Batman Returns 25th anniversary -- what a great film!

June 19th, 2017 marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of Batman Returns (directed by Tim Burton, starring Michael Keaton, Danny DeVito and Michelle Pfeiffer). Since Batman Returns is easily one of my favorite superhero films ever, I felt it would be a missed opportunity if I didn't take a few minutes out of my day to write about it in some capacity or another.

I lived through 1989's Batmania (a direct result of the hype building around Burton's first Batman film) and was fortunate enough to have experienced it first-hand. I remember the excitement of seeing the movie at the drive-in with my dad and cousin during opening week. I remember all of the t-shirts, merchandising promos, the Taco Bell tie-ins and Diet Coke commercials. I remember seeing teens getting the Batman emblem shaved into the sides of their head. I also remember being too young (and thus having no real money to my name) and not being able to partake in any of it. [Let's not break out the violins, yet. I was actually a very spoiled child and had more G.I. Joe, Super Powers Collection and Masters of the Universe action figures and playsets than anyone else in my neighborhood. I'm sure I also owned a few Official Batman Movie t-shirts and other apparel by that point, as well.]

With the announcement of the NEW Batman film sequel launching on June 19th, 1992 I resolved that this time it was going to be DIFFERENT -- now I was eleven years old and commanded a hefty 5 dollars per week allowance to spend on whatever I pleased (within reason). This was my chance to experience Batmania's second-coming from the ground floor and to actually be an active participant. I did not waste time with this. I purchased trading cards, collected McDonlads happy meal toys, convinced my mom to buy cereals that had promo items in them, persuaded relatives to buy stuff from Zellers so I could acquire the trading cards -- let's just say, if it had anything to do with Batman Returns and was attainable through a small purchase (or even free), I was on it.

Batman Returns cereal. How bad could it possibly be?

Overlooking the fact that I got swept up in all of the Batmania hype -- how was the actual film? I was expecting to see a really entertaining sequel with two villains (instead of one), and Batman fighting a lot of people. Batman Returns delivered on both expectations. As an eleven year old boy, there's nothing you want more than to see a guy dressed up in a Batman costume kicking some bad guy ass. While 1989's Batman was very VERY good, and easily ranks as another one of my favorite films from my youth, it was also an origin story. so it meant there was a lot of build-up before you got to REALLY see Batman suit up and take action.

It's very rare that a sequel is just as good (if not better) than the first film. For me, this was a once in a lifetime opportunity to really dig into something with the full conviction that they will probably never be able to top this, so I'm going to squeeze every second of joy out of this that I can.

My mom didn't have the type of patience/stomach for these types of movies, so I'm 100% certain it would've been my dad who brought me to see this movie. Probably at a drive-in. Probably as part of a double feature. It was a little unsettling that the entire story of Batman Returns takes place in December (considering it premiered late June in North America), but hey... that was a moot point... just show me Batman fighting the Penguin.

...but this article won't be about the film (because I'm sure there are already plenty of other blogs talking about that this week), today we'll take a look at the comic book adaptation of Batman Returns.

The 1992 Batman Returns comic adaptation came in two different variants: the Prestige Format and the New Format. The Prestige Format cost $2 USD more than the New Format, had a (mostly) painted wrap-around cover and an ISBN number. Meanwhile, the New Format had an illustrated cover with an advertisement for the Batman Returns film on the back cover. Despite paying a higher price for the Prestige Format, both formats contained the same interiors and neither formats contained any ads (unless you count the subscription page on the interior back cover of the New Format edition). I'm under the impression that the New Format was the 'newsstand edition', and the Prestige Format was only available in finer comic book shops and bookstores everywhere.

Prestige Format (left) and New Format (right)

The 'movie adaptation' comic book was pretty important in its day. In the pre-internet age, unless you possessed a VHS copy of said film, you couldn't revisit scenes from your favorite action/super-hero movies without resorting to your memory, the novelization, the trading cards, specialty magazines based on the film (see: Starlog) or -- best scenario of all -- the comic book adaptation of the film.

