Review: INTERNATIONAL IRON MAN #1

INTERNATIONAL IRON MAN No. 1
MARVEL COMICS – @Marvel

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

WRITER: Brian Michael Bendis
ART: Alex Maleev
COLORS: Paul Mounts
LETTERS: VC's Clayton Cowles
COVER: Mike Deodato with Frank Martin
VARIANT COVERS: Gabriele Dell'Otto; Marco D'Alfonso; Skottie Young; John Tyler Christopher
28pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (May 2016)

Rated “T+”

I did not know that a few years ago it was revealed that Tony Stark was adopted as a baby by Howard and Maria Stark (in Iron Man #17 – 2013 series).  Tony's quest to uncover his legacy is at the heart of the new Iron Man comic book series, International Iron Man.  It is written by Brian Michael Bendis; drawn by Alex Maleev; colored by Paul Mounts; and lettered by Clayton Cowles.

Who is Tony Stark, really?  International Iron Man #1 begins the quest to discover the answer to that question.  The story opens with Iron Man in Sofia Bulgaria at the “Monument to the Soviet Army.”  He has just got his butt kicked.  His mind drifts back 20 years earlier when Tony was a student at the University of Cambridge.  That is where he met Cassandra Gillespie, a mysterious young woman from an even more mysterious family that is marked for death.

I have never been a big fan of Iron Man, not the way I heart for Spider-Man (Parker and Morales), Batman (and Robin), and certain X-Men.  One Iron Man book is enough for me, and that one is currently Invincible Iron Man, which is also written by Brian Michael Bendis.  I guess this is my way of saying that I did not feel particularly moved by this first issue of International Iron Man.

Bendis and Alex Maleev are remembered for their run on Daredevil last decade, so fans of that comic book may rejoice at the chance to see if this team can do for Iron Man what it did for that book.  I wouldn't know what they did, as I have never read a single issue of the Bendis-Maleev Daredevil.

So I'm coming from a place of ignorance in some ways.  Apparently, Doctor Doom will play a part in this series, and while traveling the globe, Iron Man will discover things about the Marvel Universe that he did not know existed.  I'm kinda intrigued.  I may keep reading International Iron Man, but I won't go out of my way.  So how is that for a review?

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2016 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Review - Yoshitaka AMANO: Illustrations

YOSHITAKA AMANO: ILLUSTRATIONS
VIZ MEDIA– @VIZMedia

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

ARTIST: Yoshitaka Amano
TRANSLATION/ENGLISH ADAPTATION: Tetsuichiro Miyaki
DESIGNER: Fawn Lau
EDITOR: Leyla Aker
COVER: Yoshitaka Amano with Fawn Lau
ISBN: 978-1-4215-8957-2; paperback, (August 2016)
132pp, Color, $19.99 U.S., $22.99 CAN, £12.99 UK

Born in 1952 in Shizuoka Prefecture,Yoshitaka Amano is a Japanese artist, character designer, and illustrator.  He is a scenic designer for live theater and film and a costume designer.  Amano first came into prominence in 1967 as a 15-year-old working for Tatsunoko Production, first working on the anime adaptation of Speed Racer.  He later became the creator of such iconic and influential characters as Gatchaman (Battle of the Planets) and Honeybee Hutch, to name a few.

In the 1980s, Amano soared to fame for his work on covers and interior illustrations for books, the most famous example of such work being his cover and illustrations for author Hideyuki Kikuchi's book series, Vampire Hunter D.  In 1987, Amano began his association with the Final Fantasy video game by designing characters and visual concepts.  Some American readers may know Amano for working with author Neil Gaiman on the award-winning illustrated book, The Sandman: The Dream Hunters.

Now, VIZ Media celebrates the remarkable career of this famed artist with a new art book, Yoshitaka Amano: Illustrations.  This 8.5” x 11” softcover volume (which has an illustrated dust jacket) is an overview and survey of Amano's career.  This book includes several color illustrations from Amano's work on Final Fantasy covering a period of just over two decades.  Fans of Vampire Hunter D will delight over the eight pages of paintings, illustrations, and studies from the famed vampire media franchise.  There are also several pages of Amano's illustrations and art for other book series.

