Rainblo-Batman Custom Comic, "Batman-Born on the Fourth of July, pg 16(18)

This is Day 15 of my serialized blog about the Rainblo-Batman Custom Comic entitled “Batman: Born on the Fourth of July”, which I pencilled in the spring of 1994. Each day’s post will include the plot outline, the finished script (when I have it), my roughs, and my pencils. I can’t include images of the pages-as-published as I didn’t receive and have never seen them . If anyone reading this has a copy of the published work, please contact me. If you give or sell me a copy, or send me scans of the published or finished artwork, I will incorporate them into future blog posts. 

Today I’m discussing page 16  (printed as page 18 in the comic book, I’m assuming).

My page numbering is screwed up because the editor, Daryl Edelman, insisted on inserting two pages in between what would have been pages 7 and 8. These pages were featured in  last Wednesday’s post.

I was annoyed that the script writers, Brian Augustyn and Mark Waid, ignored my roughs and fave the Mime Henchman (or “GOON” in the script) dialogue. This struck me as completely unnecessary; I had intentionally staged and posed the mime characters so that they would work without dialogue. Since this is a first draft, I remain hopeful that the editor, Daryl Edelman, thought better and excised the mime dialogue.

Rainblo-Batman Custom Comic, "Batman-Born on the Fourth of July, pg 15(17)

This is Day 14 of my serialized blog about the Rainblo-Batman Custom Comic entitled “Batman: Born on the Fourth of July”, which I pencilled in the spring of 1994. Each day’s post will include the plot outline, the finished script (when I have it), my roughs, and my pencils. I can’t include images of the pages-as-published as I didn’t receive and have never seen them . If anyone reading this has a copy of the published work, please contact me. If you give or sell me a copy, or send me scans of the published or finished artwork, I will incorporate them into future blog posts. 

Today I’m discussing page 15  (printed as page 17 in the comic book, I’m assuming).

My page numbering is screwed up because the editor, Daryl Edelman, insisted on inserting two pages in between what would have been pages 7 and 8. These pages were featured in  last Wednesday’s post.

My research and reconnoissance at the Statue of Liberty really paid off in this sequence. I visited the monument back in May of ’92, back when tourists were allowed to climb up into the crown. I don’t know if they still can or not. I’m pretty sure the torch is off limits. I think it was back in ’92 as well, as I’m sure I would have gone to it. I was able to climb steps with impunity in those days.

Rainblo-Batman Custom Comic, "Batman-Born on the Fourth of July, pg 14(16)

This is Day 13 of my serialized blog about the Rainblo-Batman Custom Comic entitled “Batman: Born on the Fourth of July”, which I pencilled in the spring of 1994. Each day’s post will include the plot outline, the finished script (when I have it), my roughs, and my pencils. I can’t include images of the pages-as-published as I didn’t receive and have never seen them . If anyone reading this has a copy of the published work, please contact me. If you give or sell me a copy, or send me scans of the published or finished artwork, I will incorporate them into future blog posts. 

Today I’m discussing page 14  (printed as page 16 in the comic book, I’m assuming).

My page numbering is screwed up because the editor, Daryl Edelman, insisted on inserting two pages in between what would have been pages 7 and 8. These pages were featured in lastWednesday’s post.

This is where things get fun. The remainder of the story is located in and around the Statue of Liberty. Fortunately, I had shot several rolls of film on Liberty Island while visiting NYC after the 1993 March On Washington, and so had adequate reference.

We are also introduced to Mr. Roger Robertson and his Computer Scouts as they tour the Statue of Liberty. The monument is also being infiltrated by Catwoman’s henchmen, still masquerading as children.

Rainblo-Batman Custom Comic, "Batman-Born on the Fourth of July, pg 11, 12 & 13

This is Day 12 of my serialized blog about the Rainblo-Batman Custom Comic entitled “Batman: Born on the Fourth of July”, which I pencilled in the spring of 1994. Each day’s post will include the plot outline, the finished script (when I have it), my roughs, and my pencils. I can’t include images of the pages-as-published as I didn’t receive and have never seen them . If anyone reading this has a copy of the published work, please contact me. If you give or sell me a copy, or send me scans of the published or finished artwork, I will incorporate them into future blog posts. 

