OK, Long time Bat-Blog Fans know the drill. Every Wednesday we post a few custom-designed BATMAN Wallpaper Backgrounds for you to enjoy....so, enjoy! The 1st one is an homage to 1970's Batman. I think this artwork was originally the comic book art of Neal Adams, a Bat-Fan favorite! Then, the 2nd one is a parody of the 1960's TV Series Logo. It says, "HENCH", referring to "Henchmen". This is all about some characters on the modern day TV Cartoon, The Venture Bros. On that show there's an evil Super-Villain named "The Monarch" & he has a very large team of Henchmen. This graphic design is actually from a T-Shirt & if you would like more info on that then just click HERE!
OK, We're a little jealous! The Bat-Blog has a friend who lives in New Jersey & every time a huge "Geek Event" happens in NYC he's there. His name is BatDave & here are some photos he shared from the recent BIG APPLE COMIC CON last week. First off, he got to meet "Batman", live & in person ( Check out the photographic proof, ha ). Then, he got to meet two total BATMAN Comic Book Legends, Jerry Robinson and Neal Adams. Of course Mr. Robinson was there to promote his new book, "JERRY ROBINSON: AMBASSADOR OF COMICS", a great read ( For The Bat-Blog Book Review, Click HERE! ). Then, BatDave got Mr. Adams to sign a recent copy of his "Batman Odyssey" comic book. Overall it seems like a great adventure! Oh yeah, he saw this beautiful Asian Girl outside & it looks like she's a Batman Fan... Heck Yeah! ( Thanks, as always, to BatDave for sharing his wonderful photos ).
Hey Bat-Fans, Here are some cool Batman-related Magazines to keep an eye out for in the near future! BACK ISSUE! Magazine ( TwoMorrows Publishing ) will be celebrating Batman with 2 special issues:
BACK ISSUE # 50 ( Release Date: July 20th, 2011 ) is a special 50th Anniversary issue spotlighting “Batman in the Bronze Age”, with the entire issue in FULL-COLOR! DENNY O’NEIL, NEAL ADAMS, and PAUL LEVITZ discuss Batman in the 1970's and beyond in a “Pro2Pro” round table. Also, In Praise of JIM APARO, Batman’s Unsung Creators (DAVID V. REED, BOB BROWN, ERNIE CHAN, and JOHN CALNAN), Joker’s Daughter, the Batman Family, Nocturna, Untold Legend of the Batman, Batman collected editions, Batman in the early 1980s, and Dark Knight. With art by and/or commentary from JOHN BYRNE, GENE COLAN, GERRY CONWAY, DOUG MOENCH, FRANK MILLER, DON NEWTON, LEN WEIN, and more. Featuring a beautifully Bronze Batman and Robin cover by Jim Aparo! Edited by MICHAEL EURY. 84 pages, full-color throughout, $8.95. (Note: price increase is for this one, full-color issue only.)
BACK ISSUE # 51 ( August 17th, 2011 ) is an “All-Interview Issue”! Continuing from the pages of Alter Ego #103 is Part 2 of an exclusive interview with writer STEVE ENGLEHART. Also: “Pro2Pro” with WALTER SIMONSON & ERIK LARSEN, DOUG MOENCH & LEN WEIN, and comics letterers TODD KLEIN & JANICE CHIANG; plus JOHN OSTRANDER and the final interview with longtime DC color artist ADRIENNE ROY, who passed away in December 2010. Featuring as our cover one of the last Batman illustrations produced by the late MARSHALL ROGERS, Englehart’s partner on Detective Comics! Edited by MICHAEL EURY. 84 pages with 16-page COLOR section, $7.95.
Oh Yeah, Order Directly from the Publisher & Save 15%, Just Click HERE!
This video comes straight from Neal Adams & shows the Famous Comic Book Artist drawing a wonderful profile sketch of our favorite Caped Crusader, Batman! He's drawing this inside a copy of "The Art of Neal Adams", a new book published by Vanguard Productions. Would you like a signed copy? Just click HERE to visit Adams' Official Website. Once there, click on the "STORE" button.
OK, the big deal with Batman right now is that everyone is totally excited about BATMAN: ODYSSEY coming out in July of 2010. I know that personally, I AM! Here's the artwork for the # 1 issue right here, done by Neal Adams! Remember, it will be a a 12-part mini-series & this is only the 1st one...oh yea!
Here's a weird piece of "Batman News" I came across the other day. Last week, in the TV episode of the comedy "THE BIG BANG THEORY", a piece of Bat-Memorabilia appeared for just a few seconds! In the background, on the set of one of the sitcom character's apartments, you can see an original BATMAN BLACK & WHITE STATUE sitting on a shelf. The one they used is the modeled after the comic book art of Neal Adams. It was sculpted by Jason Spyda Adams. Anyways, I thought it was kinda funny, ha ha!
OK, yesterday I was pretty happy about the official announcement from DC Comics that the 1st issue of BATMAN: ODYSSEY will be coming out in July, 2010. Of course, this is the special project being done by the legendary Neal Adams and I mean HE will be doing it. Neal Adams is set to write it, pencil it, & even ink the first few issues! Now, he has said that because of time restraints he won't be able to ink the entire series, but it will be drawn ( penciled ) totally by him. This is super-great news! So, being all excited about this I searched the Internet far & wide to come-up with ANY new artwork that has been leaked. Now, the Bat-Blog has featured a lot of it in the past & that kept showing up in my searches, ha ha. But here's some brand-new BATMAN: ODYSSEY artwork I found!! It looks like there will be some action with MAN-BAT & why not? I mean, this is a character created by both Neal Adams & Frank Robbins in 1970. In another piece of original art we get to see is an interaction between Bruce Wayne & Alfred in the Batcave, that's cool! Then there's a splash page where Batman is getting shot by a high-powered rifle ( I feel sorry for the guy who did that, ha! ). Now, most of the art shown here are smaller samples but if you click on the very last one it is pretty BIG. In fact, I made it a Desktop Wallpaper you can use as a background. Or, at very least, just enjoy looking at it in high-def! Remember, stay tuned to the Bat-Blog for more future news about this highly anticipated comic book event!
