Monday, October 30, 2006

Ooh, Barnabas Collins is going to mess Batman up now.


From Detective Comics #455, "Heart of a Vampire!" Story by Elliot S! Maggin, art by Mike Grell.

You can't really tell, but when Batman stakes him, the whole set wobbles...a very Dark Shadows-looking vampire attacks Batman and Alfred this issue. In my opinion anyway, the likeness is pretty striking; especially considering that in 1976, you couldn't just pull a picture off the internet and lightbox it. No, you had to actually find a picture, then lightbox it...actually, I don't think Grell copied or traced anything of actor Jonathan Frid, and the show ran 1966 to 1971. Maybe it's just me.

Two cool things in this story: Batman's previous battles with vampires, dating back to some of his earliest appearances, were considered in continuity here, as Bats wasn't taken aback or unprepared for vampire attack. Also, Bruce Wayne makes an almost Renfield-like transformation, rearing back into the shadows, only to emerge as Batman. Not something he would usually do, but vampire attack is a special circumstance.

Blog@Newsarama just did a piece with the cover for this issue, and a lot of other good covers to boot, so check it out.

1 comment:

SallyP said...

Wait a minute...Bats couldn't find his heart? I thought he was supposed to be efficient and stuff?