Yoshitaka Amano: Illustrations also includes the transcript of a conversation between Amano and graphic artist Akira Uno, who once worked with Amano as an art director.  There is a 10-page section featuring Amano's sketches of men and women, and also several pages of anime character designs, fine art, and other work.

I have to say that Yoshitaka Amano: Illustrations is a beautifully designed book, but it would have to be because of its subject matter.  Amano's work is so beautiful, colorful, imaginative, and just damn gorgeous; how could a book about him afford to be unpretty?  So the people who put Yoshitaka Amano: Illustrations created a colorful and color-infused book that is befitting of an incredible artist, illustrator, and designer.

I must say that I am disappointed that there are no examples of Amano's early work on Speed Racer, nor are their any examples of Amano's work with Neil Gaiman on The Sandman.  The truth is that even this beautiful volume cannot capture the enormity of a talent like Yoshitaka Amano, nor the expanse of his output.  So, yeah, Yoshitaka Amano: Illustrations is a vivid teaser of a survey and overview that will encourage you the reader to go out and look for more.  I do want more.  Once again, VIZ Media has published a fantastic, high-quality art book.

A

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2016 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Have an I Reads You Kwanzaa

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Review: Star Wars: POE DAMERON #1

POE DAMERON No. 1
MARVEL COMICS – @Marvel

[This review was originally posted on Patreon. And visit the "Star Wars Central" review page here.]

WRITER: Charles Soule; Chris Eliopoulos
ART: Phil Noto; Chris Eliopoulos
COLORS: Phil Noto; Jordie Bellaire
LETTERS: VC's Joe Caramagna; Chris Eliopoulos
COVER: Phil Noto
36pp, Color, $4.99 U.S. (June 2016)

Rated “T”

Book I: Black Squadron, Part I

We first met X-wing fighter jockey Poe Dameron, in the recent film, Star Wars: The Force Awakens.  Now, Poe returns in the new comic book miniseries, Poe Dameron.  It is written by Charles Soule; drawn and colored by Phil Noto; and lettered by Joe Caramagna.

Poe Dameron #1 (“Black Squadron,” Part I) opens 30 years after the Rebel Alliance defeated the Galactic Empire (as seen in Return of the Jedi), which was replaced by the New Republic.  However, a new military force, the First Order, is plotting to overthrow the New Republic.  To face this new threat, General Leia Organa founded the Resistance.

The First Order is also looking for Leia's brother, Luke Skywalker.  Now, General Organa has tasked the galaxy's best pilot, Poe Dameron, to find Lor San Tekka, an explorer who investigates Jedi ruins.  Tekka may know where Luke is, but finding him will put Poe and his droid, BB-8, in a place that is both strange and dangerous.

Marvel Comics is publishing about four to five Star Wars comic books every month, and for the most part, much of that output is high-quality.  I was excited to learn that Marvel would be publishing a comic book focusing on Poe Dameron, who is one of the characters of which I want to see more in future Star Wars films.  I am expecting a lot from this comic book because I hope that Charles Soule can deliver the same excitement and thrills he did in last year's five-issue miniseries, Lando, which depicted a tale of Lando Calrissian before he was a mining mogul.

Well, the first issue certainly delivers on action and intrigue.  I have to be honest:  one of the reasons I like this comic book is that it connects to The Force Awakens, taking place just before the events depicted in the film.  Soule fleshes out more of Poe's personality, and he also expands into the unknown that surrounds the world of The Force Awakens.  And I have to give artist Phil Noto credit; he has a photo-realistic touch when it comes to drawing Poe.  Here, Poe the comic book character strong resembles Oscar Isaac, the actor who portrays Poe in The Force Awakens.

As a bonus, there is an eight-page backup story starring BB-8, written and drawn by the underrated cartoonist Chris Eliopoulos, who is known for his work as a comic book letterer.  I loves me some BB-8, and I like what Eliopoulos does with the character.  Encore!

