Batman & Comics & Me
Born in 1978. Growing up, I had fond, if not vague, memories of watching Super Friends and reruns of Batman ‘66. I had a book & tape set from Fisher Price called Batman & Robin in the Case of the Laughing Sphinx.
The summer of 1989 came and went. The Batman cereal had an offer for The Untold Legend of the Batman comic series. A friend of mine at the time had a set of cassette tapes of an audio production of TULotB. The following year brought us The Flash TV series. Once in a while, I’d notice the “based on characters appearing in DC Comics” line in the opening credits. Maybe there was something to this ‘comic book’ thing?
I’d never seen a regular comic book before. I had no idea of how to get any. It was that winter, while waiting in my father’s truck so he could get us a Christmas tree, that I found a comic shop across the street. Well, more like a baseball card shop that had a small sign in the window that read, “COMIC BOOKS”. It was another week or so before I was able to patronize the establishment. It wasn’t clear what the system was, and I was too intimidated to ask for help or recommendations. I looked at the shelves with new books, and nothing jumped out. Then I discovered the back issue bins. I rummaged through them with no real purpose. On a whim, I picked out The Flash #28. Soon, I was picking up current issues of Flash, just before Mark Waid began his run. I didn’t understand why Wally was the Flash in the comics, while Barry was televisions’ speedster. It didn’t matter in the long run (sorry, not sorry for the pun), I just enjoyed the comics.
Then Batman #459 came out, and it was all over. Norm Breyfolgle’s expressive art enveloped and inspired me. I’d never seen anything like it. LOOK AT THIS:
I had no idea that comics art could be like this. My newspaper didn’t carry Calvin & Hobbes until the last three months of the strip. There was nothing else like this in my tiny, isolated part of the world. Breyfogle’s Batman was mythological. He was an ethereal shadow in one panel, vigorous muscle the next, then a friendly guardian.
Alan Grant’s portrayal of a thoughtful, caring, human Batman certainly helped. This was the Batman that handed out Wayne Enterprises recruitment business cards to people who had turned to crime out of desperation. Bruce Wayne visited those new employees he felt were at risk. He thought, “I’m not paying people enough, everyone needs a living wage, health care, and vacation time”. Grant’s Batman thought about how he could be doing more to tackle inequality in Gotham.
The Animated Series took a lot of cues from Grant in this respect. He wanted so much for his Rogues Gallery to heal. His compassion for Harvey Dent (Two-Face), Harleen Quinzell (oh please), and Arnold Wesker (the Ventriloquist) made for some great episodes.
The summer of 1989 came and went. The Batman cereal had an offer for The Untold Legend of the Batman comic series. A friend of mine at the time had a set of cassette tapes of an audio production of TULotB. The following year brought us The Flash TV series. Once in a while, I’d notice the “based on characters appearing in DC Comics” line in the opening credits. Maybe there was something to this ‘comic book’ thing?
I’d never seen a regular comic book before. I had no idea of how to get any. It was that winter, while waiting in my father’s truck so he could get us a Christmas tree, that I found a comic shop across the street. Well, more like a baseball card shop that had a small sign in the window that read, “COMIC BOOKS”. It was another week or so before I was able to patronize the establishment. It wasn’t clear what the system was, and I was too intimidated to ask for help or recommendations. I looked at the shelves with new books, and nothing jumped out. Then I discovered the back issue bins. I rummaged through them with no real purpose. On a whim, I picked out The Flash #28. Soon, I was picking up current issues of Flash, just before Mark Waid began his run. I didn’t understand why Wally was the Flash in the comics, while Barry was televisions’ speedster. It didn’t matter in the long run (sorry, not sorry for the pun), I just enjoyed the comics.
Then Batman #459 came out, and it was all over. Norm Breyfolgle’s expressive art enveloped and inspired me. I’d never seen anything like it. LOOK AT THIS:
I had no idea that comics art could be like this. My newspaper didn’t carry Calvin & Hobbes until the last three months of the strip. There was nothing else like this in my tiny, isolated part of the world. Breyfogle’s Batman was mythological. He was an ethereal shadow in one panel, vigorous muscle the next, then a friendly guardian.
Alan Grant’s portrayal of a thoughtful, caring, human Batman certainly helped. This was the Batman that handed out Wayne Enterprises recruitment business cards to people who had turned to crime out of desperation. Bruce Wayne visited those new employees he felt were at risk. He thought, “I’m not paying people enough, everyone needs a living wage, health care, and vacation time”. Grant’s Batman thought about how he could be doing more to tackle inequality in Gotham.
