In September, 1975, popular Batman hero/villain Man-Bat got his own short-lived series (it lasted only two issues). Man-Bat creators Frank Robbins and Neal Adams were no longer at DC by the time Man-Bat was awarded his own title, so the writing and art chores--for the first issue only (that's what really bums Ol' Groove out when it comes to the Groovy Age--revolving door creators)--fell to writer Gerry Conway and artist Steve Ditko. Conway and Ditko (superbly inked by Al Milgrom in this issue) gave Man-Bat an even more Gothic style than Robbins and Adams' version, complete with castles and evil sorcerers. It was a fun first issue, worth the price of admission just to get to see Steve Ditko draw The Batman--how often does that happen? And dig that far-out Jim Aparo cover!
Cool trivia note: Ditko did get to draw the villain, Baron Tyme, about four years later when Tyme battled the Demon in Detective Comics issues 483-485!
nice one, Groove. I love the whole "faceless" Batman thing. Ditko Batman, 'ey? it really don't get much groovier than that, do it?
ReplyDeleteYyyyeeeesssssssss!!!
ReplyDeleteI'd forgotten that Ditko did this one... Cool. I think it's buried away somewhere, now I have to dig it out and read it again in full four-colour newsprint glory.
ReplyDeleteFr. Dan
I had this issue back in the day. Batman's cape on the cover always bugged me. The perspective seems off and it conforms to the laws of physics even less than usual.
ReplyDeleteI love Ditko, but it’s really tough to go from Neal Adams to Ditko. Ow. (Now, I probably could have got on board with a full issue of Aparo art!)
ReplyDeleteAndrew
Amazing... the batman´s face...¡A shadow!
ReplyDeletegreat blog
Ditko drew the Demon?
ReplyDelete