Batman again- art this time

From Boing Boing- original art to fetch the big bucks:

Some questions. What exactly are the characters in this frame supposed to be doing? What is that triangular thing on Robin’s shirt opposite the “R”, and where is the rest of BM’s left boot? This is supposed to be great comic art, right? :dubious:

The triangular thing is her slingshot. They are currently jumping to another rooftop, you can see the skyline below them. And I see no problem with the boots – perhaps it is clearer when inked.

This is also not valuable because of the art, but because it is an original pencilling from a very influential comic book - “The Dark Knight Returns.” Context is everything when valuing collectibles.

Here’s the color version:

http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w248/norrinradd85/BatmanTDKR3-114HuntTheDarkKnight.jpg

-sigh- Okay. There once was a guy named Frank Miller. In the eighties he was an excellent artist who became an excellent writer. An “alternative universe” Batman story of his, the Dark Knight Returns told how an older Bruce Wayne comes out of retirement and takes on a new Robin to fight crime with, this time a girl.

The art became also groundbreaking, more stylized and dynamic than the classic Buscema - like naturalism he had used until then. In a way, along with stuff like Watchmen, it’ss one of the books that defined modern comics.

Then he went crazy and directed “The Spirit”, but that’s another story.

Pretty sure that is the inks. And when your inker is Klaus Janson, “clearer in the inks” is not to be counted upon.

There’s no lack of clarity in the boots (or the drawing as a whole) whatsoever. His right boot ends below Robin’s left leg, and the left boot sticks out from below Robin’s cape.

I’m not seeing any problem either. Looks clear to me.

T’other way about – Batman’s left boot (to our right) is behind Robin.

And I do see Son of a Rich’s point: it looks as though there ought to be a line indicating the forward edge of Batman’s left shin visible. Unless his ankle’s about as thick as his thigh – which isn’t impossible, this being Frank Miller, but it’s most likely an inking mistake.

A story called All Star Batman and Robin I believe. If you haven’t read it… Don’t. Please for the love of Og, just put the comic down on the ground and step away from the goddamn Batman!

Thanks
Lovechunks.

All Star Batman and Robin and The Dark Knight Strikes Again are both terrible.

I think Bruce Willis might make a good Bruce Wayne if they ever make a DKR movie.

All-Star Batman and Robin and Dark Knight Strikes Again are both awesome. The former in particular is a riot.

I can absolutely understand the backlash towards All Star Batman, but I thought it was an excellent concept. Two of the more common tropes that the Batman books often flirt with are the idea that Batman needs Robin to keep him grounded, and the idea that Batman is arguably as insane as any inmate of Arkham. But few books have really had the guts to really get into that idea, and muck about with it. ASB is the first book I’ve read that really took those ideas and ran with them, and it ended up in a very interesting place. In many ways, this is probably the most realistic portrayal of what sort person Batman would be in the real world: a dangerously unstable, borderline delusional megalomaniac. Which is, as it happens, also the sort of personality that would not think twice at regularly endangering a minor by taking him along on vigilante missions - but by tying that into the “Robin as Batman’s humanity” angle, it makes the relationship very poignant. Taking Robin under his wing as he does is shockingly irresponsible, but the fact that it puts Batman in a position of responsibility over someone else is also what pulls him back from full blown psychosis. And the idea that someone as far gone as (that portrayal of) Batman could recognize the potential rescue Robin represented, and more importantly, actually reach for it is a pretty amazing depiction of the resiliancy of the human spirit, and it’s capacity for both healing, and redemption.

It’s also, of course, completely different from the classical image of Batman, and like I said, it’s entirely understandable why it turned so many people off. It’s particularly jarring when you compare it with All Star Superman, which was possibly the single best representation of the classic Superman ever written. But ASB is still a heck of an interesting experiment.

The Dark Knight Strikes Again, on the other hand, I cannot defend.

I guess I’ll disagree with everyone and say that The Dark Knight Strikes Again has awesome, awesome cartooning. I think that the weird computer coloring and the underwhelming story put people off, but there’s nothing wrong with Frank’s art. In my opinion it’s some of his strongest stuff. It’s incredibly dynamic and bold and IMO exciting. Even the story isn’t all that bad, it’s just not what people expected (again, IMO). As a whole, it’s an interesting experiment and maybe even a qualified success.

All Star Batman and Robin I’d call a complete artistic failure. Jim Lee’s art looks pretty but the storytelling was pretty bad and it didn’t seem to do anything to help Miller’s writing. Not that I think that anything at all could possibly rescue that train wreck. Maybe the concept was good, Miller, but the execution was so off it really makes it look like Frank Miller went crazy.

I probably should have said “colorist” instead of “Inker,” but it has been a long time since I considered the steps in creating a comic panel.