of the Dark Knight

)
Sey
Sant
Introduced in 1939, Batman was an immediate
sensation, quickly taking the cover spot of
DETECTIVE COMICS and gaining ‘his own title
within a year. Since then, he has been featured
in countless other series and titles, appearing
on well over 2000 comic covers since that time.

Drawing inspiration from the initial gothic

look designed by Bob Kane, Batman has been
imagined by some of the greatest comic book
artists of all time. These covers have endured
with memorable classic images of the
Dark Knight, many serving as templates for all
action heroes.

Seemingly inescapable death traps, brightly

colored allies and his grotesque rogues gallery
all provide splashes of color, but it is the inky
shadows that provide the atmosphere for many
of the most evocative images.

From the noir roots in the forties, silliness of

the fifties, camp of the sixties and return to the
shadows in the seventies and beyond, this book
covers them all. Organized by theme, over 250
covers provide the merest taste of thrills and
chills that have entertained millions of readers
around the world.
- Detectivel
COMIC sn THE DEMON OF
COTHOS MANSION!
/\ THE Sensational wun : |

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Mo. 27 64
PAGES

Detec
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scor? peatry. -ROOER ROSIN

Detective
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 DE CONES

Dan DiDio VP-Executive Editor

Robert Greenberger Senior Editor-collected edition

Robbin Brosterman Senior Art Director

Paul Levitz President & Publisher

Georg Brewer VP-Design & Retail Product Development

Richard Bruning Senior VP-Creative Director

Patrick Caldon Senior VP-Finance & Operations

Chris Caramalis VP-Finance

Terri Cunningham VP-Managing Editor

Alison Gill VP-Manufacturing

Rich Johnson VP-Book Trade Sales

Hank Kanalz VP-General Manager, WildStorm

Lillian Laserson Senior VP & General Counsel

Jim Lee Editorial Director-WildStorm

David McKillips VP-Advertising & Custom Publishing

John Nee VP-Business Development

Gregory Noveck Senior VP-Creative Affairs

Cheryl Rubin Senior VP-Brand Management

Bob Wayne VP-Sales & Marketing

material copyright © 2005 DC Co

reserved, Batman, all characters names the distinctive
likenesses thereof and related elements are trademarks of
DC Comics. The stories, characters and incidents featured
in this publication are entirely fictional. DC Comics does
not read or accept unsolicited submissions of ideas,
stories or artwork.

DC Comics
1700 Broadway
New York, NY 10019

A Warner Bros. Entertainment Company

Printed in Hong Kong.
First Printing. -
ISBN: 1-4012-0659-X

Special thanks to Spencer Beck, John Wells, Mark Waid,

Mike Wilbur of Diamond International, Allen Ross,
Kevin Sorensen, and Steve Korté.
 sya

Beet
eG fh CRO
Gat OO" by B OD K d= he
 APPROV
Introduction BY TH
CORAL
con

10
The Dark Knight

34
You Never Forget Your First Time
Reflections by Neil Gaiman

36
Fearsome Foes

72
Creating the Covers in the Golden Age
A chat with Jerry Robinson

74
Welcome to Fun City

85
The Dynamic Duo

102
Batman by Design

126
The Cover Logo
An examination by Rian Hughes

128
Death Traps

150
Guilty

156
Creating the Covers in the. Silver Age
Recollections by Neal Adams

pencil
“over
Jim
by
Lee
art
 158
The Batman Family ©

rya
“\m~ 4/6 Bats
a

186
Creating the Covers Today
A chat with Bob Schreck

188
Bizarre Batman

195
Secrets of the Batcave

206
Batman Covers Around the World

208
A Death in the Family

220
Assembling the Covers

222
Milestones

VZ4 230
+ t’ World’s Finest

gui | The
338 Greatest Cover?
SZ | Alex Ross, Chip Kidd and Mark Hamill choose
 At eat ee

sepeebery

The cover isthe most important visual aspect of a comic book. If among the countless other titles on the shelf the image
doesn’t entice you to pick it up, then the story goes unread. The cover can make an impact through the use of the
character, its story elements, the design/composition, its:color and even the placement of the logo.

Since 1939, Batman (his friends, family. and foes) has appeared on over 2000 comic book covers. The Dark Knight,
as you
- will see on the following pages, has brought out the very best in artists for over 60 years. Choosing “the uspalivvies
of
these covers is a daunting smnenge:

)
To narrow down the choices, it was decided that each cover had to actually feature Batman and}not just.
a of his
extended family. As,the covers were reviewed, aciutlojed and debated, they started falling into several
categories, which
‘
“i
eee
be
454%
ot4

arti
ty

yt
 TAKE LE
e&

were then applied to organize the book. Countless hours were spent looking in the company’s Print Library and many
other sources, to find those that gave a thrill, a chill or stood out from the rest.

To provide another perspective, the challenge was opened to people who wrote or drew some of these adventures, or in
some cases, helped bring these characters to life. Their choices often, but not always, dovetailed with those already
selected. It was telling that four of the contributors all chose the same cover.

Turn the page and see for yourself the engaging, exciting and entertaining images that have delighted readers for decades.
It is always hard to define the “Greatest” with so many powerful covers to choose from, and the book could easily have
been twice as long. Let the debate begin.

P APPROVED
BY THE
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 42 BATMAN Cover to Cover

Batman #608

2002

Art by Jim Lee &

Scott Williams

DIRECT SALES
With writer Jeph Loeb,
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13 The Dark Knight

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 14 BATMAN Coverto Cover

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15 The Dark Knight

This artwork fuses the key elements of

Batman that I find most exciting. It’s
iconic, but still suggesting purposeful
action; it’s gothic but with a fresh
modern slant.

Christopher Nolan is the respected

director of Memento and Insomnia
in addition to the summer 2005
reintroduction of Batman to film,
Batman Begins.

AUT ye Aq
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 —

WAGNER: GRANT: BREVFOGLE gz Be

Detective Comics #583

1988

Art by Mike Mignola

Page 17:

Limited Collector’s

Edition C-44

1976

Art by
Carmine Infantino (pencils),

John Wells (painting)

This art hung in the

reception area of the

DC Comics offices

for years before

finally being used

in print.
47. The Dark Knight

LIMITED COLLECTORS’ EDITION presents

C-44y,
32106

‘A SPECTACULAR COLLECTION
 148 BATMAN Cover to Cover

Batman #404 Detective Comics #457

1987 1976

Art by David Mazzucchelli Art by Dick Giordano

Along with writer Frank Miller, David depicted the first adventures of

the costumed Bruce Wayne, providing inspiration for the 2005 feature

film Batman Begins.

BY > ae ie : EXTRA!
FRANK MILLER i yew | LVCVECIIVE THE
AND DAVID COMICS ELONGATED
MAZZUCCHELLI MAN!

YEAR ONE PART 1

19 The Dark Knight

BD qT i 7
) LoL SALA
Collected Legends ofthe .
| iw
zs Ae
—
il

mu.

Batman: Collected Legends

of the Dark Knight

1994
Art by Brian Bolland
 20 BATMAN Cover to Cover

Batman:

The 10-Cent Adventure

2002

Art by Dave Johnson

21 The Dark Knight

“by Archie Goodwin

; ,, Scott Hampton
¥

Batman: Night Cries

1992
Art by Scott Hampton
 22 BATMAN Cover to Cover

f
Batman: ‘
NS

No Man’s Land Vol. 1

1999 iy
cee

Art by Alex Maleev

No Man’s Land was

a year-long story

depicting what happened

to Gotham City and its

citizens after the Federal

Government had cut

it off. Collected into

five volumes, the story

shows people at their

best and, too often, at

their worst.
23 The Dark Knight

DEVIN JEAN-JACQUES GEORGE

GRAYSON DZIALOWSKI RODRIGUEZ

BATMAN
LEGENDS OP THE
™

a= 5 % ¥

4 es &x wy”\
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Art by Jock
Batman #506 Batman Feat

O01

Art by Bill Sienkiewile Nt bv Neal Adams & Bernie shee

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25 The Dark Knight

Batman: Thrillkiller

1998

Art by Dan Brereton

 26 BATMAN Cover to Cover

NO77 NOV95
195 KI CAN 225

Batman: Legends of the

Dark Knight #77 fe q ‘ }
b WARS ue ee prciiteammaanerans cena
1995

Art by Scott Hampton

27. The Dark Knight

*THE+

GHA.
KON CHUCK DIXON.
JOHN VAN FLEET Batman:

1999
The Chalice

Art by John Van Fleet

 LE OF THE BATMAY:
\ PA——
ee

“ ghee

Gotham by Gaslight

1989

Art by Mike Mignola &

P. Craig Russell

This story, imagining a

19th-century caped crusader,

was successful enough to

launch an entire imprint Brian Augustyn Michael Mignola__P. Craig Russell, David Hornung
of imaginative
talescalled ir _— e ‘Introduction by Robert Bloch —
} } sf,
Elseworlds
he Dark Knight

NEW DIRECTION!

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 30 BATMAN Cover to Cover

dccomics.com
$2.50
$3.95US
CAN

Batman: Gotham Knights #1

2000

Art by Dave Johnson

31. The Dark Knight

The Batman Chronicles #23 Limited Collector’s Edition C-25

2001 1974
Art by Brian Stelfreeze Art by Neal Adams

This classic image was actually taken from a story but

was used extensively throughout the 1970S.

@ sie

Bal AN
BATMAN C-25
32106

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 32 BATMAN Cover to Cover

Batman #520

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33. The Dark Knight

Batman: Hush Vol. 1

2004
Art by Jim Lee
) NEIL GAIMAN 34 BATMAN Cover to Cover

I’ve almost never written Batman, but he’s what drew me into comics. | was six years old and
my father mentioned that, in America, there was a Batman TV series. I asked what this was,
and was told it was a series about a man who fought crime while dressed as a bat. My only expe-
rience of bats at this point was cricket bats, and I wondered how someone could convincingly
dress as one of those. A year later the series began to be shown on English TV, and I was caught,
as firmly and as effectively as if someone had put a hook through my cheek.

I bought — with my own pocket money — the paperback reprints of old Batman comics: two
black and white panels to a page of Lew Sayre Schwartz and Dick Sprang, Batman fighting the
Joker, the Riddler, the Penguin and Catwoman (who had to share a book). I made my father
buy me Smash/, a weekly British comic that reprinted what I now suspect must have been an
American Batman daily newspaper strip as its cover feature. I was once thrown out of our local
newsagents — literally picked up by the proprietor and deposited on the sidewalk — for spend-
ing too much time examining each and every one of the pile of fifty American comics, in order
to decide which Batman product would receive the benison of my shilling. (“No, wait!” I said,
as they dragged me out. “I’ve decided!” but it was already too late.)

What got me every time were the covers. DC’s editors were masters of the art of creating
covers that proposed questions to mysteries that appeared to be insoluble. Why was Batman
imprisoned in a giant red metal bat, from which not even Green Lantern could save him?
Would Robin die at dawn? Was Superman really faster than the Flash? The stories tended to be
disappointments, in their way — the question’s sizzle was always tastier than the answer’s steak.

You never forget your first time. In my case, the first time Batman cover artist was Carmine
Infantino, whose graceful lines, filled with a sly wit and ease, were a comfortable stepping-off
point for a child besotted by the TV series. Text-heavy covers, all about relationships — Batman
being tugged between two people: look at the first appearance of Poison Ivy (will she ruin
Batman and Robin’s exclusive friendship? Of course not. Why did I even worry about such
trifles?) looking here as if she’s just escaped from the label ofa tin of sweet corn. Batman thinks
she’s cute. Robin’s not impressed. That was what I needed as a kid from a Batman cover.
Bright colors. Reassurance.

While humans tend to be conservative, sticking with what they like, children are utterly
conservative: they want things as they were last week, which is the way the world has always
been. The first time I saw Neal Adams’s art in The Brave and the Bold (1 think it was a story
called “...But Bork Can Hurt You”) I read it, but was unsure of whether or not I liked it:
panels at odd angles, nighttime colors in strange shades of blue, and a Batman who wasn’t
7.
SWAMP
1973,
Infantino
THING
Carmine
Murphy
Wrightson
#7
Bernie
by
«1966,
&BATMAN
Anderson
Art
#181
quite the Batman I knew. He was thinner and odder and wrong.

Still, when I saw Adams’s cover for “The Demon of Gothos Mansion” (Batman #227-see page
238), I knew that this was something special, and something righf, and that the world had
changed forever. Gothic literature tends to feature heroines, often in their night-dresses,
running away from big old houses which always have, for reasons never adequately explained,
one solitary light on in a top floor room. Often the ladies run while holding candelabras. Here
we have instead a dodgy-looking evil squire running after our heroine, between what look sus-
piciously like two wolves. The spectral, Robin-less, Batman is not swinging from anything.
Instead he is a grey presence, hovering over the image: this tale is indeed a gothic, it tells us,
and Batman is a gothic hero, or at least a gothic creature. I may only have been eleven, but I
could tell gothic at a glance. (Although I wouldn’t have known that the cover that Adams was
intentionally echoing, Defective Comics #31, was also part of the gothic tradition — an evil
villain called The Monk reminds the reader of Matthew “Monk” Lewis’s novel The Monk, and,
as I learned a couple of years later, when the story was reprinted in a 100-Page Super
35 You Never Forget Your First Time

ss = == =
Spectacular, the Monk from this story was a {ea
Seeaae
ee
s ae. SEBS SBBSBBESBE &
arrnoven
SY THE
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vampiric master of werewolves (or possibly vice j f co
wy
OY 4
AUTHORITY
versa; it’s been a long time since I read it. I do
remember that Batman opened the Monk’s coffin
at the end, and, using his gun — the only time I
remember him using a gun — shot the becoffined
Monk with a silver bullet, thus permanently
confusing me as to the Monk’s werewolfish or
vampiric nature).