I just recently realized that, like a moron, I didn't post any FREE Batman Backgrounds on "Wacky Wallpaper Wednesday". So, to make up for it here are 2 really great ones you will hopefully enjoy. They came about because of a suggestion from a friend named Satish. He said he wanted to see some "Neal Adams artwork". These wallpapers were made with graphics that were found on the front / back of some Vintage 1970's LP Album Covers. Remember those awesome stories published by POWER RECORDS? Well, here they are! In that one with Batman and Robin's faces I seriously love that old Batmobile car, very cool! The other one has the Joker which is always fun. Now remember, you can click on the button down below for the 20 or so most recent Batman Wallpaper Backgrounds or you can dig through our BAT-BLOG ARCHIVES where you can find hundreds of them. The "Archives" are located on the left side of this page, about half way down.
Here are a few "prototype photos" of the NEAL ADAMS' MAN-BAT Black & White Statue as sculpted by Jason Spyda Adams. In fact, I "stole these images" from Jason's site, ha ha! The pictures show how detailed this thing is gonna be & I can't wait to see the final product. If it's anything like all the other ones then I know it will be extremely cool! I love that DC Direct has been branching out & doing a few villains in the B&W series. Look for MAN-BAT towards the end of 2010 ( around October 13th ). For more information about this product then be sure to click HERE!
Here's a cool pic sent in by our good bat-friend Dave. He got to go to a Comic Book Convention in New York City & met Neal Adams. Yes, THE Neal Adams! Neal is extremely famous for his work on Batman comics in the 1970's. He is even still working on the Dark Knight character today. Right now, he is writing and drawing a HUGE Graphic Novel Project called BATMAN: ODYSSEY. We can't wait for that to come out! Also, I wanna say thanks to Dave for sending the cool pic plus I am totally jealous you got to meet the Legendary Neal Adams ( Jealous! ).
For the Art Collectors who collect the BATMAN: BLACK & WHITE Statues here's a brand-new addition just announced by DC Direct. It's the Neal Adams version of The MAN-BAT! This statue will be sculpted by Jason "Spyda" Adams so you know it's gonna be ultra-cool! The pose that Kirk Langstrom ( character's name ) is in is taken from the cover to the classic Detective Comics #400 comic book ( shown down below ). Which, by the way, was the character's very first appearance. Plus it's interesting to note that Neal Adams had actually created this character so that's cool they're making a statue & having him design it. The Retail Price for the B&W Statue will be $ 80.00 & it goes on sale October 13th, 2010. So, towards the end of the year, be sure to keep an eye out for this awesome piece of art!
Since the 1970's, when Neal Adams created this character, I have always been a HUGE Fan of Ra's Al Ghul. Now the thing that's really cool is that he will be making a first appearance on tonight's brand-new episode of BATMAN: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD! The show's title is "Sidekicks Assemble" & will mainly feature Robin, Speedy, & Aqualad ( awesome! ) but the teaser part will have Ra's!! The animators did a really great job in capturing his personality & I love that they gave him a Silver-Age look...BEAUTIFUL! The voice acting is really good too, totally dead-on. Shown here is a Video Clip from the TV Series & then to sort of celebrate the 1st appearance of this character to the show I made a few RA'S AL GHUL Wallpaper Backgrounds...enjoy!
The CARTOON ART MUSEUM in San Francisco, CA is planning an exhibit that is a celebration of Batman's 70 year history! The exhibition starts at the end of this month ( January 30th ) & runs till June 6th, 2010. The title of the show will be BATMAN: YESTERDAY AND TOMORROW. Featured artists include Bob Kane andBill Finger, who created Batman in 1939; Neal Adams, whose detailed artistry redefined comics in the 1970s; Frank Miller, whose graphic novel The Dark Knight Returns pioneered the modern, mature concept of Batman; Pepe Moreno, whose Batman: Digital Justice was the first graphic novel with entirely computer-generated art; Jiro Kuwata, who was the Japanese artist for the 1960's Bat-Manga that appeared in Shonen King magazines in Japan; and acclaimed artist Paul Pope, whose Batman: Year 100 pays homage to the original Batman comics and looks ahead to Gotham City of the year 2039. For more information about the event be sure to visit their website by clicking HERE!
Up above is a sample of some of the comic book art for the future BATMAN ODYSSEY Graphic Novel that will be done by none other than the Master himself, Neal Adams! The art shows what Aquaman will look like & it looks pretty cool! Plus, speaking of "cool", be sure to follow our link for a video featured on Adams' website where we get to see a BATMAN ODYSSEY Promo Video his company made. It's a very small clip but gives you an idea...Hey, Just Click HERE!
Last weekend, in New York City, they had the famous BIG APPLE COMIC CON 2009! One of the special guests was none other than the legendary Batman Comic Book Artist Neal Adams. Don't believe me? Well, here's photographic proof! Here is Neal sitting in a beautiful 1966 Batmobile Replica Car. Now, I mean, how cool is that! I have never got to sit in one of these things, but from what I have been told, once you sit there you never want to leave, ha ha! I love the expression on Adams' face, priceless. If you want to know more about Neal Adams' current work then I suggest checking out his website. You can visit today by clicking HERE!