Anyway, after 459 came out, I was informed of the first Robin miniseries and tumbled down the History of Robin rabbit hole. It took years for me to put all those pieces together, but it was fascinating.
In those formative teenage years, I dabbled in Marvel. Overall, I didn’t get it. I had a surface level appreciation for Todd McFarlane & Jim Lee’s art on their adjective-less Spider-Man and X-Men, respectively, but that hold didn’t last long. I tried to find some kind of “in” to the Marvel universe, but just couldn’t crack the code. I read Generation X for a while because it was a teen hero book, and Chris Bachalo’s odd art style drew me in. My best friend was all about Wolverine and Ghost Rider. I read the Spider-books for a while, when Carnage first appeared. I didn’t understand the draw of the Fantastic Four or the Avengers.
So I essentially quit reading Marvel books, and looked at DC’s Vertigo imprint. I was intimidated by Sandman and other long running books at the time, but the Books of Magic ongoing series just started, and I dove right in. Then The Invisibles came out, and as much as I wanted, I simply was not “there” yet. It was a few years before I’d want to inject Grant Morrison’s work directly into my veins. Then Paradox Press came along, with all their “Big Books Of” anthologies that warped my fragile little mind. I was only able to get “Weirdos” and “Death”, because of course I was the weird morbid artsy kid.
I was so inspired by comics that I wanted to make them. I learned everything I could about the process of making comics, from script to store. I paid extra attention in art class, despite not having a great teacher. In my junior & senior year of high school, I took a Graphic Communications class at the local vocational school to learn about computers and printing, where I discovered Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator. Then I went to the School of Visual Arts and majored in Cartooning.
It wasn’t until my first year of college when I learned about some of the most potent of mainstream comics like Watchmen, The Dark Knight Returns, Ronin, V for Vendetta, Maus, Sandman, Understanding Comics, Akira, Miller’s Daredevil, and on and on...
Eventually, Marvel did some interesting things. Marvel Knights, Marvel MAX, Ultimate Marvel, etc. The House of Ideas once again began to take greater creative risks. Later, the MCU got my full attention. I lost interest in most of what DC was putting out around this time and spread more of my attention to other publishers. Dark Horse, Image, Valiant, First Second, Fantagraphics, IDW, Boom! Studios, Slave Labor Graphics, etc, etc.
I don’t have the passion for creating comics that I used to, but I still care about the medium very much.
In those formative teenage years, I dabbled in Marvel. Overall, I didn’t get it. I had a surface level appreciation for Todd McFarlane & Jim Lee’s art on their adjective-less Spider-Man and X-Men, respectively, but that hold didn’t last long. I tried to find some kind of “in” to the Marvel universe, but just couldn’t crack the code. I read Generation X for a while because it was a teen hero book, and Chris Bachalo’s odd art style drew me in. My best friend was all about Wolverine and Ghost Rider. I read the Spider-books for a while, when Carnage first appeared. I didn’t understand the draw of the Fantastic Four or the Avengers.
So I essentially quit reading Marvel books, and looked at DC’s Vertigo imprint. I was intimidated by Sandman and other long running books at the time, but the Books of Magic ongoing series just started, and I dove right in. Then The Invisibles came out, and as much as I wanted, I simply was not “there” yet. It was a few years before I’d want to inject Grant Morrison’s work directly into my veins. Then Paradox Press came along, with all their “Big Books Of” anthologies that warped my fragile little mind. I was only able to get “Weirdos” and “Death”, because of course I was the weird morbid artsy kid.
I was so inspired by comics that I wanted to make them. I learned everything I could about the process of making comics, from script to store. I paid extra attention in art class, despite not having a great teacher. In my junior & senior year of high school, I took a Graphic Communications class at the local vocational school to learn about computers and printing, where I discovered Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator. Then I went to the School of Visual Arts and majored in Cartooning.
It wasn’t until my first year of college when I learned about some of the most potent of mainstream comics like Watchmen, The Dark Knight Returns, Ronin, V for Vendetta, Maus, Sandman, Understanding Comics, Akira, Miller’s Daredevil, and on and on...
Eventually, Marvel did some interesting things. Marvel Knights, Marvel MAX, Ultimate Marvel, etc. The House of Ideas once again began to take greater creative risks. Later, the MCU got my full attention. I lost interest in most of what DC was putting out around this time and spread more of my attention to other publishers. Dark Horse, Image, Valiant, First Second, Fantagraphics, IDW, Boom! Studios, Slave Labor Graphics, etc, etc.
I don’t have the passion for creating comics that I used to, but I still care about the medium very much.
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