By the time I was twelve Len Wein and Bernie

Wrightson’s Swamp Thing was my _ favorite
comic; it was, I think, the comic that made me
want to write comics when I grew up. Swamp
Thing #7, “Night of the Bat,” was the comic that
sealed Batman in my mind as a gothic figure. The
cover only implies what’s inside, as Batman, his
cloak enormous behind him, swings towards the
muck-encrusted swamp monster, inexplicably
hanging from the side of askyscraper. The feeling
that this was something happening at night, arti-
ficially lit, in the city, was there, almost tangible.
But the things that made me remember this
cover fondly are really inside — Bernie drew
Batman with no pretense of realism. It was as far
as one could get from Adam West: behind Batman
an unwearably long cloak blew out: was it fifteen
feet long? Twenty feet long? Fifty? And the ears,
stabbing upward like devil horns, were even
longer than Bob Kane’s Batman ears on the cover
of Detective #31. Wrightson’s Batman was not a
man, obviously; a man would have tripped over
that cloak when he walked, the ears would have
poked holes in ceilings — he was part of the night.
An abstract concept. Gothic.

If there is a joy to the concept of Batman, it’s that

he isn’t one thing, that he contains all the
Batmans that have walked the streets of Gotham
City in the last sixty-five years, Infantino’s elegant
Batman, Sprang and Schwartz’s big gray
boy-scout, Frank Miller’s Dark Knight. None of
them more real, more valid, more true than any
other. But in my heart, he is a spectral presence,
a creature straight out of the gothic romances,
and that is how he will always remain.

Neil Gaiman is the Hugo and Nebula Award-

winning author of novels, short stories and many
comics including the influential Sandman.
 5
Pde
“e va
‘ : 4
24
: t
oer
eeo
y e

FEARSOME
36
FOES

Batman has therichest and

most deadly collection of

| ‘villains: in all of comics.

Several are known byall,

while others lurk in the

_ shadows, biding theirtime...

37. Fearsome Foes

Batman: Legends of the

ALSO IN wes ISSUE: P gee: | :
A SPECIAL PINUP SECTION FEATURING AQT BY Dark Knight #50
HOVVARD CHAYHKIN, JIRA LEE,
nMoiKE ZECK & MAAN Y OTHERS! ean 1993
Art by Brian Bolland
 38 BATMAN Cover to Cover

Batman #189

1967

Art by Carmine Infantino &

Joe Giella

Page 39:

Batman #50

1949
Bob Kane

(figures only),
Lew Sayre Schwartz

(Pencils) &

Charles Paris (Inks)

39 Fearsome Foes

BATMAN DEC...JAN.
No.50 TEN CENTS

A 52 PAGE
MAGAZINE

pecialf
ONCE AGAIN
BAIMAN
and ROBIN
BATTLE THE MOST
BIZARRE VILLAIN
OF ALL TIME
treoo
 40 BATMAN Cover to Cover

The Batman Adventures:

Dangerous Dames and

Demons

2003
Art by Bruce Timm

This collection won the

2004 Eisner Award for

Best Reprint
41 Fearsome Foes

BOY COMMANDOS i. °°) 2 I drew my covers for Detective Comics and Batman between
1941 and 1947, the early days of what is now known as the
Golden Age. It was a time when comic books were
proliferating — new titles every month, each competing for
attention at the neighborhood candy stores and newsstands.

MADCAP MENACE GRIPS The covers barely contained their screaming logos featuring all
GOTHAM CITY WHEN

manner of super-heroes in a kaleidoscope of colorful costumes

DUELS WITH
AND
IN
with flowing capes and incredible magic powers. The heroes were
locked in battle with sinister evildoers, mad scientists, rampaging
monsters and invading aliens, while stopping runaway trains, tL-69#
€76t-cV
SJIWO
JAILDI
i
destroying death turbines and rescuing scantily clad maidens in
distress. All in a day’s work for the average super-hero. Joining
the favorites — Superman, Batman, Captain Marvel and Captain
America — were heroes with mythological and biblical derivatives
and many with anthropomorphic personas.

To compete in this environment of dazzling images, I strived for

BATMAN & ROBIN CHALLENGE
“MAN WHO COULD READ MINDS" flat poster-like shapes and color, dynamic major figures, suspense-
ful situations and tight composition and design. Not all at one
time, of course. Reinforcing the essential image of our heroes and
villains was paramount.

My favorite covers and perhaps the most successful in meeting

these objectives was the Detective Comics series #69, 70 and 71.
The intent of #69, one of the earliest Joker covers, was to establish
the Joker, seen materializing from Aladdin’s lamp, as what I had
conceived originally as a larger-than-life menace to Batman and
Robin. The simple triangle composition is, I believe, the only
version of a gun-toting Joker. Number 70 dramatizes Batman’s
bond with his protégé Robin in a dangerous undersea attempt to
rescue Robin from the exotic-looking bathysphere. The cover for
#71 featured a giant Joker (obviously my favorite character).
To reinforce Joker as a powerful antagonist, he is depicted
overwhelming Batman and Robin with pages of a calendar,
symbolic of the lead story “A Crime a Day.”

I might mention two others that represent a different approach:

Detective #67 (see page 73), the first Penguin cover, shows the
quixotic villain astride an ostrich that emphasizes his humorous
but deadly persona. Batman #13 (see page 72) with Batman and
Robin parachuting to earth is pure poster design in black and
white that literally targets the reader’s eye.

Jerry Robinson started working with Batman creator Bob Kane

as a teenager, moving trom inking to fully illustrating numerous
covers and stories. He's credited with helping define the look of
the Joker among other familiar figures.
 42 BATMAN Cover to Cover

From the Eisner Award-winning creators

JEPHLOEB TIMS ALE

THE LONG HALLOWEEN

Batman:

The Long Halloween

i!

1998 TY “4

Art by Tim Sale : ges! a ee: af

ase wc
HS
Page 43:

Batman #42

1947
Art by Jack Burnley &

Charles Paris
43 Fearsome Foes

AUG...SE?T.
TEN CENTS

A 52 PAGE
MAGAZINE
 44 BATMAN Cover to Cover

SALES
DIRECT

Batman: Legends of the Dark

Knight #111

1998

Art by Jason Pearson

we |
Vo WHEN THEY CLASH WITH
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Batman #68

1952

Art by Win Mortimer

45 Fearsome Foes

DEVIN GRAYSON - ROGER ROBINSON &

JOHN FLOYD
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Batman: Gotham Knights #15

2001

Art by Brian Bolland

 46 BATMAN Cover to Cover

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APPROVED §
BY THE
[ COMICS
CODE

FEB.
NO, 169

SO LONG, FRIENDS!
I’M OFF ON A
JOY-RIDE TO
FEATHER MY
CRIME -NEST
WITH THIS
JEWELED
METEORITE !

THE PEINGUWMIN)== THAT

POMPOUS, WADDLING
MASTER OF FOWL PLAY--
IS BACK AGAIN, AS HE TRAPS
BATMAN 40 ROBIN
INTO BECOMING HIS UNWITTING...

‘PARTNERS
Batman #169
inPLUNDER!
1965

Art by Carmine Infantino &

Joe Giella
47 Fearsome Foes

Detective Comics #705

1997
Art by Graham Nolan &

Karl Story
 48 BATMAN Cover to Cover

ISSUE n|?ae :
SMASH Ts: anders

e ( Ci
[|Qe

Detective Comics #400

1970
Art by Neal Adams
49 Fearsome Foes

Detective Comics #569 Secret Origins Special

1986 1989
Art by Alan Davis & Paul Neary Art by Brian Bolland

ANY & PE. El\ .

| Bas EAs andl

 50 BATMAN Cover to Cover

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Batman: Legends of the

Dark Knight #119

2
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Art by Brian Bolland
“@)AC) TC WAYNE FAUIC
51 Fearsome Foes

Batman: Legends of the

Dark Knight #139

2001

Art by Paul Gulacy &

Jimmy Palmiotti
 52 BATMAN Cover to Cover

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 54 BATMAN Cover to Cover

Page 55:

Batman #121

1959
Art by Curt Swan &

Stan Kaye

Introduced here as

Mr. Zero, he was

renamed Mr. Freeze

when he was used on

the ABC television

series.

The Brave and the Bold #111 Detective Comics #120

1974 1947
Art by Jim Aparo Art by Win Mortimer

;
THE STRANGEST TEAM-UP IN HISTORY

"ia 7
Te
i PRESENTS

STAY BACK!
pence LAYS A HAND
N MY
wnice IA ARouND !s
55 Fearsome Foes

FEB BY THE
APPROWED

NO, | COoOAICS
CODE

AUTHORITY

“y Y AND NOW I'LL HAVE THE .

BY MOST VALUABLE LIVE TROPHIES “i
IN THE WORLD-- BATMAN AND
ROBIN FROZEN IN BLOCKS

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Batman #591
A$2.25 US $3.75 CAN
2001

Art by Scott McDaniel

57. Fearsome Foes

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 58 BATMAN Cover to Cover

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59 Fearsome Foes

The Batman Gallery #1

1992
Art by Joe Quesada & Kevin Nowlan
 60 BATMAN Cover to Cover

S THRILLING BATMAN TALES!

@ A GIANT PIN-UP PLAN OF THE BATCAVE! -
BATMAN AND ROBIN'S SECRET WEAPONS!
: : @ A CHALLENGING BAT- PUZZLE!
| _ @ BATMAN'S FOES ON TELEVISION!
: @3-D DIORAMA! — |
61 Fearsome Foes

Page 60:
This was it — my first super-hero
Limited Collectors’ Edition C-37
comic. But it wasn’t the first I read. In
1975
fact, I didn’t read it for years. I just kept
Art by Jim Aparo
it hidden. Why? Look at the cover. I was
a kid. Anda wuss. It scared the hell out
of me. The Joker’s haunting eyes. Twin
fish (with that same look in their eyes)
being used as guns. And they were wear-
ing lipstick. To be honest, this thing
should’ve put me in therapy. Instead, it’s
where my addiction was born. Most boys
want baseball cards. I just wanted more
: eae 35° comics. And Count Chokula.

S
Brad Meltzer is the best-selling author
BATM:
Ba’,
AN of five thrillers as well as the co-creator
of the WB television series Jack & Bobby.
For comics, he has written the critically
acclaimed Green Arrow: Archer’s Quest
and the best-selling miniseries Identity
Crisis.
Asal
siasoy
Aq
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SL7H#
Bulysny
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HANDS UP,
BATMAN.
I'VE GOT YOU
 62 BATMAN Cover to Cover

Detective Comics #474 Batman: Gotham Adventures #44

1977 2002

Art by Marshall Rogers & Terry Austin Art by Bob Smith & Terry Beatty

UDEADSHO $B f
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Batman #234

1971

Art by Neal Adams

Batman #171

1965
Art by Carmine Infantino & Joe Giella

The Batman Adventures: Mad Love

(newsstand edition)

1994
Art by Bruce Timm
 64 BATMAN Cover to Cover

We dare you
to accept this
challenge!
CAN You
OUTGUESS

AND NAME... e

Detective Comics

#168

1951
Art by

Lew Sayre

Schwartz &

Charles Paris
Fearsome Foes

-Wo
toring PowINDI w SMit#
AN LAWMAN

iTS Two
O'CLOCK! TIME FOR
ANOTHER DOUWGLE -
CR/ME TRIUMPH FOR
TWO-FACE AS 1
WIPE OUT SO7H
OF you!
ar

Detective Comics

#187

1952

Art by

Win Mortimer
 66 BATMAN Cover to Cover

i(ec}) AOE osrity thROY RAYMOND, 7 DerEcrive {oc}

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* xs ° .

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67. Fearsome Foes

aperovio
By THE

Page 66:

Detective Comics #203

1954
Art by Win Mortimer

Batman #497

1993
Art by Kelley Jones

Bane breaking Batman’s

back was one of the

most monumental

MOENCH by ‘ 2 \ : : | : events of the 19905.

The Knightfall storyline

GIORDANO| was turned into a

successful novel by

editor Denny O’Neil.

 68 BATMAN Cover to Cover

RUCKA * MARTINBROUGH +° MITCHELL

PLUS: THE JACOBIAN BY GORFINKEL & PANOSIAN

eat :

. ee ||ill i
DIRECTS

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Art by Dave Johnson
69 Fearsome Foes

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Batman #619

Art by Jim Lee &

Scott Williams

This was the cover for

the second printing of

the concluding chapter

of the Jeph Loeb/Jim Lee

“Hush” story.

Collector’s editions
ics.com featured gatefold

covers, one spotlighting

$2.25 US $3.50C ; : ‘Sihass on ‘ . the heroes, the other

“décom the villains.

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74 Fearsome Foes

Batman #11
When working with Bob Kane, how were the cover chores done?

When I first joined the Batman of [Bob] Kane and [Bill] Finger, Bob did the pencil roughs and I would
do the finishes and inking (and for some time, the lettering). Bob worked in his apartment and I
worked in my own space a few blocks away. We would get together almost daily and several times a
week with Bill to discuss ideas. Bob would deliver the finished art to DC. When George Roussos joined
us, he would ink most of the backgrounds.

Later, when Bill and I worked directly for DC, Bill worked with Jack Schiff and Mort Weisinger and I
worked with my editor, Whit Ellsworth. Then I was able to do many of the covers myself — layout,
complete pencils and inks, which needless to say, I much preferred. Sometimes, when there was time,
I would also do the color.

How was cover design decided? What steps were employed?

Whit Ellsworth didn’t usually require sketches. Generally I would describe to Whit my idea for a cover
or perhaps do rough layout for the design. Sometimes on deadline, Whit wouldn’t see the art until it
was complete. I worked next to Whit so he was able at times to make suggestions during the process.
I enjoyed working with Whit. I guess mostly because if he had confidence in you, he let you do your
own thing.

