VIDEO - DETECTIVE COMICS #27 Review by Atop The Fourth Wall

Check out this funny VIDEO REVIEW of the Classic Golden Age BATMAN Comic Book Issue, Detective Comics #27. It also features other interesting bat-history as well. Enjoy.

New Discovery on the Origin of the Very 1st Batmobile Car!

OK, This is a fun post. For many years now many Comic Book Historians have believed that the very first "Batmobile Car", which appeared in Detective Comics #48 in 1941 ( drawn by Bob Kane ), was based on a Cord. But now, a Writer for the "Cars In Depth" website named Ronnie Schreiber has discovered what he thinks to be the original inspiration, a 1938 Graham Paige “Sharknose”! Now, I don't know much about Old Cars, but Ronnie's argument seems pretty valid. For more details be sure to read his article by clicking HERE!

Robert's Amazing BATMAN TRIBUTE WALL MURAL - Art Painting

Please scan your eyeballs across this amazing artwork! Awhile back I got a message from a Bat-Blog Fan who said he was painting a BATMAN TRIBUTE mural on his wall. I asked him to send some completed photos when he was finished, this is what I got! WOW! Robert, you did an incredible job on this... It looks great!! OK, now you can NEVER ever move. OK, I guess you could, but you would have to figure out how to remove that wall & take it with you, ha!



I instantly recognized the art that was used. It was the cover to Detective Comics #627, which was the 600th appearance of the Dark Knight in that title. So, DC Comics did a special "Anniversary" cover. I've shown it here as an example & you can see what a great job Robert did on this. ( Thanks for sharing your pics Rob! ). OK, if any other Bat-Blog Readers do anything creative, anything, then please send us some pics too.

BAT BLOG TRIBUTE - MARSHALL ROGERS Batman Artist

According to the Bat-Blog History Files today is a great day! Today, January 22nd, the Legendary Comic Book Artist Marshall Rogers was born in Flushing, New York ( a Borough of Queens ). In High School he was inspired by a Mechanical Drawing class and decided he wanted to be an Architect. But later, after attending Kent State University, he discovered that Calculus was just wayyy too hard, ha! Plus, he wanted to be more creative. So he decided to try working as an Illustrator.

He submitted work to Marvel Comics but that didn't lead anywhere. He worked odd jobs to support himself while acquiring small assignments from small Magazines. Then, a big break! He started his comic book career working for Atlas, a short-lived comics publisher. They claimed his work was "too detailed", took too long to draw. It was around this time that he got another big break. He started doing small jobs for DC Comics. His first, was "retouching" reprints of 1940's Batman stories. But this wasn't enough so he tried getting more work at both Marvel & DC Comics. Marvel gave him his 1st big assignment working in their Magazine division. He began drawing "The Deadly Hands of Kung Fu" where he worked with Chris Claremont doing "Iron Fist" stories.

Now, here's the part where he really becomes a part of Bat-History! Around 1977 he began working with the Writer Steve Englehart on a, now classic, Batman storyline that ran in Detective Comics #471 thru 476. This was the famous "Joker's Laughing Fish" story. This event also heavily influenced the 1989 Tim Burton BATMAN Movie. It's also important to note that later Rogers began work on the BATMAN Newspaper Comic Strip that ran from November 6, 1989 to August 3, 1991. To check that out, just click HERE!

Sadly, Rogers passed away on March 24th, 2007. He was found by his Son & the Family reports that he had a heart attack. Also, the Coroner reported that he, "might have been dead for a few days". Among Batman Fans, Friends & Family he is greatly missed. His work in the 1970's and 80's is right up there with the works of Dennis O'Neil/Neal Adams and Jim Aparo. Classic stuff!! I have a few Friends who state that they had met him at various Comic Book Conventions & they all said, "He was a really nice guy, very talkative & quite friendly".