A

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2016 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

-----------------------

Review: TRUTH: Red, White & Black #2

TRUTH RED, WHITE & BLACK No. 2
MARVEL COMICS – @Marvel

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

WRITER: Robert Morales
ARTIST: Kyle Baker
LETTERS:  JG & Comicraft’s Wes
EDITOR: Axel  Alonso
EiC: Joe Quesada
32pp, Color, $3.50 U.S. (February 2003)

Rated “PG”

Part Two: The Future

I recently read two books that greatly affected me.  The first is a non-fiction book, Forgotten: The Untold Story of D-Day's Black Heroes, at Home and at War, by author Linda Hervieux.  It details the experiences of African-Americans and especially Black soldiers before, during, and after World War II.

The second book is Lovecraft Country from author Matt Ruff.  A work of historical fiction and science fiction and fantasy, Lovecraft Country is set in the early 1950s and follows two African-American families and their friends.  They are caught in the middle of a struggle for power by white men who want to use these Black people for themselves and against their rivals.

These two books have had me thinking a lot about Jim Crow America and about the lingering effects of not only the enslavement of Africans and their descendants in the United States, but also of segregation.  In a way segregation may have been worse than slavery.  It codified Black people a second class of American citizen; as a permanent social, cultural, and financial underclass; and worst of all, as a group of people who must be kept separate.

With this in mind, I decided to return to Truth: Red, White & Black, a 2003, seven-issue, comic book miniseries from Marvel Comics.  I have read the first issue about a decade ago and again two years ago.  Truth: Red, White & Black was written by Robert Morales; drawn and colored by Kyle Baker; and lettered by JG and Wes (of Comicraft).

The purpose of Truth: Red, White & Black was to do some reconstruction of the fictional history of one of Marvel’s signature characters, Captain America.  The Truth’s conceit was that the United States government first tested the “super-soldier” serum that created Captain America on black men.

In Captain America Comics #1 (cover dated: March 1941), we meet Steve Rogers, a young man who volunteered for “army service” but was refused because of his “unfit condition.”  Basically, Rogers was too frail to serve in combat in World War II.  Desperate to serve his country, Rogers agreed to be a lab rat for Professor Reinstein.  The professor administered the “super soldier” formula to Rogers.  The “strange seething liquid” worked, transforming Rogers into a strapping young buck and a supernaturally fit specimen of red-blooded American male, a white male, that is.  Rogers eventually donned a flag-based costume and became Captain America.

Truth writer Robert Morales flipped the script on Captain America’s origin, and referenced a real-world situation, the infamous “Tuskegee experiment,” in which Black men were used as lab rats.  “The Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male” was a real-life clinical study in which poor Black men were denied treatment for syphilis so that the doctors involved could study how the disease spreads through the human body and eventually kills the infected person.

Morales posed an intriguing question on Marvel Comics mythology,  What if the United States government thought that the “Super Soldier” serum was potentially dangerous and perhaps fatal, so before testing it on a White man (Rogers), the government tested it on Black soldiers?  Obviously, it is hard to imagine that even a fictional version of the U.S. government and military, especially in the 1930s and 40s, would risk creating a platoon of super Negroes.  Still, this is just speculative fiction, so why not be imaginative...

Truth: Red, White & Black opens in mid-1940 and introduces a small core of Black soldiers and their family and friends.  There is a young Negro couple, Isaiah and Faith Bradley, on honeymoon.  Maurice Canfield, a Black communist, is the son of well-to-do Negroes in Philadelphia.  He is a labor organizer, and his protests against the U.S.'s entry into World War II ends up getting him forced into the military (with the other choice being a lengthy prison sentence).  Finally, the story moves to June 1941, where we meet Luke Evans, a former Army captain. He has been demoted to sergeant after shoving a white superior who belittled the life of a black soldier killed by White/cracker cops.

Truth: Red, White & Black #2 (“The Future”) opens in May 1942 at Camp Cathcart, Mississippi, a U.S. Army training facility.  Sgt. Evans, who has plenty of experience in the ways of the “White man's army,” roughly and firmly guides the young Black man in his unit through the harsh realities of military service.  Isaiah Bradley shares some good news with his fellow new privates.  Maurice Canfield continues to rub White men the wrong way.