Today I’m discussing pages 11 through 13 (printed as 13 through 15 in the comic book, I’m assuming).

My page numbering is screwed up because the editor, Daryl Edelman, insisted on inserting two pages in between what would have been pages 7 and 8. These pages were featured in Wednesday’s post.

Here we have three pages of exposition, establishing the main problem Batman will have to spend the remainder of the comic solving: Catwoman and Riddler demand the release of the Joker, and that they intend to hold the Statue of Liberty hostage of the Fourth of July. Riddler, being the Riddler, throws in a clue (a six digit number that looks like a date with hash marks). The sequence ends with a full page of various government functionaries venting about the tense predicament.

On one hand, I was grateful to have 3 easy pages; on the other it’s quite a trick to make this sort of thing interesting. 

I had fun with page 13/15. I got to do caricatures of Rudy Giuliani, Mario Cuomo and Bill Clinton. I also got to play around with “eye-read” (i.e., the Western left-to-right, top-to-bottom) manner of scanning the printed page, as opposed to the Eastern right-to-left) in organizing the page composition.  Figures, poses and word balloons were contrived to create a zig-zag  pattern: from the uppermost left TV set, being turned off by Commissioner Gordon, right to Batman, then left-right-left-right-left across each ensuing character, advancing gradually in depth from long-shot into close-up on the French Ambassador, having a melt-down in the lower-most right.

I am somewhat embarrassed by my depiction of the French Ambassador, but this was the best I could do in those halcyon early ’90’s yeas before I had a computer or any concept of on-line search. Given the paucity of easily obtainable reference, I opted for stereotyped caricature. My apology for any offense.

Rainblo-Batman Custom Comic, "Batman-Born on the Fourth of July, pg 10 (12)

This is Day 11 of my serialized blog about the Rainblo-Batman Custom Comic entitled “Batman: Born on the Fourth of July”, which I pencilled in the spring of 1994. Each day’s post will include the plot outline, the finished script (when I have it), my roughs, and my pencils. I can’t include images of the pages-as-published as I didn’t receive and have never seen them . If anyone reading this has a copy of the published work, please contact me. If you give or sell me a copy, or send me scans of the published or finished artwork, I will incorporate them into future blog posts. 

My page numbering is screwed up because the editor, Daryl Edelman, insisted on inserting two pages in between what would have been pages 7 and 8. These pages were featured in Wednesday’s post.

As you can read from the posted plot outline, “Batman crashes their party but he’s heavily out-numbered. Following a really good fight, he decides to inform Commissioner Gordon.” is all I had to work with. Basically, I had to contrive two pages of fight scene that ending with Batman not catching the crooks, giving all the actors a little bit of play. On one hand, I sort of resent having to basically write the damn thing myself; on the other hand, I got to write it myself.

Rainblo-Batman Custom Comic, "Batman-Born on the Fourth of July, pg 9-1(11)

This is Day 10 of my serialized blog about the Rainblo-Batman Custom Comic entitled “Batman: Born on the Fourth of July”, which I pencilled in the spring of 1994. Each day’s post will include the plot outline, the finished script (when I have it), my roughs, and my pencils. I can’t include images of the pages-as-published as I didn’t receive and have never seen them . If anyone reading this has a copy of the published work, please contact me. If you give or sell me a copy, or send me scans of the published or finished artwork, I will incorporate them into future blog posts.

Today I will feature page 9-1 (11).

My page numbering is screwed up because the editor, Daryl Edelman, insisted on inserting two pages in between what would have been pages 7 and 8. These pages were featured in Wednesday’s post.

We get our first good look at the Riddler’s henchmen, criminal mimes, on this page. I tried to make them work as silhouettes in case the finish pencil/inker, whomever he might have been, read my mind and inked them totally black. I probably should have filled them in, but I was under a serious deadline crunch, having less than a month to draw 32 pages.

