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.

BRIAN K. VAUGHAN - THE PRIVATE EYE

BRIAN K. VAUGHAN - THE PRIVATE EYE

Written by Brian K. Vaughan, drawn by Marcos Martin and colored by Muntsa Vicente

Brian K. Vaughan has proven to be one of the most respected comic book writers of the last decades, while not the most prolific (working in the more lucrative TV series arena has taken time away from his comics work), every time he does a project it becomes an event. 

A tale set in the future, where the internet cloud bubble burst and everyone's secrets spilled out for everyone to see. In this future privacy is the way of life. Almost everyone wears a disguise (sometimes, several). Activities are conducted in total anonymity and the population's home life is sacred.

When a private detective is approached by a woman to investigate her sister's murder, he discover a plot that will threaten society as it is now.

While not one of Vaughan's best works, The Private Eye is a clever, and original premise, that delivers plenty of thrills, patented BKV twists and an exciting ending.

Kudos to artist Marcos Martin for really going to bat with his imaginative costume designs that truly bring the reader into this world. Imaginative layouts, simple but appealing renderings make this story a truly fun read.

Serialized in digital form at http://panelsyndicate.com (Where you can acquire the entirety of the story for whatever you'd like to pay!), it was also collected in hardcover form from Image Comics, which you can purchase through this link:

ALEX TOTH - BRAVO FOR ADVENTURE

                                            ALEX TOTH - BRAVO FOR ADVENTURE

Written and drawn by Alex Toth

Legendary cartoonist Alex Toth (June 25, 1928 - may 27, 2006)'s magnum opus, Bravo for adventure, is the story of an ace pilot during the 1930s who doubles as a stunt pilot for the moving pictures and pilot for hire. A great concept that due to various publisher problems never really took off. Still, the stories that Toth got to produces are extraordinary both in it's story, pacing and art.

The stories are intricate but simply told, with various moving parts that flow with an ease that certainly couldn't have been easy to achieve. Toth was a well-known perfectionist, who only got more critical of his own work as the years passed by. The artwork is, simply put, masterful in its clear layouts and visual storytelling. Every line of ink is there for a reason and the fact that the work seems so restrained is deceptively perfect. This should be required studying for any would be comic book artist. It should also be in every serious comic book aficionado's library.

Out of print for 30 years, all of the stories were reprinted in an handsome, oversized hardcover by IDW which you can get here: