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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!
As a little kid back in the 1970's I became an obsessed comic book collector & one of my very most favorite things in the entire world were "Treasury Comics". They were put out by both DC Comics & Marvel ( I was more of a "DC Guy" ). If you have never seen or experienced these beautiful books then your life is completely sad, ha! Treasury Comics were basically reprints of classic stories but sold in a giant-size format. I mean, these babies were HUGE! It was almost like reading a newspaper, ha! I totally loved them & still have about 15 or 20 of them stored away in the very very back of my closet, in protective plastic bags of course.
Which, gets me to the reason for this post. The other day, while trolling on eBay, I came across a guy selling the Original Comic Book Art for the Cover to the 1975 BATMAN Treasury Comics Limited-Collectors-Edition #C37. The Artist back then was Jim Aparo!! I have always been a HUGE Aparo Fan & totally love his artwork. Now, as you can imagine, this baby is out of my price range, but I would kill to have it, ha! To own an actual piece of your childhood history like that, is what gives Collectors a reason to live. Oh well, I guess I can just drool over the photo posted up above ( Please click on it for a larger, more beautiful, picture ). The later photos show the actual product ( front & back ) and also a few advertisements that showed-up in comic books back in the day. By the way, if your a big fan of treasurys, or just wanna learn more, then please let me suggest TREASURYCOMICS.COM, it's a great reference site!
BATMAN AND THE FARSIDERS! Yes, you read the title correctly. Here's a totally hilarious parody comic book cover done by our new friend ( & great Graphic Artist ) Jim Mohan. It makes fun of the old 1980's BATMAN & THE OUTSIDERS #1 Comic Book Cover by replacing a few superheroes with characters from Gary Larson's famous comic strip, THE FAR SIDE. It's also sort of a tribute to the original artist & creator Jim Aparo. The artwork is awesome & it is really really funny! ( Thanks Jim )
From BRAVE AND THE BOLD #148 ( March 1979 ) we get the heartwarming Christmas story titled "The Night the Mob Stole X-Mas". Written by Bob Haney with artwork by Joe Staton and Jim Aparo. You can read the entire comic book at the Diversions of The Groovy Kind website, just click HERE!
As a young teen in the early 1970's, reading Batman comic books, one of my favorite artists from that period was Jim Aparo. He had a very distinct art style that you could notice right away. He worked on many different DC Comics at that time. I used to really love a vintage comic book titled BATMAN FAMILY. It only existed for a few years ( 1975 to 1978 ) but is now considered a classic. It featured Batman but the main focus was all of his various sidekicks: Robin, Batgirl, Alfred, Jim Gordon, Batwoman ( Kathy Kane ), Man-Bat, The Huntress, & even Ace, The Bat-Hound! Shown here is the original comic book art for BATMAN FAMILY #14...a beautiful ART Masterpiece! Be sure to click on the small image up above for a larger, more detailed, version. Thanks to Stan for sending us this wonderful picture. Do YOU own any original Batman art? If so then please send it in to the Bat-Blog so we can share with other Batman Fans, thanks.
Ya know, these BLACK AND WHITE Statues from DC Direct just keep getting better & better! ( Click on the picture up above for a larger, more detailed, photo ). One of my favorite childhood heroes was the classic comic book artist Jim Aparo. His version of Batman is still one of my favorites, up there with Neal Adams & Jim Lee. At the DC Comics website I noticed this new statue in their "Just Announced" section. The text reads:
"DESIGNED BY JIM APARO; SCULPTED BY MIKE LOCASIOThe popular BATMAN: BLACK and WHITE line of artist-inspired statues continues!This rendering of the Caped Crusader is based on the cover image from DETECTIVE COMICS #443, drawn by longtime Batman artist Jim Aparo. Painted in monochromatic tones, this statue is certain to be another sought-after addition to DC Direct's line of BATMAN: BLACK and WHITE statues.The statue measures approximately 6.5" tall x 8" wide x 5" deep. It features a logo-shaped base, and is packaged in a black-and-white box. $ 75.00 US | On Sale June 11, 2008"
When I was a very very young comic book collector I used to go to this really great comic book shop here in Oklahoma City called DOWN MEMORY LANE ( I have always loved that name ). Anyway, I would buy some comics & the owner was a really nice guy. He would sometimes give me a FREE issue of the Comic Reader, he would just sneak it into the bag while I wasn't looking & it was always a nice surprise. Well, recently I found 2 copies on the internet both with Batman Covers! One is done by Mike Grell & the other has awesome artwork by Jim Aparo. Both are legends in the comic art world! I thought these would be nice to share because they are SUPER-RARE, have great artwork, & might bring back some fond memories for BAT-BLOG Readers who are older like me! In the BAT-BLOG LINKS PAGE you will find a link to the Official MIKE GRELL Website, check it out for more awesome Batman art!