As Batman became increasingly popular, we quickly had to go from one thirteen-page story and cover
a month to adding the Batman quarterly of four stories and a cover. Soon after, World’s Finest required
another story and a cover on which I often collaborated
with Fred Ray, a great Superman cover artist. We enjoyed
working together, developing the ideas. At one time our
desks were literally adjoining one another. The covers
combined Batman, Robin and Superman and we pencilled
and inked our respective characters. During World War II,
Whit suggested some of the patriotic covers.

The Detective Comics and Batman covers were not often

coordinated with the interior stories. I recall one cover
that did, featuring the Joker masquerading as a florist. I
finished the lead story and the cover was a variation of the
splash page.

Was the approach to BATMAN any different than

for DETECTIVE?

The Batman covers were more symbolic, not as story driven.

That Batman was a quarterly may have been a factor.
Batman contained four stories and we didn’t want to
feature one story over the others on the cover. We went
with a symbolic concept to give a sense of the Batman
persona, whereas Defective covers were more likely to be
coordinated with that issue’s story.
 Early on, the covers were not always story specific. Did you prefer that?

I think they were both a challenge. I preferred a symbolic rather than a literal interpretation.
Remember, this was the beginning of the comic book genre so one of my objectives was to round out
the persona of Batman and Robin and establish the menacing, bizarre nature of the Joker character,
and exploit the concept of the super-villain.

It was easier to focus on one character, Batman, before Robin was introduced. On the other hand, it
made for a more dramatic situation with the two of them, such as Detective #70 (see page 41). That
image of the bathysphere didn’t appear in any story. However, it was in the news. I think Jacques
Cousteau used one in his deep sea explorations. I liked its unique shape and worked out a dramatic and
suspenseful situation in an exotic setting. Among the villains, the Joker was of course my favorite.
Later, the Penguin, an intriguing character, was fun to do.

Did you get feedback from DC in terms of which covers seemed to help sell titles?

I can’t recall. Batman was so growing in popularity I don’t think any issue was disappointing in sales.
I think we all knew a great cover regardless of sales.

Who did the cover coloring? You or National?

A wonderful man, Raymond Perry, did most of the color at the time. He was a well-known illustrator
in his heyday. He seemed quite advanced in years to a teenager like me, although he was probably in
his 50s. I was always in awe of him and always called him
Mr. Perry. It was sad that he was reduced to coloring comics in
NEW WINNER: e his declining years. He did beautiful, thoughtful coloring. We
BOY COMMANDOS a)
as frequently walked home together after work. We lived just a few
blocks from each other. I learned a lot from him. When I want-
ed some special color scheme on a story, I would discuss it with
a eC C J‘ve him. He always got just the right effect. Occasionally, ifI had
time, I liked to do the color myself. We used Dr. Martin dyes on
a silver print reproduction of the art, a surface that was able to
absorb the dye. From there the color separations were done by
the engraver.

Incidentally, I designed the logo that I believe first appeared on

Batman #1. I knew nothing about lettering styles or fonts, so I
just made up my own that I thought worked.

BATMAN ano ROBIN

BATTLE THE
PENGUIN
IM A HIGH-FLYING
SUPER-ACTION EPIC
“CRIME'S EARLY BIRD
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75 Welcome to Fun City

Q x A 8) = ” ¢ | Ww uy)

Batman Chronicles #10

1997
Art by Phil Winslade
 76 BATMAN Cover to Cover

erenre: ey,
sheers wm

Detective Comics #362

1967
Art by Carmine Infantino &

Murphy Anderson
|77 Welcome to Fun City

APPROVED
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Detective Comics #368

1967

Art by Carmine Infantino &

Murphy Anderson
 78 BATMAN Cover to Cover

Batman #485
PRESENTS forte.
1992
NO. 91
Art by Michael Golden

‘¥ BLACK
\\ \GAINAIRY? Batman #566

1998

Art by Jon Bogdanove

The Brave and the Bold #91

1970

Art by Nick Cardy

79 Welcome to Fun City

Michael Golden, in the early 1990s,

created a series of Detective covers that,
to me at least, seemed to appear as if
from nowhere to speak to the character
of Batman in a way that no one since
Neal Adams had been able to do.
Furthermore, he did it the opposite way
from Adams — instead of starring the
figure of Batman, the hero of the book,
he chose to emphasize the hugely
compelling milieu of Gotham City,
sometimes almost losing the image of
Batman altogether, as on this cover.
This approach served two purposes: to
show how much a creature of mystery
and his environment Batman is in the Aq
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way that he can slip in and out of the
shadows, and for Golden to showcase his
excellence at pattern and stuff. Objects.
Buildings, guns, cars, rockets, fish,
bones, stuff, piling on top of each other
visually to create pattern, all carefully
rendered, then using color and contrast
to keep the image from being too busy
and cluttered.

Golden’s technique is second to none; he

is a meticulous craftsman, exacting and
thoughtful, and in his use of his tools
remains as accomplished as anyone
working today. But his lasting impact,
I believe, is in his ability to look at what
is needed to tell his story, what, besides
the figures, is important to the hero’s
world and the moment to be depicted,
and then drawing the hell out of it. This
cover does that in spades.

Tim Sale, in collaboration with writer

Jeph Loeb, has produced Batman:
Haunted Knight, Batman: The Long
Halloween, Batman: Dark Victory, which
have been named by Wizard Magazine
three of the most important graphic
novels to own. Additionally, Tim has
produced a series of covers for

“wan
Detective Comics.

| APARO|
Leona
4
 80 BATMAN Cover to Cover

Detective Comics #626 Batman #452

1991 1990
Art by Michael Golden Art by Mike Mignola & Joe Quesada

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\84 Welcome to Fun City

RUCKA MARTINBROUGH ¢ WATKISS + MITCHELL

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Detective Comics #745

2000
$3.9 S CAN
Art by Dave Johnson
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Batman: Gotham City

Secret Files & Origins

83 Welcome to Fun City

S3atman: Gotham Noir Detective Comics #722

2001 1998

Art by Sean Phillips Art by Brian Stelfreeze

sey
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 84 BATMAN Cover to Cover

REG.U.S
PAT OFF

ROBIN
VERSUS

“THE THREE
me RACKETEERS”

Detective Comics #61

1942

Art by Bob Kane,

Jerry Robinson &

The presence of an

optimistic ally has kept

Batman from tumbling

into the dark railins

of obsession. Meet the

original boy sidekick,

Robin.

{Snes manennianeY
 86 BATMAN Cover to Cover

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1968

Art by Irv Novick

87 The Dynamic Duo

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1991
Art by Norm Breyfogle
 88 BATMAN Cover to Cover

Batman #437

1989
Art by George Pérez

Batman #183

1966

Art by Carmine Infantino & Joe Giella

DC Comics Presents: Batman

2004

Art by Adam Hughes

Legendary comic book editor

Julius Schwartz passed away in

February, 2004. To celebrate his

accomplishments, DC Comics

published eight comics, each

featuring two stories inspired by

classic cover images. Modern

day artists also offered their

own interpretation.

renee my atatetatetata" a

CyLET‘S GET
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I’M STAYING IN THE
BATCAVE TO WATCH .
NOT TONIGHT, KID!
I'M STAYING IN THE
GOING!
MYSELF ON CALL,
Tea BATMAN/ :
BATCAVE TO WATCH
TELEVISION ! BES GE = Sy MYSELF ON
: _ A TELEVISION!

WHATS THE REAL REASON SS

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THE TELLTALE CLUE 1S ON THIS COVER!
GOOFING OFF? IAIN
89 The Dynamic Duo

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#44
1940

Art by

Bob Kane,

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Dark Knight #100

DIRECT
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93. The Dynamic Duo

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 94 BATMAN Cover to Cover

Robin #127 Batman & Robin Adventures #1

2004 1995
Art by Damion Scott Art by Ty Templeton

Stephanie Brown was a popular supporting character using the

costumed identity of Spoiler. For a brief time, she actually

trained to be the fourth Robin but was fired by Batman for

disobeying orders.

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 96 BATMAN Cover to Cover

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97. The Dynamic Duo

Page 96:

1a, Detective Comics #38

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1984

Art by Ed Hannigan &

Dick Giordano

After Dick Grayson gave

up the Robin uniform to

become Nightwing,

|
Jason Todd became the
a,
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Fans rejected him,

=
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 98 BATMAN Cover to Cover

Batman from the

30’s to the 70’s

1971
Art by Carmine Infantino

& Murphy Anderson

This piece originally

was a pinup included in

the comics and has

become one of the

definitive depictions of

the duo, often imitated.

99 The Dynamic Duo

BATMAN FEB...MAR.
No.27 TEN CENTS

Batman #27

1945
Art by Jack Burnley
 400 BATMAN Cover to Cover

Star-Spangled Comics #88 Batman: Turning Points #2

1949 2001
Art by Jim Mooney & Win Mortimer Art by Ty Templeton

Robin had his own solo feature for This cover is an homage to

several years, although Batman the giant props found in many

did make the occasional guest stories from the late 1940s

appearance. through the 1950s.

401. = The Dynamic Duo

ger cute TIM SALE

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103. Batman by Design

Batman #194

1968

Art by Carmine Infantino &

Murphy Anderson

This is the first time the

cover logo was absent in

favor of integrating the

title into the artwork.

 104 BATMAN Cover to Cover

Batman: Gotham Adventures #3 Batman Adventures #6

1998 2003

Art by Ty Templeton Art by Kelsey Shannon

On the animated series, the Grey Ghost was seen as

Bruce Wayne’s inspiration. He was voiced by Adam West,

television’s first Caped Crusader.

CHOKING NAZARD-Small parts AGES 4

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105 Batman by Design

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Detective Comics #765

2002

Art by James Hodgkins &

John McCrea
106 BATMAN Cover to Cover
107 Batman by Design BRIAN BOLLAND

I was recently riding on a bus from Heathrow Airport in London and I got to talking to a
young lady sitting next to me. She was a Russian from Moscow studying English and Russian
literature in Cambridge University. She wanted to know what I did for a living. “I’m a
cartoonist,” I said. She was attractive and very bright and I wanted to impress her. Later we
exchanged emails. She’d visited my website and she told me that while she could appreciate
the skill that probably goes into what I did, wasn’t the subject matter all just macho violence
and ultimately quite harmful to children? As yet I haven’t thought up a reply that might
convince her, or me, that she’s wrong. When I'm not in the company of people who are into
comics, which is most of the time, I'm not absolutely certain that the medium I work in isn’t
just a lot of worthless vulgar tat.

So here I am looking at a bit of comic art that I’ve chosen and I’m trying to think what,
exactly, it is that gave my heart a jolt when I first saw it, and what it is about any bit of comic
art that makes me believe that this stuff is more than just worthless tat. I chose a Batman
cover by an artist who, as far as I can remember, only did the one.
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From an early age I always thought there was something special about Alex Toth. His work
popped up sporadically, so my liking for it didn’t come as a result of a liking for any
particular character. There was something in the drawing. The sardonic face of Eclipso. The
interestingly different but very well observed poses of the Flash and the Atom as they faced
the “Challenge of the Expanding World.” “The Case of the Curious Classic” in Hot Wheels.
The ingenious use of black and white and the daring compositions in his work for Warren
magazines. The brilliant Bravo for Adventure. His career, like that of many of the great
artists, has been a taster for what might have been. Just when we might have thought Alex’s
contribution was over, along comes his cover for Batman Black & White #4. It’s minimal
even by the standards of an artist who people consider to be the ultimate minimalist. People
have summed up Alex Toth’s work by calling it “simple,” but to me the fact that he has pared
his work down to the bone means he doesn’t have the luxury of disguising weak and poorly
thought out work behind the veneer of flashy but seductive inky noodlings, the way many of
the rest of us do it. If you don't know Alex’s work, this cover may look like not very much at
all. If you do, you'll see in it echoes of all the great work he’s ever done.

When people hear what I do for a living they often assume I’m really interested in whether
the Hulk could knock Superman through a wall or whether the new super-hero movie is
better than the last one. Well, I’m not! I’m interested in lines drawn beautifully on paper. In
the interplay of black and white and gray, in the expressive depiction of human anatomy and
movement and character, in the pleasure I get from looking at the work of an artist who is
infinitely superior to me, and Alex Toth’s cover has me believing that he is an artist working
at the very pinnacle of his field and that comics are a medium into which great talent is
poured...and are, dare [|say it, deserving of the word “Art.”

As to whether comics are violent and harmful to children. Well, look at me. I’ve been
reading comics all my life and I’m about the least violent person I know, so I think they’re
probably perfectly harmless...and I'll kill anyone who says otherwise!!

Brian Bolland gained fame in America for the series Camelot 3000 and Batman: The Killing
Joke in addition to his 350+ covers for the company.
 108 BATMAN Cover to Cover

FIT
Sea

Batman #8

1942
Art by

Fred Ray &

Jerry Robinson
109 Batman by Design

DAIMAN

NK
Vi BriAN AZZARELLO
couarDo RISSO = ais

Art by Dave Johnson

 110 BATMAN Coverto Cover

EST nan.

ACT ONE
PART 1 OF 8

CAN
$4.50

Detective Comics #797 US

$2.95

2004
Art by Jock
111 Batman by Design

Dark.

Mysterious.

Brooding.

Batman has always been a creature of the night, and

while all the great Batman artists have been able to
capture these elements of the Dark Knight, few have
evoked the intensity at his core: his resolute will to
survive and indomitable need to overcome. And none
have done it better than Frank Miller.

I was 21 when his epic — the Dark Knight Returns —

debuted; and while I loved the first book, I often felt
Miller’s version of Batman didn’t leap off the page until Aq
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I saw this cover to book two. It was visceral, brutish,
electric...alive. You could see Batman’s breath
coming off his torn, ripped cheeks; hear the sound of his
wheezing, punctured lungs; the crack of his
broken, dislocated bones; the squishing sounds of blood
pooled within his boots — all so painfully human.

