The best month of the year has once again arrived. Seriously, it’s awesome. The weather, at least where I live, is so much more pleasant than any other time of the year. Baseball’s postseason kicks off and, boy, I hope the Hated Yankees lose. (You should, too!) My wife and I celebrate our wedding anniversary. And the best month is capped off by the best holiday – Halloween!
Come on! How could any month be better?
Since the capper is Halloween, it’s my tradition to declare a comic book cover that depicts the macabre as great. So, this October I declare the cover of Batman #453 (Late August 1990) to be great. It was drawn by one of my favorite artists Mike Mignola, with inks by George Pratt.
Mignola is one of those artists who when he first started in the field attempted to conform to a more traditional superhero drawing style. Fortunately, he began to draw the way he wanted to and his work got so much more interesting. At least, to me.
This cover of Batman came out during the later stage of his change over in his style. And it’s great. Batman is best when he’s depicted on the macabre side (Kelley Jones also excelled at the macabre Batman) and Mignola’s deceptively simple line work is on par with David Mazzucchelli’s work on the Batman: Year One storyline from 1987. (A terrific story arc!)
Just look at it! Stark contrast, muted colors, a graveyard with a demon-headed tombstone, the Dark Knight, and the undead! It’s great, I tell ya! Great!
Packing Peanuts!
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Images used under Fair Use.
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“Dark Knight, Dark City” was a good story, as well. Peter Milligan only wrote a few Batman stories, but they were all well done. The interior artwork by Kieron Dwyer is also very effective.