My best friend in the whole world bought the New Format comic adaptation for me that summer -- I *think* it was a birthday gift, since my birthday falls around the end of summer. Or maybe it was a gift while I was in the hospital (I had a medical issue that summer, and had to spend a few weeks in the hospital). Nevertheless, Nick Mureta surprised me one day with the film adaptation of a movie I was already psyched about. I was actually unaware this item existed before he surprised me with it -- within seconds of laying my eyes upon it, this comic had become so sacred to me that it felt like I had just gotten my hands on a mint copy of 1963's X-Men #1. Nick always knew where to find the coolest stuff.

The comic adaptation was written by Denny O'Neil, penciled by Steve Erwin and inked by José Luis Garcia-Lopez. This was my first real exposure to Steve Erwin art (without me realizing it, yet) -- Erwin had already been illustrating Deathstroke: The Terminator and was best known as the regular penciller on 1988's Checkmate [a title I hadn't even heard of, yet]. Garcia-Lopez inked over Erwin's pencils, and it's also well known that Garcia-Lopez illustrated the official artwork for Batman Returns merchandise. If you saw a cool-looking Batman Returns t-shirt in the early 90s, there's a good chance the graphic was based on Garcia-Lopez' original artwork.

Erwin and Garcia-Lopez did a great job with this comic and the art was spot-on.

Michael Keaton/Bruce Wayne looked like he was supposed to:

As did Michelle Pfeiffer/Selina Kyle:

...even Danny DeVito/Oswald Cobblepot and Christopher Walken/Max Shreck received faithful adaptations:

Tim Burton's Gotham City was very gothic-looking and dark. And what I mean by 'dark' is that there wasn't very much natural lighting -- I can't remember too many scenes from that film that occurred during the day. To help convey this 'dark mood', the pages all had thick black borders between the panels. It worked out quite well.

page from the Batman Returns adaptation. New Format.

This comic book was integral in helping me understand the nuances of the story that I obviously missed the first several times watching the film. As an eleven year old, I just wanted to see Batman fighting thugs or using his vehicles to blow up bad guys, I didn't have time for sub-plots about political conspiracies or romantic tension. As far as I was concerned, any screen time that didn't have Batman in it (or was leading up to Batman fighting someone) was a waste of time. Naturally, my favorite scenes were the ones in which he fought the Red Triangle Circus gang:

Eleven year-old me loved this comic! Of course they didn't add *every* scene from the movie (this was only a 32-page comic, after all), but they did get the more important ones -- namely: Batman fighting circus thugs, Batman battling Catwoman, Batman's Batmobile getting hijacked, the BatSkiBoat and the big finale at the end. One scene that I can't believe they omitted was... well... notice anything different about Batman's second encounter with the Red Triangle Circus gang?

[spoiler]

Did you spot it? In the film, rather than throw the bomb into an open manhole, Batman attaches it to a rather large, brutish member of the gang and kicks him into a sewer (causing him to explode).

Considering the intended audience of this comic book, it was probably in DC's best interest not to show Batman killing a man. But still... you and I both know it happened.


There were no splash pages in this comic: every page had at least 5 panels, and some even had 10 panels or more. The creative team did a great job with the pacing and flow of the panels. Easy to follow along. Love the details in the background -- all that architecture must've been a chore to pencil and ink.

Needless to say, my Batman Returns New Format adaptation is a priceless possession in my comic collection (if for no other reason than sentimental value). Batman Returns had a really big impact on my love of comic books. I still cite it as my favorite superhero movie (even though I honestly haven't sat through a full screening of it since... I don't know... 6 years ago). I still collect Batman Returns vintage memorabilia when I can grab it on the cheap, and I find nothing more enjoyable than re-visiting the video game adaptations.

I had to re-watch parts of this movie for this write-up and, while I still see why the 'eleven year old' me loved this film, I don't seem to remember Batman delivering so many zingers. It's really not as sinister/serious as I seem to remember it to be, but it was a great movie nonetheless. 

Can't believe it's been 25 years!


-Justin

Reggie Francia interviews Steve Erwin

Comic book illustrator Steve Erwin is best known for his work on 1991's Deathstroke the Terminator v1 and 1988's Checkmate! v1 ongoing series for DC comics. You may also recognize him from the six issues of Shatter he pencilled for First Comics in 1986. Reggie Francia had the chance to chat with Erwin about his inspirations, what he would've done differently with Deathstroke and Checkmate, and potential plans DC comics had for Star Trek comics before they lost the license.