Yet with this cover, Miller’s Batman had metamorphosed

into something more than human. An
irresistible force of nature, he was chunky, squared off,
barely contained by the physical edges of the paper itself.
Gone were the brushy shadows; replaced by tiny rivulets
of ink, they formed scratchy tributaries of intricate line
work. And for the first time, the color added a whole
new.dimension to the art. Lynn Varley’s colors and hues
lay not within the borders of the lines, but on top of
them, often boldly independent of them, as her painted
work staked new ground, asserting its rightful place and
role within the new, emerging art form of graphic
novels. An incredible collaboration — this image was a
complete departure from all previous interpretations of
the Dark Knight and managed to say more to me about
who Batman was than a million shots of him standing
on a gargoyle above Gotham City could not: Batman
was a bad mofo not to be messed with, human or not.

Jim Lee is the founder of WildStorm Studios and

co-creator of numerous features notably WildCATS,
Gen 13, Divine Right and The Intimates. As an artist, he
has drawn virtually every major hero at DC and Marvel
with recent year-long runs on both Batman and
Superman.
 412 BATMAN Cover to Cover

25 NO. fi APPROVED
¢C 208 BY THE

WHO...
COMICS

IS THE MOST:
IMPORTANT
WOMAN IN
BATMANS

Batman #208

1969

Art by Nick Cardy

113 Batman by Design

“sosveopab
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ALERLCEER
ELLIE ERRTLTAUWORN
Wi

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[oa]© =iS oc Master of the Future

Art by Eduardo Barreto

 4114 BATMAN Cover to Cover

Gotham Central #11 Batman: Gotham Knights #19

2003 2001

Art by Michael Lark Art by Brian Bolland

Wy

DEVIN GRAYSON + ROGER ROBINSON + JOHN FLOYD

‘ti i
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115 Batman by Design

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 116 BATMAN Cover to Cover

De,
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STORIES
SH

MICHAEL
T.GILBERT ARCIA-LOPEZ

Batman: Legends of the

Dark Knight #94

1997
Art by Michael T. Gilbert

Batman: Legends of the QUICK! LET ME IT'S A MATTER OF

HAVE A COPY OF LIFE OR DEATH--
Dark Knight #150 RATMAM CaMiIcEe
BATMAN Comics’
2002
Art by John Cassaday

Batman #199

1968

Art by Carmine Infantino &

Murphy Anderson
TOO LATE,
BATMAN /
ALL SOLD
117 Batman by Design

Jim Aparo is a man whose very name

is synonymous with Batman. He first
drew the character in The Brave and the
Bold #97, beginning a lengthy run on
that title. However, his first Batman
cover was Detective Comics #430
in 1972.

“Most of the covers I did on Batman in

the 1970’s were designed by then
Editorial Director Carmine Infantino,” 926
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Aparo recalls. He had no problem with
Infantino’s cover designs. As for a
preference between drawing covers or
interiors, Aparo notes, “As long as I was
presented with an artistic challenge,
that was all I needed.” He added, “The
challenge was always to make Batman
the icon he is: intense, dark and grim
while still telling a story that fans would
want to see and read.

“Brave and Bold #184 is a cover that

particularly sticks out in my mind as an
iconic image of Batman. This image of
Batman standing in a graveyard in front
of a tombstone unmasking himself said
the whole story in one picture.”
FINISH THE
COVER, APARO! The Brave and the Bold, among his
ROCK KILL
many assignments, was a favorite
BATMAN-- because “it allowed me to play with the
OR Z KILL
YOu! rest of the DCU and still in my own
universe.”

Aparo said, “Two other covers stick right

out in my mind...one was the cover to
Brave and Bold #124 where I drew
myself on the cover with Sgt. Rock. It
was for a joke and it worked.” The other
cover that sticks out to Aparo was issue
#134, “the story where Green Lantern
was thought to be brainwashed and had
defected to the other side. Obviously he
didn’t, but it was a story that was a lot of
fun to draw.”
 118 BATMAN Cover to Cover

S,
<>

THE THOUSAND
AND ONE SECRETS
of
and

Da. DOOM,
EXPOSED BY THE
SINISTER f
419. «Batman by Design

Page 118:

Detective Comics #158

1950
Art by Win Mortimer

Detective Comics #716 Batman #575

1997 2000

Art by Brian Stelfreeze Art by Scott McDaniel

055
HAMA
MCDANIEL
oTORY

NO. 716
DEC '97
$1.95 US
$2.75 CAN &
CHUCK DIXON
DIRECT
JIM APARO
STAN WOCH $1.99 US $3.25 CAN
 120 BATMAN Cover to Cover

DIRECT SALES

Gotham Adventures #45 Re a, xs : 7 : \

2002 ‘ ~ .S : fey $1.99US+$3.25CAN FEB 2002

Art by Darwyn Cooke
121 Batman by Design

There are so many that are favorites... NVWLV

hard to pick just one. However, from the
first time I saw the cover to DARK
VICTORY #1 I knew that Tim [Sale] had
done something extraordinary. Much
of that came from Mark Chiarello’s
suggestion that he color it red. To our
knowledge, there hadn’t been a red
Batman, certainly not the only figure on
the cover. What makes it so striking is
that the red seems right even though
there is no red in Batman’s costume.

BAT i] AWN
The way the image POPPED from the

Dark
black set the tone of the series — that
there was a darkness surrounding the Aq
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figure. This would lead off the rest of

= Viictory
the series’ covers, with all the figures
coming out of the black.
No.
of
Jeph Loeb has been working on the WB's
Smallville series as both writer and
JEPH LOEB Supervising Producer. His Batman
TIM SALE
projects with artists Tim Sale and
Jim Lee have been best-selling events.

ora
 422 BATMAN Cover to Cover

RATMAN A §2-PAGE MAGAZINE

OCT...NOU
TEN CENTS
123. Batman by Design

PX
RY

Detective Comics #476

1978

Art by Marshall Rogers & Terry Austin

Batman #196

1968

Art by Carmine Infantino & Murphy Anderson

Detective Comics #353

1966

Art by Carmine Infantino & Joe Giella

Page 122:

Batman #31

1945
Art by Dick Sprang
 124 BATMAN Cover to Cover

Birt
IssuE.
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2002
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Art by Brian Bolland

125 Batman by Design

No 1 G ISSUE The amazing covers are tantalizing

when they come at you all at once. It’s
a little like looking into a spinning kalet-
doscope of the finest pop culture art of
the last several decades. The Batman
comic book cover artists have given us
years of memorable pop art. When I was
a young boy I couldn’t wait to see what
the next cover looked like. It would be a
window into wondrous adventures with
my favorite super-hero. I could open
these pages and become Batman, the
Caped Crusader, leaping from the
darkness into danger.

I was the unexpected avenger making

the world a safer place. It gave my
friends and me athletic hours of high
adventure emulating Batman and Robin.
Little did I know that some twenty years
later I would again be playing Batman,
ALL BRAND NEW

ADVENTURES
that I would become the Caped Crusader
or THE BATMAN himself in Batman the Movie and in our
ano ROBIN, classic television series. Is this not a
THE BOY WONDER!
wonderful world? As an actor, Batman
really became my signature role, and |
5 R eo
00 2st tena8 et
0 ates
80 “e688
Poet ate a8-6
a ee8 6a 8°8
ates am grateful for it. There are few actors
ls
(20)
Cn ey ———— Ze who get a chance to create a classic char-
acter. I salute DC for the opportunities
and the inspiration they have given me
with their magnificent creation. It has
been an ongoing pleasure and a
challenge to have given Batman flesh
and blood and my own unique interpre-
tation. Thank you, DC.

FOR 13 DESPERATE DAYS Of all the engaging Batman cover art, I

have an affection for #1, the first cover.

THE H1O/-LINE It is simple, it communicates the Se

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REMAINED UNANSWERED: relationship and derring-do of the lead

characters, and it was my first look. And
I especially like #184 because the cover is
so like our television show. And, of
course, he said modestly, because
Batman looks like me.

Adam West is recognized around the

world as the first television Batman. He
has also voiced the character for various
animated incarnations.

NOT EVEN 1/72. KNOW.

Dramatic and angular, silhouetted against a Gotham moon, Batman
has always been a graphic designer’s dream: the kind of iconic
character that lends himself to an equally iconic graphic representa-
tion. Like the bat-signal or the chest emblem, the Batman logo itself
has become an integral and recognizable part of the Bat-mythos.

Batman is unusual in that he is one of the few characters in comics to

actually feature in his own masthead; his grim demeanor glowered out
from the cover of the first issue, announcing his presence in his own
title in no uncertain terms.

Unlike the Superman logo, which, though tweaked and polished,

has remained relatively unchanged and stayed true to its original
conception, the Batman logo has evolved as the Batman himself has
evolved through 65 years and over 600 issues.

1
The original logo remained relatively unchanged for over one hundred
and fifty issues.

1A
The “ears” became shorter, the jaw more angular, but the idiosyncratic
thick-thin stroke stresses on the “A’s, the reverse of the typographic
norm, remained unchanged.

2
Even in the comic’s camp era that preceded the Adam West TV show,
first aired on January 12, 1966 on ABC, Batman retains an air of
menace and mystery, here clenching his cape to cover his face.

3
The original typographic quirk had been ironed out when the traditional
logo returned with issue 215, for which the designer has obviously
referenced and updated the original version.

4
Only around issue 220 does he lose his composure for a moment — this
Batman looks more perplexed than vengeful. The type has been shaped
to fit inside the bat shape for the first time, possibly inspired by the TV
show’s version of the logo. This encapsulation presents an interesting
design problem in the curving of the right upright of the “N” and the left
upright of the “B.”

5
Later, Robin briefly graduates to team billing on the early ’70s run.
“With” and “The Teen Wonder” provide the anonymous designer with a diffi-
cult problem in balance and symmetry, which is not entirely elegantly resolved.
6
With a bat shape resembling the original in many respects, albeit with
sharper points to the cape and curls on the top of the wings, the ’70s
logo first introduced on issue 241 and lasting until issue 403 was initially
outlined square block capitals. Like the original logo, these burst out of
the confines of the silhouette and would feature in the logo in a chunkier
and squatter fashion for several years and iterations to come.

7
By the time we arrive in 1987 and Frank Miller’s “Year One” storyline, BY
FRANK MILLER
D
Batman’s face has been appropriately blacked out — in fact the logo MAZZUCCHELLI
would remain this way until features were reintroduced in 2003. YEAR ONE PART 1

8
The later ’80s versions of the logo moved towards a simpler, elegant, ser-
ifed and less illustrative graphic approach, and for a while the bat shape
disappeared from the background entirely. However, it was soon back.

9
With the release of the Batman movies beginning in 1989 and through
the 1990s, the lettering was again redesigned, this time to tie in to the
publicity and marketing surrounding the films.

10
For the new century, Chip Kidd, designer of Batman Collected,
simplified the design to a spaced heavy gothic sans serif.

11
The current logo takes it full circle back to the illustrative roots of the
original — this version is probably the most complex interpretation yet,
well-suited to Jim Lee’s intricate art style. Batman, face in darkest
shadow, again glowers from behind the type as he did on that first issue
in 1940.

BRUBAWKER <« Mc DANIEL s

Rian Hughes is an award-winning creator of logos, type fonts and

designs. His work can be found in animation, on Hawaiian shirts and
bicycle helmets and CD cases. He has crafted the look tor numerous DC
Comics publications and won the Campaign Press Awards Silver and
the New York Art Director’s Club Merit Award.
 Ore

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Detective

Comics #93

1944
Art by

Dick Sprang
 130 BATMAN Coverto Cover

ff

Batman #207

1968

Art by Irv Novick

Page 131:

Detective Comics #324

1964

Art by Sheldon Moldoff

131 Death Traps

FEB.
NO. 324

HA... HA...HA.’
THIS IS THE END OF
BATMAN AND ROBIN!

NS Y
P\®
My
 1432 BATMAN Cover to Cover

. 8

Batman: Shadow of

the Bat #50

1996

Art by Carl Critchlow

133 Death Traps

There’s a very simple reason why I

absolutely love this cover. Why every
time I see it, it reminds me of why I love
comic books and how I fell in love with
them. As my brother, Jeremy, and I went
through my uncle’s old collection of
comic books up in my grandmother’s
attic, flipping past The Brave and the Bold
and Fantastic Four, this one more than
any of the others caught my twelve-year-
old eyes. It made me want to read this
story. The look of shock on Batman’s
face, and the deadly two-way trap
confronting the caped crusader, it all
screamed at me — “Read this!” I had to
see Batman in action! I guess back then,
the covers were more story oriented.
You look at any of them and it tells you a ae
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basic story idea. Without anything like
Wizard. or Previews, you didn’t know
what was going on in the comic books
until you saw them on the stand. This
reminds me why I love comic books, and
Batman. I want to see him escape and
beat the bad guy. It doesn’t get much
simpler than that.

