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In the newest Comic Book Legends Revealed, uncover whether or not DC truly knew that Bob Kane stopped drawing Batman comics books interval by the Sixties
Welcome to Comic Book Legends Revealed! This is the eight hundred and fifty-second installment the place we study three comic book legends and decide whether or not they’re true or false. As normal, there can be three posts, one for every of the three legends. Click right here for the primary legend of this installment.
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COMIC LEGEND:
DC knew that Bob Kane had stopped drawing Batman comedian books all collectively by the Sixties.
STATUS:
I’m Going With False
When it involves the story of Bob Kane and his ghost artists on Batman, there may be one essential affect that must be taken under consideration. Kane, like virtually the entire authentic creators of the Golden Age of comedian books (guys like Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster, Joe Simon, Jack Kirby, Will Eisner) grew up studying comedian strips and after they have been youngsters, comedian strips have been king (there have been additionally Golden Age creators who drew most of their influences from pulp fiction, as properly, like Bill Finger, Otto Binder, Gardner Fox and extra. Writers tended to be extra influenced by the pulps than the artists). So the DREAM for the early Golden Age comedian e book artists have been to do comedian strips.
And comedian strips had a sure manufacturing unit nature to them. For occasion, whereas we generally flinch on the thought of an artist utilizing a “ghost artist” to attract their comedian e book (particularly one other artist doing work underneath your identify), that was COMMONPLACE on the planet of comedian strips. The artists who DIDN’T use ghosts have been usually greater offers than those who did. Even to this very day, there are a variety of comedian strips which are signed not by their present artist, however with the signature of the strip’s authentic artist (that is truly not as widespread these days, as cartoon readers mainly get the concept dudes who drew strips within the Nineteen Twenties most likely aren’t nonetheless drawing them tofay, however throughout the Nineteen Seventies, it was nonetheless quite common to maintain that fiction alive). Therefore, the concept of ghost artists was simply second nature to guys like Bob Kane and Joe Shuster, et al.
Kane, in fact, was additionally notorious for doing as little authentic artwork as he might (whether or not as a result of he felt it was faster to repeat or if he felt that he wasn’t ok with out it), and his early Batman tales are rife with panels outright copied from different artists. Even this, although, was additionally pretty widespread on the time. Unless you have been Hal Foster or Alex Raymond, you’d steadily copy Hal Foster and Alex Raymond.
In any occasion, Kane legitimately DID draw the early Batman strips, he would simply work with the nice Jerry Robinson and George Roussos, with Roussos drawing backgrounds and coloring the characteristic, and Robinson inking Kane (and for all I do know, Kane might have been doing the loosest of pencils). Eventually, although, as demand for Batman content material elevated, different artists started to attract the comics underneath Kane’s signature. Kane ultimately moved from the comics completely to do the Batman cartoon which, once more, would have been the top for somebody like Kane. When that strip ended, Kane was at a little bit of a loss. He did not actually wish to return to the comedian books, however what else might he do?
Around 1947-48, he labored out a cope with artist Lew Schwartz, the place Kane would draw the Batman and Robin figures in every challenge, whereas Schwartz would draw the remainder of the comedian, and Schwartz would then ink the entire thing, however it could be introduced to DC as being executed by Kane, since Kane had a cope with DC the place he would do X quantity of pages a month. Eventually, Schwartz was changed by Sheldon Moldoff in 1953, by which level, Kane stopped doing any of the paintings. Moldoff, amusingly, would additionally work for DC, and infrequently could be employed to ink the pencils of “Kane,” which have been, in fact, drawn by him.
The query, although, turns into “Did DC KNOW Kane wasn’t drawing the comics anymore?”
Moldoff believed that they didn’t, however it’s clearly a difficult query. A lot of DC staff claimed that they knew for certain, whereas some mentioned that they did not know in any respect. Mark Evanier requested DC editor George Kashdan about it, and I believe that this was the very best tackle the entire thing, “No one thought Kane did all of it and even most of it. But Kane had this contract and it was simpler to only do ‘Don’t ask, do not inform.’ As lengthy because the pages got here in on time, which they virtually at all times did, nobody cared. I assume we figured Shelly was doing a few of it and weren’t shocked to listen to he was doing all of it.”
That, to me, feels like the reality of the matter. DC’s editors clearly felt that Kane was utilizing assistants to do many of the work, however it was uncommon for an artist to have NO involvement within the work like Kane did by the top of the Nineteen Fifties, so I believe that the truth that Kane wasn’t drawing the comics at ALL was nonetheless a shock to DC, even Julius Schwartz, who took over as Batman editor in 1964 and made Kane’s life annoying sufficient that Kane ultimatley simply “retired,” doubted Kane’s expertise as an artist, however nonetheless believed Kane had SOME involvement within the artwork. But that is a relatively amusing story for an additional day!
CHECK OUT A MOVIE LEGENDS REVEALED!
In the newest Movie Legends Revealed – See how a cigarette firm truly had some kind of artistic management of the plot of Superman II!
PART THREE SOON!
Check again quickly for half 3 of this installment’s legends!
Feel free to ship strategies for future comedian legends to me at both cronb01@aol.com or brianc@cbr.com
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