Some Bat Treats Just Before Easter

Batman fans have a seemingly unlimited supply of merchandise to choose from. Black Bat fans...Not so much.

While looking for content for this blog the other day, I landed on artist Michael Dorman's Dorway Studios site. And I found a couple of items that I very much wanted to add to my hidden crime-fighting laboratory (what most of you call a "basement").

You've likely seen the image at right a few times by now.

I'm not entirely sure where the "Black Bat / Domino Lady: Danger Coast to Coast" comics series project stands. My understanding is that Mr. Dorman has completed the art for the first issue and a different artist will handle the second.

But regardless, the following was posted on the Black Bat Facebook page in October 2014:

Artist Michael Dorman and writer Ron Fortier, the creators behind BLACK BAT - DOMINO LADY : Danger Coast to Coast for Moonstone Comics will both be guest at the Rocky Mountain Con in Denver on Oct 25 - 26. 

To celebrate his first trip to Denver, Mike has done a limited print featuring the these classic pulp heroes in front of the state capital building in 1930. Anthony Lee provided the coloring.

Mr. Dorman sells prints of this image from his website. Now I made a small mistake when I ordered. I believed it was a 7" X 11" image. But it is 11" X 17". So I was quite surprised when I received it.

And damn, it's gorgeous! I love the way the Black Bat's cape hangs over his arms and what I believed was a gun in Domino Lady's right hand is actually a syringe, very true to character. Terrific stuff.

But in actual fact, the primary reason for my order was a 12-page preview of the series' first issue (cover at left).

And it is awesome.  It is full of action, it includes a guest-appearance that pulp fans will appreciate, The Black Bat is completely bad-ass and Domino Lady is her usual seductive self. All this is packed into a half-sized comic, so I can only imagine what the full-length product will be like, assuming it's still on the docket.

Now that my order has arrived, I need to give Mr. Dorman a little praise.

First, because I am ordering from Canada, the online ordering system on his website would not recognize my address (there are no zip codes in Canada). He did the leg work to determine what postage would cost me, which was good. I wasn't spending hundreds of dollars on these items...

That done, he included a few interesting extras in the package. I'm not going to say what they are because I don't want to put him on the spot or create an expectation for anyone else ordering from him. Suffice to say they are a) quite cool, and b) very much appreciated.

Anyway, I would love it if more artists did this. Quite a few talented people have handled the character and it would be fun to gather a portfolio of prints and commissions and such. No doubt there's a cost involved, so I understand if it's easier said than done, just throwing it out as feedback.

As for Mr Dorman, while I provided a link to his site earlier, the store page specifically is here.