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Post by beccabear67 on Jun 29, 2018 13:37:52 GMT -5
However, it always bugged me that he drew the ears on Batman's cowl jutting out, even after the Adams/ Novick version was the style. See panel 3 above for a perfect example. That's what it was for me, it reminded me of a character in the Inferior Five named Awkward Man unfortunately.
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Post by Prince Hal on Jun 29, 2018 14:34:27 GMT -5
I could never figure out why Swan couldn't do the Bat-ears, and also (as I've mentioned before) why Wayne Boring did not know how eyeglasses stayed on your nose:
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Post by comicsandwho on Jun 29, 2018 18:18:49 GMT -5
Maybe Boring wanted to display the little-known super power of the 1950s: using super-muscle control in his nose to keep the glasses raised slightly, in order to save a nanosecond when he needs to change and go into action?
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Post by Icctrombone on Jun 29, 2018 19:33:57 GMT -5
There was a theory that Superman was always floating 1/2 an inch off the ground. Maybe his glasses did it too...
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Post by tarkintino on Jun 30, 2018 12:34:08 GMT -5
However, it always bugged me that he drew the ears on Batman's cowl jutting out, even after the Adams/ Novick version was the style. See panel 3 above for a perfect example. That's what it was for me, it reminded me of a character in the Inferior Five named Awkward Man unfortunately. The Swan Batman was just as soft and "Un-Batman-like" as Awkward Man...and that shows just how off the mark Swan was with his take on Batman.
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Post by beccabear67 on Jun 30, 2018 12:46:22 GMT -5
There was a beautiful pencil Superman in a San Diego Con book I don't have anymore, but I can't find it online anywhere... did find this though...
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Post by Prince Hal on Jun 30, 2018 16:23:23 GMT -5
That's what it was for me, it reminded me of a character in the Inferior Five named Awkward Man unfortunately. The Swan Batman was just as soft and "Un-Batman-like" as Awkward Man...and that shows just how off the mark Swan was with his take on Batman. It wasn't that bad!
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Post by Prince Hal on Jun 30, 2018 16:24:48 GMT -5
At some point, Swan did get the memo:
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Jun 30, 2018 16:37:47 GMT -5
Other than being completely out of place in a period of Infantino/Anderson, Novick and Adams. Swans's Batman looked like a bad cosplayer and his version always had the facial expression of being worn out, like a guy who missed sleep for a week. I think Gray Morrow was the artist who seemed least concerned with "idealizing" Batman and making him look like someone in that suit would look in the "real world." I think that is one of my favourite aspects of David Mazzucchelli's Batman from Batman year one. It really looks like a normal guy in a Batman suit, with no local gravity anomaly of billowing wind.
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Post by tarkintino on Jul 1, 2018 0:11:31 GMT -5
The Swan Batman was just as soft and "Un-Batman-like" as Awkward Man...and that shows just how off the mark Swan was with his take on Batman. It wasn't that bad! Well, its more Awkward Man territory than not...possibly Cracked level!
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Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
Posts: 10,083
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Post by Confessor on Jul 1, 2018 6:51:57 GMT -5
That's what it was for me, it reminded me of a character in the Inferior Five named Awkward Man unfortunately. The Swan Batman was just as soft and "Un-Batman-like" as Awkward Man...and that shows just how off the mark Swan was with his take on Batman. I think you're over-egging your point. Swan's Batman was perfectly serviceable, though not a patch on his classic Superman stuff, of course. I'd certainly rather read Curt Swan drawing Batman any ol' day of the week over, say, Jack Kirby drawing Spider-Man (((shudder))).
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Post by Icctrombone on Jul 1, 2018 8:11:31 GMT -5
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Post by tarkintino on Jul 1, 2018 8:45:23 GMT -5
The Swan Batman was just as soft and "Un-Batman-like" as Awkward Man...and that shows just how off the mark Swan was with his take on Batman. I think you're over-egging your point. Swan's Batman was perfectly serviceable, though not a patch on his classic Superman stuff, of course. I'd certainly rather read Curt Swan drawing Batman any ol' day of the week over, say, Jack Kirby drawing Spider-Man (((shudder))). Juat as you shudder from Kirby drawing Spider-Man, I feel the same about Swan's Batman, as he--particularly in the Silver Age--seemed like some random guy in a suit, lacking the frankly...dynamic style of Infantino/Anderson, which revealed an ordinary, non-superpowered man energetically being the best a man could be, and with a fantastic style setting him apart from his costumed associates. Or the Batman of Novick and Adams, who fully restored the edge that said in a world of organized crime, psychopaths and things beyond man's grasp, this visually grim, fluid, almost elegant crimefighter was something formidable enough, and adult enough to face it all. This was not the guy you wanted to underestimate. But Swan's Batman came off like your childhood friend's father who shows up at a Halloween party in an ill-fitting Batman costume and is about as true to the character as a skit on a late night comedy show. If you feel fear from Kirby's Spider-Man--i'm guessing from all you thought Spider-Man was supposed to be at his best--then that's sort where I stand with Swan's Batman. It just does not work, and in comic art, there's nothing good about being "serviceable". We've all been bothered by fill-in artists (or in this case, a wrong artist) to know that does not work.
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Post by Icctrombone on Jul 1, 2018 9:01:10 GMT -5
I don't remember Swan drawing Batman with the flexibility that the character requires. But Swan never disappointed when it came to storytelling. He's one of the Greats.
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Post by Icctrombone on Jul 1, 2018 9:03:34 GMT -5
Sorry Confessor, this is for the years of forced rabbit viewing...
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