Can someone tell Batman why not?!?

He always did commercial art on the side AFAIK, another aspect of following Adams – his turn to inking schlock in the 90s seemed to me to be entirely of a piece with that, something he could churn out quickly for money, except without dealing with revisions from ad house art directors.

I’ve also always taken as significant that he abandoned storytelling in comics completely* two episodes into A River In Egypt – he was starting his third self-written story ever, what was meant to be a second major work, and it immediately revealed itself to be about the same topic as his previous two stories (ie ǝsnqɐ pʃıɥɔ). It looked to me like he’d realised this was the main theme that was going to come out every time he wrote, and he made either a deliberate or visceral reaction to walk away, for understandable reasons.

*As far as I know, the only pages of comics he’s done himself since then were for the Endless Somethingorother hardcover – and there, he turned in 20-some paintings for a 12-page story (or whatever), including multiple takes at various ones, and not matching the script - such that Gaiman ended up picking the ones he liked the look of best, choosing an order for them to go in, and rewriting a new story over the top.

Also he started advocating for earth expansion theory

always thought of him as a great illustrator, not a good comic artist.

i dunno, was never much of a fan of 'painted comics', but the fact that sienkiewicz had done a long hard slog as a penciller beforehand meant that his more illustrative stuff still had a comic book vitality and sensibility, it wasn't static or frozen on the page.

yeah, forks is offtm - Sienkiewicz' New Mutants are ASTOUNDING comics for BigTwo of the time, Elektra #1 I'll rep all day every day, and #2-8 obviously come from a passionate desire to expand, push forward, and express himself through comics, not single paintings.

dude, i own all those! I just am not a fan of him as a graphic storyteller! Great illustrator but he's not strong with narrative

he got a lot better in a really short span -- I don't have any problem with his layouts and storytelling on Elektra Assassin

Gotta agree with Forks here: even if Elektra Assassin looks great, it's still a struggle to read through as a narrative. The same goes for his other "post-modern" stuff that I've read, except maybe for New Mutants.

His New Mutants run is largely responsible for why I still read comic books, tbh.

Bill S on New Mutants -> greatest thing ever

nah, pretty pictures but the same old claremont guff

underrated sienkiewicz comics - his moby dick adaptation, the first six issues of the Shadow w/ Helfer, his half of the brought to light gn

Yeah, Claremont...

not all Claremont has aged well but Demon Bear still amazes me

at this point, I like it more than the Dark Phoenix saga

i tell you what, i just found a bunch of x-factors in a box when i moved and the first 20 issues so far are TIGHT

my fave sienk comics are the Shadow run; he found a balance there.
A lot of the late New Mutants stuff is hyperkinetic to the point of near unreadability to me

I liked Moon Knight. And New Mutants. And Stray Toasters. And The Shadow. And Elektra.

I guess I'm a bit of a SInk stan.

Demon Bear is the one ish of New Mutants I've read that, without seeing again, I'd be certain I could recommend to someone as ace (nb I am allergic to claremont generally)

underrated sienkiewicz comics - his moby dick adaptation,

lent this to someone in 94 and never got it back, have now become ;_; about it for the first time

the first six issues of the Shadow w/ Helfer,

absolutely, but justly outshone by the subsequent issues by Baker (also iirc the colourist didn't rly know what to do with him. should reread!)

his half of the brought to light gn

an amazing piece overall, but I can give forks this one on the illustration front - one could argue it strongly as being more like political cartoons than comics/cartooning/storytelling

I have that Moby Dick adaptation too! Quite good.

I realize the work I go back to most often is the Bill Sienkiewicz Sketchbook that Fantagraphics published back in1990.

The latest:

http://i1158.photobucket.com/albums/p615/mrpaulisaacs/stringknees.jpg

wow

that computer lettering really lets the entire tone down, imagine it with Gaspar Saladino

I can't imagine a context that would make that set of panels make any more sense

Adams' Batman: Odyssey = Loutallica's Lulu?

Way better than Lulu

^^^

WHAT"S A HENWAY?

About four pounds?

you scared the string out of my knees!

SWOOSH!

http://www.comicsbeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/530036_10150980554384152_577369151_13100274_1150568266_n.jpg

Batman is nice?!

yeah, lol, batman is a textbook jerk

third cirle oughtta be "rich", not "nice"

http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj242/donaldparsley/batmandiagram.png

circles from memebase intersect at supes, obv

the intersections of handsome and smart are loser? i question this diagram's accuracy

yeah, handsome smart & poor = loser, in comparison to the batman pool

sorry for the lack of Adams content but I am lolling at the fanboy furor this is going to spark (it's already brewing in the comments): http://whatculture.com/comics/grant-morrison-says-batman-is-very-very-gay.php

His comments almost seem Kevin Smith-esque in terms of its nature as cultural deconstruction/social commentary but he has neither the insight or humor that Kev has.

these comments have gotten off to a great start

I don't think these guys are getting the diff between "this character is written as a homosexual" and "the life this character is portrayed as living is la vida loca"

comic book fanboys not understanding nuance? GET OUT

I know, I keep expecting them to want to read things for reasons other than "Batman is really cool and likes to punch stuff"

i think people are also tripping cuz morrison has certainly done MORE fucked up things with batman then reimagining him as a gay man and OMIGOD IF HE MAKES IT CANON WHATEVER WILL WE DO

Blame Morrison for saying Batman has a gay context. Go to store and buy more Batman: Odyssey

A dramatic read-along, complete with sound effects and background music, of BATMAN ODYSSEY:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YJHCekr8CE

They've done a couple of issues thus far. So good.

gonna definitely have to set aside some time for this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZlqupV2p7I

i woke my girl up last night laughing hysterically while rereading Batman Odyssey
such an octopus of a thing

Hi all, long time no etc. I did a thing that may appeal (exclusively) to members of this board (circa 2004-06). http://emmetmatheson.blogspot.ca/2014/07/richard-meltzer-imagines-batman.html

can someone recommend a decent batman graphic novel from the last 10 years? i think the last batman i bought was dark knight strikes again...

Nobody suggest Batman Odyssey ffs.