Geoff Johns shifted from a production

career in Hollywood to comics, gaining
acclaim for his work on The Flash, JSA,
Hawkman and Teen Titans.
 134 BATMAN Cover to Cover

Batman #393

1986

Art by Paul Gulacy

TEMPLETON
Batman Beyond #17 ToT

2001

Art by Brian Stelfreeze

Batman & Robin Adventures #20

1997
Art by Ty Templeton

AS

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135 Death Traps

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(a)
1999
Art by Jason Pearson
 136 BATMAN Coverto Cover

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Batman: Legends of the

Dark Knight #151

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137 Death Traps

“Secret of the Waiting Graves” was not

the first Batman story I wrote. But it
was the one that really began a long,
fruitful, and generally satisfying
symbiosis between writer and character
— the one that helped redefine a hero
who had, at that point, existed for
thirty years and gave me a costumed
do-gooder with whom, in some twisted
way, I could identify. Part of the
redefinition happened in the graphics
work of Neal Adams, both the cover
art and the interior visual narrative;
this was a Batman a person could

Comics= almost believe

should exist.
existed — or at least Aq
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Denny O’Neil first wrote Batman in

1969, establishing himself as one of the
character's most influential creators.
He also edited the family of titles for
over a decade, guiding Batman through
a harrowing series of adventures that
redefined the Dark Knight Detective.
 1438 BATMAN Cover to Cover

DEVIN GRAYSON LEONARDO MANCO

ZS
OS
SN

Batman:

Gotham Knights #29 VS

G2
NVD
2002

Art by Brian Bolland

139 Death Traps

Detective Comics #443

1974
Art by Jim Aparo
 140 BATMAN Coverto Cover

NO. 202

BaA Nag
saNnDGase s
5 ROB A

Batman #202

1968

Artby Irv Novick

141 Death Traps

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A ELYING JAICGELL--
ELECTRIFIED /BATMAN
HAS FALLEN VICTIM
TO ONE OF THE
UNDERWORLD
TREASURE- HUNT

Detective Comics #313

1963
Art by Sheldon Moldoff
 1442 BATMAN Coverto Cover

NS SS
‘\

ANP YOU'RE
ALL WELCOME
TO WATCH THE

Batman #321

1980

Art by

José Luis Garcia-Lopez

143 Death Traps

dccomics. com

iii > CAN

BADER
ROUSSEAU
LEIGH

Batman #519

1995
Art by Kelley Jones & John Beatty

Batman Beyond #16

2001
Art by Brian Stelfreeze

The Batman Chronicles #8

1997
Art by Walter Simonson

SALES
DIRECT
 144 BATMAN Cover to Cover

ll
= SPOOK
WOM
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|
THREE
OF THREE
Batman: Legends of the JAMES « PAUL
Dark Knight #104
SALES
DIRECT
ROBINSON JOHNSON
1998

Art by Paul Johnson

145 Death Traps

It is a fine and noble thing to merely NVW1LV

entertain people, and that’s mostly
what we comics guys aspire to. But
once in a very long while, we can use our
craft for a higher purpose. Such was the
case with “Death of Innocents.” We
wanted to do a story that would
satisfy Batman fans, but we also wanted
to raise awareness about a hideous
danger to the world’s children — land
mines. After the book’s appearance,
someone who should know said that we
had succeeded. Nothing I’ve ever done
professionally has made me_ happier.
Sometimes, being a comic book writer is
a splendid calling.

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 146 BATMAN Cover to Cover

Page 147:

Batman #83

1954
Art by Dick Sprang &

Charles Paris

Detective Comics #406 The Brave and the Bold #100

1969 1972
Art by Neal Adams Art by Nick Cardy

/BIG pages‘
DON'T TAKE LESS!

PRESENTS

NO
POWER ON
EARTH CRITICAL ! THE
CAN SAVE | SLIGHTEST
ME NOW! MOVE WILL KILL
HIM |
147. Death Traps

BATMANS AIM
WILL HAVE TO BE
PERFECT TO KNOCK
DOWN ALL THOSE PINS--
WITHOUT CRUSHING
ROBIN TO DEATH,!

Y Testina
- Barman!"
oe
"DEEP-SEA DIVER
MYSTERY!"
"THE DUPLICATE
BATMAN: "'
 148 BATMAN Cover to Cover

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SEPT.

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BATMAN... YOU'RE}
JUST ONE OF LS! /¢

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APPROVED
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1980 COMICS
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Art by Joe Kubert AUTHORITY

The Brave and the Bold #118

1975
Art by Jim Aparo

of BATMAN
andROBIN!”
CA
Detective Comics #269

1959
Art by Curt Swan & Stan Kaye

(yea! THEY'LL
NEVER GET OUT
OF THIS ONE!
ca
149 Death Traps

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Batman #612

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$2.25 US $3.75 CAN Art by Jim Lee &

Scott Williams
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se eueee . 6 6 ee
151) Guilty

Detective Comics #377

1968

Art by Irv Novick

 452. BATMAN Cover to Cover

Extra! ANEW ELONGATED MAN STORY! —yeanar BY THE

COMICS
CODE
ge. I\ £
GAN
w\s
AUTHORITY

BATMAN 2«dROBIN--
IN THEIR MOST
PERILOUS ADVENTURE--
ee VICTIMS OF THE...
GOTHAM GANG
Ups’
w/ ME-
i

Detective Comics #328

1964

Art by Carmine Infantino &

Joe Giella

Page: 153

Batman #128

1959
Art by Sheldon Moldoff
153 Guilty

*-

Yi (OTHE AMAZING
/ se | ADVENTURE OF |
"VTHE
: INTERPLANETARY |
q
SD
INNOCENT,
|: BATMAN."
-
I TELLYOU /
 154 BATMAN Cover to Cover

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PETERSON

CA
$4.25
US
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DIRECT

Batman: Gotham Adventures #27 ee ke

2000 be Sarat 3
A FULL-LENGTH BATMAN NOVEL! * \
Art by Bob Smith & Terry Beatty J pluS BATMANEROBIN TOGETHERINASECOMD STORY!
x

Detective Comics #766

2002
Art by John McCrea

Batman #329

1980

Art by Jim Aparo

IT FINPS YOu
GUILTY!
DIRECT SALES

ll
02511

61941°22177""'9 aes : oe Batman: Gotham Knights #25

2002
Art by Brian Bolland
For a time, I apparently became DC’s “Cover Artist,” though at the time no one referred to me that way,
nor did I think of mysel£ as such.

Comic book covers had a vastly different reason for being in the ’60s and early 70s.

A majority of comic book sales was to the newsstand. There was no Diamond Previews catalogue or
grapevine. No one knew what was “coming out next month,” except for the ads or mentions in this month’s
issue.

The cover was the only sales force. In fact, store owners looked with some small anger at a teenager who
“flipped” through the books before buying. So you could buy a book with a Neal Adams cover and discover
later that there was no Neal Adams art on the inside. Fans didn’t like this much, but often, thank goodness,
they'd buy the book just to get the cover.

Personally, I recently bought two years of Wonder Woman just to get the Adam Hughes covers. I’m sure
you know what I mean.

Anyway, DC could count on another ten percent of sales if I did the cover, so they were happy to load me This is Neal’s first
down with covers. In fact, it was a natural fit. I think of a cover artist as a problem solver. It was never the Batman cover, inking
job of the cover artist, as I saw it, to simply draw a pretty picture. They surely didn’t need me for that. over Carmine Infantino’s

pencils.
I’m the kind of person who likes to communicate on many levels. I like to intrigue the reader, stimulate the
reader, awe the reader or even present a mystery to the reader. As far
as the art is concerned, again, I’d like to mystify, ask a question,
essentially make people think by using art.

In fact, good covers, I believe, are not necessarily the best drawn,
but the best thought out. Anyway, that’s my philosophy. That and
two bucks will get you a bus ride.

When I first began working with the legendary Carmine Infantino,

it was great to discover he was also idea driven.

Carmine would only ask me to use his layout if I agreed it sold the | Bo lata
message or idea best. And I didn’t make it easy for him. HIT HIM BACK!
BEFORE HE
KILLS You!

His ideas were and are always simple and direct and were classically
designed. It’s hard to argue with those values.

Even so, 85% of the covers were my designs for many reasons.
Often, Carmine was too busy to contribute, or half the time he liked
what I came in with and finally, I’d talk him out of some idea or
other in the course of our back and forth.

Carmine was not slow to recognize good ideas. And his true ego was
always strong enough to be generous. I’d like to think his respect for
my work was part of his generosity, but either way we worked well
together.

For me, also, covers were a time to experiment. Most folks at old DC
didn’t know what the hell I was up to anyway, until some fan wrote in.
J remember one day when Murray Boltinoff, editor of many of the books I worked on, excitedly showed me
a letter from a fan who was particularly excited about the covers I was doing on the mystery books: House
of Mystery, House of Secrets and Tales of the Unexpected. Murray was literally taken by the letter. It seems
this teenager, an art student, I think, would buy 10 copies of each mystery book I did the covers for. He
would cut the covers off and tack them up on his bulletin board in his room and he would lie on his bed
and stare at them. He wrote the letter because some of the covers, as he stared at them, became three-
dimensional and he wondered if I was using some new technology.

Murray thought the kid might’ve been on drugs, until I explained that certain colors’ wavelength is greater
than others, and so those colors jump forward (red and yellow) while some colors lie back (blue and blue
gray) and if you design your drawing just right, they not only seem three-dimensional, but to the eye they
actually are three-dimensional.

Neal Adams was the first of a new generation of artists to help DC evolve its look and approach to comics
storytelling. At first, he was used on covers for a wide variety of titles before adding stories to his
workload. His collaborations with writer Denny O'Neil helped usher in a new look for Batman as interest
in the pop art television series waned.
159 «The Batman Family
 160 BATMAN Cover to Cover

NvVD
GLES
S31VS LDaYIG

6A}

Batman #615
a

Art by Jim Lee & Hy

Scott Williams
161. The Batman Family

ant Pee itmn

aHUGIN GATGINL FUISON IVY MACFREEZE andJAMES CORUINasmM | ‘4
=) DORAN DION ALWELEER"0D.FEGREDO O.TURNER ri te “TN RUGEHICA
Cpirecr sates | BASED UPON GARACTENS af BY BOG KANE
A HW WHIT, DIRECTED BYVINCENZO8GORFINKE,
IMM
| IM,hl READTHECONTINUING ADVENTURES OF BATMAN I BE COMES The Batman Chronicles #9
A AU |NINE |[VISIT THEBATMAN WEBSITE HTTP,/BATMAN-ROBIN.COM ay 1997
Art by Hugh Fleming
 162 BATMAN Cover to Cover

Batman: Gotham Adventures #16 Detective Comics #484

1999 1979
Art by Bob Smith & Terry Beatty Art by Ross Andru & Dick Giordano

THF LeEpc GE
a j

THE ENTIREBATMAN FAMILY!|

wm a ;
NOVEL-LENGTH
MYSTERY /

ie jis47]
PR hn = 4
, a es ss ae IP
KN hha at D4
ih
163. The Batman Family

LAST ISSUE OF
Sz
rom
eae
OW
hy Yi a

Batman and the

Outsiders #32

9
1986

Art by Alan Davis

For a brief time, Batman

IKE W.BARR °
formed a new team to

M handle problems the

*
& ALAN DAVIS Justice League of America

could not. A mix of new

and veteran heroes, he

trained them until they

could fly solo.

 RQ
a \o+ DB ATMAN Cover to Cover

tam

(oes
oa SMe,

Batman #22
165 The Batman Family

2
ir

BAIGIRGS
GET OVER HERE--
HELP US! WE'VE GOTA
PROBLEM!

I HAVE A
BIGGER ONE--
ARUN IN MY
TIGHTS!

Detective Comics #371

1968

Art by Carmine Infantino &

Murphy Anderson
 166 BATMAN Cover to Cover

GORDON--
IL ALWAYS
KNEW YOL! WERE

Detective Comics #422

1972
Artby Neal Adams
167 The Batman Family

Bites reget
a APPROVED}

“LOOK! OUR ~
NEW BAT-HOUND
RECOGNIZES THE
meal BAT-S/GNAL--THERE
HE GOES, READY
me FOR ACTION /

Batman #92

1955
Art by

Win Mortimer

Ace appeared regularly

until 1956 but has

been fondly remembered

and is used on the

Cartoon Network’s

Krypto animated series.

World’s Best Comics #1

1941
Art by Fred Ray

After two successful

oversized comics sold at

the World’s Fair in 1939

and 1940, DC launched

(PY)
7 THRILLING
this quarterly title, 4 PAGES IN
changing the name to FULL
COLOR!
World’s Finest Comics

with the second issue.

Superman and Batman

shared the covers but

didn’t share the story

SUPERMAN «+ BATMAN ano ROBIN
until issue #71.
RED WHITE ano BLUE « ZATARA
 168 BATMAN Cover to Cover

=
\\\\aa\y\5)

Batgirl #7

2000

Art by Damion Scott

169 The Batman Family

Detective Comics #359 Batman: Gotham Knights #43

1966 2003
Art by Carmine Infantino & Murphy Anderson Art by Brian Bolland

When ABC asked for a female crimefighter to enhance their Batman

series, editor Julius Schwartz introduced Commissioner Gordon’s

daughter, Barbara, in the comics before her live action debut.

A Meme
E a
reno | ape
Intusisu: BATMAN (EUX@EG:
e EPR
Waite BY JOHN OSTRANDER
AND PHILIP BOND

SNGLES

vS
O9
NYO
 170 BATMAN Cover to Cover

Detective Comics #725

1998

Art by Brian Stelfreeze

Dick Grayson grew up

and set out on his own

as Nightwing, only

occasionally partnering

with his mentor. ze : : — ‘ 4 wail

171 ~The Batman Family &= it &oh § A fsap we
fe me
awh &OH aa ap
ay Ffer

APPROVED
From the very first cover I was asked to
do by Max Gaines and Sheldon Mayer
{
AUTHORITY (All-American Comics) 1 have always
A

approached the cover as a challenge.

The challenge being to try and make the
cover as interesting and as provocative as
HURRY, BATMAN - possible so the prospective buyer would
THE BA7-WOMAN 5S
BEATING US ON select my magazine (because of the
THIS MISSION /
cover) out of the rack of dozens of mag-
azines. And of the hundreds of covers I
have done, I would say Batman #156,
“Robin Dies at Dawn,” would be my
favorite. I imagine it made a terrific
impact on young fans when they saw it
on the rack. My other favorite would be
Detective #233 which introduced
Batwoman. I think the design and color
of the cover was perfect. It had every-
thing. Batman and Robin. The
Batmobile. The Bat-signal. And the first
appearance of Batwoman.

