OK, Batman Comic Book Fans from the late 80's & early 90's will totally remember the artwork of Norm Breyfogle. He drew the character from 1987 to 1993. Well, DC Comics is bringing him back for a one-shot called "DC RETROACTIVE: BATMAN, The 90's". Now, don't look for it real soon, it doesn't hit the shops until August 17th, ha! But it should be pretty cool & well worth the wait because they're also bringing back the same Writer from that period, Alan Grant! Both Norm & Alan will revisit a pair of villains closely associated with their original run on The Caped Crusader: The Ventriloquist and Scarface! Released on a technicality one year after being arrested, this bizarre duo is determined to reclaim their status in the upper echelon of Batman’s Rogues Gallery. This “lost tale” of the era spins directly out of DETECTIVE COMICS #613, reprinted in this issue!
In the 1990's it was a great time to be a Batman Toy collector. I mean, you had all the movies going on, and then on TV, you also had the wonderful Animated Series Cartoon. Shown here are a few cool toys & 90's memorabilia pieces picked totally at random. The 1st item is a very RARE 1992 BATMAN RETURNS Ralston Cereal Store Display Sign. Kids would have seen this at the Grocery Store & then start begging Mom, ha! I really like the graphics on this thing. Speaking of the cereal, the next pic shows a few BATMAN RETURNS Cereal Box Premiums that were available FREE inside the boxes! These are 3-D Flicker Bookmarks, meaning, you tilt them & the pictures change from one image to the other. There were 3 of them in the complete set: Catwoman, Batman, and The Penguin. Now the next photo sort of gets away from the movies for a minute. This is a Plush Batman Doll from 1994 ( 16" Tall ) that was tied-into "The Adventures of Batman and Robin" Animated TV Series. I love the old cartoon logo & the packaging is interesting with the "open box" design. Last, but not least, is a RARE 1997 BATMAN AND ROBIN Movie Store Display Sign from Taco Bell. It advertised the contest they had going on their Pepsi Drink products. Well, does any of these items bring back any memories? I know back then I was totally about the cereal, ha ha!
I have a friend named Doug who sent us these 2 amazing pics of some Vintage BATMAN Playing Cards that have totally wonderful graphics. In fact I think most of the comic book-style artwork was done by Jose Luis Garcia Lopez, a Bat-Fan Favorite ( Be sure to click on the 2nd pic to enjoy the art ). They were made in 1991 by a company called CROMY & they were made for countries like Argentina. So, they're kinda hard to find here in the USA. Thanks Doug, these are great!
OK, I know Halloween is over but the Batman Costume Photos are ALWAYS a total joy to see all year round! Plus, 2 different Bat-Blog Readers just sent these in & they're so neat I have to share them. The 1st photo is from a very proud parent named Jim. These 2 Caped Crusaders are his sons & the costumes were homemade by his Wife ( she did a great job ). The picture was taken back in 1993 & these kids are now young adults going to college. The next photo is pretty funny! This is our friend Jeff & he dressed-up as the Dark Knight last Halloween to hand out candy at his house. He said he was kinda shocked that a lot of little kids were totally scared of Batman. Well, he does sort of look like a Giant-Bat, ha ha! But he said that most of them had fun & overall, it was a great experience, that cool. Thanks to both Jim & Jeff for sending these fun pics, I really appreciate that. I want to invite all Bat-Blog Fans to do the same!
I just realized last night that I have not featured one of these wonderful Model kits in awhile so here we GO! Shown here, for your viewing pleasure, is this extremely beautiful Vinyl Model Kit of THE PENGUIN made by our good friend SKINNYBIRD. Of course it's the "Danny DeVito version" from Tim Burton's Classic 1992 Film BATMAN RETURNS. One photo is a full-body shot where you see the whole thing but the magic really happens in the other photo that is a close-up of the character's face. I think he did an amazing job on the painting of the face. Actually, the whole thing is painted extremely well, but with these kind of model kits of actual real-life people you really gotta do a good job on the face or they just don't work. This one does, looks just like the actor...NICE! If you're new to the Bat-Blog then I guess I need to explain that we have been posting a few of these Batman Models every now & then. A Good Friend to the Bat-Blog, nicknamed "Skinnybird", sent us some great pics awhile back of all the Batman Model kits he has built. To view all the ones posted so far just look down below this post for the LABEL word "Skinnybird" & click on that. It will open all the posts related to his artwork. Last, but not least, I wanna thank Skinnybird for sending these & invite all other creative readers to do the same! Your pics don't have to be models but can be any kind of Batman-related thing, thanks!
Remember the PENGUIN COMMANDOS in the 1992 BATMAN RETURNS movie? I always thought they were extremely cheesy but, also, I do have to admit that they do look kinda cool! These were the animals that the Penguin ( Danny DeVito ) had brainwashed & loaded with weapons to terrorize Gotham City, ha ha! Well, Here are some amazing Vinyl Model kits of them built-up by our friend known as SKINNYBIRD. This guy is pretty talented and has great skill with painting & building models! Every now & then we feature one that he has made. Please be sure to check out the BAT-ARCHIVES for more of them! ( Thanks Skinnybird! )
This was on eBay the other night & I thought it was too cool NOT to post! This is the Original Production Art for the Batman ( Dark Knight Collection, not the last movie ) "Blast Shield"Action Figure made by Kenner. This was a "boxed item" that came out, I think, in 1991. I remember when it was in the stores & I thought the box concept was kinda cool. But even cooler is this original artwork by Dick Giordano because he's such a Comic Book Artist Legend! I would totally love to have this & Christmas is coming up, hint, hint.