Rainblo-Batman Custom Comic, "Batman-Born on the Fourth of July, pg 9 (10)

This is Day 9 of my serialized blog about the Rainblo-Batman Custom Comic entitled “Batman: Born on the Fourth of July”, which I pencilled in the spring of 1994. Each day’s post will include the plot outline, the finished script (when I have it), my roughs, and my pencils. I can’t include images of the pages-as-published as I didn’t receive and have never seen them . If anyone reading this has a copy of the published work, please contact me. If you give or sell me a copy, or send me scans of the published or finished artwork, I will incorporate them into future blog posts.

Today I will feature page 9 (10).

My page numbering is screwed up because the editor, Daryl Edelman, insisted on inserting two pages in between what would have been pages 7 and 8. These pages were featured in yesterday’s post.

On this page we get to the meat of the plot: Catwoman and Riddler intend to hold the Statue of Liberty hostage on the Fourth of July to force the release of the Joker.

Both Catwoman and Riddler have their own gangs in tow; CW’s was the dwarf/midget/little-men baseball team, but Riddler’s was unspecified by the plot. Daryl didn’t have any suggestions, so I came up with the posse of criminal mimes all on my own. I thought it was a fantastic idea, but was disappointed in reading the script that the writers (Brian Augustyn and Mark Waid) had dialogue coming out of their mouths. This stuck me as antithetical to the whole point of them being mimes. On the other hand, the dialogue script Daryl sent me was a first draft, so maybe the mime dialogue was excised in the printed comic. 

Rainblo-Batman Custom Comic, "Batman-Born on the Fourth of July, pgs 8 & 8-1

This is Day 8 of my serialized blog about the Rainblo-Batman Custom Comic entitled “Batman: Born on the Fourth of July”, which I pencilled in the spring of 1994. Each day’s post will include the plot outline, the finished script (when I have it), my roughs, and my pencils. I can’t include images of the pages-as-published as I didn’t receive and have never seen them . If anyone reading this has a copy of the published work, please contact me. If you give or sell me a copy, or send me scans of the published or finished artwork, I will incorporate them into future blog posts.

I don’t have plot or finished script for page 8 or 8-1. I vaguely remember the editor, Daryl Edelman, talking me through the plot beats that were necessary to accommodate the “custom” nature of this comic: the only way to own this comic was to send 7 Rainblo Bubble Gum wrappers and $7.95 to Rainblo Bubble Gum, for which the lucky buyer would get this comic book with his or her name and date of birth printed as the clue to the  Riddler’s diabolical plot which he gets the idea for on pages 8 and 8-1. “Bobby Jones” is Daryl and my place saver for the name of purchaser of the comic book. This is why I don’t have a copy; Daryl couldn’t comp me and I couldn’t get it together to buy 7 pieces of bubble gum and send in the wrappers.

I wanted to post a scan of the advertisement for “Batman-Born on the Fourth of July, but couldn’t find it in my collection. This is probably because I wasn’t buying DC superhero comics during this period; only Vertigo books, which, apparently, did’t carry the ad. 

By the way, I'm somewhat proud of these two pages, which, hopefully, were printed as as spread. The first panel of Page 8 and the last panel of 8-1 are horizontal panels taking up the width of the page. In page 8, panel 1, we start medium c.u. on a yelling kid and "pan" across using the normal western eye-read of left to right  to take the reader from close up to distant, across a group of kids covering their eyes,as in a game of hide and seek.. In panel 2 of page 8, the "pan" continues (only now the kids have uncovered their eyes and are in the "seek" part of the game), ending on the distant figure of the Riddler, lost in thought. Thus introduced, the remainder of the two page spread focuses on the Riddler as the idea for his diabolical plan dawns and solidifies. Satisfied, he exits in Page 8-1, panel 6, a reversal of the initial introductory “pan”, from The Riddler’s distant figure to a yelling child in the foreground, panel right.

Wallace Morgan, "Grand March"

This is my latest acquisition, won at Heritage Auctions. Hammer price was $110.00.

"Wallace Morgan (1875 – April 24, 1948)^[1] was a war artist for the United States Army during World War I."

Biography[edit]

"Morgan was born in 1875 and he grew up in Albany, New York where his family had moved shortly after his birth. Upon graduation from high school he returned to his birthplace, New York City, to pursue a career in art. He studied at the National Academy of Design while working at the New York Sun as a part-time artist.

