Final Pulpsploitation cover by Nik Poliwko

Again, taken from the artist's Facebook page. The man appears to work fast; this was actually added to the gallery only a few days after the inked version that I posted here was but I just missed it. Pretty sharp.

Shouldn't be long until the Black Bat story hits my inbox. I look forward to seeing how it compares to other versions of the character.

To Battle Beyond by C.J. Henderson

Ordered today:

In the opening days of WWII, the free world sat in dread anticipation as the Axis turned its deadly attentions on one country after another. With an ocean to protect her on either side, the United States hoped to be spared participation in the apocalyptic confrontation to come. Knowing their only chance was a sneak attack, the Japanese hight command settles on a dark and terrible plan, one involving damnable sorceries and horrors from beyond to cripple the American colossus.

Join us as three of the Pulp Era's greatest heroes--primary Batman inspiration, The Black Bat; The Domino Lady, greatest of the girl detectives; and H.P. Lovecraft's immortal creation, Inspector Legrasse--band together to battle nightmare and ninjas in one of the wildest, most exciting adventure novels of all time!

C.J. Henderson created new adventures for the likes of Kolchak, The Night Stalker; The Phantom, Mr. Moto, Batman, The Punisher, The Spider, Lin Carter's Anton Zarnak; the Avenger and a score of others. Known around the world for his ability to infuse characters with a startling and electric dynamism, New Mystery Magazine said: "If as some argue, the hardboiled private eye mystery story is a literary form on a par with the Japanese haiku or Irish ballad, then Mr. Henderson deserves the mantle of literary master."

Also: A special introduction by Ron Fortier, "Who the Hell Are These Guys?", and "Only an Hour," a new Black Bat solo adventure by C.J. Henderson!

I believe the book is actually from 2008. I was able to locate it on Amazon and that site refers to it as a January 2008 release from Marietta Pub. I found out about it on the very fine Pulp Coming Attraction Facebook Page and their post in regards to it states that "To Battle Beyond returns...".  Their link led to the Bold Adventure Press website which in turn directed to createspace to print on demand.

Assuming that's The Black Bat on the rather abstract cover, that looks to be one rather unusual version.

C.J. Henderson does have some additional history with alternate Black Bats; he penned the Return of the Originals book for Moonstone (which also included Domino Lady). Admitedly, while the story itself is quite good, that is my least favourite version of the character.

Mind you, I don't know that Henderson was responsible for the redesign so I don't want to lay it at his feet. I go into To Battle Beyond with an open mind about The Black Bat, eager for a team-up with Domino Lady and curious to be introduced to Inspector Legrasse.  In light of my post from last night in which I mention my surprise at how often the character is used in team-ups, the timing for stumbling into this book couldn't be more appropriate.

Unfortunately, as you may have heard or been able to deduce from the wording of the solicitation, Mr. Henderson passed away recently.  He died of cancer in early July of this year.

Change coming soon: Colony Of The Black Bat

You'd have to be truly blind to not notice the new Black Bat-specific blog banner (see what I did there?).  That's right, Miss Fury is being removed as a regular subject of this dark little corner of mine.

It's not that I don't enjoy the character, it's simply that she's barely on the radar. As I write this, there are six projects of interest to this blog going into 2015 (see box at top right). Miss Fury is maybe going to appear in only one of them; Masks 2 from Dynamite.

The name "colonyoftheblackbat.blogspot.com" will be applied in the new year, for those who may have this place bookmarked (probably my mom and one other person, but still...), so heads up.

I wish I could have come up with something better, but it's appropriate on a couple of levels.  The obvious one: A gathering of bats is called a colony (I sure as hell wasn't going to refer to a bat cave because of you-know-who).

The name can also be applied in three ways: in reference to the several versions of the character that are already in existence (hell, Dynamite has two and Moonstone will soon), to his entourage of Butch, Silk and Carol, or to the multitude of character with whom he has, or will, partner(ed). From time to time, a post will be dedicated to one of those guest-stars, similar to what was done for The Purple Scar earlier.

As for Fury, I'm certainly not going to remove past posts dedicated to her (ironically, when I began the blog, I thought it was a little too Fury-heavy) even if the amount of content about her may seem odd on a Black Bat blog for new visitors in the future. Rather, I hope she gives me cause to reverse the decision.

The Black Bat Companion

Before I say anything about this book, I want to heap some praise on Altus Press.  I purchased this book on Cyber Monday (so December 1st) and had it in hand on Thursday, three days later. They obviously wasted no time shipping it and I appreciated that a great deal.

The Black Bat Companion was released in the summer of 2011. I waited a while before getting it for two reasons; First, I wanted to read more of the original material available before acquiring book and second, reviews were a little mixed. While some referred to the book as being very thorough, others made it sound as though it was filled with useless information.

