MARSHALL ROGERS-SHADOW OF THE BATMAN

                                                          MARSHALL ROGERS

The character of The Batman has inspired many fine interpretations by artists since his creation in the 1930s. One of these artist certainly has not gotten the respect and recognition in recent years that he deserves. Marshall Rogers (January 22, 1950 – March 24, 2007) came to prominence illustrating the Dark Knight in the pages of Detective Comics back in 1977-78. His collaboration with writer Steve Englehart was, for many years, held up as one of the shining moments in the character's history. 

While artists like Neal Adams presented a muscular Batman, Rogers' though was lanky, athletic, tall, but not bulky. His Joker, was as memorable: extremely thin, perfectly dressed, wide mouth revealing the whitest of smile. Perfectly creepy.

Not to be forgotten, Terry Austin's solid inking style gave Rogers' art an angular, precise quality that was integral to the look of the art. 

There is no currently available trade paperback or hardback collection on the market and honestly the production value on the latest incarnation was lackluster. I would urge you to seek out the last 4 issues of the reprint collection Shadow Of The Batman, published back in 1985. In those, Rogers had the opportunity to re-color the issues and the whole presentation was of high quality.

While Rogers continued producing work on a regular basis until his death in 2007, none of it quite achieved the high level of his Batman work.

UNKNOWN SOLDIER

                                                              UNKNOWN SOLDIER 

Written by Garth Ennis and drawn by Kilian Plunkett, published by Vertigo/DC Comics

Over the years, writer Garth Ennis has shown a love for both the western and war genres. One of his first forays into war stories, was this revival of the old DC Comics character, The Unknown Soldier. Having read a few stories from its original iteration, this particular story certainly doesn't look at its subject matter in the same manner and infuses decades worth of political cynicism into it. 

A tale that doubles as a mystery and war story, Ennis' take on the character is at times horrifying and rings unfortunately true in many of the scenarios it presents. Surprisingly, he is still able to introduce jokes and farcical situations that only make the story that much more powerful.

Artist Kilian Plunkett's scratchy art style imbues the various tableaux with the necessary gravitas, verve and visual flair to make this story one that will stay with you long after you've finished it.

Get the trade paperback here: