Friday, September 14, 2018

Making a Splash: Walt Simonson's Groovy Age Batman

What it is, Groove-ophiles! Let's end this week on a high note: digging on the sensational Batman splashes penciled by wondrous Walt Simonson for Batman and Detective Comics! Mr. Simonson didn't do nearly enough Batman stories to suit moi (a fact Ol' Groove has rapped about in the past), but those he did were Classics with a capital "C"! The Batman/Manhunter "meeting" in Detective Comics #443...the 450th and 500th anniversary issues of Detective Comics...the first two Steve Englehart era Batman stories in Detective #s 469 and 470 (inked by Al Milgrom)...the 300th issue of Batman...and just a couple extra-cool tales written by Len Wein and inked by Dick Giordano (Batman issues 312 and 321 featuring Calendar Man and the Joker). Masterpieces all, as you'll be able to tell by the glory of the following splash pages...


(Okay, so this one's not really a splash, but who'd want to leave this page out?)





3 comments:

  1. Great design in Walt's work, even if the drawing was not always spot-on (and, frankly, even the very best comics artists have had off moments that have seen print).

    Walt is a stalwart with a career spanning at least 45 years----that alone is a great feat in this industry, and with quality writing & drawing, to boot.

    Best regards,
    Chris A.

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  2. As a kid, Dreadful Birthday Me. Joker was one of my absolute favs. Need to re-read my
    Battered copy today.

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  3. Walt Simonson's Batman work was great. The thick lines he used in The Cape and Cowl Death Threat (which he simplified in his later work) made it one of my all-time favorites. To this day Gotterdamerung amazes me. So many special effects! I felt like his later teamings with Giordano had a deadening effect on his pencils and were not his best work.

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