Batman 85th Anniversaries Collages

[Jczernich]

This week's collage is some of the most Underrated Batman Artists!

The following are some very good Batman artists that don't always get the recognition that a Dick Sprang, or Neal Adams does, but have left their own mark on the Caped Crusader, nonetheless.

-Sheldon Moldoff: One of Bob Kane's most prominent ghosts, as well as one that crossed over into the New Look era. He took the Batman house style that Kane, Robinson, Sprang and others established and refined it further.
-Pat Broderick: He penciled 6 fill in issues of Detective Comics in the mid-80's that were pretty special to me, especially as his first one was Detective Comics #547, the first issue I ever bought of that title! Even better was the fact that that story was inked by the next name on my list...

-Klaus Janson:
Yes, he inked the Dark Knight Returns.
Yes, he drew Gothic.
Yes, he drew Death and the Maidens--one of the BEST Ra's Al Ghul stories of ALL TIME!
However, I still don't feel he gets his due as a penciler. After Broderick finished his 6 issues of Detective in the mid-80's, Janson took on the next two and I absolutely loved them! I think he's one of the most underrated visual storytellers of all time.

-Tom Mandrake: At the same time Janson drew his two fill ins on Detective, Tom Mandrake started as the new penciller on the Batman monthly. With his heavy inks, he helped keep the Batman book dark. He even got to introduce Black Mask during his first story arc!

-Graham Nolan: To me, this artist, along with writer Chuck Dixon, was the one who firmed up the post-Crisis Batman status quo in the 90's in the pages of Detective Comics. This was the monthly where Batman and Robin were most likely to team up and utilized the supporting cast best. Picking up an issue back then was like visiting with old friends on a monthly basis. Graham Nolan was a big part of that. He even illustrated one of my favorite Joker stories of all time, Joker: Devil's Advocate. It is a crime that this story is still not in print or digital!

-Dustin Nguyen: He collaborated on many great stories with Paul Dini in Detective Comics and Batman: Streets of Gotham. His Li'l Gotham series is wonderful too!

Who do you think are some of the most underrated Batman Artists?

Enjoy the collage, and Happy Friday!