The Batman has been depicted many different ways and by many different artists during his 75 year publishing history. Hes run the gamut from scrappy urban vigilante, to paternal establishment figure, from cartoon character, to globetrotting adventurer, from dangerous borderline psychopath to a wizened hero of noble spirit and much more besides. The important thing, however, is that, in any era, any incarnation, The Batman is always recognizable and familiar to his readers... ...Then I heard giant wings flap. It flew down from the skyIts wings were about thirty feet across. It bellowed like...Well, Ive never heard anything like it...One of the felons I had not yet disarmed produced a .357 magnum. He fired point blank range at the creature and the bullet passed straight through the creature like it wasnt there and it started laughing... That was Jim Gordons former partner Detective Flass, describing The Batman for the first time during a particularly memorable scene in Frank Miller & David Muzzucchellis 1986 story Batman: Year One. In addition to introducing the readers of the time to a newer, harder Batman, the description above also gives us a snatched, backalley glimpse of most, if not all, of the characters trademark visual elements. The cape, into which the would-be assassin had actually fired, doubled as the sound of the giant wings. The ghoulish mask only heightened the criminals assertions that the man taking them down was no man at all, but a thing, a monstrous creature of the night (after all, criminals are, as we have been reliably informed for 75 years now, a cowardly and superstitious lot). Even the costumes dark colour scheme acted as urban camouflage, cloaking our hero in a shroud of inky black night... Batman has changed many times since his debut back in 1939, but his core image has always remained unblemished. The pointed ears, the half-covered face (complete with white, glaring eyes), the long black cape, the...purple gloves. OK, some things HAVE changed, but Batman is still as visually unique and instantly recognizable as ever he was. However, outside of the graphic checkpoints needed for Batman to be, well, Batman, many artists have added their own individual flourishes to the rest of his look. Here are ten (but by no means the Top Ten) of the best, as well as the most distinctive, artists to have drawn Batman over his 75-year crime-fighting career...
I am a professional author and lifelong comic books/pro wrestling fan. I also work as a journalist as well as writing comic books (I also draw), screenplays, stage plays, songs and prose fiction.
I don't generally read or reply to comments here on What Culture (too many trolls!), but if you follow my Twitter (@heyquicksilver), I'll talk to you all day long!
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I also write for FLiCK http://www.flickonline.co.uk/flicktion, which is the best place to read my fiction work.
Oh yeah - I'm about to become a Dad for the first time, so if my stuff seems more sentimental than usual - blame it on that!
Finally, I sincerely appreciate every single read I get. So if you're reading this, thank you, you've made me feel like Shakespeare for a day! (see what I mean?)
Latcho Drom,
- CQ
