Dick Sprang's Bat Suit

[Larry A.]

Ya got me Podna!!!!!! LMAO!!!!! ) I fell off my 'puter chair when I read That!!1 Great photoshop job, my Friend!!!!!! I LIKE You!!!

Cheerio!!!!!
Larry

[Chuck Williams]

Actually, Chuck, that's a Curt Swan image. But an awesome one.

I agree that except for the obligatory (by '66) yellow oval, Adam's costume most resembles the Dick Sprang version. In fact, while all other artists seemed to "agree" that Batman's cowl was attached to his cape and pulled forward over his head like a hood, Sprang always drew it as a separate piece from the cape that, when removed, retained its shape, helmet-like. I've always wondered if this inspired the costume makers on the show because, in retrospect, making a cowl look right was always one of the biggest problems for superhero films. In the serials, they never (IMO) got it right, not for Batman and not for the Phantom or Captain America, either. The inner shell solution made all the difference, and I think the inspiration was right there in Sprang's drawings.

Thanks SprangFan! I wasn't 100% sure and I appreciate you letting me know!
Swan is another fav of mine though!

I've seen a few drawings that show the removed cowl holding it's shape and wondered the same thing.

Chuck...

[SprangFan]

Yes, I could just as easily have adopted the screen name "SwanFan." Between Curt and Dick, the Silver Age World's Finest was one of my favorite comic runs of all time, and certainly served Batman better than all that Shelly Moldoff art over in his own title.

Flipping through some old comics before adding to this thread, I noticed artists went back and forth on how the cowl worked: if it was more dramatic for Batman to sweep it back off his head, hood-like, that's what they did. But if it looked cooler to leave the cape on and have the cowl come off separately, they did that. Even then, though, they couldn't settle on whether the cowl was "floppy" or helmet-like. Only Sprang seemed consistent.

It does make sense, really. I remember an issue of Superman (drawn by Swan) where Clark Kent detects a Batman imposter and reveals him by stepping on the bat-cape and making the guy's cowl pop off. I remember thinking, "what's to keep someone from doing that to the real Batman?"

Plus it just makes sense that if you have a cowl with a defined shape, it will help disguise the exact shape of the wearer's head. and every little bit helps when you're trying to preserve that secret identity.

[Batfanman]

A most dramatic moment!

[Larry A.]

You all make good points, but as a college prof told me in one course: Comic Books are a form of shorthand visual entertainment, so in this case, as in the above pic, for all we know, Bruce may well have between panels unsnapped the cowl and pulled the cowl back, giving the appearance of a hood. I may well be wrong, but it makes as much sense to me as anything else.....What say You all?
Cheers,
Larry

[Batfanman]

What I like about that panel is the cowl eyes and how they seem to mirror the shocked look on Chill's face.

[Larry A.]

By golly, it does and I had never noticed that! GREAT catch, BFM!!!! Thanks.

Larry

[Batfanman]

The other meaning I've imagined is that the cowl itself is shocked that Bruce would take it off in front of someone - lol!

[Gernot]

As far as the oval goes, how much lead time did ABC have on the show? The show began in January of '66, so most of the screen testing took place in '65, at the latest. What month of '64 did the yellow oval first appear?

[Batfanman]

It debuted in Detective Comics # 327 (May, 1964)

[SprangFan]

Actually, the oval first appeared in World's Finest Comics #141, which beat Detective #327 to the stands by two weeks. (Batman doesn't have the oval on the cover, but he does in the story).



Of course since it was added to the art at the last minute, it tends to come out more like a circle, so I guess you could always argue it's not the "oval" after all...

As the cover dates on comics were always ahead of "real time," both books would have been on sale in March, 1964.

[Batfanman]

Funny how they'd take the time to change into their costumes when whomever was in the cave probably knows who B&R are at that point and could have easily made their way up to Wayne Manor via that staircase pretty quickly!

[Larry A.]

Maybe THAT'S why they invented the Batpoles......LOL.
Getting back in subject, I'm thinking of building my own set of "Sprang Batmuscles" I've got the thick waist down pat. I've been googling "muscle suits" but not liked what I've seen. It is either, per Rubies, in a lot of the wrong areas of the body or so overstuffed, the wearer looks like "Da Aahnold" on Steroids. I'm wanting to copy the Sprang/Swan musculature. BTW, The "Fathers of the Batman" article is Just what I needed, although I really prefer the AW buckle.
NOW, I have a question for You Moderators: Since the Screen Test Bat Suits were never seen until recently, can the Screen Test Suits be discussed on this board? I don't wish to offend anyone, but I thought I'd better ask before I got booted off the board. I've been getting lots of good ideas from all of You great BatFans! I look forward to any other ideas that You all have.....Keep those cards and letters coming Folks,
Cheers,
Larry

[Larry A.]

I'M BAAAACK!!!! I just realized that the main difference between AW's and Dick Sprang's cowl is, at least from certain angles, the shape of the Bat ears. In most of the 3/4 forward shots, the ears have a straight vertical rear and the front curves up to a point in the front. The side views shows both front and back of the ears as being equally tapered per AW's. Comments, please?
As always, I highly value the input of the members here.

Thanks in advance,
Larry

[Batfanman]

Here's a rough idea of how it might turn out!