BATMAN Golden Age Artist SHELDON MOLDOFF Dead at 91

I have some very sad news to share this morning. The Golden Age Comic Book Artist Sheldon Moldoff died last Wednesday, he was 91. In 1940 he created Hawkman for DC Comics and became a major Cover Artist for many very iconic comic books. His work was always amazing! In the 1950's he became Bob Kane's "Ghost Artist" ( with Kane, of course, taking all the credit ). He drew "Batman" from 1953 to 1967. He was responsible for creating many very iconic characters like Bat-Mite, Ace The Bat-Hound, Batwoman, and the Original Bat-Girl ( Betty Kane ). He also co-created Clayface, Poison Ivy, Dr. Achilles Milo, and Mr. Freeze.



To say that he was extremely important in "Bat-History" is no exaggeration. During his life he became a Cult Hero among Cartoonists, Animators, & other Comic Book Artists. In later life he was seen at a lot of Comic Book Conventions where he loved to meet his Fans. The artwork shown here are some of the Comicon Sketches he did. He will be missed & his contributions to both BATMAN and the Comic Book Industry are unlimited. I'm personally very sad about his passing and wish to extent my deepest condolences to his Friends and Family, "Shelly" will be missed, deeply. R.I.P. Sheldon "Shelly" Moldoff.

Celebrating BATMAN-INSPIRED CREATIVITY, Oh Yeah!

Here are some random images I have come across while surfing the web ( Yes, I have NO life ) that are both FUN and Batman-Related! The 1st photo is a beautifully made Custom CATWOMAN My Little Pony Figure done by an Artist named Mari Kasurinen. Of course, this is the version from the older BATMAN RETURNS Movie and not the NEW "Anne Hathaway" from "The Dark Knight Rises". To see more amazing Custom Toys just click HERE!

Next up is a Watercolor Painting that totally cracks me up! Here are 2 characters from "The Imaginary World" of a Cartoonist named Dan Goodsell. He has a comic strip called "Mr. Toast" and these are his 2 friends, JOE THE EGG and SHAKY BACON dressed-up as the Dynamic Duo! Dan's artwork is a lot of fun and once you start reading it you'll be totally hooked, check this out, click HERE!

OK, The last photo is one I came across on a Cosplay Website. Somebody made a very clever CLAYFACE Costume from the "Batman: The Animated Series" TV Cartoon. This is a character you never see done. I guess because it would be both a nightmare to create and to wear, ha! But you gotta give this person credit, he did an extremely amazing job!

Brand-New BATMAN TOYS by Mattel in Stores Now!

Check this out! here's some photos sent in by our friend Christopher. He recently went on the retail store toy hunt & came across these 2 cool Batman items ( Thanks Chris! )



The 1st pic shows a new variation on the new 2011 HOTWHEELS "MONSTAR JAM BATMOBILE" 2-Car Set by Mattel. The picture on the left is the one from last year and the one on the right shows the new packaging. Plus, it looks like the "1989 Diecast Batmobile" is slightly different.



Next up is a fan favorite. Here's a Fisher Price TRIO DC SUPER FRIENDS Action Figure 2-Pack Set with Clayface & Batman ( Who is "covered with mud", ha ha! ). I totally love these bat-toys!

Ryan's CUSTOM BATMAN TOYS - Mighty Muggs Madness!

The Bat-Blog totally digs creativity, in any form, and here's a GREAT example! Here are some photos from a Fan who likes to create Custom Batman Toys. He takes Hasbro MIGHTY MUGGS Figures & repaints them. Now, for Non-Toy-Collector-People out there who don't know, Hasbro has the license to make Marvel Comics Superhero Characters & Mattel does DC Comics. So, since Mighty Muggs are made by Hasbro then they will NEVER do any BATMAN Figures. So, for the people who want them your only choice is to... customize them!

Our Friend Ryan has done an extremely excellent job on his Customs. First up is Robin & he looks great! He has also done Bane, Clayface, Batman, & Azrael. Please check out the photos because they are AWESOME!! The Bane & Clayface are my 2 top favorites, then Robin. Which ones do you like?

I wanna thank Ryan for sharing these pics & if you want to see more of his cool artwork then just click HERE!

David's BATMAN ANIMATED SERIES Wall Murals

Here's a room that all Batman Fans would love to live in. These pics were sent in to us by a friend over at Facebook. His name is David & he says that this is the room where he does a lot of artwork. You can see his Drawing Table over in the corner. There are some really cool pieces of Batman stuff laying around ( Toys, Statues, Books, etc... ) but, of course, the main focus of the room are the wall murals. There are 2 major themes here: Heroes and Villains. For the "Heroes Wall" we get Batman, Robin, Batgirl, and Nightwing on a rooftop in Gotham City. It's done in the graphic art style of "The Adventures of Batman and Robin" animated series. Then, we get some Villains: Two-Face, Poison Ivy, Catwoman, The Joker, Harley Quinn, Clayface, & Mr. Freeze. They're all hanging out in front of Arkham Asylum! The artwork here is very well done. Overall the room is extremely excellent! A special thanks goes out to David for sharing his personal space. We totally love this room!