Ultimately, even though I'm still working through the book, I'm very pleased with my purchase.

There is some repetition in the information provided, usually in the earlier chapters, which makes the page count feel a little padded at times. For example, character bios will mention errors made in regards to their names in certain stories, then the Adventure Index will also point out the error(s). But in light of the volume of information shared, this is really just a minor annoyance.

The Black Book Detective Adventure Index seems good but since I intend to read the stories myself at some point I didn't want to get too deeply into it. The book becomes particularly interesting for me at chapter nine as it provides a list of all the stories printed in Germany (including BBD reprints). Being that there were nearly 600, you could probably create a whole other companion book specific to German story summaries (feel free to steal that idea, Altus).

At the moment, I'm reading the rejected Black Bat story, The Lady Is Out For Blood. It doesn't feel like a Black Bat story at all. The lead character is totally different in name, profession and appearance, as is his female assistant, but it makes for a good read nonetheless. There are also reprints of nine comic book stories of The Mask, a character nearly identical to The Black Bat but with minor name modifications to the cast.

From that point on, it is best to think of the book as a tribute to primary Black Bat writer Norman Daniels. The next few chapters feature an interview with Daniels, excerpts from written correspondence by him, biographical information and payment records. If your interest is specific to the Black Bat character, then you may not care how much money Daniels made for writing his stories, and even less for writing about other characters, but it provides a rare window into the scene at the time. Personally, I was pleased to have it all included.

Overall, while I would have preferred to have some sections filled out more (German Bat), and could have done without a few others (such as character profiles. If someone buys this book, he or she probably doesn't need to be introduced to Silk Kilby), The Black Bat Companion is an excellent compilation of information. I'd recommend it to anyone who wants to gain deeper appreciation for the histories of the character, the genre and the era.

The Bat and The Scar

It looks increasingly like Spider fans' loss are The Black Bat's fans' gain.

Moonstone Books gave The Spider a lot of attention over the past few years but now that they no longer have publishing rights to the character, they appear to be directing their energy towards Black Bat projects.

The Black Bat Facebook page recently made reference to a team-up book between our man and a character named The Purple Scar to be published by Moonstone.  I admit to not being particularly familiar with The Purple Scar so a little research was required.

There were only four stories published during the pulp era featuring this character. Altus Press has reprinted them in one volume.

The Purple Scar is a famous plastic surgeon, Miles Murdock. Dr. Murdoch's brother, a police officer, is murdered and during the attack, acid is poured onto is face causing tremendous damage to his features. His outrage at the brutality of the attack inspires Miles Murdock to create a mask based on his late brother's disfigurement and to fight crime.

Evidently, the fine folks at Airship 27 found The Purple Scar interesting enough to shine the spotlight on him.  They released a four-story anthology (176 pages in total) based on the character this past October and as you can see from the cover below, they made the scar mask far more graphic than that of the original.

How cool is that?  Click here to order the book from Amazon.

The frequency with which The Black Bat is cast into team-ups with characters such as Zorro (in Masks), Domino Lady, Captain Action, etc. is an unexpected treat.  I didn't anticipate that when I became heavily interested in the character. In this case, there appear to be quite a few similarities between Scar and The Black Bat so I'll be curious to see how the creative team (Ron Fortier and Rob Davis) gives each his own voice, so to speak.

Pulpsploitation cover

Super Powered Fiction's Nicholas Ahlhelm recently sent out an update on his Pulpsploitation project, an anthology book which includes a Black Bat story.  The book's cover layouts were revealed in the update, but artist Nik Poliwko displayed an inked version yesterday on his Facebook page.

We don't see much of The Black Bat, but what we do see appears to be a relatively traditional type.  I'll admit that the 80's aspect, and the "sploitation" portion of the book's title, made me wonder if this book might take a bit of a silly tone, but the cover is encouraging.

And in case anyone at SPF happens to read this...I am not particularly interested in the other characters in the anthology, so I only signed up for the Black Bat pdf.  I do prefer a print version of stories, however, so if you continue to publish these pulp anthologies, and you continue to include The Black Bat (or Miss Fury, for that matter) and you choose to release a compilation of the Bat stories in print format, I shall purchase it even if I already have all of the stories digitally.  Just sayin'. ;-)

Miss Fury by "Slangmead" on deviantart

The Black Bat has received most of the attention on this page in recent weeks for the simple reason that there is more activity based around him of late, but I'm still hopeful that we'll get good Miss Fury news soon.  In the meantime, let's enjoy the art work below from Stephen Langmead.

Float on over to his page to check out more of his work. The guy is ridiculously talented.

Day of The Destroyers: Jimmie Flint, Agent X-11, must save America

Moonstone continues to give The Black Bat the attention that Dynamite fails to provide (wish they'd do the same for Miss Fury) although I admit I'm unsure as to whether I'll get this book.  It seems as though The Black Bat's contribution may be relatively small.  Still, it might make for a good introduction to some other characters from the era.

