Excelsior's Other Black Bat Project

It's been about two years since Excelsior updated its Black Bat webcomic. I still check in from time to time to see if any progress has been made but it's been clear for some time that this project is basically dead in mid-fight after 18 pages of story plus one cover page.

If that's the case, we might have lost more than it appears. Going back over the images posted in the Excelsior Webcomics Facebook group back in 2012, it seems as though two separate projects were underway at the time.

The webcomic was written by Nick Ahlhelm and drawn by Marc Santiago. Some of the first pictures added to the Facebook group were design sketches by Santiago. Makes sense.

But a few weeks later, artist Edgar Bercasio got into the game with, among other things, this beauty:

There was some discussion within the group about how Bercasio's initial attempt looked too much like that other Bat-themed character (due to pointy ears on the cowl, the bottom half of the face being visible, etc.). This led to the more finished product you see above.

What it didn't lead to was a completed product. The webcomic plodded along slowly, releasing a page every three months or so. But Bercasio, obviously very enthusiastic about the project he was involved with, at one point posted the first page of a story written by Gordon Dymoski.

So apparently there were plans for both a webcomic and a print one. That I know of, nothing ever came of the latter and the former has now dried out. Too bad, because that's some quality work up there.

Here's a look at another image by Bercasio. I assume it was intended to be the cover prior to the redesign of the character's appearance. Still cool.

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.

Dynamite Entertainment's Bat/Fury December solicitations

There hasn't been much Black Bat activity of late.  Dynamite's November solicitations did not include that book's seventh issue, which caused me to fear that the book had been canned early.  Apparently that's not the case; #7 is now planned for December.  Here it is, along with the Miss Fury books.

The Black Bat #7
Writer: Brian Buccellato
Art: Ronan Cliquet

The city government tries to pick up the pieces following the tragic climax of the police kidnappings. Looking to assess blame, the District Attorney sets his sights on The Black Bat. And as Carol faces the repercussions of her actions, she turns to Tony Quinn for help.

Miss Fury #9
Writer: Rob Williams
Art: Marcio Abreu

PHILADELPHIA 1 of 2. With Miss Fury now working undercover as The Pharaoh of Time's chief assassin, she is sent to a Philadelphia shipyard to murder a nuclear physicist who could become a time travel threat. But that physicist is working on The Philadelphia Experiment!

In the battle that follows, Miss Fury and the crew of the USS Eldridge find themselves thrown through time... into a naval battle unlike any seen before. Can Miss Fury save the scientific mind that could finally end the time war?

Noir #2
Writer: Victor Gischler
Art: Andrea Mutti

The Black Sparrow and Miss Fury are a team-up that makes Thelma & Louise look like a couple of girl scouts selling cookies. They've got wind of a long-hidden, secret Templar treasure, but they need the man with the clues to help them find it. That man just happens to be under police guard and unconscious in a Newport hospital, a Mowhawk Indian with a past. The ladies decide to break him out of the hospital, and they don't go about it gently.

Dynamite isn't the only producer of Black Bat material.  It's slow coming, but from time to time, Excelsior Webcomics adds a page to its ongoing story.  It is currently up to page 14 as a I write this.

The Excelsior version

In this blog's first post, I explained that part of the appeal of the Black Bat character for me was the number of different versions available. To this point, I've only posted the Dynamite solicitations in order to be up to date with those, but today I had a closer look at the Excelsior Webcomics edition.

Clicking on the cover above will take you to the 12-page (to this point, the story is clearly incomplete) web comic.  Scroll to the bottom to start reading.

It's difficult to know for certain whether this project is still active.  Judging from their Facebook group, page ten was announced in November of last year.  Only two pages have been released since, so even if it is active, it is progressing at a rather glacial pace.  Still, we'll keep an eye on them for some more free Black Bat goodness.