Much of Rogers' work is now considered vastly important and some of his work was collected in two early Graphic Novels titled, "Batman: Strange Apparitions" & "Batman: Dark Detective". Then, later, and actually very recent, a more definitive Graphic Novel was created called "The Legends of the Dark Knight by Marshall Rogers". This book reprints: Detective Comics # 468, 471-479, 481, Legends of the Dark Knight # 132-136, Batman: Dark Detective # 1-6 and more! Check out this LINK for more details on that.


I apologize for getting kind of carried away with this post, it's almost a "book", ha! But this Comic Book Artist was always a Favorite Childhood Hero of mine. His artwork is really great! Down below I created a "Marshall Rogers Tribute" Wallpaper. I hope you use it as an inspiring background on your desktop.

BATMAN COMIC BOOK SIGNING - Today at Dreamland Comics ( Libertyville, IL )

Today, from 4:00pm to 6:00pm, three DC Comics Writers and Artists who are associated with different BATMAN Comic Books will be signing at DREAMLAND COMICS in Libertyville, IL ( It's about an hour north of Chicago ).

The three guests include DC Comics' Writers and Artists TONY S. DANIEL ( Batman, Detective ), SCOTT SNYDER ( Batman, Swamp Thing, American Vampire ) and KYLE HIGGINS ( Nightwing, Deathstroke ).

They will be in the store for book signing and there will be a limited quantity of books available. The time is short, so please get there as early as possible. For more info, CLICK HERE!

BATMAN NEXT MONTH IN DETECTIVE COMICS - A Visual History

Over at the BULLY SAYS: COMICS OUGHTA BE FUN website they recently posted a very cool article on the "Coming Next Month" Ad Promos from the Golden Age DETECTIVE COMICS used by DC Comics to promote BAT-MAN. It's more of a visual history but kind of interesting to see, just click HERE!

New BATMAN LEGO TOYS FIGURE Inspired Art and Photography

Over at the LEGO TOYS Company Website they have been showing some Lego Fan Art that celebrates the release of more BATMAN Licensed Products next year. Yes! LEGO BATMAN is coming back and I think it's gonna be even bigger and crazier than last time. Whoops, back to the ART. The 1st one, with the Joker making an appearance, was drawn by Alison Goetz. It's pretty funny and looks like it was done with Colored Pencil. Then, my favorite of the bunch, is a very excellent parody of the iconic comic book cover to Detective Comics # 27. It was made by Tony Norton. Last, but not least, is this piece of Photography Art created by Daniel Mezraev. Batman is struggling to reach his trusty Batarang, ha ha!

BATMAN AUCTION NEWS - Jerry Robinson's Original Cover Art for DETECTIVE COMICS #67

In recent BATMAN AUCTION NEWS everybody is totally excited about a new piece of Original Golden Age Comic Book Art that has hit the market, it's the Cover Art to DETECTIVE COMICS #67! HERITAGE AUCTIONS of Dallas, Texas is offering it on October 27th,2011. The sale ends around November 15th-17th, 2011. This masterpiece was drawn by Jerry Robinson back in the "Batman Golden Age" era. It's also important to note that this cover was the very first appearance of a character named THE PENGUIN. It's an extremely important piece of Bat-History & my guess is that it will set a record price. Also, if you click on the photo of the artwork up above you can see a very high-def pic with great details, check it out! Oh yeah, if you wanna bid ( or maybe buy this for me as a Christmas gift, hint hint ) then just click HERE!

BATMAN ART - Comic Book Cover Done in Stained Glass

A Friend shared this link with me the other day where it shows an Artist's work that is completely amazing. This guy has recreated a bunch of Vintage Comic Book Covers in Stained Glass. The effect is pretty cool! His name is Brandon Barker & here is his tribute to Detective Comics #31, which first appeared in 1939 & is a total classic. I mean, it's actually an icon! The story of this book was titled "Batman Verses The Vampire ( Part 1 )" & was the 1st introduction of the "Mad Monk" Villain Character. To check out other work by this Glass Artist just click HERE!

