Comic Art Visual & Performing Arts Essay Research Paper

Comic Art
Name
Institution
Comic Art
Identification and Publication History
The Batman comic strip is a Super Hero series that largely deals with fighting crime. Originally, the series appeared in 1939 in one issue in Detective Comics. Later on, the story was adapted into a comic book series, a movie series and a TV series. After the Superman series came to an end, there was a need for a new superhero. Due to this need, it led to the creation of Batman by Bob Kane and Bill Finger in the year 1933. Bill Finger’s birth date was 8th February 1914 while Bob’s was 24th October 1915. They died in January 1974 and November 1998 respectively. Since childhood, Bill loved comics and this passion grew even when in high school. Coincidentally Bob and Bill attended the same high school even though in different classes. Later on they met at a time Bill was selling shoes and began working on many different comics. When the news came up of Detective Comics needing a new superhero, Bob told Bill about the idea of naming the new character Batman and they worked on making Batman different from Superman. The authors Walter B. Gibson and William Messner-Loebs helped in the creation of later series of the comic. The first publication of the comic was as a daily strip and a Sunday strip starting from 1943 to 1946. Walter B. Gibson wrote the second series in 1953 and that was run only on Sundays. The third strip was ghostwritten and for the first three years ran on Sunday and thereafter ran daily. Between 1989 and 1991 the Batman strip was revived and it was published daily and Sunday throughout this period. To this end, the Batman comic has remained a monthly publication with the main characters being Batman and the Batman Family.
The writing credits for this series also go to Messner-Loebs while John Nyberg and Carmine Infantino did the drawing. Messner-Loebs, otherwise known as Bill Messner-Loebs or simply as Bill Loebs, is a renowned writer and comics artist of American origin. Aside from this, he is also a cartoonist, a penciller, and an inker who uses his left hand since his right one was amputated in infancy. At the onset of his career, he worked for the Power Comics Company where he worked on Noble Comics such as Justice Machine. Apart from Batman, he is also known for other great works such as Thor, and two other superhero series, The Flash Journey: The Adventures of Wolverine MacAlistaire, and Wonder Woman. Carmine Michael Infantino on the other hand was also a great comic artist, an editor, a publisher and a penciller who was known particularly for DC Comics. His work during his active years in the 1950’s and 1960’s included character creations like in the Flash, the Elongated Man and the Human Target. Apart from the Flash, his other notable works are Showcase, Detective Comics, and Star Wars in which he performed different roles as an editor, publisher and a penciller. However, it is worth noting that other talented artists also contributed to the creation of this comic strip. For instance other writers of this series are Bill Finger, Don Cameron, Scott Snyder and Tom King just to mention a few. Pencillers include Bob Kane, Jerry Robinson, Bob Brown, Gred Capullo, and David Finch among many others. Inkers are Charles Paris, Joe Giella, Jonathan Glapion and Danny Miki. Lastly, colorists such as Adrienne Roy, FCO Plascencia, Jordie Bellaire and June Chung also played a role in creating the series.
Formal or Iconographic History
Batman comic strips have the elements and style of any typical superhero comic. These are the use of characters, dialogue and pictures. The juxtaposition of the pictures in a sequence that is rather deliberate enables a viewer to understand whatever the author wishes to pass across without necessarily having to read the words. There is also the use of panels whereby there is division into multiple boxes or frames. These achieve the purpose of giving a sense of the time of the described events. Speech bubbles are also evident in the below Batman comic strip and it is commonly used to show the thoughts of the individual characters. Just like in other comic strips, Batman series has gutters or gaps in between the different frames. Ideally, this space is intentionally left to allow the reader to make guesses on what action could be taking place in between the boxes or frames.
Aside from this, Batman comic strip uses a lot of symbolism in telling its story. For instance, the main character Batman is seen in most cases trying to stop crime by defeating the villains. Even though we get this interpretation on the surface, the real case is much deeper. As seen in The Killing Joke comic, it is quite evident that Batman is actually trying to save villains such as the Joker for he knows that they too suffer from the same conditions as his. From the conversation between Batman and The Joker, there is no doubt that both have suffered from mental problems as a result of various life encounters and thus they are in a battle to try and deal with those issues. Overall, Batman symbolizes justice. Another important symbol is the Batarang that Batman often walks around with throughout his night watch. Evidently, he is able to change the weapon according to his moods, which therefore symbolizes the growth that Batman has undergone throughout his life. The mask worn by the superhero has also a symbolic meaning to it in that it tells a tale of a man determined to put on a brave face despite all the bad experiences in the past.
In terms of the viewpoint, the narrative uses the third person in telling the story. The other most obvious element is the use of masks for its heroes. The character Batman is never without a suit especially when he is out on his mission to defend the city. By using this, the comic follows in the footsteps of many others in the same genre. Another element is the use of split identities as seen in the depiction of Batman. Keeping true to its name, the Batman story is told in form of comic strips in magazines and newspapers whereby the story is told in form of drawings in boxes. In the comic strips, it easy to notice the visuals involved in drawing the Batman’s Suit. Evidently, combination of camouflage and high-tech were used in making it appear like the beautiful suit of armor that it is. Generally, the body armor is slash-resistant and is usually worn with a headpiece. During the encounter with The Joker in The Dark Knight, it is possible to observe that the armor was made of Kevlar plates given that it withstood the brutal attack from the joker. Batman’s headpiece is able to move, which makes sense since this ability makes it easier for him to deal with enemies like the Joker who need to be handled carefully.
Regarding the colors, the most obvious to notice first is that of Batman’s suit. Usually, it is depicted as consisting of a grey body suit, the chest has a partly black part that is made in the form of a black bat, while the rest consists of accessories that are blue-black in color. The cape is made of scallops and is wide whereas fin-like projections define the hand gloves. The cowl on his head gives an impression of a bat particularly with its ear-like projections. Bruce Wayne, who plays the role of Batman, chose to use this body suit as a means of scaring off criminals, as it would help him hide his identity. The choice to go for the bat-suit was due to his belief that, “criminals...