There have been a lot of artists and writers who have defined the Batman character. Some have been responsible for changing costume features, some altered the atmosphere of the title and the approach the character took towards solving crime. Some merely expanded on the past incarnations of the character and others redefined it.
But, some just put a mark on the Batman that cannot be ignored. These guys changed the character forever.
So here, in my opinion, are guys who changed Batman and made him what he is today:
Denny O'Neil and Neal Adams
Before these guys, Batman was a kind of campy, Wham! Bam! title with little or no real substance. Neal's expert rendering of the realistic Batman changed the character's look and feel forever. Just ask him.
"Other artists asked me if they could use "my" Batman, my more realistic style, that is. I told them, only if you want to sell your comics."
Ah, Neal. You're such a card, but as my friend Kerry Gammill once said of Neal, "SOME people have EARNED an ego."
Steve Englehart and Marshall Rogers
Maybe the best version of the Batman, certainly one of the most developed, were the issues done by these two guys. A love story, an action story, a political tale of greed and corruption, this is a great tribute to the world created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane. Gotham finally gets a feel of reality here… Marshall was an architectural artist who really knew his stuff. His figures are all drawn in actual proportions, not heroic proportions, and his camera angles and lighting are incredible.
And the characters were as memorable as the artwork. Silver St. Cloud is still one of my favorite characters and Englehart's version of the Joker is not to be missed.
Rogers left the comic to do the newspaper strip and was removed from that after only a short stint on it. He told me once at a convention that DC had just not quite warmed up to his simplified rendition of the character and though he had attempted to get back to a type of art that was more in line with the pulp magazines and the style of art popular in the 1940's, it just didn't fly. A shame too, because Marshall would never get back to the style he had originally come into comics with. A later version of the Batman was done by him, but by that time whatever he had done to create his original look was gone.
Archie Goodwin and Walter Simonson
Detective 437 to 443 features a character brought back from the dead, almost. Paul Kirk, the Manhunter, was an old character brought back to the forefront by this team. SImonson's artwork shines here and the story, a sort of Kung Fu meets corporate espionage tale, is perfect for the Batman's growing awareness of the world outside Gotham City.
Frank Miller
The Dark Knight Rises is a great yarn. A totally different take on the Batman, it really screams at the reader. It's bold design and graphic violence take the character into new territory as Bruce Wayne emerges out of the darkness of the grave itself to become the monster within.
Strokes of genius shine in Frank's story; like Superman being portrayed as a government whipping boy and his artwork on this mini-series may be the best stuff he ever did, before or since.
And the villains…
…are just…
…plain…
…crazy.
If you haven't read it, which is unlikely if you are reading this, then you need to. This was a watershed moment for the character and still stands as a monument to great storytelling.
A Frank Miller standout moment, this went on to influence even the movie version of the character's development, especially in the Chris Nolan versions.
Batman: Year One is another beautiful bit of genius from Frank, this time featuring stunning artwork from Dave Mazzucchelli, who Frank had worked with on Daredevil. Year One is not so much a Batman story as a story of a cop named Gordon and the struggles he has in his first few years in Gotham. His wife is pregnant, he is feeling the pressure of the work and then there's this new costumed freak of a guy, calling himself the Batman. Moody and dark, this is a side of the city that fits perfectly into the character's nightmare world, leaving the reader with a very real attachment to this version of Gordon. It is a dark, gritty, realistic view of a city where the citizens, maybe even the cops who protect them, are lost in a world that has outgrown them, their normal daily lives, and has become a terrible monstrosity bearing villains born of dark dreams and fire.
Alan Moore and Brian Bolland
The Killing Joke is the incredible origin story of the Joker. In it, we finally see the Joker as a real living person and we begin to understand why he has become the way he is.
A struggling comic with a pregnant wife, he becomes a pawn in a criminal plot which changes his life forever. Returning beck home, he finds his wife, and his sanity, gone forever.
A powerful, bold, beautifully drawn tale that has been reprinted more times than almost any other DC graphic album. A one-shot that aptly demonstrates the ease with which Alan Moore steps into the title "The World's Greatest Living Writer" in the comics field. Brian Bolland also does a bang-up job here. Can you believe this guy inks his work with a BRUSH?
Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale
The Long Halloween pits Batman against the mob in his early years as the caped crusader. It is a nice moody story that features one of the best artist/writer teams to ever do comics. Its sequel, Batman: Dark Victory, is also amazing.
Paul Dini
Mad Love is the story of Harley Quinn, a poor, depressed, ignored but brilliant understudy of the Joker, Batman's most powerful adversary and her desire to capture, literally, the one true thing that the Joker cannot ignore. The character has become a staple in the DC universe and has had several titles of her own now, almost none of which can match the original creation seen here.