Checkmate! v1 #22 & #25: covers illustrated by Steve Erwin

Reggie Francia: You became a comic fan at a very young age. which comic book made you want to be an artist?

Steve Erwin: Hmm. I don't know that there was ONE, either a single issue or title. I enjoyed comics for years before ever thinking about wanting to draw them, or even to be an artist. My teachers and classmates were my biggest influence to be an artist, actually. In third grade or so, I started getting heaps of praise on my art projects, asked to be the lead creative person on classroom art displays, that kind of thing. So becoming an artist of some kind came first, it's something I always wanted to do.

I think it was a combination of Gene Colan/Tom Palmer's Daredevil and Neal Adams' Batman stories that won my heart in junior high to aspiring (dreaming) to be a comic book artist.

Detective Comics #408 (1971) - Neal Adams cover art

Francia: You're mostly known for your work on Deathstroke the Terminator v1 (1991) and Checkmate v1 (1988), if you had to write those books yourself did you have ideas on where you wanted the story to go? What would be volume two for those books?

Erwin: Literally speaking, back in the day, what I liked best about working on those books was that we went everywhere. Globally. We weren't stuck in any one location, like Gotham City or Metropolis. If I were to write and draw either title, that would remain the same. As far as a direction for story purposes, I don't know that I would write Deathstroke the Terminator any differently than Marv Wolfman did (just not as well). He wrote great stories and gave me a free hand with the action. As far as I'm concerned, he had the hard part of putting Slade into interesting situations to build the stories around.

Deathstroke battling around the world...

Off the cuff, Volume 2 would be Slade Wilson on the run from the DC Universe. Since I haven't read the title in a while, I don't know if this has already occurred, but it seems like a fun idea. Like a Presidential assassination (or attempt), and Deathstroke is blamed. He's forced underground to evade capture and to uncover who is actually to blame. Each issue, he confronts/evades/defeats a different DC hero. Marketing-wise, that could generate a lot of crossovers, too. I would do something like that.

For Checkmate, I would go back to the basics we started with: an off-the-record, under the radar anti-terrorist agency. Paul Kupperberg had a knack for being ahead of the curve, as it turned out. Some of our storylines have an eerie similarity to events post 9/11. And before, come to think of it; the original Twin Towers bombing in the 90's was very similar to our first story uncovering a plot to bring down Sears Tower in Chicago.

To be clear, in real life, I don't think that I would approve of an organization like Checkmate that skirts the Constitution in taking down terrorists, even though I may understand the necessity. Kind of like the Guantanamo Bay controversy of housing prisoners on foreign soil to circumvent Constitutional protections of due process. That aspect alone makes for some interesting questions to build stories around.

The TV series Person Of Interest was very Checkmate-like to me. Especially from Season 2 with the introduction of Sameen Shaw. THAT was Checkmate as I would do it now. (The character Control, played by Camryn Manheim, was the perfect personification of Amanda Waller.)


Francia: Your action sequences are awesome. It's like watching a nice action movie that you can follow the flow... like The Bourne Identity without the shaky cam. Where did you get your inspiration from? Was there a particular artist or from art school?

Steve Erwin-illustrated action sequence

Erwin: Indirectly, it was advice I learned from Jim Steranko at a seminar he taught in Dallas: 'use cinema as your visual basis in comics storytelling'. He was referring broadly, from composition to lighting to storyboarding, or the act of telling the stories visually. I watched action sequences in movies and translated those moves into static panels. Tom Sutton did action sequences in odd-shaped and off-set panels which was very effective in creating the illusion of motion. I studied what he did and tried to analyze the thinking behind it.

The most direct connection would be Frank Miller's Daredevil, especially the "ghosted" multi-figures moving through fight scene panels. Carmine Infantino did it first way back in The Flash in the 60's, but Frank Miller's action was fresher in my mind.

Carmine Infantino's Flash "ghost" multi-figures

Francia: The Dream Book that you could work on today? You did Star Trek already so that's off the table. (ha!)