Sheldon Moldoff has illustrated

hundreds of stories tor many publishers Aq
‘€961
9St#
9561
E€z#
SajieyD
Sued
payul
NYVWLV
@SDIWOD
JAILDI
but is best known for his work on the
Golden Age Hawkman and his long
tenure working alongside Batman
BY THE creator Bob Kane.
COMICS
CODE
(CND)
(OL
AUTHORITY

An soisationtl 2-part adventure--

ROBIN DIES AT DAWN!”
HE--HE’S DEAD!
ROBIN |S DEAO! HE A |
SACRIFICED HIMSELF FOR Soo} que
ME ON THIS ALIEN WORLD! ) or, S
 172 BATMAN Cover to Cover

= tors
THE
SEARCH

ee
=
LD34N10 S3A1VS
i
H

Batman: Legends of the

Dark Knight #60

1994
Art by Norm Breyfogle
173 The Batman Family

PUCKETT - SCOTT - LOWE

MAY 01

|) a |

Batgirl #14

2001

CAN
Art by Damion Scott &
5
Robert Campanella

Even though there have

been two previous

Batgirls, the current

$2.50
S4-2
US

dadccomics.com incarnation is the first to

receive her own title.

 174 BATMAN Cover to Cover

APPROVED
BY THE
COMICS
CODE

Cy &
AUTHORITY

NOV.
NO, 369

LET GO, BATMAN!

YOU'VE HAD IT AS 7OP BAT !N
GOTHAM CITY! FROM NOW

RIESE SH cep)

od &
: ss e ésF Nore serene.

Detective Comics #369

1967
Art by Gil Kane &

Murphy Anderson

Page 175:

Detective Comics #235

1956
Art by Sheldon Moldoff
175 The Batman Family

| supe: DETAILS ancl ENTRY BLANK jn Qos

WGiants 0.00 BRIE sa ae
AUTHORITY |

tective

YES, ROBIN --
THE MAN
) WEARING THAT
OLD-FASHIONED
BATMAN COSTUME
WAS MY FATHER !

FEATURING «
fon. THE
Fisk
BATMAN:
 176 BATMAN Cover to Cover

tigiuMORE
TH xz vi
Ul

SS p STO IES
vy
/

Batman Family #17

1978

Art by Michael Kaluta

V.
—
3
C
 178 BATMAN Cover to Cover

The Batman of Arkham

2000

Art by Quique Alcatena

Batman: Legends of the

Dark Knight #85

1996

Art by Tony Salmons

 180 BATMAN Cover to Cover

PART FOUR.
OF FOUR
DIXON
NOLAN
PALMER
$1.95 US
$2.75 CAN
JUN ‘98

Batman: Bane of the

Demon #1

1998

Art by Graham Nolan &

Bill Sienkiewicz
181 Bats

Batman #547 Batman Adventures #8

1997 2004

Art by Kelley Jones Art by Kelsey Shannon

i
|

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 182 BATMAN Cover to Cover

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The Batman Chronicles #11

SALES
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1998

Art by Paul Pope

DEVIN GRAYSON 4 oO 1S) Lu ro 4 2) ca z 4) .e] z JOHN FLOYD

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Art by Brian Bolland

 184 BATMAN Cover to Cover

(FATACIWsM! PRELUDE

MAR 98

Detective Comics #719

1998
Art by Bill Sienkiewicz
185 Bats

},
i
ZE
oe

47:
R@ HO
y
LH UR
w ),*(2
eA
Sgaan
| wee | WIVES
z,
mes po

Superman:

The Man of Steel #37

1994
Art by Jon Bogdanove &

Dennis Janke

Note the various artists

imitated to create the sense

of alternate realities to

confound Superman.
In today’s cluttered comic shop, what elements must a cover have to get noticed?

It’s tough, and getting more challenging every day. Any given cover must strive to make you stop and
pay attention. By shocking you, by making you ask what it means, by making you pause due to its stark,
quiet atmosphere, by making you laugh. Whatever it takes, your goal is to stop the buyer in their tracks
and make them interested in your book. Every cover should have at least three elements brought
together into the one image. These can include the character(s), of course, a setting, a predicament, an
iconic juxtaposition (such as the Riddler’s question mark), cover copy, a setting and/or the complete
lack of any background setting whatsoever, and so on.

Does newsstand display play a role at all?

Yes, however we have been keeping both the newsstand and direct sales markets in mind for years now,
thanks to Mark Chiarello, DC’s Editorial Art Director. I believe DC has a good eye to keeping both
markets satisfied.

Do you feel hampered at all by unifying

elements for the Batman line, such as the
cowl icon?

At times, especially when we are adding more

elements to market multipart storylines like “War
Games” or “No Man’s Land.” The covers tend to get
a bit cluttered, but on a normal month-to-month
basis, no. I feel that the current icons and glyphs on
the line of Bat titles do a great job alerting the con-
sumer to what it is they’re about to purchase.

Should covers today be poster-shots or story

specific?

There is no hard rule, and each cover must be

approached on its own with your mind towards
what your story is about, or how you can best
represent that story without literally lifting a scene
from the interior. Sometimes, lifting that scene is
the perfect solution. It really depends on so many
variables and ever-changing factors, like what your
last few covers have looked like, the overall tone of
the book and perhaps reflecting a radical shift away
from that tone that the reader may be expecting
every month.

What role should cover copy play? Is it

necessary?

2
q
I am personally totally bored with the cover copy 0
a)
concept and feel it is a highly overrated holdover <= ny
ES iv)
7)
from our past. A well-orchestrated piece of cover art 0)
>
and the book’s logo should be enough to pull you in. ie}
N
N
61941'20005
1)
However, DC’s policy is that we continue this prac- SAL
DIRECT

tice, and so cover copy appears on many of the Bat titles. accomics.comg
 Which covers during your editorial tenure worked best?

TECTIVE
SANE hd A, Batman #631, the concluding cover to “War Games Act 1” comes to
mind. There’s Batman #584 by Scott McDaniel and Detective Comics
#798, the opening chapter to “Act 2.” Beyond the Bat Family of covers,

COREL 8. I’m also very proud of Green Lantern #154 and Green Arrow #18 and 19.

How do you select a cover artist? Should it be the interior

artist?

I work closely with Mark Chiarello, and we look for talent that can boil
down the many concepts that go into any given story (sometimes con-
flicting ones at that). An artist who can bring it all together and into one
unified visual image that stimulates one’s imagination and begs you to
want to know more. It’s rare that an interior artist is chosen. This has
less to do with time sensitivity and more to do with the artists’ mindset
to do both, excellent visual storytelling from panel-to-panel and also be
able to translate all those images into one iconic moment. Just as there
are so few successful writer/artists in the field.
ACT Two
PART 1 OF & 3
What about the increasing importance of color? What does
that bring to a cover?
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Color is also a major contributing factor towards bringing a cover alive.
ll 19412
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your cover stand out in an ocean of other colorful covers on the racks. It
can also bring the consumer’s eye to the exact moment on the cover
needed to make your story’s point in one single visual moment.

Bob Schreck is currently Group Editor for the Batman family of titles.
BRUBAKER > MCDANIEL

wig €BAI-MAN:
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189 §©6Bizarre Batman

APPROVED ¥
BY THE y

COMICS ]
4 CODE ,
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2/ S

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AUTHORITY

G-GET BACK,
EVERYBODY!
BATMAN HAS
BECOME A
MENACE! |}

Detective Comics

#275

1960

Art by

Sheldon Moldoff
 190 BATMAN Cover to Cover

arenoveo
ALL NEW STORIES
ccopes
AUTHORITY

YOU CAN'T
DEFEAT ME,
BATMAN, BECAUSE
I KNOW HOW YOU
THINK-- OUR MINDS
ARE EXACTLY
ALIKE!

Detective Comics #239

1957
Art by Sheldon Moldoff

(color effects by Jack Adler)

COMICS
THE EARTHMEN, BATMAN
AND ROBIN, ARE NOW ALSO
UNDER THE CONTROL OF THE a,
ALIENS WHO HAVE TAKEN
OVER MY PLANET /

Detective Comics #256

1958

Art by Sheldon Moldoff

191 Bizarre Batman

Batman #75 Detective Comics #339

1953 1965
Art by Win Mortimer Art by Carmine Infantino & Joe Giella

BATMAN
and ROSES
BATTLE THE APE
WITH A HUMAN
BRAIN-- WHEN
thé KINGof -
the CONGO
BECOMES

BODY WILL BLOW uP

\ GOTHAM C/TY/

THIS UP...
 192 BATMAN Cover to Cover

IN THIS ISSUE WE...

DeOWN
MURPHY BROWN
UNWIND
iz

CRASH
DRIVER'S EL
193 Bizarre Batman

With all the great covers spoofing Batman that MAD Magazine has published over the years, it’s difficult for me, the editor of
MAD, to pick a favorite.

I could pick the cover of MAD #105, Sept. ’66. It’s a classic send-up of the 1960’s Batman TV series by longtime MAD cover artist
6361
68z7#
GVW
Norman Mingo. Not only is it the first time a TV series was spoofed on the cover of MAD, it also marked the first time (but cer-
tainly not the last) MAD’s infamous gap-toothed mascot, Alfred E. Neuman, was substituted for a real person, in this case, actor
Burt Ward’s Robin. It’s a great cover, but I’m not picking it.

Another great choice would be the cover of MAD #359, July 97, which featured the movie Batman & Robin. It would also be a
clever choice because MAD #359 was actually four different covers by artist Mort Drucker, each featuring a different Alfred sub-
stitution of a character from the Batman movie. (I told you we tend to do too many Alfred substitution gags!) When you placed
the four covers together, the words “Cheap Gimmick” appeared in the center — MAD’s way of spoofing all the multiple covers
being done at the time by some cheesy magazines (READ: 7V Guide) in an effort to boost newsstand sales. (If MAD’s newsstand
sales happened to be boosted as well, hey, who were we to argue...?) It’s another great cover, but I’m not picking this one either.

No, if I had to pick only one MAD Batman cover, it would have to be MAD #289, Sept. 89. But in order for you to understand
why, you'll first need to know a little MAD history.

MAD was founded by the legendary Bill Gaines, who was the magazine’s publisher from its beginning in 1952 until his death in
1992. Gaines was something of a rascal, who delighted in taunting MAD’s editorial staff with bets, cons and practical jokes.

When Nick Meglin and I took over as co-editors of MAD in 1985, Gaines made us an offer. For every issue of MAD that we pro-
duced that sold over 50% of the magazine’s print run, Gaines would take us out to dinner at the restaurant of our choice in New
York City. If the magazine sold over 60%, Gaines would take us to the restaurant of our choice anywhere in the world. Now,
Meglin and I enjoy a good meal as much as the next guy, particularly when Gaines was paying for it, so it was an effective carrot
to dangle in front of us. Every month we worked our butts off trying to produce a great-selling issue. Try as we might, the 50%
sell-through proved very difficult, and the 60% damn near impossible.

Then along came the first Batman movie. Huge buzz. Jack Nicholson as the Joker, great special effects, the highly anticipated
movie quickly became a box office smash. Meglin and I managed to have a spoof of the movie out just as the film debuted.
The cover featured a Richard Williams painting of an idea by Meglin. It featured — surprise’ — yet another Alfred substitution,
but with a twist. Not only was Batman replaced by Alfred, but the Batman bat symbol was replaced with the Superman “S”
symbol. It was a nice, stupid MAD idea. Most readers just saw the Alfred substitution at first glance. The Superman twist snuck
up on them a few seconds later. With our initial sales reports encouraging, Meglin and I quickly became convinced that we were
finally going to hit the 60% sell-through. This cover would be the one that would have us eating foie gras in Paris on
Gaines’s dime. Sweet!

Of course, Gaines didn’t get to be rich on his looks. Unbeknownst to Meglin and me, Gaines had quietly upped the print run on
the Batman issue by several hundred thousand copies. In other words, short of just about every man, woman and child in America
going out and buying that issue of MAD, there was no way it would ever crack the 60% barrier. The sly old fox had stuck it to
us again.

In the end, the Batman cover sold very well and broke 50%. Gaines, true to his word, treated Meglin, Lenny Brenner (MAD’s art
director at the time) and me to a dinner at one of New York’s finest restaurants, Gotham Bar and Grill. The meal was fabulous
and expensive, though we never had Paris. To this day, whenever I look at that Batman cover, I can’t help but think of my old pal
Bill Gaines, MAD’s curmudgeon publisher, who always seemed to be one step ahead of us.

John Ficarra is Senior Editor of MAD Magazine and has been poking fun at society for over 20 years. His mother still wishes
he'd find respectable work.
 194 BATMAN Cover to Cover

, APPROWED
BY THE
COAICS
CODE

. AUTHORITY |

YOU SUMMON i.
ME, O MASTER!
I AM YOURSTO |
COMMAND !

GREAT SCOTT,
BAT-G/RL /
BATMAN ISA
PRISONER OF THE
LARKO LAMP--AT
THE BECK AND
CALL OF THOSE
CRIMINALS!

Ai if fy
Wil MY waa)
{ \ YY |
\ Wy
Tif

Detective Comics #322

1963
Art by Sheldon Moldoff
 reese

t
a

iN
eres Teh be, -

~ intellect, detective ‘skill.

%

and of course, his cool car.

ns 42 Lek be!

