.jpg) |
| Copyright DC COMICS |
The Batman book required a bit of cosmetic work to the cover (colour touch-ups, ironing out corner dunts, etc.,) as well as erasing the results of colour pencils to a few interior non-story pages, but it was worth the effort as it contains some nice Batman tales, as well as sporting a cover by Dave Gibbons. I could simply buy a better condition copy of course, but this one was never really in my sights so I can live with it just as it is.
Tell you what, though... rather than tell you about the contents, why don't I show them to you? Well, the splash pages at least, just to give you a taste of the book. If you had this Annual back in the day (or even the original US monthly comics where the stories first appeared), feel free to share your unique memories of it/them in our crying-out-for-attention comments section. (Don't be heartless and disappoint it now, y'hear?)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
10 comments:
I think I had all of those stories in their original format. I was a huge Batfan in the 70's. Those bring back good memories. Cool that someone halfway around the world was digging them, too.
I think I have all these stories in earlier, separate US reprints, G, and quite possibly one or two original issues as well. (I've got so much stuff, I sometimes forget precisely what I have.) The Annual is a handy collection of them to own.
I never bought any of these annuals and by the 1980s I wasn't reading a lot of Batman comics so the original material doesn't ring a bell I'm afraid. What did you do with the other 3 Superman annuals you purchased?
Still got 'em, McS. I'm keeping two of them, I have two to sell or give away, depending on how I feel. Maybe I'll offer them as prizes in a Crivens quiz.
Aparo, Giordano, Robbins, O'Neil, and Von Eden! Hard to go sideways with that kind of talent. I've never seen this book of course, but most of the stories ring a bell.
Not forgetting that Gibbons' cover, RJ, before he was 'big' in America. I was quite surprised by what a good selection of stories this Annual contained. As you'll no doubt know, UK Annuals are usually hardback, not soft cover, though there are sometimes exceptions. (This one's a hardback.)
I love the artwork on these, especially the first two pages. Cleverly done with the cape incorporating the opening frame in the first and the Batman insignia blending into the sky in the second. It must be hard to come up with new ideas, month after month. I saw a great documentary called 'Batman and Bill' a few years ago about Bill Finger's contribution to the creation of Batman. I think it was on YouTube at one point. Worth a watch.
Thanks for the info, M, I'll have to jump over to YouTube and see if I can find that documentary. These Egmont/London Edition Annuals were, in the main, great value for money and contained some great stories. Sometimes, however, when they reprinted a three-part story originally presented in three separate mags, they omitted recap pages, which resulted in sudden jumps from the end of one story to the start of the next. Thankfully, this Batman book (the stories of which aren't connected) is free of that irksome practice.
I never had this annual - around 1983 I sold all of my comic collection. But I do recognize the "Monster Walks Wayne Manor" and "The Batman Nobody Knows" as comics I bought in the 1974 timeframe. I especially like Jim Aparo's work on the Monster Walks Wayne Manor. This was the second time he drew the lead Batman story in Detective Comics for editor Archie Goodwin, and he really pulled out the stops. Aparo was at his best when inking his own pencils - fantastic detail.
I can't recall whether I saw this Annual at the time or not, B, but if I did, I probably didn't buy it due to Egmont/London Editions habit of omitting some pages on occasion to fit the page count. As far as I can tell, this one is complete, but there's a recap page missing from the third story in the 1983 Superman Annual. Aparo was always dependable when it came to drawing Batman and very few artists did it better. (And, of course, it's arguable as to whether any actually did.)
Post a Comment