In 1898 he joined the staff of the New York Herald and became a full-time newspaper artist covering whatever assignments came his way, including a 1902 trip to Martinique to cover the eruptions of Mt. Pele. During this period he developed the ability to render a faithful picture of nature with little need for preliminary sketches, an essential skill for a newspaper illustrator who had to convey to readers the image of an event quickly and accurately.

After eleven years with the Herald he opened his own studio. Shortly thereafter Collier's commissioned him and Julian Bondto tour the United States and report their findings in words and pictures. Two trips across the country each produced a book that presented a light view of life in America. World War I and Morgan's selection as an AEF artist brought an early end to a third trip. Morgan put his ability to sketch quickly to good use during the war. His work projects an air of activity and movement into scenes of combat. A number of his pictures also reflect his apparent interest in the many columns of troops, animals, and equipment that moved ceaselessly across the battlefields of France. After the war Morgan returned to work in his studio in New York City.

Morgan was president of the Society of Illustrators from 1929 to 1936. He died at home of a heart attack on April 24, 1948. He was survived by his sister Elizabeth G. Morgan, same address.^[1]"

(Quoted from Wikipedia, of which I am a proud supporter.)

I find Wallace Morgan's work daunting. I envy his ability to be loose and spontaneous without being crude or sloppy, something I struggle with in my finished work (I don't have that problem with my sketches.) I am now on the lookout for his two travelogues, done in collaboration with Julian Bondto.

Rainblo-Batman Custom Comic, "Batman/ Born on the Fourth of July", pg 5

This is Day 5 of my serialized blog about the Rainblo-Batman Custom Comic entitled “Batman: Born on the Fourth of July”, which I pencilled in the spring of 1994. Each day’s post will include the plot outline, the finished script (when I have it), my roughs, and my pencils. I can’t include images of the pages-as-published as I didn’t receive and have never seen them; I’m not certain if it was ever actually published, since I can find no trace of it anywhere on the internet. If anyone reading this has a copy of the published work, please contact me. If you give or sell me a copy, or send me scans of the published or finished artwork, I will incorporate them into future blog posts.

Today I am posting about Page 5.

Harvey Kurtzman is one of my primary influences, more for his early war, science fiction and horror stories than his later Mad and Little Annie Fannie humor work, This is most evidenced in my roughs, though I never made a conscious attempt to emulate his work other than looking at it and admiring it. It’s more that I was on his wavelength. Upon reflection, I wasn’t so much influenced by him as validated by him. Seeing  his early 50’s EC work, when it was reprinted for the first time in the late 70’s, was an unexpected shock of recognition. 

I enjoy the humorous aspect of this page: Batman is attacked by little men with bats, so defends himself using a little man as a bat. I don’t recall if I came up with this on my own or it was brainstormed out between me and the editor, Daryl  Edelman

Rainblo-Batman Custom Comic, "Batman: Born on the Fourth of July", pg 4

This is Day 4 of my serialized blog about the Rainblo-Batman Custom Comic, which I pencilled in the spring of 1994. Each day’s post will include the plot outline, the finished script (when I have it), my roughs, and my pencils. I can’t include images of the pages-as-published as I didn’t receive and have never seen them; I’m not certain if it was ever actually published, since I can find no trace of it anywhere on the internet. If anyone reading this has a copy of the published work, please contact me. If you give or sell me a copy, or send me scans of the published or finished artwork, I will incorporate them into future blog posts.

Today I am posting about Page 4.

I blue-penciled Rainblo-Batman custom comic in 1994, at the time employed as a storyboard artist on “Biker Mice From Mars”. I had spent most of 1993 illustrating “The Mark in America”, a 4 issue mini-series for Dark Horse Comics. One of the supporting characters in “The Mark” was a dwarf named “Scrub”; I had based my design for him off the the little people in “Time Bandits”, who had normal sized heads and torsos with stubby arms and legs. Whereas Catworman’s gang in the Rainblo-Batman custom comic are all proportional dwarves, i.e. normally proportioned but small. This was a plot point because, later in the story, the gang is infiltrated by actual children.