The old saying “Never judge a book by its cover” doesn’t exactly work in the world of comic books. In fact the exact opposite holds true. The cover is the most important visual guide of the entire comic book. It entices you to pick it up and check out the contents within using the many elements that will grab the reader’s attention, from the characters, the situation, the story elements, the composition, the design, even the logo and colour. All of these have to work together to give readers that sense of intrigue at a moment’s glance. It also helps when the character is popular and familiar to everyone.
Batman has graced many, many covers since 1939 and he shows no signs of ever stopping. For almost 70 years, the legend of the Dark Knight’s story has captured the imagination of the readers who keep coming back for his further adventures. In this day in age, it’s easier to get advanced previews as to what stories will be taking place in a particular issue, but back in the early days of comic book storytelling, this wasn’t the case. The cover had to draw readers to pick up the comic book in hopes to suck them into the world of the fantastical.
Batman: Cover to Cover collects over 250 of the greatest Batman covers throughout the ages, roughly from a selection of over 2,000 covers printed from any Batman publication. The editors must have had a tough time and lots of debates over the selection that was chosen, and I don’t envy them of the monumental undertaking. This job would drive anyone, dare I say it, batty.
From Vigilante to Detective to Dark Knight
Batman has a great advantage to most comic book characters when it comes to drawing him. He has huge advantages as a graphic image over everyone else especially with his frightening mask, scalloped cape and bat emblem. Since he is mostly drawn in foreboding, nightly situations, dark shadows and silhouettes are quite often used to make him even more mysterious and menacing. One would assume that everything has been done to this character but the imaginations of these artists keeping proving this theory wrong time after time.
The selection of covers have been parried down and catalogued into the following chapters:
• The Dark Knight
• Fearsome Foes
• Welcome to the Fun City
• The Dynamic Duo
• Batman by Design
• Death Traps
• Guilty
• The Batman Family
• Bats
• Bizarre Batman
• Secrets of the Batcave
• A Death in the Family
• Milestones
• World’s Finest
These covers feature Batman in different situations either by himself or with other characters from 1939 to the present. The amazing thing to see is the history and evolution of this character.
He started out as a lone vigilante with a dark demeanor towards criminals. Then he lightened up a bit when he took on Robin as his partner and things started to look brighter… and also crazier with zany and off-beat stories in the 1950s and early 1960s. Then “Batmania” became to newest fad in the late 60s and it was reflected in the book. The 1970s saw a dramatic turnaround back to his darker roots and also bringing in a supernatural element as well. The mid-1980s saw the beginning of the “grim ‘n’ gritty” era and it is still continuing to this day in some form and fashion.
Throughout the years, Batman’s costume has been tweaked here and there (long ears, short ears, black costume, blue costume), but the most dramatic change was adding a yellow oval around the bat emblem in the 1960s. It finally reverted back to the basic black bat almost 40 years later.
Besides a showcase of covers, there is also plenty of commentary of personal favourites given by many comic book creators, such as Neil Gaiman, Alex Ross, Mark Waid, Jeph Loeb, Brian Bolland, Paul Levitz, Jim Lee, Jim Aparo, Neal Adams, Jerry Robinson and many more, as well as media celebrities, such as Batman Begins director Christopher Nolan, the voice of the Joker on Batman Animated Mark Hamill, and even TV’s 1960s Batman Adam West.
As a graphic designer, I also love the segments on how covers were made back in the Silver Age of comic books and how they are currently doing it now. The basics are the same but the finishing is quite different. Even more interesting is the evolution of the cover logo throughout the years and how it has reflected certain periods of time in Batman’s continued existence. The cover logo in itself serves as the bat-signal for readers to be aware that this is a Batman book.
I’m glad the editors didn’t reduce the covers down to a thumbnail so they could cram as many as they wanted to on a given page. They did the right thing by allowing full page covers to be shown or, at the most, three covers to a page. This allows the readers to really get a look at the detailing to maximum effect. And the reproduction of the colours have never looked better, especially with a finished varnish coating over each page.
Batman as an Art Form
This is a wonderful example of pop-art collected in a beautiful edition for all to see. Batman: Cover to Cover is truly for those who enjoy great artwork by their favourite artists from Bob Kane, Dick Sprang, Jim Aparo, Neal Adams, Alex Ross, Jim Lee, and a host of others. There is something for everybody. Even though over 250 covers grace this book, I know it barely scratches the surface of the many times Batman has appeared on a cover of some sorts. Without a doubt, I’m sure a second volume will be published at some point in time. In the meantime, it’s thrilling to see how much as both stayed the same and changed throughout the years; in essence, this is a history book about the character shown in pictorial form. It will be interesting to see how Batman will be interpreted in the next 70 years.
Product Details ISBN: 140120659X
Format: Hardcover, 240 pages
Pub. Date: May 2005
Publisher: DC Comics
From the Publisher: Get ready for Batman Cover to Cover a 240-page hardcover, oversized, coffee-table extravaganza spotlighting over 250 of the best B...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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