Tom Ziuko and The Dark Knight Returns

"Batman and Robin" by Tom Ziuko (1980s)

Can you remember the world of Batman before Frank Miller hit the scene?

In the mid 1980s, as the summer convention schedule was nearing, DC editorial handed colorist Tom Ziuko a reproduction of a sketch by Frank Miller.  In Tom's words:

"... [I]t was to be used in a slide show presentation at upcoming conventions; and was only intended to be seen on screen for a few minutes, and never published or used in print - hence the loose (sloppy?) look of the color. Since I'm extremely meticulous with my coloring, I'm somewhat mortified now that this is under the microscope.

In fact, I seem to recall that they needed this done at the last moment, and I sat down and colored it in the production department with a borrowed set of [Dr. Martin] dyes, as opposed to taking it home and coloring it in my studio. (Which also accounts for the somewhat 'gritty' look of the greys on Batman - my dyes at home were much 'cleaner')."

Whereas Tom may be mortified by this promotional piece, I think it's amazing for those reasons: It's fast and loose, which adds strength to Tom's artistic impressions of color.  It also shows us the world before anyone had heard of THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS.  Carrie Kelley was unknown as Robin (hence the dark hair color) and Tom used his own interpretation of Batman's costume, as Frank had not blacked out the Bat symbol.

Brilliant.  A wonderful snap shot of Batman history.

More recently, Tom has done a considerable number of color jobs for TwoMorrows Publishing.  Tom also included this print from a George Perez sketch used as the cover of Back Issue #1

"Batman and Captain America" by Tom Ziuko (2012)

Tom, a long-time colorist for DC and MARVEL, has taken ill.  He is currently offering his deep collection of hand-colored production art from DC and MARVEL to offset his mounting healthcare costs.

You can preview his artwork on his facebook page, where you can contact him directly.

The world needs more color and Tom Ziuko.  Please consider an addition to you art collection and keep a good thought for this talented artist.

We love Brave and Bold Kamandi and Andy Suriano!

The only thing better than BATMAN BRAVE AND BOLD shows are BATMAN BRAVE AND BOLD comics done by the kind folks who made the animated show!

BATMAN BRAVE AND BOLD was a great comic, with monthly issues that told fun and exciting adventures in the spirit of the original comic book series of my childhood and the upbeat and offbeat show.

Andy Suriano, Emmy-award winning animator, did double duty with both the show and the comic.  His pages are posted on his art blog here!

I couldn't resist and grabbed a great page, featuring the Awesome Brave and Bold Batmobile and Kid Eternity!

"Batman Brave & Bold" Andy Suriano

 
I asked Andy which character was his favorite to animate on the show.  His response?

Kamandi and Batman (2012)

Kamandi!  We always suspected Suriano had good taste, but now it's confirmed!  Santa delivered The Last Boy on Earth to the Suriano Studio and everyone was happy.  Hooray!  Andy will be appearing at the Motor City Comic Con in the Spring of 2013.  Perhaps he needs another figure...

The Noir of the Golden Age Catwoman, with Terry Beatty!

"Hell could have opened for me then, and it wouldn't have made any difference.  

 I had to have her, if I hung for it."

    -James M. Cain.  THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE (1934).

Catwoman (2012) by Terry Beatty

Whereas early BATMAN comics featured a wide array of gangsters and grotesques, a truly unique comic relationship was created with the advent of The Catwoman.

In 1939, the Bat-Man was a hard-boiled, two-fisted dark avenger of justice.  He beat criminals savagely and even dispatched monsters with the cold resolve of a .45.  If the authorities were impotent to stop lawlessness, Bat-Man was a final solution.

Until he met Selina Kyle.

With the introduction of The Cat, Bat-Man was shown to have a fatal flaw: he patronized  her cunning because of her beauty.  Her earliest appearances in BATMAN #1 began a theme in which Batman relented, often to the frustration of The Boy Wonder.  Yet, his flaw was shared by her; quickly, the jewel thief abandoned the success of her clever disguises for an outlandish costume.  For her part, Catwoman refused to kill and was at odds with The Joker because of it.  Thus began the doomed romance of 80+ years.  

Terry Beatty is a master illustrator, having co-created the pulp comic Ms. Tree and has drawn MICKEY SPILLANE'S MIKE DANGER and JOHNNY DYNAMITE.  He is currently the artist for the Sunday episodes of King Feature's classic comic strip THE PHANTOM.

The evening dress/ cat-masked Catwoman was short-lived, but it represents the core of the noir relationship between Dark Knight and the jewel thief.

Perhaps Michael Caine's ALFRED feels relived to see Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle together.  