Authors: Ron Fortier, Adam Lance Garcia, Gary Phillips, Paul Bishop, Eric Fein, Tommy Hancock, Aaron Shaps, & Joe Gentile 

Cover: Fernando Ferreiro 

6” x 9”, Softcover, 276pgs, $13.95
6” x 9”, Hardcover, 276pgs, $23.95

Based on a real historical event during the Roosevelt administration! 

Guest starring pulp heroes The Green Lama, The Phantom Detective, and The Black Bat! 

Day of the Destroyers is an all-original linked prose anthology – each story is part of a larger arc wherein Jimmie Flint, Secret Agent X-11 of the Intelligence Service Command, battles to prevent the seditionist Medusa Council from engineering a bloody coup overthrowing our democracy. 

Agent X-11 fights across the country preventing an aerial assault on Chicago’s rail lines, destroying a secret factory of gas meant to enthrall millions in New Mexico, racing to stop a machine of fantastic destruction in Manhattan, and so much more! 

Written by pulp fictioneers: Ron Fortier, Adam Lance Garcia, Gary Phillips, Paul Bishop, Eric Fein, Tommy Hancock, Aaron Shaps, & Joe Gentile. 

Introduction by pulp historian and award-winning author Robert Weinberg! 

The book is scheduled for release in March of 2015 so I have some time to think about it but I gather that pathetic hoarder that I am, I'll likely end up getting it as long as the Black Bat that appears is a more traditional one.  I didn't care for the version that Moonstone introduced a few years ago, but they seem to be drifting away from that one.

The Mask...Close enough!

I don't want this blog to become a parrot to the Black Bat Facebook page (since I have nothing to do with that page, no less, and don't want to copycat) however of late their postings have been too important for any fan of the character to avoid.

Here's the latest:

Although issue # 1 has yet to be released, production on BLACK BAT - DOMINO LADY: Danger Coast to Coast continues at Moonstone Comics. As we've reported here previously, Ron Fortier is writing this 30s setting pulp series and Michael Dorman is the artist (on) the first two issues. Starting with issue # 3, Carlos Cableiro will be taking over the art chores. Here's a sample of his work.

I love that image, especially of Quinn.

I'm going to use the opportunity to segue into a comic book appearance of the past, sort of.  It's something I had dismissed when I first read about it but am now realizing that I should not have.  Let's let Wikipedia explain it first:

Due to the issues with Batman, Nedor Comics, the comic publishing arm of Thrilling Publications, did not do a Black Bat comic series; however it did do a series with a character called "Mask", based on the Black Bat. The Mask appears in the first twenty issues of Exciting Comics.

What I did not know or anticipate is how faithful to the original Black Bat material these "Mask" stories are (aside from changing the names of the various characters), at least the first one.  I assumed that the character was similar, since many pulp heroes were anyway, but the Mask story is near identical to Brand of The Black Bat.  For an example, here's the first page from issue #1, first published in April of 1940:

And here's Tony "Colby" meeting Carol "Smith".

Granted, the Mask looks rather ridiculous, but it's still cool to see The Black Bat's original story done in comic book form at the time.  I'm certain most fans of the character must be aware of it, but in case it's been overlooked by others for the same reason I did, I thought I'd draw some attention to it.

If you want to have a look at the stories in full, you can do so through the Digital Comic Museum though at some point I'll probably copy and clean up the pages and post them here.

Die Schwarze Fledermaus

While I'm waiting for official news to come from Moonstone Books about their upcoming Black Bat projects  (apparently a solo book, as well as the team up with Domino Lady) and from Dynamite as to whether he and/or Miss Fury will appear in the second volume of Masks to any significant degree, I'm attempting to educate myself somewhat on The Black Bat's publishing history in Germany.

From what I can gather, reprints of stories from Black Book Detective began to appear in Pabel Kriminal Roman starting with issue #100 in 1961.  Rather than print them chronologically though, there seemed to be a rather random order as to how they were made available to the German public.  Issue 100 included the story "The League of Faceless Men" from 1951, among the last Bat stories published.  His next PKR appearance, in issue 103, featured "The Murder Makers", originally published in the United States in 1948.

Evidently, it took little time for his popularity to dictate that he should become the book's main attraction.  The Black Bat's stories appeared periodically for a spell but starting with issue 119, the title "Fledermaus" (German for bat, obviously) began to take prominence on the cover and by issue #135, he became the focus of the series altogether.  It looks as though that held true until about issue 667 or so inclusively, with new material being written for the character once stories to reprint ran out.

A significant portion of the information I've been able to find was lifted from the Schwarze Fledermaus website.  See the "galerie" page for cover scans of every issue for more Bat goodness.