Meanwhile, Washington attaché, Homer Tully, and German psychiatrist and surgeon, Dr. Josef Reinstein, have arrived at Camp Cathcart, in need for an experimental Army project.  Unbeknownst to the Black men of the camp, dark doings are going on in camp headquarters that will cost many men, Black and White, dearly.

The first time I read  Truth: Red, White & Black #1, I enjoyed it, but found it a little underwhelming.  I found Kyle Baker's art to be a little too... informal and cutesy.  In the second reading, I focused more on the story that Morales told, trying to understand both the characters' personalities and the world in which they lived.  When the reader understands the context of these characters' lives, Truth becomes quite powerful.

Kyle Baker's art and graphical storytelling also takes on a stronger quality.  It becomes a blunt instrument, delivering the Jim Crow world of 1940s America because that is the story's mission.  I see it now.  Baker's graphic and artistic style has less to do with traditional comic book art and storytelling and more to do with the confrontational and scathing style of America's great newspaper and magazine political cartoonists.

That's the truth.  After two issues, it seems to me that Morales and Baker are subversively using the ruse of telling a story set in Marvel Comics' fictional universe to chronicle some truths about American history.  This is especially in regards to the deplorable treatment of Black folk in the land of freedom.  That is also the truth.

A+

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2016 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

---------------------

DC Comics from Diamond Distributors for December 21, 2016

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Dark Horse Comics from Diamond Distributors for December 21, 2016

DARK HORSE COMICS

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Review: THE FLAME BEARER

THE FLAME BEARER
HARPERCOLLINS – @HarperCollins

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

AUTHOR: Bernard Cornwell
ISBN: 978-0-06-225078-0; hardcover (November 29, 2016)
304pp, B&W, $27.99 U.S.

The Flame Bearer is a 2016 historical novel from Bernard Cornwell, a bestselling British author of historical novels.  This is the tenth book in Cornwell’s “Saxon Tales” series, his epic story of the making of England and his continuing story of Saxon warlord, Uhtred of Bebbanburg.  “The Saxon Tales” series is also known as “The Last Kingdom” series (named for the first novel in the series).  The Last Kingdom has been adapted into a television series.

The Flame Bearer finds Uhtred ruminating.  From the day it was stolen from him by his late uncle, Uhtred has dreamed of recapturing his family's fortress, Bebbanburg.  The great fort was built on a rock that was almost an island, a place conquered by Uhtred's legendary ancestor, “The Flame Bearer.”  It is massive and practically unconquerable because it can only be approached on land by a single narrow track and any way that it can be approached by sea can be observed and defended.  Bebbanburg is his, and Uhtred plans to take it from its current lord, his cousin.

However, Britain remains in a state of unease.  Sigtryggr is the Viking lord (and Uhtred's son-in-law) who rules Northumbria, the land north of the Saxon lands.  He has agreed to a truce with the Saxon Queen Aethelflaed of Mercia, the land that borders Northumbria.  New enemies, however, are making their play.  King Constantin of Scotland sees an opportunity to seize new land to the south.  Meanwhile, an old enemy among the Saxon heirarchy makes a move to take from Uhtred what is his.  Now, Uhtred must stop a war that could be a disaster for both the Saxons and Vikings and also outwit all those who plot against his claim on Bebbanburg.

Bernard Cornwell's novels have earned praise from many circles.  George R.R. Martin, the author of A Song of Fire and Ice (the inspiration for HBO's “Game of Thrones”), says that Cornwell writes the best battles scenes he has ever read.  USA Today has declared Cornwell “the reigning king of historical fiction.”

The Flame Bearer is only the fifth Bernard Cornwell novel that I have read, and only the fourth of the ten “Saxon Tales,” books.  I intend to play catch up because Cornwell's novels are a joy to read.  He is not just the “king of historical fiction.”  In the realm of this venerable genre, Cornwell is the “king of kings.”  If you like historical fiction and have not read Cornwell, life has robbed you.