The rest of us know such resolve is short lived at best.

Made in The Shade

One of the more entertaining new comics from DC Entertainment has been THE SHADE, a cool jazz 12-issue limited series about a morally ambiguous character taking stock of his centuries-long life and getting into troubles along the way.

The Shade in 1942

Originally published in FLASH COMICS #33 (1942), The Shade was a villain who enjoyed testing The Flash and was later featured as a member of some nefarious Society of Injustice during the Sixties and other iconic appearances.  His costume was a jet-black unitard with some sort of ... shaw (?), a black head mask (?), a top hat, and sunglasses. His ability to create objects and shapes from a black force were supposedly due to the unearthly nature of his walking cane.

Yup.  That's what we're working with.  That outfit and that backstory.  Can you believe that DC actually made an action figure from that?

Thankfully, in the early Nineties, writer James Robinson had restored interest with The Shade in his magnum opus STARMAN, and the character's story continues in this new tale.  His backstory became drastically more interesting- he was the product of some Victorian-era demonic experiment which imbued him with an ability to tap into a black other-dimensional well of power and gave him immortality.  Over the years, that immortality developed a streak of ennui that lead him to "play with" the super-heroes of the Golden Age, more for sport than malice.  His character appearance in the STARMAN series charts his development from self-centered rogue to a man with a developing appreciation of other people, and almost *almost* of sense of heroism.

Missing Page from THE SHADE
Can you name the three heroes?

Dr Fate team up from SHOWCASE 1996

His wardrobe improved drastically, too.

The Shade by Andy Lee

With MATTEL's release of THREE different Starman figures ("Starmen?") in their DC Universe Classics line, we decided it was time to add this fantastic character to the fold, using his modern appearances as a style guide.

Our figure, based on a sketch by Chris Samnee

As our base, we used the MATTEL Gentleman Ghost, for a slender suited body.  His trench coat came from a PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN Captain Barbosa figure.  His arms and cane were donated from a WILLY WONKA figure.  The head is from DC Direct's Uncle Sam and the hat is from MATTEL's Zatanna.  That's a lot of figures!  The upside of such patchwork is that there was very little sculpting to do, aside from giving him a shave and creating a new collar for him.  His coat cuffs were sculpted and craft beads were used to make the distinctive buttons.

Color-wise, it seemed just so sad to paint him all black.  His shirt and gloves are NATO Black (slightly more grey), his shoes are Gloss Black and his shirt and pants are Matte Black.  His coat was painted with a Chaos Black acrylic that adheres wells with the rubber coat.  His cane was sprayed Metallic Black and his trademark cane topper was sculpted and painted Chrome Silver.  I painted his vest lapels to match the hat band.  Both Shade figures received sunglasses made from floral wire and styrene.

I think this new figure is a Shade for all seasons and makes a great addition to a collection from my favorite comic story of all time!

Batmobile History Part II: The Golden Age (1941-1949)

It's 1941 and Pulp fiction is making way for the new kid on the block.

In my last installment I mentioned how writer Bill Finger and artist Bob Kane had originally devised for the mysterious Bat Man to fly over Gotham in a large "Bat Gyro".  While that made for a great visual, it probably was hard to contrive ways for him to get down to the scene of the crime.

Eventually, he was gonna need wheels.

The original Batmobile, circa Detective Comics #48 (1941)

The Golden Age of the Batmobile started in 1941 when Bob Kane and Bill Finger first coin the name "The Batmobile", with a red sedan with a bat-shaped Hood ornament.  Batman and Robin are all smiles  as they two-fist their way through thugs and The Joker.  Design-wise, the car appears based on a 812 Cord with an extended nose.  Perhaps Batman meant to reinforce the front end as a battering ram?

Plenty of space for a Bat-cape to blow in the wind...

Shortly thereafter, artist Jerry Robinson steps it up and designs the first Batmobile of note.  Remarkably, he jettisons most everything from the Batmobile Mark I and starts anew, using a sedan as the base car, with a scalloped dorsal fin and menacing bat shield on the hood as a proper method for bursting through garage doors.

The Batmobile as of BATMAN #5 (1941)

 Mr. Robinson's design influences 70+ years of Batman art.  It stays as the feature Batmobile, with only slight alterations, for 9 years.

The last time red is used in a Batmobile design until 1966

In the Golden Age of comicbooks, Batman flourished.  The Batman legend became established: While occasionally fantasy-oriented, Batman and Robin were crime fighters, taking on the mob and an outlandish rogues gallery.  The Batmobile was a solid fixture in their arsenal of justice, including the Batarang, Batcave, Batsignal, and Batplane.