,re ¥ tee i
ga en

cape, andthe unique arroy

‘ 8 he %
Teg bao kiesKo A

* i ak, xf
at a" i <a cots ob? Sie

+gadgets and. a

a
er
 196 BATMAN Cover to Cover

0)
e)

<
1)
te
Detective Comics #711 U
W
1997 o
a)
Art by Graham Nolan &

Tom Palmer
197. Secrets of the Batcave

Detective Comics #561 /

1986

Art by Gene Colan &

Dick Giordano
 198 BATMAN Cover to Cover

Page 199:

Batman #59

1950
Art by Bob Kane

(figures only)

Lew Sayre Schwartz

(pencils) &
Charles Paris

(inks)

Batman #20 Detective Comics #156

1944 1950

Art by Dick Sprang Art by Dick Sprang

ephlae OEC...JAN. E; V aL “a a 1
0. TEN CENTS GOONS Sn Bia Ht
‘wow: Shalt i Inpian Lawman

FOUR BIG V |
BATMAN & ROBIN Ve
ACTION STORIES! | @ @2C | BATMAN |
ROBIN

~ Fy, a
NO.I5S6 of AD] 50
FES. i J Ae

|SEARCHLIGHT THROWS | [RADAR ANTENNAE] |

. +r ) |BAT SYMBOL AS WELL | |INSIDE TAIL FIN | |
[KNIFE-EDGE | |PLASTIC | |AS LIGHT BEAM WHEN
| STEEL NOSE | |BUBBLE | | DESIRED
| FORCUTTING |* : tx
| THROUGH LS
| BARRIERS

TUBES | |
“

| LABORATORY. WITH BUILT-IN

| CABINETS, WORKBENCH, STOOL
199 Secrets of the Batcave

32 BIG PAGES

- LOOK, ROBIN--
THE BAT-SIGNAL
ON THE MOON /
"WE'RE WANTED
BACK ON EARTH!
 200 BATMAN Cover to Cover

BATMAN AUG...SEPT.
Mo. 48 TEN CENTS
201 Secrets of the Batcave

TO GIVE CLOUDY.
EFFECT AMO CON- ~~
CEAL TAKEOFF Ti

} Vacs
si
LIE ze

Page 200:

Batman #48

1948

Art by Win Mortimer

Batman #203

1968

Art by Neal Adams

 202 BATMAN Cover to Cover

Page 203:

Detective Comics #244

1957
Art by Sheldon Moldoff

Detective Comics #164 Detective Comics #619

1950 1990
Art by Win Mortimer Art by Norm Breyfogle

Pow-Wow Smitn
INDIAN LAWMAN
203. Secrets of the Batcave

APPROVED
JUNE NO. 244 BY THE

tra_._A
4

— \/ BazmMan, wi ale S
Pouce) ( YOU'RE NOT ~~ of BATMA
Raant, |” GOING TO USE
BATARANGX,
ARE YOU 2
WE'VE GOT TO,
ROBIN-- EVEN
THOUGH IT'S THE
MOST DANGEROUS
SEEINNG- EYE aay ONE IN OUR
EDLARANG | COLLECTION ,/

BOMB -
| BATARANG .

“FLASH BULB
 204 BATMAN Cover to Cover

BATMAN OCT...NOU.
No.37 TEN CENTS

Y) Qn. ther taoue

ss THE JOKER
STEALS THE
BATMANS
THUNDER /
@

Batman #37

1946

Art by Jerry Robinson

BATMAN JUNE... JULY = hy

No.47 TEN CENTS is(Dc )-

Cpesiel
et
PERIL-PACKED
INSIDE STORY OF

oni
a

Batman #47

1948

Art by Bob Kane &

Charles Paris
205 Secrets of the Batcave

LAST LOOK,
ALFRED--

THEN SEAL
UP THE
BATCAVE..
FOREVER
Batman #217

1969
Art by Neal Adams

A new era began for

XN Batman as Dick Grayson

went to college and the

Dark Knight relocated

operations to Gotham City.

The move lasted

approximately ten years.

 MnATMA
EKOTEINOE INNOTE

GREECE INDIA (with stories published in five of the country’s

different dialects)

A JusTicA
Lichc DA
=)Li
DC comics can be found in
70 countries around the world,
with stories translated into
over 30 languages. As a result,
Batman has become one of the
top five characters recognized

globally. Each publisher chooses

for themselves whether to use

existing cover artwork or

use other graphics for their

publications.

PORTUGAL
 LNUdomIs
Lin
TaMnnToH id fj LADUAN nou 4
BAPYETT =

RUSSIA

522-03

SWEDEN
 et
ah
:
roe
- ;

seei in g death ofa fiero

7

iniitely
el ets}‘attent ion,
f
SES #sRPO
PEE

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plata.
—
a

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illite”

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eet

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es kes th =

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209 A Death in the Family

Batman #244

1972

Art by Neal Adams

 210 BATMAN Cover to Cover

< THERE'S NEVER BEEN A STORY LIKE THIS! THERE NEVER WILL. |A?2R0veD
BeANOTHER: “Thé STRANGE DEATH of BATMAN,” comics
, AUTHORITY
— s J

NOT REVEAL
DO RISE
” THE SURP ENDING
OF THIS STORY TO YOUOR |
FRIENDS! THEY'LLWANTT
GET: THE SAME KICK OUT
Detective Comics #347

1966 EXC LUSIVE PICTURE TAKEN p

ON-THE-SPOT PHOTOGRAPHER
OF IT THAT YOU DID! |
Art by Carmine Infantino & ee
—————
ng
A rg,
Murphy Anderson nN NO Fe ey —S
211 A Death in the Family

IN THIS ISSUE: [BATMAN [BiEN@iZe- WOITeE BY JILL THOMPSON

DIRECT SALES

il
04411

Batman: Gotham Knights #4

ROBINSON ro Sa 619412217 70g
2003
FLOYD . oe $2.75 US $4.60 CAN dccomics.com
Art by Brian Bolland
 212 BATMAN Cover to Cover

-! Defective Comics ~~:

yYae

| YOU KILLED ME--¥

My AND I'M GOING
>
a4 \) To PROVE 17!
> =I : sets
aS
{ 3 : {f :
X

DER
“SHARES THE |
\
Detective Comics #415

1971
Art by Neal Adams
213. A Death in the Family

This was the first issue of Batman to

hit the newsstands after the Adam West
television series bam-powed its way
onto the airwaves in January of 1966 —
meaning that, as approximately 770,000
other children could also say (according
to recorded sales figures), it was my
first exposure to the comic book
adventures of the Darknight Detective.
It’s a terrific composition by artists Gil
Kane and Murphy Anderson, strikingly
moody while still kinetic and vibrant
THREE 5 TIMES yf "APPROVED in the best comic-book manner. Though
Wr” there are other Batman covers of the
period that are arguably stronger or
bolder, this is the one that remains a
permanent framed fixture above the desk Aydin
Ee
Aq
‘9961
uosia
auey
B@
119
LY
OSt#
NVWL
at which I’ve since written hundreds of
comics stories featuring Batman and his
DC Comics co-stars. It’s a constant
reminder from the four-year-old in me
that I could not possibly have chosen a
more wonderful career.

Mark Waid is a former DC editor and

writer of diverse characters from
Superman fo the Fantastic Four fo the
Legion of Super-Heroes.
 214 BATMAN Cover to Cover

SHE DID
SOMETHING
NO MAN
COULD EVER
DOE==

Detective Comics #456

1976

Art by Ernie Chan

cm
| iva

19)|©

Batman Annual #19

1995
Art by Bret Blevins
215 A Death in the Family

JEPH LOLS Jiwv Lee es WILLIAMS

mone

3} DIRECT SALES |
i) SanctiPl
y Ae
Batman #618
E| AA 2003
17 MG 1941'20005' 7
Art by Jim Lee &
$2.25 US $3.75 CAN
Scott Williams
ER Oe
av
 216 BATMAN Cover to Cover

BER RSOME FOE

 217. A Death in the Family ALEX ROSS

One of the single greatest (and most dramatic)

pieces of Batman cover art has to be
Neal Adams’s cover to the oversized limited
collectors’ edition of Batman’s classic first
encounter with Ra’s al Ghul. The Denny
O’Neil/Neal Adams epic was among the most
important storylines in comics, and long before
trade paperback collections would routinely
SEAR SOE ES SEE SS = put together popular issues of a comic book in
ITED ‘ COLLECTORS EDITION presents ok C-5t ; one format there was...the giant comic. Often
SNe Se SERN Ne Re
x S$") 00 called the treasury format (because of Marvel’s
labeling), this larger than magazine-size
periodical, measuring at 10 inches wide by
13 inches high, would be used mostly for
reprint material and would eventually be a
home for some of the first original graphic
novel content. Sold from the mid-’70s until
the early ’80s, these were hands-down my
favorite form of entertainment that comics ever Aq
‘2261
£S-2
oe
jean
swepy
ly
NOILI
.SYO
GALIW
provided. The specific Batman “issue” was of
striking impact to my 7-year-old eyes, for in
1977 it was not common to see the world’s
most celebrated super-heroes laid out dead
before you. Of course at this time Robin was
not really dead (or at least wouldn’t be for
another decade or so, depending upon how you
look at it). But he sure seemed to be gettin’
dead by the first page you open up to, where he
is illustrated as being shot to death by unseen
assassins. Imagine my scarred young mind
never fully understanding at that point, think-
ing, “They can’t really do that to him, can they?
He’s on TV!” Neal’s masterful rendition of the
tension in Batman’s screaming body, kneeling
down behind the lifeless form of his teenage
chum, seemed to signal a change in comics. By
having such realistic draftsmanship, the world
of super-heroes would have to become that
much more real. The magnificent scratch-
board-like effect of Ra’s al Ghul’s villainous
visage still makes me wonder how Neal pulled
off the magic that he did.

Alex Ross is the artist of best-selling comics,

best known for his work on Kingdom Come
and Marvels. No stranger to Batman, he has
painted several covers as well as the adventure
Batman: War on Crime.
 218 BATMAN Cover to Cover

WHEN I DECIDE
(ROBIN MUST
DIE-- 4.

BATMAN
DIED ,
\
1977
MAY HE

WHO 'S REALLY GUILTY ?

_ MERIDDLER? . LEX LUTHOR?
me CATWOMAN? = JOKER?

Batman #291

1977
Art by Jim Aparo

Batman #232

1971

Art by Neal Adams

This comic introduced the

villainous Ra’s al Ghul, the

first major adversary added to

the rogues gallery in years.

He has remained a popular

foe and will be seen, as played

by Ken Watanabe, in the

movie Batman Begins.

Batman #586

2001

Art by Scott McDaniel

iI
Si sss SS
ECT SALES

41
25
219 =A Death in the Family

BATMAN
Jim staRLIN - JIm apaRo - mike DecaRLO

m
@ Ss /
x ra

sh)
hi

mn
Batman:

A Death in the Family

1988

Art by Jim Aparo

This was the story in

which readers had

36 hours to call one of

two phone numbers to

determine whether Robin

would survive an attack

by the Joker, or perish.

The narrow totals led

to his death.
 For the first six decades, comic book covers were essentially assembled in the same way, using
artwork, photostats, lettering and color to create an image that would encourage people to pick
up and ultimately buy the comic. What follows is a look at how those covers were produced for
much of Batman’s lifetime and then a look at today’s more streamlined methods.

Usually the editor selects a cover artist. Sometimes the story artist is better at storytelling than
the single image necessary to make a cover work. Or the artist is behind schedule. When the
interior artist is not used, the editor tends to select an artist whose name might help attract fans
or is exceptional at the imagery required for cover art.

The editor and artist discuss the story and the artist produces several sketches, usually at comic
A
yetowts book size, roughly indicating figures and detail, leaving room for things like the DC bullet, price
information, UPC box and logo. The editor selects the best image and sets the artist to work.

The process from initial sketch to printed cover can take as long as six months since covers are
used to help market the comics to retailers at the time orders are placed. The digital cover illus-
tration, bottom right, was sketched in February, and the finished comic went on sale June, 2003.
GRANT
BBEYFOGLE
MITCHELL

1
Comic book artwork is produced one and a half times larger than the printed page, allowing for
sreater detail. In many cases, two artists are involved, someone to pencil the images and some-
one else to use indelible ink to finish the art. As in this case, though, Norm Breyfogle produced
the art on his own. The editor places a sheet of tissue paper over the art and indicates where the
various required elements are to be placed, including copy. Once the cover is turned over to
Production, they assign a letterer to create the copy. Photostat copies of the logo, Comics Code
seal and price information are made and a production artist begins adding the elements, some-
times directly onto the artwork and sometimes as a separate layer as is the case here.

2
A comic book sized photocopy of the completed cover is made and sent to a color artist who
works with colored dyes, similar to watercolors. Sometimes the editor or the artists have
specific color notes, which are passed on, otherwise, the color artist makes his own choices.
The guide is reviewed by the editor and then approved, or marked with corrections.

3
The original art and color guide are sent to a color separation facility. Most of DC’s comics were
separated in either Connecticut or New Jersey. The cover was photographed and nine copies
were printed on acetate. Each copy represented a color: one black, three each for magenta, cyan
and yellow. The comics were actually produced using 25, 50 and 100 percent values for the three
colors, plus black, to create the color. Staff artists would use opaque paint on each acetate to
indicate the areas that would be required to achieve the desired color. For example, Batman’s
uniform would be 25% magenta, cyan and yellow. The finished acetates are photographed and
sions
combined to produce four overlays, one for each color, and that proof is reviewed by the editor.

B Suddenly, there
; uo diflere
Fae an m0l
Each of the four colors of film is

reproduced on acetate. This way

GRANT
BREYFOGLE
MITCHELL the editor can verify the values

of each layer.
4
Each piece of color film is then used to produce a corresponding metal printing plate at the
printer. Each plate is curved to fit a giant roller, which is run through a reservoir of color ink
and then pressed against paper coming from a roll taller than most people. The roll of paper is
at one end of the printing press and the inked image is pressed by each color plate in rapid
succession. The paper then travels through a heat stage, setting the ink.

5
The corrected proof is returned to the separator who makes corrections and then produces four
pieces of film, again one for each color. The film is then sent to the printer and the cover is
printed on a glossy stock, usually heavier in feel than the interior paper, and is then bound on
top of the comic book with pieces of metal that, when snipped, resemble staples. The edges are
then trimmed and the finished comics boxed and shipped to newsstands around the country.

THE DIGITAL WORLD

6
For Detective Comics, Tim Sale provided several sketches, and this one was selected by
editor Bob Schreck.

7
Just as before, the finished artwork was produced following the sketch.

Today, though, the original art is scanned and turned into a digital file. The file is then sent elec-
tronically to the color artist, in this case, Mark Chiarello. Using digital painting software (usually
Adobe Photoshop), the color artist digitally paints the artwork. The file is saved in jpeg (com-
pressed) format and dropped into a waiting folder on DC’s network. The editor is then able to first
check the color on screen, with a final proof printed and routed for various departmental approvals.