In the previous novel, Warriors of the Storm, Cornwell presents Uhtred as a man in flux; in subtle ways, he was changing.  The Flame Bearer gives us Uhtred, a man and a warrior with a singular vision.  He's getting Bebbanburg the fuck back.  For all the vividly drawn characters, colorful locales, and sharp humor, The Flame Bearer is about its resolution, the bloody battle that will either return a domain to a lord or be the end of him.  A skilled writer and engaging storyteller, Bernard Cornwell makes you chase Uhtred and his warriors towards that exhilarating finale.

A

www.bernardcornwell.net

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


The text is copyright © 2016 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

---------------------

Review: BLACK WIDOW #1

BLACK WIDOW No. 1 (2016)
MARVEL COMICS – @Marvel

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

WRITERS: Chris Samnee and Mark Waid
ART: Chris Samnee
COLORS: Matthew Wilson
LETTERS: VC's Joe Caramagna
COVER: Chris Samnee with Matthew Wilson
VARIANT COVERS: John Tyler Christopher; Stephanie Hans; Tula Lotay; Phil Noto; Kevin Wada; Skottie Young
28pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (May 2016)

Rated “T+”

Black Widow is a Marvel Comics female superhero.  She was created by editor-plotter Stan Lee, scripter Don Rico, and artist Don Heck and first appeared in Tales of Suspense No. 52 (cover dated: April 1964).  When she was first introduced, Black Widow was Natasha Romanova, a Russian spy who did not wear a superhero costume.  She was an antagonist of Iron Man, but later defected to the United States, where she became an agent of the spy agency S.H.I.E.L.D., and a member of the Avengers, becoming, of course, a superhero.

The All-New, All-Different Marvel presents a new comic book featuring Ms. Romanova, entitled (of course), Black Widow.  The series is written by Chris Samnee and Mark Waid; drawn by Samnee; colored by Matthew Wilson; and lettered by Joe Caramagna.

Black Widow #1 opens with the title character fighting her way through an office section of the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier.  Black Widow has gone rogue and is fighting former colleagues.  She is now S.H.I.E.L.D. public enemy #1.  Why?

I have never read a single issue of Mark Waid and Chris Samnee's Eisner Award-winning run on Daredevil, but I keep planning on doing so.  I did read their thrilling IDW Publishing miniseries, The Rocketeer: Cargo of Doom, which I quite enjoyed (Encore! Encore!).

I'm curious about Black Widow because I am a fan of actress Scarlett Johanson's portrayal of the character in several Marvel Studio films.  So now I'm all like, let's read some Black Widow comics.  Well, this new Black Widow #1 is comprised of a long action sequence.  It is neither imaginative nor thrilling.  At the end of the book, Waid, Samnee, and editor Jake Thomas swear that we are in for something really good.  Just wait until the next issue... or the one after that... or the one after that...  [Just wait for the trade!]

This first issue is but a taste... OK.  So I'll give Black Widow #1 a grade of “B-” with the hope of a better grade on layaway.

B-

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2016 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Review: TALES OF THE BATMAN:Carmine Infantino

TALES OF THE BATMAN: CARMINE INFANTINO
DC COMICS – @DCComics

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

WRITERS: Gardner Fox, John Broome, Cary Bates, Gerry Conway, Don Kraar, Mike Barr, Geoff Johns
FEATURED ARTIST: Carmine Infantino
INKERS: Joe Giella, Murphy Anderson, Sid Greene, Bob Smith, Steve Mitchell, Mike DeCarlo, Sal Trapani, Mike Esposito, Neal Adams
COVER: Carmine Infantino and Murphy Anderson
ADDITIONAL ART: Jim Aparo, Adam Hughes, Bob Kane, Gil Kane, Charles Paris
ISBN:  978-1-4012-4755-3; hardcover (June 3, 2014)
520pp, Color, $49.99 U.S., $58.00 CAN

Batman created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger

Carmine Infantino (1925 – 2013) was an American comic book creator who worked as an artist and as an editor.  He began working in comic books in 1942 and was best known for his association with DC Comics, where he was a comic book cover artist, interior story artist, character designer, and editor.

