Dynamic Duo Archives/New Look '60s Batman

[Slash Man]

I've been skipping around in Batman's history from his beginnings to the modern age, so this was one influential era I've been meaning to cover - essentially the midway point. Sadly, there's not much for graphic novel coverage, but one of my comic book shops has the DC Archives for it (well, a grand total of all two volumes that were ever printed). For some reason I've been seeing an influx of those old hardcover editions re-appearing in comic book shops, but I digress.

These collections are interesting in that they combine both the ongoing Batman and Detective Comics lines into one book; they separated the Golden Age lines into Detective Comics, Batman, and World's Finest despite all the lines sharing the same talent and continuing the same stories. On the contrary, I think this New Look era is where lines started to truly diverge and do their own thing (World's Finest had since turned into a team-up book).

I was immediately surprised by how well the rebranding aged. They jumped right into things with Detective Comics #327 putting Batman and Robin into a new case without getting bogged down explaining any visual/tonal changes. John Broome crafts a smart and concise detective story in the limited space he's allotted. I compare this favorably to one of my other recent reads, the Silver Age Teen Titans, which was very much of its time in the 60s. New Look Batman brings back a timeless quality to our hero. He's not campy or dark and gritty, he's just grounded. These are the lessons that should be gained when looking to bring Batman "back to his roots" (as has been attempted many times since).

The art is of course just as notable as the tonal shift in writing. Carmine Infantino's penicils create a more realistic depiction to align with the writing. He plays up the dashing and attractive elements in his leads. Batman gets his yellow oval, but his facial structure also changes to size down his jawline. Some changes that didn't seem to stick from the redesign were shortening the mask to expose more of Batman's nose, shortening the ears, and moving them to the back of Batman's head. You'll probably notice these changes were all directly implemented in the Batman TV show. this isn't he final step for the modern Batman's design, but one significant step forward after more than two decades of a consistent design and style.

Infantino also gets credit for redesigning Robin, but it's not nearly as pronounced as Batman. It's really the matter of aging him up. Even as Robin became a teenager nearly two decades earlier, he still had the same design as when he was a young child.

Something not discussed nearly as much is that Batman's original team still had a presence in this era on the Batman books; that being Bob Kane's studio, and Bill Finger and other writers. They still craft solid stories, but they still carry the 40s writing and art style with them. It's not as fresh and exciting as what's going on in the Detective Comics world. I'm a little biased because I prefer the more modern pacing of Broome's stories. Though there will always be a place for Finger's charming Batman stories (it's not like he helped create the character or anything ). The editorial changes were also evenly distributed, where this team saw the debut of other major changes, like the new Batmobile, new Batcave, death of Alfred, and arrival of Aunt Harriet.

The Batman stories still carry the distinctive Kane style; the compromise was that Joe Giella would ink both lines for consistency, but you can tell many changes are an afterthought. Batman's seemingly drawn with his original chest emblem, which means the yellow oval needs to be larger and lower on his chest to accommodate it. His face also appears to be retouched in closeups to implement some of the mask and chin changes.

I hope to see this era expanded on in the future. When it comes to reprints, there is no way that there will be one continuous collection of Batman comics; they've started and stopped too many attempts at cataloging the Golden Age comics. The best practice is to start with a new editorial era like this.

[thecolorsblend]

Good thread. I've always had a soft spot for the New Look Batman. I've always regarded the New Look era as Batman's true entry into the Silver Age. The modern (for the time) visuals breathed some much needed new life into the character. Considering the competition that Marvel was giving to DC, updating the art was long overdue. Parts of Detective Comics #327 look like they could've been drawn by Ditko rather than Infantino.

As you say, the emphasis on detective stories over sci-fi alien zoos was a pretty big change of pace. In fact, I've always been curious what direction the New Look era would've gone in had the TV show never debuted. Because it is true that the TV show did somewhat derail the New Look era.

The year or so of Batman and Detective issues after the end of the TV series feature the New Look being revisited and taken in a slightly darker direction. It's a pretty underrated (but brief) era of the character.

[Slash Man]

Indeed, the Silver Age varied for each individual character that was carrying over from the Golden Age; it's nice to be able to pinpoint exactly where Batman made that change.

It's funny that this rebranding is credited as bringing Batman back to his roots, as was the O'Neil/Adams/early 70s Batman. That's only about five years apart; the show really had a profound impact on the comics after it already found new success.

The more I look at it, the more it seems like a tug of war between the Detective Comics and the Batman interpretations. The early success of Detective Comics was followed by the show giving Kane's team on Batman taking the lead. Then by the 70s, New Look Batman of Detective Comics ultimately won out.