10 Unique Visions Of Batman

6. Bruce Timm

Bruce Timm€™s Batman is the character stripped right back to his core elements. Put simply, there is nothing out of place on Timm€™s Dark Knight Detective. There is no body armour, no fancy kneepads or neck braces, no designer stubble or carefully crafted cape mechanisms. For Bruce Timm, Batman€™s uniform is an essential part of the character€™s stark, understated simplicity. Batman€™s basic geometry is heightened on Timm€™s canvas. The character€™s chiselled jawline becomes a rock solid cube of granite, and his ever-ready fists become brick-shaped and hard. His eyes are rendered as small, triangular pits that narrow when he glares and widen to show surprise and, instead of a rippling ocean of muscles underneath the costume, Timm€™s Batman resembles more of a circus strongman, with the musculature implied as opposed to overt. It is this depiction of Batman that became definitive for every 90€™s kid that was lucky enough to see it first time out, as Timm co-created Batman: The Animated Series with writer Paul Dini. However, Timm has also done comics, too. As a Batman artist, he had a recurring stint as penciller on the TAS tie-in comics, he also contributed a marvellous Two-Face story to the Batman: Black & White project (but I€™ve praised that one elsewhere this month). However his defining moment as a Batman artist, unarguably, would be the Mad Love 1-Shot that gave us the (true) origin of Harley Quinn. It was, not to put too fine a point on it, a perfect comic book story. Timm€™s cartoonish sensibilities work best when juxtaposed with the noirish, art deco Gotham City he usually depicts, providing an enthralling imaginary landscape that works perfectly when placed within its own internal logic.