RIP GENE COLAN , Great Comic Book Artist

I'm sad to report that Gene Colan has passed away. He was 84 years old. Most Comic Book Collectors & Fans will for sure know who this incredible Artist is because he worked in the business for many years. He co-created Blade ( The Marvel Comics character that became a Wesley Snipes movie ). His work on Howard The Duck & Daredevil is classic pop culture. I fondly remember his artwork from my childhood. He drew Batman comics & covers with great skill & I have always been a huge fan of his work. He will be missed. Thank you for your wonderful contributions Mr. Colan, RIP.

BATMAN Golden Age Comic Book Artist JERRY ROBINSON Launches Website!

The BAT-BLOG is extremely proud to announce that the Legendary Comic Book Artist Jerry Robinson has just launched a brand-new personal website! There's a Biography, a Store, & many different galleries that each focus on his Original Comic Book Art, Drawings, Photography, Fine Art, Comic Strip Work, etc... it's extremely well done. Now of course all Super-Serious BATMAN Fans know about Mr. Robinson's major contributions to the Batman Universe. He created the greatest Villain ever, The Joker! He co-created Robin, The Boy Wonder! He was right there in the beginning and he drew a lot of the famous BATMAN and DETECTIVE COMICS Golden Age Covers ( see up above )! Seriously, this guy is an ICON! In fact, Jerry is known in the comic book world as "The Ambassador of Comics". Here's the link where you can visit his website, just click HERE!

Steve's Cool Artwork Inspired by Batman's Carmine Infantino & 1966 TV Series

A few days ago we did a post here at the Bat-Blog that featured some artwork by 2 Graphic Artists who were recently inspired by Carmine Infantino's iconic drawing of Batman and Robin. Well, a few days later we received this art from a friend named Steve, who likes to draw, & he too was inspired by this same artwork. But his twist on it was he drew the characters to look like the 1966 TV Show. Plus, he also did a piece that is an homage to the Golden Age Comic Book, DETECTIVE COMICS # 27. But the thing that's cool about it is that he also made it look like some characters in the 1966 BATMAN TV Show, Adam West's Batman & Cesar Romero's Joker. Both pictures are pretty cool, check them out!! Oh yeah, just to refresh some Reader's memories I posted the classic cover to Det. Comics # 27. ( Thanks Steve )

BATMAN AUCTION NEWS - Bob Kane's Original 1939 Page Proofs for Detective Comics 27 at Heritage

The big news in both the auction world & comic book fandom is that Heritage Auctions ( Dallas, Texas ) is offering the Original Production Proofs for Detective Comics # 27 ( 1939 ) that were once owned by Batman Co-Creator Bob Kane. Of course we're talking about the first appearance of the character here! A "Proof Page" in comics was a test printing of an uncolored page used by artists and writers to see how their work would look on the printed page. Now, while this is not the actual original art, this is probably the closest anybody will ever come to owning some production material from this landmark issue. They're estimated to sell for at least $1000 each & they have 5 of them for sale, which are pages 2-6. The image up above shows page 3 & if you click on it, it's extremely sharp, you can see the amazing details of this item. The "Batman Page Proofs" will be part of Heritage Auctions' Signature Vintage Comics & Comic Art Auction held on February 24th, 2011. For more details, click HERE!

BATMAN Desktop Backgrounds - Wacky Wallpaper Wednesday!

For this week's "Wacky Wallpaper Wednesday" I thought I would give you some good close-up images of Batman's face. That sounds kind of fun, right? Well the thing is, the 1st one uses some vintage comic book artwork where the Dark Knight is being a good detective & the 2nd one is a color photo of Adam West from the 1966 TV Show. I hope you enjoy these, but if not, be sure to check out the Bat-Blog Archives. It's located about the middle of the page, on the left-hand side. This is also a great way to see all the posts we have done over the last 4 or 5 years...enjoy!

BATMAN SKATEBOARDS - DC Comics 75th Anniversary

Here's some news that has been shared by the Bat-Blog in the past but we're updating it because they have added a ton of new products. Basically, to celebrate the 75th Anniversary of DC Comics, Warner Bros & Zazzle have teamed-up to bring you a source of amazing merchandise using amazing graphics from their comic book history. Of course there are things like T-Shirts, Coffee Mugs, Mouse Pads... stuff like that. But they have also gone crazy with a few new products which I knew I had to list. At their website you'll find Keds Hi-Top Canvas Shoes, iPhone Covers, iPad Skins, 3-ring Binders, a few other items & these awesome Batman Skateboards! I have only pictured 4 of them here but there are a ton of different designs. Here's a link to their sales page, just click HERE!