The Black Bat in Pulpsploitation: Hard Edged Heroes for the 1980's

Bah.  I found out about this Kickstarter campaign a couple of days ago, but was too slow in posting about it and now the Black Bat Facebook page has a mention of it so it looks like I'm lifting it from them... ;-)

In the 1930s, pulp fiction introduced dozens of amazing heroes to the world. Dozens of hero pulps of various success filled the racks alongside numerous other titles. Those characters formed a lasting impression on society and are still remembered fondly to this day. 

In the 1970s and 1980s, men’s adventure fiction introduced dozens of new characters and properties that captured the minds of readers young and old. Sex and violence became the new norm. They influenced heavily the decades of fiction since, even as the “exploitation” films of the same era helped to shape cinema.

Among the four stories...

Frank Byrns introduces the legacy of The Black Bat, as a new hero takes up the mantle of one of the earliest masked vigilantes.

All this information is front and center on the campaign page.  However writer Frank Byrns provides details as to what he has planned in an interview posted under the "updates" tab.

So what would that mean for a Tony Quinn in his seventies? What would he be up to? If I left him in New York, I could work in another of my passions: the look and feel and vibe of 1970s crime films. 

The French Connection, Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon, sure. But also things like Rolling Thunder, The Killer Elite, Charley Varrick, The Yakuza. Friends of Eddie Coyle. 

So give Quinn a pro bono legal aid clinic in a rundown Brooklyn neighborhood. Make Butch O'Leary's daughter a crackerjack young lawyer working for Uncle Tony. Have Silk Kirby's kid work as a plainclothes narcotics detective. Add in a former Vietnam tunnel rat, who's used to fighting in the dark where he can't see. The NYC heroin trade. The Mafia. Street gangs. Son of Sam. Reggie, Sparky, and Billy. The blackout.

Byrns has some history with the character already.  He wrote The Ty Cobb File story for Airship 27's second volume of Black Bat Mystery.  As an aside, the Facebook page I referred to earlier also mentioned earlier today that a third volume is underway, though no details are provided as of yet.

There's still about a week to get involved in the fundraising campaign, and to trigger some stretch goals, so if you're a fan of The Black Bat, or pulp era stories in general, you may want to get in on this. Hell, you can get the Black Bat story alone for only $1.00 in digital format. Tough to beat that.

To find out more about publisher Super Powered Fiction, head on over to their website.

Black Bat Design Sketch by Alex Ross

Dynamite's Masks mini-series came out around the time that I was transitioning from printed comics to the digital format due to an inability to get to the local comic store as regularly as I used to.  For that reason, I have ended up with the first few issues of Masks in "floppy" format and the rest on my Comixology.

Wanting to have the entire story fully collected, I ordered the trade paperback from Amazon a couple of weeks ago and received it today.  I was looking forward to seeing the bonus content and was not disappointed.

First and foremost, I was hoping for a cover gallery.  Not only was one included, but there was a collection of hand-drawn Jae Lee and Alex Ross (hand-painted, in his case) cover reproductions as well. The book also includes a script for the first issue with Alex Ross sketches and a few pages of character designs. The Black Bat is the first design displayed.  Here it is below.

Pretty cool to see.

The next volume of Masks, written by Cullen Bunn, was first said to have a "late 2014" release date, but that doesn't seem to be the case after all since it is nowhere to be found in the December solicitations. Bunn has stated that he intends to have an "ambitious" cast for his mini series.  That would seem to suggest Black Bat and Miss Fury will be included, but it also raises a concern that they may get lost among a huge collection of characters.  I hope the January solicitations provide us with a promotional image or two to give us a hint of things to come.

More Black Bat Custom Action Figures

Check out this rather awesome custom action figure of the Dynamite Entertainment version of The Black Bat.  Clicking on the image will take you to the Figure Realm website where several more pictures are available.

"he's made from a legends punisher, xf wolverine head, obsidian cape, 2 pistol casts (casting cave), sculpted mask details, sleeves cape top and logo, then total repaint"

Here's another, also posted on Figure Realm and linked through the picture.  Little information as to how he was built is provided, aside from stating that the base figurine is a Marvel Universe Captain America.

This post from early last year features an action figure based on the classic version of The Bat, in case you missed it at the time.  Fun stuff.

Finally, the ASPC Black Bat has arrived!

Late last week, I received the two volumes of the Airship 27 / Redbud Studio All-Star Pulp Comics I'd ordered some time back and read through them this past Saturday.  As expected, the Black Bat content was small, but entertaining nonetheless.

The story in volume one is written by C. William Russette and drawn by Wayne Beeman. The Black Bat's detective skills are on display here as Russette uses the bulk of the few pages he has to show us how the character approaches a mystery.

It's difficult to elaborate without giving anything away.  The book was released in 2011 but who knows how many people may just now be buying it (hell, *I* just did!).  I'll only say that I thought it was well done on that level and leave it at that.