Infantino was a major force during what is known as the “Silver Age” of American comics book.  In 1956, Infantino joined writer Robert Kanigher in DC Comics' first attempt at reviving a superhero from the “Golden Age” of comic books.  Kanigher and Infantino created an updated version of The Flash that would appear in Showcase #4 (cover dated: October 1956).  Infantino designed the Flash's now-classic red uniform with yellow detail and fashioned a new visual language to depict the Flash's speed, with both vertical and horizontal motion lines to make the Flash's figure a red and yellow blur.

In 1964, Infantino began his second DC Comics reclamation protect, when he was tasked with reviving the faded Batman line of comic book titles.  Infantino and writer John Broome introduced the “New Look” Batman and Robin in Detective Comics #327 (cover dated: May 1964).  Broome and Infantino abandoned the sillier aspects and fanciful characters that had crept into the Batman comics over the better part of two decades (such as Bat-Mite in 1959).

Under the guiding hand of this new creative team, the Adventures of Batman and Robin in both Batman and in Detective Comics took a detective-oriented direction.  Infantino's art for the “New Look” Batman and Robin was slick and streamlined.  He went away from drawing Batman in a style that was some variation of the art of Bob Kane, Batman's creator.  For the better part of three decades, most artists took their cue from Kane when drawing Batman comic books and newspaper comic strips, even if they already had their own distinctive style.

Carmine Infantino is the artist who visually and graphically and in terms of storytelling modernized Batman comic books.  From 1964 to 1968, Infantino was the lead comic book artist for DC Comics' flagship Batman titles.  Even when Infantino did not draw the interior art for Batman or Detective Comics, he usually provided the pencil art for the covers.

Infantino's work on the Batman titles over the four year period, from Detective Comics #327 to the cover of Batman #199 (cover dated: February 1968), for which he only provided the cover pencils, is collected in the hardcover comics collection, Tales of the Batman: Carmine Infantino.  Originally released in 2014, this full-cover archival collection also reprints Infantino's 1980s Batman work in Detective Comics #500 (cover dated: March 1981) and in The Brave and the Bold (issues 172, 183, 190, and 194 – 1982 to 1983).  There is also a story from DC Comics Presents: Batman #1 (cover dated: September 2004).

When I opened this book and saw the first page of Detective Comics #327, I was immediately struck by how different it looks.  Even 50+ years later, Infantino's art stands out as unique.  I have seen enough of the Batman comics that came before it to say this issue of Detective Comics represented a sort of evolutionary leap for Batman comic books.  In fact, in something unusual for comic books, Detective Comics seems new and “now.”  For a time, the relatively long lead time needed to produce comic books made them seem behind current events.  This comic book matched the looks, styles, designs, and visuals of the time, with some of the art resembling the design style known as “mid-century modern”.

Infantino made the world of Batman hip, modern, and urbane.  There is a James Bond quality to the graphical storytelling.  John Broome introduces adversaries for the Dynamic Duo that range from spectacular, colorfully costumed supervillains to conniving ordinary hoods.  Every one of them has fashioned some ingenious plan, wacky conspiracy, or over-thought murder plot that involves twists and turns and even secret agent-type gadgets.  Infantino's slick compositions and sleek draftsmanship make the entirety of a story seem more cool and stylish even when it ought to look like what it is – silly.

Infantino's “new look” Batman apparently inspired the mid to late 1960s, ABC television series, “Batman,” which starred Adam West as Batman and Burt Ward as Robin.  I also see the influence of Carmine Infantino's art on the Batman comic book artists that would follow him; Jim Aparo and Don Newton are two that come to mind.

If I had to offer specific reasons why you should buy this pricey book, I could name a few.  Well, this book reprints the first appearance of Barbara Gordon as Batgirl in the story, “The Million Dollar Debut of Batgirl!,” from Detective Comics #359 (cover dated: January 1967).  The book also reprints Infantino's Batman and Detective Comics covers.  Through his compositions for these covers, Infantino proves to be a master of motion, and these covers pulse with energy.  Sometimes, the entire cover illustration seems as if it wants to leap off the page because two dimensions cannot contain its vigor.

So, yeah, Batman fans, buy Tales of the Batman: Carmine Infantino.

A+

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2016 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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