There are others, and I'll add more to the list. Keep an eye out…
But, some just put a mark on the Batman that cannot be ignored. These guys changed the character forever.
So here, in my opinion, are guys who changed Batman and made him what he is today:
Denny O'Neil and Neal Adams
Before these guys, Batman was a kind of campy, Wham! Bam! title with little or no real substance. Neal's expert rendering of the realistic Batman changed the character's look and feel forever. Just ask him.
"Other artists asked me if they could use "my" Batman, my more realistic style, that is. I told them, only if you want to sell your comics."
Ah, Neal. You're such a card, but as my friend Kerry Gammill once said of Neal, "SOME people have EARNED an ego."
Steve Englehart and Marshall Rogers
Maybe the best version of the Batman, certainly one of the most developed, were the issues done by these two guys. A love story, an action story, a political tale of greed and corruption, this is a great tribute to the world created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane. Gotham finally gets a feel of reality here… Marshall was an architectural artist who really knew his stuff. His figures are all drawn in actual proportions, not heroic proportions, and his camera angles and lighting are incredible.
And the characters were as memorable as the artwork. Silver St. Cloud is still one of my favorite characters and Englehart's version of the Joker is not to be missed.
Rogers left the comic to do the newspaper strip and was removed from that after only a short stint on it. He told me once at a convention that DC had just not quite warmed up to his simplified rendition of the character and though he had attempted to get back to a type of art that was more in line with the pulp magazines and the style of art popular in the 1940's, it just didn't fly. A shame too, because Marshall would never get back to the style he had originally come into comics with. A later version of the Batman was done by him, but by that time whatever he had done to create his original look was gone.
Archie Goodwin and Walter Simonson
Detective 437 to 443 features a character brought back from the dead, almost. Paul Kirk, the Manhunter, was an old character brought back to the forefront by this team. SImonson's artwork shines here and the story, a sort of Kung Fu meets corporate espionage tale, is perfect for the Batman's growing awareness of the world outside Gotham City.
Frank Miller
The Dark Knight Rises is a great yarn. A totally different take on the Batman, it really screams at the reader. It's bold design and graphic violence take the character into new territory as Bruce Wayne emerges out of the darkness of the grave itself to become the monster within.
Strokes of genius shine in Frank's story; like Superman being portrayed as a government whipping boy and his artwork on this mini-series may be the best stuff he ever did, before or since.
And the villains…
…are just…
…plain…
…crazy.
If you haven't read it, which is unlikely if you are reading this, then you need to. This was a watershed moment for the character and still stands as a monument to great storytelling.
A Frank Miller standout moment, this went on to influence even the movie version of the character's development, especially in the Chris Nolan versions.
Batman: Year One is another beautiful bit of genius from Frank, this time featuring stunning artwork from Dave Mazzucchelli, who Frank had worked with on Daredevil. Year One is not so much a Batman story as a story of a cop named Gordon and the struggles he has in his first few years in Gotham. His wife is pregnant, he is feeling the pressure of the work and then there's this new costumed freak of a guy, calling himself the Batman. Moody and dark, this is a side of the city that fits perfectly into the character's nightmare world, leaving the reader with a very real attachment to this version of Gordon. It is a dark, gritty, realistic view of a city where the citizens, maybe even the cops who protect them, are lost in a world that has outgrown them, their normal daily lives, and has become a terrible monstrosity bearing villains born of dark dreams and fire.
Alan Moore and Brian Bolland
The Killing Joke is the incredible origin story of the Joker. In it, we finally see the Joker as a real living person and we begin to understand why he has become the way he is.
A struggling comic with a pregnant wife, he becomes a pawn in a criminal plot which changes his life forever. Returning beck home, he finds his wife, and his sanity, gone forever.
A powerful, bold, beautifully drawn tale that has been reprinted more times than almost any other DC graphic album. A one-shot that aptly demonstrates the ease with which Alan Moore steps into the title "The World's Greatest Living Writer" in the comics field. Brian Bolland also does a bang-up job here. Can you believe this guy inks his work with a BRUSH?
Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale
The Long Halloween pits Batman against the mob in his early years as the caped crusader. It is a nice moody story that features one of the best artist/writer teams to ever do comics. Its sequel, Batman: Dark Victory, is also amazing.
Paul Dini
Mad Love is the story of Harley Quinn, a poor, depressed, ignored but brilliant understudy of the Joker, Batman's most powerful adversary and her desire to capture, literally, the one true thing that the Joker cannot ignore. The character has become a staple in the DC universe and has had several titles of her own now, almost none of which can match the original creation seen here.
There are others, and I'll add more to the list. Keep an eye out…