The second's volume takes a broader look at the pulp era.  Many pulp-inspired stories take place in an urban setting but volume two, for the most part, utilizes a number of different locations and eras.  We get jungle tales, air aces, a little Robin Hood...But the big city backdrop returns for "Shootout at the Dry Martini", a Black Bat story by Todd Jones and artist Lee Oaks.

As the title might give away, there is a fair amount of action in these eight pages.  And I find the art completely, appropriately beautiful.  Here are a couple of (non-consecutive and non-lettered) pages.

Scarring around the eyes.  I'm a sucker for the eye scarring.

I believe work is underway for a third volume of All-Star Pulp Comics, though whether The Black Bat will be included is unknown to me.  The only other character to appear in both books (15 stories in total) is Domino Lady so there seems to be some attempt at variety, including some pulp-inspired original creations.  However a page of art by Redbud Studio's Rob Davis recently posted on the Black Bat Facebook group is certain cause for optimism.

Maybe The Black Bat even gets his own book from Redbud?  Let's see what happens.

New Black Bat Material on the Way: Possibly, Eventually and Literally.

After a quiet spell, there has been a bit of news on the Black Bat / Miss Fury front in the last day or two.

Let's start with "possibly", because it's arguably the biggest one. It's not a huge surprise, but it was kind of a long time coming.

Dynamite Entertainment is proud to announce that comic book writer Cullen Bunn (Deadpool, Magneto) will tackle their wide cast of company-owned and licensed pulp heroes in Masks II. Following upon the success of the bestselling 2012 Masks miniseries, Masks II will unite iconic crime-fighters of singular purpose (if not diverse ideologies and techniques) in an epic miniseries event designed to appeal to both longtime fans and fresh newcomers. Dynamite plans to launch Masks II in late 2014. 

"I couldn't be more excited to be working on Masks II," says Bunn. "I've always loved these great classic characters that I will have the privilege of working with, and I'm striving to keep the tone of the pulps that have always been a big inspiration for me. I'll admit, this project is a little intimidating, because I've put together a very ambitious team-up story that readers will have to see to believe!" 

The original Masks series launched in 2012 with industry fanfare, with its #1 issue ranking among the bestselling independent comic books of the year and selling over 70,000 copies. Drawn to the premise by the work of superstar painter Alex Ross, writer Chris Roberson, and artist Dennis Calero, readers thrilled to an adventure that united classic characters like The Shadow, The Spider, The Green Hornet, and Kato against a cadre of corrupt politicians and their fascist police state. Masks II promises to follow the themes established within that first series, but in a way that's perfect for new readers. 

The presence of The Black Bat or Miss Fury's is not guaranteed but you'd think at least the latter would be included.  Neither character had a huge role in the first volume, but Fury has appeared in the Noir mini and had a digital-first mini in addition to her own book.  She seems to have Dynamite's support.

Over to "eventually".  The following wall message appeared on the Black Bat Facebook page yesterday.

Some very exciting Black Bat news on the way, BB fans. Stay tuned.

That page tends to focus on the work done by Airship 27 and Moonstone Books.  We already know about The Black Bat's team up with Domino Lady being prepared for Moonstone.  My guess then (and that's all it is) is that there'll be either a 3rd edition of Black Bat Mystery (and being that the first two are among Airship 27's best sellers, it's kind of a no-brainer) or a comic book specific to him from Redbud Studio.

Which leads me to "literally".  I ordered both volumes of Airship 27 / RedBud Studio' All Star Pulp Comics from IndyPlanet yesterday.  As mentioned in an earlier post, each book has a healthy page count (58 for volume one, 64 for volume two) but also feature several characters from the pulp era.  So the Black Bat content might be kind of light, but I'll enjoy the other stories and save the Bat for last.

I'll display a page or two from those books when they arrive, and I'll gleefully share the news referred to on Facebook when it's made public.  Looking forward to being able to do both!

Miss Masque vs Miss Fury by John Chalos

Some fun stuff here, lifted from John Chalos' deviant art page.  Make sure to view the full-sized version.

This story is two pages in black and white featuring three characters in the public domain (Miss Masque, Miss Fury, Fighting Yank) and a group of 1940s era Nazi collaborators. I wrote, penciled, inked and hand lettered it. It was published this month in the Public Domain volume of The Gathering by Gray Haven Comics. 

The Black Bat vs Jim Anthony, Super Detective

I'm currently reading the second volume of Black Bat Mystery from Airship 27, specifically completing the second (of four) story, The Black Bat at Bay by Joshua Reynolds.

Because I'm not familiar with all the characters from the pulp era, and partially because of his rather generic name, I didn't clue in right away that the Jim Anthony that appears was himself featured in magazines in the early 40's. The name is vaguely familiar, but that's about the extent of my knowledge about him.