Erwin: It almost happened with Star Trek at DC. Yes, I got to draw Kirk and company in the movie era and the original series era, as well as The Next Generation cast and a Deep Space Nine story. But what was to come before DC's license went away was so cool - literally The Dream Book for this Trekkie. I was going to pencil the main Star Trek title, which would alternate between original series era and movie era stories, written by science fiction writers known for their Star Trek novels. As I understand it, some stories would be adaptations of the novels. How cool would that have been?

art by Steve Erwin. source: defconprime.tumblr.com

What would my Dream Book be today? It would be truly different from anything I've done previously. It's something I've been wanting to do for ages but keep procrastinating on how to proceed. It would be an online comics telling of the story of the Texas Revolution.

I've always found it a fascinating story, and the more I read about it the more fascinating it gets. Even little things, like unusual weather patterns, that I have seen repeated over the last decade or so. My approach would be telling the story through the eyes of a group of young people caught up in the events. One of these days.


Francia: Do any of your kids show any interest in becoming an artist like you?

Erwin: Funny you should ask. My daughter is in her last year at UT Arlington as a graphic arts major. She grew up going to conventions and book signings with me, not to mention watching me draw all the time, so the influence was certainly there. She's recently taken a class assignment and turned it into a children's book, self-published on Blurb. It's a "Good Night, Moon" kind of book in feel, but written with quotes from Bob Ross and illustrated with very friendly looking monsters.

Little Book of Monsters - illustrated by Nora Erwin

Francia: Thank you for your time!

Erwin: Thank you for your interest.


*Reggie Francia had previously interviewed Steve Erwin about his work on Checkmate! v1 (1988). Check it out here.

Five Questions with Steve Erwin (co-creator and penciller of 1988’s Checkmate! ongoing series) by Reggie Francia

Thanks to Roland Reedy for permission to share!

Five Questions with Steve Erwin (co-creator and penciller of 1988’s Checkmate! ongoing series)

Reggie Francia: Who came up with the design for the suits? Was it you and Paul [Kupperberg] or John Byrne?

Steve Erwin: John Byrne designed the Knight uniforms. As the story was related to me, Paul was telling Byrne about the Checkmate concept over lunch and as they were talking, John was scribbling out visuals for the Knights. Paul left with a nice pencil sketch which I was given a photocopy of to work with later on after the title was approved. [Paul Kupperberg gave us his account of this story here. - editor]

Reggie: My very first issue was #12 where Stein went to Bongo world. I read that issue a hundred times back in ‘89 I think. I just fell in love with the story and especially your art! There where a couple of guest pencillers and till the series ended. Was it because of other commitments that you didn’t pencil the other issues?

Steve: Checkmate v1 #12: I just took a look at my stack of pages from that. Really fun to do, with all the space shuttle stuff to draw. The editor let me do a bunch of double-page spreads. FYI: I was in the middle of the issue when word came that it was going to be our “Invasion” crossover issue. I had to re-draw a few pages, rework some stuff here and there so we could make our plot elements fit. As I remember, the guest artists were brought in so that I could move ahead a few issues. I’d probably have to look at that part of the run for a refresher. It was a long time ago.

Reggie: Have you ever read the new series [Checkmate v2]?

Steve: I read the first issue of the new series. It looked really nice but I didn’t have a clue what was going on, so I didn’t go past that. It’s like it was continued from a story that started someplace else.

Reggie: Did you have any input in the stories for volume 1?

Steve: Did I have input in the first series? LOADS!! I worked with Paul [Kupperberg]  and the editor in the development stage to design most of the costumes and support characters that weren’t pre-existing. Paul wrote the series plot-style not in a script form, so when an action sequence came up he gave me the basics of what was to happen and what needed to be included, and otherwise I “choreographed” it all myself. He often asked where in the world (literally) the story should go next.

Reggie: Favorite issue?

Steve: Favorite issue? That’s hard. #11 is one of them ‘cause I played with adding characters resembling characters from TV shows. Other numbers I don’t recall offhand, but the issue set in Israel was fun to do, lots of double-page sequences. Thanks for the trip back in time!


This interview was conducted by Reggie Francia.


Reggie chatted with Steve Erwin a second time about his work on 1991's Deathstroke the Terminator v1, the 1988 Checkmate! ongoing series and his DC comics work on Star Trek. Check it out here.