Illustrator.He submitted work to Marvel Comics but that didn't lead anywhere. He worked odd jobs to support himself while acquiring small assignments from small Magazines. Then, a big break! He started his comic book career working for Atlas, a short-lived comics publisher. They claimed his work was "too detailed", took too long to draw. It was around this time that he got another big break. He started doing small jobs for DC Comics. His first, was "retouching" reprints of 1940's Batman stories. But this wasn't enough so he tried getting more work at both Marvel & DC Comics. Marvel gave him his 1st big assignment working in their Magazine division. He began drawing "The Deadly Hands of Kung Fu" where he worked with Chris Claremont doing "Iron Fist" stories.
Now, here's the part where he really becomes a part of Bat-History! Around 1977 he began working with the Writer Steve Englehart on a, now classic, Batman storyline that ran in Detective Comics #471 thru 476. This was the famous "Joker's Laughing Fish" story. This event also heavily influenced the 1989 Tim Burton BATMAN Movie. It's also important to note that later Rogers began work on the BATMAN Newspaper Comic Strip that ran from November 6, 1989 to August 3, 1991. To check that out, just click HERE!
Sadly, Rogers passed away on March 24th, 2007. He was found by his Son & the Family reports that he had a heart attack. Also, the Coroner reported that he, "might have been dead for a few days". Among Batman Fans, Friends & Family he is greatly missed. His work in the 1970's and 80's is right up there with the works of Dennis O'Neil/Neal Adams and Jim Aparo. Classic stuff!! I have a few Friends who state that they had met him at various Comic Book Conventions & they all said, "He was a really nice guy, very talkative & quite friendly".
Much of Rogers' work is now considered vastly important and some of his work was collected in two early Graphic Novels titled, "Batman: Strange Apparitions" & "Batman: Dark Detective". Then, later, and actually very recent, a more definitive Graphic Novel was created called "The Legends of the Dark Knight by Marshall Rogers". This book reprints: Detective Comics # 468, 471-479, 481, Legends of the Dark Knight # 132-136, Batman: Dark Detective # 1-6 and more! Check out this LINK for more details on that.
I apologize for getting kind of carried away with this post, it's almost a "book", ha! But this Comic Book Artist was always a Favorite Childhood Hero of mine. His artwork is really great! Down below I created a "Marshall Rogers Tribute" Wallpaper. I hope you use it as an inspiring background on your desktop.
The Author/Designer Chip Kidd will be talking about BAT-MANGA tonight (Thursday, January 12th) at New York's MoCCA, or the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art. The lecture runs from 7:00pm to 9:00 but you should arrive there early because it will probably sell out! Now, for the first time ever in the US, original artwork and lavish cover art from the Batman-manga comics are on display at MoCCA, along with vintage era-specific memorabilia and toys. Admission is $7.00 (Free for Members). For more information click the link down below:
MoCCA
594 Broadway, Suite 401
(btwn. Houston and Prince)
New York, NY 10012
Phone (212) 254-3511
With the success of "The Misadventures of Adam West" comic book series Bluewater Comics decided to do a new spin-off book titled, "The Secret Lives of Julie Newmar", which begins in February 2012. The basic plot is that Julie Newmar, in the comic book( not real-life ), will be implanted with a mysterious chip that will allow her to travel through time. Newmar has said, "I think comic book fans will have fun as we travel through time and space. We'll visit some of my favorite memories of my life and visit some amazing moments in history." For more information be sure to click HERE!
On December 21st, 2011, Come meet CHRIS BURNHAM, the Comic Book Artist responsible for the brand-new "LEVIATHAN STRIKES", the Special One-Shot Issue of BATMAN Inc. He'll be signing books from 4:00pm till 7:00pm at GRAHAM CRACKERS COMIC SHOP "Edgewater Location" in Chicago, IL. For Address Location and other information, CLICK HERE!
Today, from 4:00pm to 6:00pm, three DC Comics Writers and Artists who are associated with different BATMAN Comic Books will be signing at DREAMLAND COMICS in Libertyville, IL ( It's about an hour north of Chicago ).The three guests include DC Comics' Writers and Artists TONY S. DANIEL ( Batman, Detective ), SCOTT SNYDER ( Batman, Swamp Thing, American Vampire ) and KYLE HIGGINS ( Nightwing, Deathstroke ).They will be in the store for book signing and there will be a limited quantity of books available. The time is short, so please get there as early as possible. For more info, CLICK HERE!
Just a quick post to share this cool 3-D Comic Book Artwork of the Dark Knight in his famous Bat-Cave. It has a very cool optical effect! So, Put Your Old 3-D Glasses On!
Here's a new "Batman Product" you might keep an eye out for on your next shopping trip to the Grocery Store. General Mills Cereals is running a promo with DC Comics to promote the JUSTICE LEAGUE characters. They have a neat Cereal Box with some small "DC Comics" graphics on the front, but the cool thing is that one of the boxes has a large cut-out mask of Batman on the back! Also, FREE INSIDE, is a really great mini-size comic book. It's actually very decent quality measuring about 5" X 7" with 12 pages. The grade of the paper & color printing is really nice. I was sort of impressed with it as a cereal premium. There are 4 books to collect. I got Issue #2, shown here.
Oh man, I almost forgot to post some brand-new BATMAN WALLPAPERS for the Bat-Blog's "Wacky Wallpaper Wednesday", Ha Ha! But just in time I pulled my head out, so here we go! Now these 2 special backgrounds need a little explaining:
OK, We have a friend over at Facebook, named Keith, who kindly asked for a wallpaper Design based on "The League of Batmen". It was a very strange request, ha! By strange I mean that finding some graphics to use was gonna be extremely difficult. You see, "The League of Batmen" is an extremely obscure 2-Part Set of Batman Comic Books from 2001. They were a story line from the "Elseworlds" realm, meaning, they're not a part of actual continuity and really more fantasy driven. But hey, we like a challenge... every now & then! I could not really find any decent graphics for this except 2 pages from the actual comics. So, this is what these are. Overall, I think they work pretty good as backgrounds. OK Keith, I hope you like these, at least one of them, ha!