I can understand, however, the appeal of using him in a Black Bat tale. Educating myself through Wikipedia (and sharing below for those who are also unfamiliar), the similarities are evident.

Jim Anthony was described as "half Irish, half Indian, and all-American". He inherited great wealth and physical attributes. He could see in the dark, was super strong, and had a sixth sense. He excelled in several subjects, including physics, psychiatry, and electro-chemistry. He owned businesses around the country, including the Waldorf-Anthony Hotel in New York, where he maintained a penthouse apartment and secret laboratory. There was also the Tepee, his hidden mansion in the Catskills Mountains, and the Pueblo in the southwest, a hotel/resort built at an oasis by Anthony. 

His father was Shean Boru Anthony, an Irishman who had traveled the world as an adventurer, becoming rich in the process. His mother was Fawn Johntom, daughter of a Comanche chief. 

Anthony was aided by several others: 

• Tom Gentry, large, Irish, served as chief pilot, chauffeur and man Friday.
• Dawkins, English butler
• Mephito, Anthony's grandfather, a Comanche shaman who guarded the Tepee.
• Delores Colquitte, daughter of Senator Colquitt and Anthony's love interest. 

The first ten novels pitted Anthony against a variety of super-villains bent on the destruction of the United States. The first three had Anthony go up against Rado Ruric. After Spies of Destiny, the Anthony stories were changed to a more hard-boiled detective stories. This was probably done by direction of the publisher. The larger-than-life elements were dropped, along with most of his supporting characters, leaving only Tom Gentry.

In Black Bat at Bay, we get get the "super" version (though I don't recall Anthony running around wearing nothing but bright yellow shorts).

Frankly, I would have preferred the more "hard-boiled" version.  In a brief commentary following the story, Reynolds explains that he attempted to have the two characters appear to be evenly matched but while working my way through the story, I found that the Bat seemed outclassed.  Without giving anything away, even when the Black Bat got the upper hand on Anthony, it felt as though it was due to the latter allowing it to happen.  Maybe it's just my perception from expecting Black Bat to dominate the opposition.

Speaking of perceiving, please allow me to share this sharp pinup by Andres Labradra.

That's McGrath that The Black Bat is terrorizing, but what I particularly enjoy about this piece is that Tony Quinn's scarring around the eyes is visible.  It's constantly mentioned within the character's adventures yet many artists ignore it.  Writers make reference to a piercing, frightening gaze and Labrada very much captures that. Well done.

The Men of Bronze Black Bat, by way of Moonstone Books

You'll have to pardon any inaccuracies on my part. Most of the sites from which I did my research were written in Spanish and I don't have a good grasp of that language.

I located the image below from the Men of Bronze Studios Facebook page.  "Los Hombres De Bronze" describe themselves as...

...a group of new talent artists (pencillers, inkers, colorist...) with the goal of working -mainly- for the american comic book industry. 

I believe that both pencils and inks are by Antonio Rojo and that colours are by Christian Castellanos.

This is basically the Moonstone Books version of the The Black Bat.  I didn't think much of it initially, assuming that the artists simply appreciated that version of the character.  However, looking through the albums on the Facebook page and finding complete pages gave me a bit of a charge.

For a moment I believed that we were finally going to get something solid out of the "Originals" event that Moonstone hyped years ago.  It did lead to a few books, mostly featuring Domino Lady, but by and large the whole thing fizzled, unfortunately.

Closer inspection revealed it to be little more than a page in someone's submission portfolio, but if Men of Bronze ever decide to publish their own books involving The Black Bat, I'll be happy to support it.

Black Bat appearance in Captain Action sequel (revisited)

The Black Bat's guest-appearance in a Captain Action book was mentioned here before, but we now have a cover and some story details.

Oh, and it's available from Amazon!

The following is from the Airship 27 blog:

While on assignment in Japan, Captain Action is haunted by the woman he loved and lost years ago in the underground kingdom beneath Siberia.  When she mysteriously begins reappearing during his clandestine mission to witness a newly discovered power source, agent Miles Drake begins to question his own sanity. 

Forces are at work to steal two naturally formed energy stones whose limitless power in the wrong hands could destroy the world. When he begins to suspect his alien nemesis, Dr. Evil, is behind these attacks, Drake has to utilize his most daring disguises ever to learn the truth and ally himself with an old vigilante hero from the past. 

Now the one and only Captain Action must walk a delicate tightrope between old and new allies while attempting to discover the source of the threat to the Hearts of the Rising Sun.  If he fails, mankind is doomed!

I wondered about the degree to which The Black Bat would be involved, but if the cover is any indication, he'll play a significant part.  I can't claim to be a huge fan of Captain Action, but there's little doubt that this book will find its way into my little Bat pile.