GOTHAM HIGH - The Batman Cartoon That Didn't Get Made

Here are some pictures that have been heavily circulating around the Internet. They are Concept Art for an idea for a new animated TV Show called GOTHAM HIGH. Basically, it's the entire World of Batman as teenagers. Yes, teenagers, ha! You have Bruce Wayne, Barbara Gordon, The Joker, Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, The Penguin, Clayface, Two-Face, Bane, etc... I have to admit the artwork is very good and the character's quirks & personalities are all caught pretty well ( Be sure to click on the 1st image for a large, more detailed, photo ). But, personally, I'm extremely happy that this never got off the ground. Now, some people have said that if it did get green-lit that it would have been fun... because it's such a train wreck. Plus, one friend said he would have liked to have seen the Action Figures made from this show because the character designs are kinda neat. What do you think?

BATMAN PAPER CRAFT MODEL ACTION FIGURES - Golden Age Superheroes

Over at the Professor Plastik website they have a ton of very cool BATMAN PAPER CRAFT MODEL KIT ACTION FIGURES you can download & create...for FREE! Shown here are The Dynamic Duo, Batman & Robin! They also have a lot of wonderful Super-Villains too! As an example I am only showing The Joker & Riddler, but they also have: The Scarecrow, Dr. Hugo Strange, Two-Face, & Clayface. Now, keep in mind that these are the "Golden Age" versions like the characters existed in the 1940's. Personally, I think they are total works of ART! For more information, & the location where you download the PDF files, be sure to click HERE!

Jake Castorena's BATMAN & CLAYFACE IN BATTLE Wallpaper Background!

Here's an extremely cool BATMAN & CLAYFACE Desktop Wallpaper Background that I am pretty proud of. Mainly because this artwork was sent in by a new friend to the Bat-Blog named Jake Castorena. He's a pretty talented Graphic Artist & actually works making storyboards for Advertising, Cartoons, & Movies. He did this drawing of the Caped Crusader fighting in a frantic battle with one of his deadliest foes, Clayface! Originally the artwork he sent was not a desktop background. But I thought it would look great as one, so here ya go! Now I know it seems kinda weird that everything is on the right-side but please give it a try. You'll see that all your desktop icons will be on the left...a nice effect. Thanks Jake for sending in the graphics ( he also sent in a photo of a Batman Tattoo we featured here awhile back ). Readers, if you wanna see some really cool artwork & videos of his stuff then please be sure to check out his personal website by clicking HERE!

Xavier's BATMAN ANIMATED SERIES Artwork!!

OK, right now I could not be more proud! Yesterday I received an e-mail from a Bat-Blog Fan named Xavier. He is 9 years old, in the 4th Grade, & really loves to draw comic book characters. He even has a cool website, called "Super Creations", where he shares his artwork. He also really really loves the Bat-Blog! In the letter he sent this picture he recently drew to help promote the Bat-Blog on his website. It's EXTREMELY SUPER-AWESOME!! Please be sure to click on it for a larger, more detailed, version. He drew a bunch of characters in the "Animated Series" style: Batman, Robin, Batgirl, Nightwing, The Riddler, Bane, Clayface, & even Two-Face!! I totally love it & really appreciate it, it's great! Plus, his drawing skills are very good for a little kid. This guy will probably work for DC or Marvel Comics in the future! Thank you very much Xavier for making & sending this pic to us. Readers, if you would like to see more comic book art from this talented artist then please visit his website by clicking HERE!

BATMAN BACKGROUNDS: Wacky Wallpaper Wednesday!

Here at the Bat-Blog we post 2 exclusive Batman Wallpaper Backgrounds every Wednesday! This week I am pretty proud to say that 2 of these were sent in by Bat-Blog Readers. ( Oh yeah, I guess I should also say that we are posting THREE WALLPAPERS this week! ) They both did the art themselves. The 1st one was done by our friend Sean Harrter. It has a distinct style that I can not express right now. It looks sort of like a handbill or an advertisement from the 16th Century. Or maybe not, sorry I'm having a hard time explaining it but it looks awesome! The 2nd one, with the 1989 Batman Movie image, was done by a new contributor named Andrew. He said this took about 8 hours to draw. He actually drew it with some computer program. Of course it is the Michael Keaton ( Tim Burton Style ) Batman. The 3rd wallpaper was made by me from some artwork I randomly found on the web. The subject matter came about because of a Bat-Blog Reader's request for Clayface. So, here it is with a really nice pencil drawing of Batman & Clayface in battle. Now, I have a few other Clayface Wallpapers that I will post after I get permission from the artists. For now, I wanna thank everybody for helping this week! If anyone else has some requests for a certain character then please let us know. Also, if you have some graphics you made that you would like to send to use as wallpaper then that would be great too!

Some New BATMAN ACTION FIGURES By Mattel Coming Out In June

Mattel will have a few Batman Action Figures released next month ( June 2009 ) that you might want to keep an eye out for. The 1st one will be a DC Universe Two-Pack called "Fists of Clay - Figure Pack". It will have the elusive Clayface & "Battle Damage" Batman ( He has mud all over him, ha ha ). I'm really liking the display packaging, pretty nice. The figures are great too. These will be sold everywhere. Now the next figure is a Toys-R-Us Exclusive & only sold there. It's The Dark Knight movie JOKER ( Heath Ledger version ) as a large fully-articulated 12" figure. WOW! One foot tall, a very cool scale to have! Looks like it also comes with a display stand base.

New Toy Photos: DC Universe Classics 2 Pack Batman vs Clayface

I know a lot of Batman Fans are gonna be really excited to see this Clayface Action Figure even though it's a re-issue. Mainly because he's one character that's kinda hard to find... plus he looks extremely cool! This will be a part of the new DC Universe Classics toy line by Mattel. This special 2-pack is coming out in January 2009, so look for it then.