9 Suddenly, there i we
nodifference belweet
Once the final color is approved, a final high-resolution file is then used by an artist in our
Pre-Press Services department. The artist will use Quark XPress to digitally add what has
traditionally been done by hand. Our Lettering department provides the copy and that, along
GRANT
with price box, logo, DC bullet and other elements, is placed on what is effectively a digital BREVFOGLE
MITENELL
transparent layer, leaving the artwork itself untouched. Once the final proof is approved, it is
digitally transmitted to our printer in Canada. The printing, binding and shipping process
remains the same.

pu
Qeath and
the Maidens
 = « se
e Ps . é €25- .*
2 = . ° = 1 ° = ad e
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223 Milestones

64 MAY, 1939
_ PAGES 7a

Detective
ACTION!
V

Detective Comics #27

1939
Art by Bob Kane

Batman debuted here

and within seven

months became the

sole cover feature.

224 BATMAN Cover to Cover
225 Milestones

Page 224: ag easSe

APPROVED Jj
Batman #1 10¢ ALL NEW STORIES oe. BY THE 5
1940
Art by Bob Kane & Jerry

Robinson

Batman quickly earned his own

quarterly title that increased

in frequency over the

next few years.

Batman #100

1956

Batman #200

1968

Art by Neal Adams

Batman #300

1978

Art by Dick Giordano

SPECIAL 300" ISSUE! “uxeE 30430

as xa

—-

CAM AN
LEGEND
PIE?
DON'T MISS THE
DOUBLE-LENGTH
a ‘

PAA
RY?
226 BATMAN Cover to Cover
 227. Milestones PAUL LEVITZ

LN My favorite of the 80-odd Batman

covers on the issues I edited, unique
because it was a jam carefully
oudly invites You tO join (Nt orchestrated between all the

Oth Anniversary Celebration WIE crrinn xisuroresnetate

provided the layout, and he was joined
by Dick Giordano, Walter Simonson,
Carmine Infantino, Jim Aparo, José “Og6l
00S#
S)IWO
FAILD
Luis Garcia-Lopez, Tom Yeates and Bob
Smith illustrating it. Jam covers
occasionally happened spontaneously in
the studios of artists assigned to do
Batman from the earliest days onward,
but this was the only planned instance of
its kind.

It’s also special for the credit accorded

Bob Le Rose, for many years the produc-
tion artist who assembled DC’s covers.
In these pre-desktop publishing days, the
only way to accurately capture and
distort the old Detective covers used in
the background was to painstakingly
arrange them one by one on a camera
bed in the proper twist, and then paste
the photographic stats in place. This was
perhaps the most difficult cover
construction of the thousands Bob had
done, and so he got to sign it as an
alan artistic contributor.

BRENNERT
dick It was also used as one of DC’s first

GIORDANO promotional posters for the then-small

carmine but growing group of comic shops.
INFANTINO
~
NX

JOe Paul Levitz is currently DC Comics’

KUBCRT \ President & Publisher, having served in
paul a variety of roles starting as Assistant
LEVITZ Editor and including a short stint as
vik
GARCIA LOPEZ |
editor of the Batman family of titles.

walter
SIMONSON
bob

by

, t
ridhoreZ—
=, +
 228 BATMAN Cover to Cover

Batman #400

1986

Art by Bill Sienkiewicz

Batman #500

1993
Art by Kelley Jones

Batman #600

2003

Art by Scott McDaniel

ANIGHTFALL

PART ONE

64-PAGE
SPECIAL
{SSUE!

SEES
SN
0S'9S
Nv
woo-so1w
229.) «=6Milestones

¢
; f APPROVED
BY THE }
| (COMICS )
¢
¢
¢ mS

¢gg
AUTHORITY
ig ig
en)
i
?

MAY
NO. 327

Wy. GUESS S50! TH-THE

“4 LAST THING I REMEMBER
PaaNe , > 1S THE EXPLOSION...
KEL RIGHT? | ~ BATMAN--
YOUR MASK !
QUICK--TAKE
IT OFF/

Detective Comics #327

1964

Art by Carmine Infantino &

Joe Giella

With sales flagging,

Julius Schwartz was asked

to edit the character.

He brought in new writers

and artists, introducing

Thé ELONGATED MAN! with this issue an era

dubbed the “New Look.”

 230 BATMAN Cover to Cover

APPROVED
BY THE
COMICS
CODE

ay)
AUTHORITY

and ROBIN |
Batman #164

1964

Art by Sheldon Moldoff & THRILLER... |

Joe Giella
I er
Joe Giella inked both

Batman and Detective to

G
help unify the look while }
et) Sages
the stories took a turn

from the fantastic back | f ig ve y \ 8 guest- Bihas

to crimes, familiar foes and [i hol |re j "i a TT _ p | TheHOOTENANNY HOTSHOTS!|

more realistic settings.
| many other heroe

LD ct dulce

of his other
f
 232 BATMAN Cover to Cover

Superman/Batman #3

2003
Art by Ed McGuinness &

Dexter Vines

Superman and Batman

were paired up once again

in this new best-selling

2520
series. This time, their

different approaches and

CAN
$4.50
US
$2.95
61941
philosophies were explored
SALES
DIRECT
7
as they faced incredible

challenges.
e 8 ] 3 ry 3 a Q 3
233. World’s Finest

JLA #44 Wonder Woman: The Hiketeia

2000 2002
Art by Howard Porter & Drew Geraci Art by J.G. Jones

$3.50
CAN

$2.25
US
SALES
DIRECT
 234 BATMAN Coverto Cover

THE SUPER-CHAMPIONS OF
THREE WORLDS
FACE A

Justice League of

America #136

1976

Art by Ernie Chan &

Jack Abel
235 World’s Finest

DlCBITZ I'LL CLOBBER

PLAYBOY REPORTER
BRUCE WAYNE!JRM CLARK KENT! [ela POLISH OFF
: : > THE REAL
DICK GRAYSON),

World’s Finest Comics #168

1967

Art by Curt Swan &

George Klein
 236 BATMAN Cover to Cover

Page 237:

Superman #76

1952
Art by Win Mortimer

This is the first time

the heroes met in

a story. Soon after,

they began sharing

adventures in

World’s Finest Comics.

JLA #90 World’s Finest Comics #146

2004 1964

Art by Doug Mahnke & Tom Nguyen Art by Curt Swan & George Klein

In the heat of battle, Batman and Wonder Woman kissed, leading them

to wonder if a romance was possible. Their separate responsibilities

prevented them from finding a satisfying answer to the question.

APPROVED
BY THE
3 JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA COMICS
CODE

TP he gpa AICS
SEE, SUPERMAN?
Mes Pee PROVE B aces
, TOO,s heve
Lah make CAM ron SG ae —
ee FANTAST
BATMAN, BUT ATIT MUST
MU BE
; me ST TRUE. YOUR KRYPTONIAN
AND HAD SUPER-POWERS J
—=
AS A CHILD! WE'RE = COSTUME IS GENUINE /
FELLOW ARYP; iY W DID YOU LOSE
b sigasals 7 YOUR POWERS?
Wm = la Ss as

iii
DIRECT SALES

i BAAN o WONDER WORN

RE SOMUMONS!
237. World’s Finest

"DOUBLE -BRATURE!
BATMAN, THE WORLD'S GREATEST
DETECTIVE, JOINS FORCES WITH
THE MAN OF STEEL TO BECOME...

“he MIGHTIEST |
LOIS IN PANGER !
THIS 15 A JOB FOR
SUPERMAN !
) TEAM ON EARTH! ,
NO, THIS 1S
A JOB FOR
BATMAN /
 238 BATMAN Cover to Cover

To diehard comic book fans I realize that this choice is hardly original — for those of us who
treasure most the image of Batman as he appeared in his first year this is practically the Uncle
Sam “I Want You” poster, both in familiarity and effect. But it remains my favorite because it
has the elements that make this first era of the character the best: Ears that are really horns and
fearsomely veering toward satanic proportions. The cape as folded wings that are just about to
spring open to their full span and go in for the swoop. The surreality of Batman as backdrop. I
even love that his belt buckle is ridiculously high on his chest — it gives the drawing a naive
element that both disarms and charms. This és “The Bat-Man.” ;

Chip Kidd is an award-winning book designer and novelist. His affection tor Batman is also
seen in Batman Collected.

> rr Si Wi) Wi Wi

As a two-cover favorite of mine, the third appearance of Batman on a cover of Detective

Comics and its re-creation by Neal Adams thirty years later stands out as one of the most
dramatic compositions in the character’s history. Batman had yet to become the regular cover
feature for Detective Comics by issue 31 when Bob Kane illustrated this striking image of the
then-fearsome hero looming large in the night sky, studying the scene before him.

The giant spectral vision of a heroic protagonist superimposed behind a city landscape or
above their enemies was common to pulp magazine cover illustration,
I
I
especially of Batman’s predecessor, the Shadow. Ultimately this was
among the first design-driven covers for comics, concentrating more
on the graphic impact of selling this new demon-eared good guy while
still putting attention on the story.

Neal Adams emerged in the late ’60s as the creative force that returned
the “Dark Knight”’s darkness to him. Nowhere was the link to this
historic legacy made more clearly than in the cover to Batman
issue 227, where Neal showed his dedication to the roots of the grim
approach to Batman.

Since the more menacing look to the character has dominated the
thirty-some years since this issue came out, it’s important to note that
the visual here marks the close of a different era. When Batman was
given his colorful partner Robin in 1940, the grim, black-clad avenger
Batman softened up considerably for the three decades that followed,
topped off eventually by the campy television show interpretation of
the late sixties.

Neal Adams helped lead the character and the book back to the roots
of his intended design. Also, rendering this image with a radical
multi-media use of watercolor and ink would speak towards the future
graphic possibilities to come. Neal staked his claim on Batman like no
one else, redirecting him for all artists thereafter. This one cover’s
lineage showed that, moreover, Neal knew what Batman needed
rekindled within him, as well as giving him the respect he deserved.
239 The Greatest Cover?

MARK HAMILL

My attempt to single out one Batman cover as an all-time

favorite has been, I’m sorry to admit, a complete failure.

From his initial appearance in 1939 as a sinister, almost

vampire-like figure, Batman has had more incarnations
than any other character in pop-culture history. Reviewing
the cover art from the numerous titles over the past sixty-
five years displays his uncanny ability to not only change
with the times, but to reflect the deepest desires of comic
book fans in any given era. The artists responsible are
among the finest the industry has ever produced: Bob Kane,
Jerry Robinson, Dick Sprang, Jack
Burnley, Win Mortimer, Curt Swan,
Carmine Infantino, Dick Giordano,
Neal Adams, and Frank Miller, to name

Detective
but
a few.

Before I began my research, I always

thought Defective #31 was my favorite.
It seemed to be the quintessential
Batman imagery as an omnipotent
Dark Knight towers over a gothic cas-
tle, while a bizarre costumed villain
clutches his shapely feminine prey in
the foreground. Now I’m not so sure.
The sheer diversity of these magnifi-
cent covers had a tendency to broaden
my choices rather than narrow them.

Single one out? You might as well ask

the Pope to name his favorite
Commandment...I love them all!

Although visually best known as

Luke Skywalker, Mark Hamill is
equally recognizable as the Joker's
voice on The Batman Adventures
animated series. He's also directed
Comic Book the Movie and written
for Comics.
si il
 Other Batman Titles of Interest
THE BATMAN ARCHIVES Vol. 1-6
Various

BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT ARCHIVES Vol. 1-5

Various

BATMAN: THE DYNAMIC DUG ARCHIVES Vol. 1

Various

BATMAN IN WORLD’S FINEST ARCHIVES Vol. 1-2

Various

BATMAN IN THE FORTIES, FIFTIES, SIXTIES,

SEVENTIES, EIGHTIES
Various

BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS

Miller m Janson a» Varley

BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT STRIKES AGAIN

Miller m Varley

BATMAN YEAR ONE

Miller =» Mazzucchelli

BATMAN: ARKHAM ASYLUM

Morrison » McKean

BATMAN: A DEATH IN THE FAMILY

Starlin a Aparo » DeCarlo

BATMAN: TALES OF THE DEMON

O’Neil » Adams, Brown, Novick, Golden, Newton

BATMAN: NO MAN’S LAND Vol. 1-5

Various

BATMAN: WAR GAMES ACTS 1-3

Various

BATMAN: THE LONG HALLOWEEN

Loeb m= Sale

BATMAN: DARK VICTORY

Loeb m Sale

BATMAN: HUSH Vol. 1-2

Loeb m Lee
 Over 250 of the greatest Batman comic covers of all time,
showcasing the world’s most recognizable character.
See how he evolved over the years and has been
interpreted by the greatest creators in all comic
book history.

Special features include a look at how covers are

created, the evolution of the Batman logo, and Batman
covers from around the world.

A must-have for all pop culture, graphic design, comic

book and Batman.fans,. Batman: Cover-te-Goverwis, the
definitive guidé t6 the mo. ~ @ comic covers of
all time.

Acclaimed writers ana art r favorite covers

and tettyouliwhy.

Contributoa ctudas:

Jim Aparo = Brian Bolland an = Geoff johns

Chip Kidd » Jim Lee = Jeph Lo a Denny O'Neil
jerry Robinson «1 Alex Ri ale »« Mark Waid

Also picking their favoriti n Begins director

DIRECT SALES Christopher Nolan, televis tman Adam West,
Ea 00111
and the voice of the ; ker, Star Wars’
Mark Hamil

7619412487 6Bio |

$39.99 USA $55.99 CAN

ISBN 1 4042 6659 K™ ‘decomics.com]. PArAted in-Hong Kong:
Batman ana-the DC Bullet are registered trademarks of DC Comics.