Super-Team Family Presents #713: Batman and Miss Fury

If you read either of my other two blogs, you're aware of a another with which I have nothing to do but that I enjoy a great deal; braveandboldlost.blogspot.ca.

The blog's premise, as explained on its banner, is quite simple. Ross Pearsall creates mock covers of superhero team-ups that are highly unlikely to ever happen (since the characters involved are from different publishers) but that would be extremely cool nonetheless. Miss Fury was featured on one such cover manipulation recently.

Well done, eh?  If you're any kind of comic book fan, take a look through Pearsall's portfolio.  His blog's a blast.

Black Bat Mystery revisited

I mentioned in an earlier post that I recently acquired Airship 27's first volume of Black Bat Mystery. At the time, I was only a few pages in but was optimistic about it based on the few pages I'd read.

And things held up.  I enjoyed the book a great deal.

Before I go on, I do need to confess one thing; my exposure to the original version of the Black Bat character is limited to the first three stories from 1939 (which I was able to read from the first omnibus offered by Altus).  By no means do I consider myself an expert on the character and because I don't have a definitive version in my mind, I am quite open to modernized or "alternative" interpretations.

This is why, while some purists might have found that the Dynamite version of the Black Bat deviated too far from the source material, for example, I wasn't particularly bothered by that.  In this case, there appears to be a conscious effort by the writers/editors to be as faithful as possible to the original version. Fine by me.  Whatever feels right.

Speaking of conscious efforts, I took some time before writing about the book to go back and read the first two Black Bat stories.  Having done this, I would guess that each of the four writers contributing to this book, knowing what they were tackling, deliberately attempted to create stories that could be slotted between some of the original ones.  In other words, they attempted to write so that a reader would not be able to differentiate between the stories from the 40's and their own.  I could be completely wrong about this, but ultimately it was the feeling I was left with.  Between Dynamite and Moonstone, I've had plenty of the modern version over the past year or so, so a more traditional take was admittedly kind of nice.

If my memory is sound, I believe "Team Bat" (Silk, Butch and Carol) is present in its entirety in all four stories.  But the second story, entitled "A Deal With The Devil" was a particularly pleasant surprise in that it touched into Bat-hunting detective McGrath's background.  Perhaps that happened in the 1940's as well, but not to my knowledge, so the "backfill" was an interesting addition.  Writer Aaron Smith did a nice job handling the dynamic between the two characters, and their reluctant partnership, as well.

If forced to criticize, I suppose I would say that with the possible exception of the first story, "Death Rides The Valkyrie" (by Andrew Salmon), there is not much mystery to Black Bat Mystery.  The antagonists, their plans, and their methods are quite clear, for the most part.

For that matter, several of those antagonists are quite...spectacular, pushing the stories a little closer to the superhero genre than maybe some would like.  My exposure to the original Black Bat is limited to fighting "normal" criminals, not Nazi giants.  Did I mind that Black Bat Mystery's villains had more of a super-hero comic book feel?  Absolutely not, but it may not be to everyone liking, I suppose.

Overall, an enjoyable read and a fine addition to the Bat collection.  I'll get the second volume some time this summer and fingers are crossed that work on volume three is underway.

One to watch: Moonstone's Of Monsters and Men

The following solicitation appeared on Major Spoilers today.  It's for a Moonstone book being released in July.  Unfortunately, the solicitation is lacking in the details department.

Of Monsters & Men sc
Stories: Matthew Baugh, Tommy Hancock
Art: Tom Floyd, David Niehaus
Cover: Fernando Ferriero
200pgs, grayscale, 7” x 10”, squarebound, $14.99 

Return of the Originals AND Return of the Monsters! 

Nine brand NEW tales of PULP HEROES vs MONSTERS! 

The Green Lama, Richard Knight, Captain Future, Green Ghost, Moon Man, and more… 

Battle demons and monstrosities from out of this world!

I'd be awful interested in knowing whether The Black Bat appears in this thing.  I do know that he appears in the hardcover version.  Unfortunately, it's the Black Bat story in which I'm least interested.

Of Monsters & Men HC
Stories: Matthew Baugh, Tommy Hancock
Art: Tom Floyd, David Niehaus
Cover: Fernando Ferriero
300pgs, grayscale, 7” x 10”, squarebound, $24.99

Same as the above but with 100 extra pages that reprint the previously published “Domino Lady vs Mummy”, Black Bat vs Dracula”, and “Phantom Detective vs Frankenstein”!

Perhaps when we get closer to the release date, an actual table of contents will be available.  Because Black Bat has already had his monster battle, I doubt he'll be among the new content offered in the softcover, but we'll bear this book in mind and check in later.

Dynamite Entertainment's May 2014 Bat/Fury solicitations

So obvious even a blind man could see it (see what I did there?), Dynamite ends their Black Bat book at issue #12 in May.