BATMAN comics expanded into several comic publications including BATMAN, DETECTIVE COMICS, and WORLD'S FINEST.  He also enjoyed a daily newspaper comic.  Whereas Bob Kane took sole credit for all of the art produced for these publications, it was becoming increasingly clear that a number of artists contributed significantly to this work.

1949: The beginning of something different from artist Dick Sprang 

In 1949 artist Dick Sprang introduced a slight variation to the Batmobile.  Possibly inspired by the Hudson Commodore, the new Batmobile emerged as a sleek and powerful sedan with rear wheel skirts.
Over the last decade, the Mark II Batmobile was often drawn without the red pinstripes.  Here, Mr. Sprang returns to the two-tone concept with a bright blue highlight.  For the first (and last) time, the Batmobile was depicted as having amphibious abilitles.  Perhaps that fastback was hiding some real horsepower?

The Batmobile Mark III, as it appeared in Detective Comics #142 (December, 1948)

A design feature that was played with during the Golden Age was a "Bat-head" emblem, most notably on various Batplanes.  This was invariably short-lived, as most folks could figure out it was Batman's car or plane without it.

The Batmobile Mark III lasted about 6 issues.  Artist Lew Sayre Schwartz filled in on an issue or two and went back to the traditional Batmobile.   It was short lived, but a herald of what was to come.

In the span of a decade, Batman went from vigilante pulp hero to super-lawman.

In the early months of 1950, Dick Sprang would define the next era of Batman facing a bright future.

The first 10 years of Batmobiles!

COMING SOON: Batmobile History Part III: The Atomic Age (1950-1963).

We Love Brave and Bold Women!

Everyone here at the Flying B Ranch can't get enough of women, especially those from the WB epic BATMAN THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD show!

Our next big challenge is to make three characters from the show.

Who are we making next?

As part of the fun, we leave you with three clues to their identities:

Mystery Woman #1 is priceless.

Mystery Woman #2 had no credited voice actress from her appearance in THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD.

In her first B&B appearance, Mystery Woman #3 stated: "I dig, Batman!  Besides, I can't often control the direction of my strange mutant power!"

The DC nU 52 Batman Action Figure Review!

IN THE DCnU, NO ONE CAN HEAR YOU SEAM...

It's hard to imagine, but last September DC COMICS decided to re-invent their line of characters with all-new comicbook series.  The notion of these new comics (52 different titles in all) was that they cut themselves loose of the last 72 years worth of history and continuity, with an appeal to attracting new readers.  Part of this rebooting of their comics included new costumes designs, most of which were done by acclaimed artist Jim Lee.

Due to his enduring popularity, Batman's appearance in the "nU" DC Universe remains largely consistent with his 70 year publication history: He's still Bruce Wayne, his origin is pretty much the same, and there's still Alfred tending the Batcave (He's the lucky one- Robin, Batgirl, Catwoman and others have been re-imagined more severely).  His new costume reflects this Let's-Not-Mess-Much-With-Greatness approach, but slightly revising his utility belt and removing his trunks (neither design choice is original, as past artists have done similar revisions in the last twenty years of comics).

The biggest design revolution of the nU DC?

Seams.

Jim Lee re-designed most of the Super-suits to have seams, perhaps in an effort to appeal to Hollywood wardrobe departments.  Batman's costume is now covered in seams.

DC Entertainment's BATMAN (2012)

To inaugurate the nU Universe of characters, DC Entertainment will release figures of the seven member Justice League, starting with Batman.  As you can see with the packaging, the box front has a "peel away" motif similar to the new DC company logo.

In the "nU 52", Batman's Mom made his costume (I kid)

The Batman figure is about what you would expect- he has hip and knee articulation that doesn't allow for a lot of options in posing.  Perhaps in a nod to recent MATTEL figures, the nU Batman has jointed shoulders and biceps that allow for arm rotation.

In the "nU 52", Batman drags his cape

 The figure is light on accessories.  There is no batarang and no base, which was a DC standard in past figure offerings.  The paint job is modestly done, with some black dabs on an inner elbow and paint marks on the back of the cape.

The Dynamic DnUo

An interesting aside is that this figure does not appear to be the first nU Look Batman figure! On the side of the box is another Batman that is a completely different sculpt!

This Batman, apparently, was not "seamy" enough...

Editorial policies and fan preferences may come and go, but Batman appears to remain resilient throughout them all.  I've never liked any of his trunkless costumes and the two-tone look without the trunks looks wrong.  It would have been more interesting to see what fashion designers would do with the Bat-suit, but then we probably only need to go the movies to see what that would look like...
 

In the "nU 52", boys have seams and girls have a zipper?