I totally like this kid because he's so cool! This photo was sent in to us by a Bat-Blog Reader named Derek. Now, this is not him, but it's his Brother! This photo was taken in the 1990's when his Brother dressed up as Robin ( the 90's Tim Drake version ) for a Hometown Christmas Parade. The outfit is totally & completely AWESOME! When I was a little kid I would have killed to have a Halloween Costume this great, ha ha! Thank you Derek for sending this, I appreciate it a lot & please tell your Brother that he USED to be cool, but you're wondering what happened, ha ha.
Batman, the Dark Knight, has changed a lot since his premier in 1939. This fan-made video is a tribute to see how much Batman has evolved. Basically it's a montage of photos from the different eras, pretty interesting!
I really really love old photos like this! When I saw this one I knew it had to be published here. This little guy is a true Batman Fan! His name is Todd & this photo was taken in 1992. He was 6 years old & look at that priceless expression on his face, he's happy! This looks like a homemade costume & those are usually the best! He told us it was made by his Grandmother & that's really special.Thanks Todd for sharing this great photo. I appreciate that & the costume is way too cool!
Here's a very cool Vintage Batman Toy TV Commercial featuring the 1995 Kenner CRIME SQUAD series! Ohhhhh My God, These Batman & Robin figures had special "rapid deploy techno-capes"! Showcased here are the Land-Strike Batman, Ski-Blast Robin, & Bane, the evil villain, action figures. It also shows the Triple-Attack Bat-Jet with Attack-Drone. I hope you enjoy this wonderful piece of Bat-History. Now go watch the video already! ( Oh yeah, one last thing, at the end of the TV Commercial they attached a DC Comics Company Promo that's pretty cool to see ).
This is the 15 minute "HBO First Look" TV Special that aired before the 1993 release of the movie, "Batman: Mask Of The Phantasm," based on the Emmy Award winning television series, "Batman: The Animated Series," which was originally aired from 1992-1995 and is considered to be the "definitive Batman." I seriously LOVE this movie and never knew HBO did a special about it. It's pretty cool. Here's the complete show, parts 1 & 2...enjoy!
Here's a random photo I found the other night showing artwork by none other than Tim Burton. It shows Batman, Catwoman, & The Penguin like they appeared in his 1992 BATMAN RETURNS movie. I guess besides being a great director, Tim Burton is also a pretty decent artist. The style kinda looks like his Nightmare Before Christmas graphics...cool!
Our friend Guenter, who lives in Germany, recently sent us these photos he took at an outdoor event in 1990. The cute kid is his son who, at the time of the photo, was 5 years old. His name is Meik & it must have been a great experience for him to see the real 1966 Batmobile! In fact, in the last photo, it looks like he's trying to steal it, ha ha! I don't know why, but I love it when people share their personal photos & stories. It really puts a human touch on the whole "Batman Fan" thing. Guenter, Thanks for sending the wonderful photos, I appreciate that. They're great! Readers, be sure to click the above photos for a larger, more detailed, version. Also, be sure to send us some of your favorite pics! The e-mail button is always on the top right-hand side of this blog.
This Vintage 90's TV Toy Commercial is mainly for the WAYNE MANOR / BATCAVE COMMAND CENTER but also features the Batman & Penguin action figures as well. I remember when this was on TV & it's pretty cool to see again!
Remember, we post 2 NEW Batman Wallpapers every Wednesday! For today I thought I would go with a "Vintage Black & White Photo" Theme. Here are 2 really great graphics! The 1st one features 3 original Batmobile Cars: The 1966 Batmobile customized by George Barris for the 1960's TV Series, The 1980's Batmobile from the 1989 Batman Movie, & the 1990's Batmobile from that crappy movie ( Ha Ha! ). Seeing all three cars together is a real treat! Then, in the 2nd Batman Wallpaper is a RARE vintage 60's photograph showing the original Batman creator Bob Kane with Adam West & Frank Gorshin in a special "Behind the Scenes" moment during the 1966 Batman TV Show. We hope you like one, or both, of these & be sure to check the Bat-Blog ARCHIVES for a ton more! Also, please feel free to use them as a background in a Live Journal or MySpace Layout. I guess they could also liven up your PC's desktop, ha ha.
Just in time for Halloween! I opened my e-mails this morning & was pleasantly surprised to find this wonderful photo. It's a very cool kid wearing a nice Batman Costume!! It was sent in by a new friend to the Bat-Blog named David. He wrote, "You asked for pics of Batman costumes. Attached you'll find a picture of my son taken around 1992. The costume is a combination of Batman pajamas with a Batman play set that I bought him. His name is JJ and he was about 4." Ha Ha, WOW! Thanks for the great photo David, it's awesome!! I like the expression on kid's faces when they're wearing these Batman costumes. They always look really super-happy & empowered. They also always "strike a fight pose"...great! This photo was sent in response to asking about people sending their pics in so if you have one please e-mail it today.