Auction News - Golden Age BATMAN Original Comic Book Cover Art

There's a HUGE BUZZ in Auction News right now with the Artist Jerry Robinson putting up an extremely famous piece of Original Comic Book Art on the market. We're talking about the cover art for a Golden Age classic, Detective Comics #69 ( Nov 1942 ). This "Joker Double Guns" cover is beautiful, showing Batman, Joker, and Robin, the Boy Wonder! It's important to note that Jerry Robinson created "The Joker" character so it makes this piece even more wonderful. Be sure to click on the image up above for a nice large sharp picture...it's beautiful! The art is being auctioned by a company called Comic Connect and, at the same time, they will also be offering another classic cover, Superman #14 with artwork by Fred Ray. To bid, or for more information, be sure to click HERE!

New BATMAN and JOKER T-SHIRTS From Superhero Stuff

Oh yeah! Over at the Superhero Stuff website they just released a few brand-new Batman T-Shirts that I thought were pretty cool. The 1st one shown here is a special "DC Comics 75th Anniversary" shirt with artwork by Walt Simonson. It's the artwork for the recent Detective Comics cover he did that was an homage to an older Golden Age book cover ( also on the shirt ). The next one is a beautiful CATWOMAN image. This pin-up art was done by none other than Adam Hughes, the master! The last example is one of my favorites. It's a scene from a vintage 1970's Batman Comic Book Cover showing the Joker. The original artist back then was Neal Adams so you know the graphics are sweet! Now, they have many more brand-new Batman T-Shirts & other merchandise in right now so if you wanna check them out just click the button down below, thanks.

Fred Hembeck's DAREDEVIL-BATMAN-AQUAMAN Mash-Up Parody Comic Book Cover Art

OK, if you're a Hembeck Fan ( and who isn't? ) then you're gonna totally love this comic book cover parody artwork! Fred Hembeck, famous cartoonist & artist, has been making fun of Marvel & DC Comics characters for years. A few years ago he started to create "Cover Re-Creations", which are basically a perfect copy of a classic comic book cover, but done in the Hembeck-style. Here's one right here. But this one is pretty interesting because it's a mock-up of a non-existent DETECTIVE COMICS cover that looks just like the iconic cover to Daredevil #7. This book was originally drawn by Wally Wood & was the 1st appearance of the, now famous, "red costume". Hembeck's drawing is a total copy of that but instead of drawing Daredevil & the Sub-Mariner he made it a Batman comic book with Aquaman as the villain...very cool! It's sort of ironic that Sub-Mariner & Aquaman are both "underwater guys", ha!

NEW Batman DETECTIVE COMICS Variant Comic Book Cover - DC 75th Anniversary

Comic Book Fans might be noticing all the variant covers for recent DC Comics titles. It's apart of their "75th Anniversary" event. Well, be sure to look out for Detective Comics # 866 because it's variant cover will be drawn by Artist Walt Simonson & it's an homage to the Golden Age Batman. The inspiration is the iconic cover of Detective Comics # 69, which was originally drawn by the legendary Jerry Robinson. It features a sinister-looking Joker looming over the Dynamic Duo ( Click on it for a larger version, it's so very pretty! ).

BATMAN WALLPAPER - Comic Book Art - Issue # 700 Variant Cover

DC Comics just announced yesterday that there will be a special variant cover to BATMAN # 700 and the artwork will be created by Mike Mignola of Hellboy fame. I took the beautiful graphics & made a wallpaper background out of it, that's what you see up above. But it's important to note that Mignola's inspiration for his cover came from a Golden Age story of Batman that appeared in Detective Comics #168. He sort of re-created the cover to that old comic book...very cool, can't wait to see it.