First up let's plant our peepers on the peerless pencils of the late, great Bob Brown. Brown drew tons of Bat-epics during the Groovy Age in Batman, Detective, and even a few for Brave and the Bold, but was never taken to the bosom of fandom. It's a shame, 'cause when teamed with the right inker (like Dick Giordano in today's share-fest) Mr. Brown could knock 'em outta the park. Was his Batman spooky? Yep. Realistic? Check. Powerful? You betcha. In a gothic-style tale like the Frank Robbins-penned "Legacy of Hate!" from Detective Comics #412 (March 1971), the Brown/Giordano art team delivered a sleek and spooky job that supplied all the chills and macabre-mood you'd want from such a yarn. It might have been the incredible Neal Adams cover that made us snatch 'Tec #412 up off the spinner rack, but the Brown/Giordano art convinced us to take it home!
I had this comic. 1971 was a good year for comics.
ReplyDeleteLove this new department. Can't wait to see who's next.
ReplyDeleteDarpy
cracking good idea, old son. there's a whole load of great artists who worked on Batman that everyone seems to have forgotten about these days, including some pretty big name guys like Mike Grell and Gene Colan.
ReplyDeleteI remember being disappointed when I bought this book off the rack as a kid. I was expecting Neal Adams and felt let down whenever his work wasn't the interior work. However, looking at this now, I realize this beautiful artwork. Brown became one of my favorites during his Avengers run. His storytelling blows away what the flashy artists of today do. And Giordano is one of the Jedi master inkers. Great, great, stuff. I wonder who colored and lettered it?
ReplyDeleteThanks for this forgotten classic. Bob Brown was a good artist. Not on the level of Adams or Aparo, but a good reliable penciller who always delivered a professional job.
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