Writer: Brian Buccellato
Art: Ronan Cliquet 

FINAL ISSUE! In the final chapter to this story, the Black Bat is confronted by the unforeseen consequences of his vigilante quest for redemption. He comes face to face with the shadowy villain that has been pulling all of the strings, and must decide how far he is willing to go to save the city.

So who knows if we'll see this version of the character again.  Dynamite CEO/Publisher Nick Barrucci did hint, on the company's message board, at an announcement by the end of February but nothing ever came of that.  In recent months, Dynamite had done a good job of including some of their less-popular characters in limited series with more popular ones, but they seem so focused on the Gold Key and Chaos universes of late that there's little cause to be optimistic about the Bat (or for that matter, Miss Fury) getting that sort of treatment.

Speaking of minis, the Noir trade paperback is also available in May.  I haven't finished the series yet, but I am enjoying it, though the art is a little rough in spots and Miss Fury only shows up at the end of the first book.  Still, interesting story.

On the flip side, I've finished the first volume of Black Bat Mystery from Airship 27 and will definitely be getting the second before long.  More on that later.

Ron Fortier to pen a more traditional Black Bat for Moonstone Books!

This is good news on a couple of different levels. Ron Fortier is the "Air Chief" of Airship 27 and long-time writer of pulp comics and short stories.  He updated his "Flight Log" earlier today with the following (in part):

...for those of you who faithfully follow this Log every week, you'll remember that a few short weeks ago we wrote a particularly mean rant against Licensors and how they are forever screwing over creative people. 

Well, the reasoning behind that entry was we had just learned that the Licensor of the Spider had opted (to) cancel Moonstone Comics permission to use this classic pulp character right smack in the middle of our producing the new black and white SPIDER - DOMINO LADY comic series.  Needless to say all of (those) involved were both surprised and then justifiably angry with this stupid action on their part. Still it left us with the question as to how to proceed. Or should we? 

Happily, in the end, the Air Chief, Moonstone's Managing Editor and artist Michael Dorman all agreed to save the project by swapping out the Spider for another classic pulp hero who is 100% public domain.  Meaning we don't have to kowtow to any idiotic licensors and can do as we please. 

Get ready for THE BLACK BAT - DOMINO LADY comic series!!  Yup, the Air Chief did a little tweaking where necessary and the hooded avenger of the classic pulps is once again on the trail of evil doers. Note, the page above by Michael and you'll see we are doing the original costume as was described in the actual Black Bat stories...and not the Batman-like cowl that was splashed on the covers and has been adopted by other comic companies. Nope, we wanted to give you fans the real-deal here. We are excited by Michael's' art as ever and can't wait to see this project move forward. Stay tuned for progress updates as we move along with it.

I admit that among the various versions of the character that I've read, Moonstone's was my least favourite. Their Black Bat had some kind of "voices-in-the-head" or multiple personality gimmick going on and there was only limited mention of the entourage that we're used to (Silk and Carol, no Butch that I can recall). Perhaps the intention was to include them more in future stories but the book never really got past the first graphic novel.

The image above looks far more like what we'd expect the Black Bat to look like. And whatever affection Moonstone had for The Spider, they certainly shared the love with Domino Lady.  She is among the most frequently used character by that company, if not the title-holder, so the Bat can only benefit from being paired with her.

So as Dynamite's version appears set to circle the drain, let's see if Moonstone can provide us with a quality alternative.  We'll keep an eye on their solicitations and post the Black Bat-relevant ones here.

Dynamite's Black Bat #11 Solicitation (April 2014)

Writer: Brian Buccellato
Art: Ronan Cliquet 

Black Bat has managed to toe the line throughout his quest for redemption. But when someone close to him dies, will he finally cross that line and become a killer? 

Also, Oliver Snate's mystery guardian angel pulls back the curtain and finally reveals himself... propelling this story towards its gut-wrenching conclusion. 

And Miss Fury is nowhere to be found.

Dynamite is all about their acquisition of the Gold Key characters these days so many of the pulp-style titles that they were publishing are coming to an end.  The Shadow ends at #25 this month as well and Mark Waid's Green Hornet concludes after the thirteenth issue.  In fairness, they've brought back a number of Battlestar Galactica books, so perhaps there's hope for a revival at some point.

In the meantime, I've received the Black Bat Mystery novel in the mail.  It's a collection of four short stories. I've only just started it, but so far so good.  The first story, written by Andrew Salmon, takes place in an unusual setting for the character; inside a blimp called The Valkyrie. The Bat's crew from the original stories are all included and the writing is very similar in style.  I think I'm going to enjoy this.

The back cover illustration below, as well as the ones included throughout the book, is by Rob Davis.

And since I appear to have forgotten to mention it in a past post, Excelsior Comics is up to page 15 with its Bat web comic. I wish they were a little fast with the production, but I'm enjoying their version of the character nonetheless.  Check it out.