Let's put a smile on that face!

I had to get this Joker concept out of my head. Sort of a cross between Dark Knight and Nightmare Before Christmas in design and keeping along the same theme as my Sons of the Silent Age Bat-Man illustrations.

Which the first illustration of that series is now in the private collection of one Andy Fish.

I also wanted to add the whole Red Hood origin to the illustration because I always liked that origin for the Joker. But with the Red Hood as a remoreless killer and not the failed stand up comic from The Killing Joke.

But I thought Batman: Brave and the Bold put an interesting spin on the concept with their Owlman two parter.

Best Batman Brave and the Bold yet!!

I think the two part Owlman storyline for Batman: The Brave and the Bold has been my favorite episode yet!! Mainly because they finally introduced the Joker to the series.

What I really like about this series is it's heavily influenced by Dick (who probably should have gone by the name Richard) Sprang style of artwork. Years back, I would have probably hated a series like this. Mainly because of how movies like Batman Forever and Batman and Robin's went over the line of campy and really ruined the whole idea of doing a Batman movie until Christopher Nolan finally put the character back of the right track with Batman Begins.

But now I think there's plenty of room for a series that pays it's respect to the more campier style Batman stories of the 1950's and the early 1960's. Because they do it right. I like the fact that the new Batmoblie looks like a cross between the Lincoln Futura from the Adam West series and the one Tim Burton did for his two Batman movies (and even though his name appears as producer of Batman Forever, I don't consider that a Tim Burton film at all).

But if you haven't had the chance to see this weeks episode Game Over for Owlman! I think it will be repeated tonight on Cartoon Network after 6pm. And you can probably check it out on Youtube as well.

I actually really liked how they both designed the Joker and the voice for the Joker. It's exactly how I would imagine the character sounding in some of the stories drawn by Dick (giggle) Sprang.

And Diedrich Bader continues to impress me with his voice of Batman. I would have never in a million years pictured Oswald from the Drew Carey Show and Laurence (the guy with the mullet) from Office Space, doing a Batman voice that blows Christian Bale out of the water.

Although Jeremy Sisto who did Batman on Justice League: The New Frontier did a great job too.

Death of the Batman (came as no surprise)

Andy Fish has written an excellent blog on the recent death of Batman. It's really great and he makes a terrific point:

I agree with Andy. Batman's death is met with a shrug for me. I haven't bought an ongoing series since Strangers in Paradise back in 1999. And the last mainstream series I followed was The New Titans back in probably 1996/1997. I forget.

(Note: remember Boner from Growing Pains? Well, that's who's playing the Joker in the photo above from a fan film Batman: Dead End)

I've said it before but I feel graphic novels are the future of our business. If you look back, the best Batman stories that have been published, apart from the classic tales drawn by such luminaries as Jerry Robinson, Sheldon Moldoff, Dick (giggle) Sprang, Carmine Infantino or Neal Adams, have all been graphic novels. Either as a self-contained story or a short series.

But even in the case of the short series, did you buy Shazam and the Monster Society of Evil as a short series or did you buy it when it was published as a collection? I know I got mine in collected form. Because with a graphic novel you get all the DVD Extras like the artists blog posts about the project, sketches, excerpt from the working script and perhaps an art gallery at the end of the book.

Honestly, I don't care what happens to the characters anymore in an ongoing series. There has been so many continuity changes over the years with both DC and Marvel that the Batman you grew up reading isn't the same character.

Most artists like myself are more lured by the freedom which a graphic novel allows us. You're able to take the character like Batman in a different direction and do more as far as a story is concerned. You're not hampered down with continuity and "Oh you can't use Bruce Wayne as Batman in that story because he's dead, or Bane broke his back, or he's living in Argentina as a taxidermist and gave up being Batman" and so forth.

I feel as though that's been the direction the comic book industry has been moving since Will Eisner wrote A Contract with God in 1978 and it's only a matter of time before the ongoing series as we know it goes the way of the dodo and the graphic novel takes over.

But Batman lives on. You can watch him on the Brave and the Bold on Cartoon Network or any of his cartoon incarnation on DVD, Cartoon Network or Boomerang. See Adam West doing the Batusi on the television series. And see him in The Dark Knight or any of the Batman films that are out. With the exception of Batman Forever and Batman and Robin because the suck. And read him in The Dark Knight Returns, The Killing Joke and Son of the Demon to name a few.

Speaking of which, be sure to purchase Andy Fish's stellar graphic novel Batman: 1939 when it comes out. Bruce Wayne is alive and well in 1939 America. You can click on the pic below to check out Andy's blog. When it is released, THAT'S the place where you can find out where to purchase it:

Batman: Brave and the Bold. Best Batman animated series in a while!!

If you haven't seen Batman: Brave and the Bold just yet, I highly recommend you check it out. It's definitely given me something good to watch while I wait for the Doctor Who Specials to be broadcasted in America.

When I first saw the ad's for the series, I wasn't sure how I was going to take it. But I really like it!!

Especially Diedrich Bader who does the voice for Batman. You might remember him as Drew Carey's goofy friend Oswald from the Drew Carey show or the neighbor with the mullet in Office Space.

His voice is really fits the more Dick Sprang/Sheldon Moldoff of the 1950's and 1960's comic books. He's and Jeremy Sisto (Justice League: New Frontiers) have been the best Batman voices I've heard in a while as far as an animated series is concerned. But I like how the series takes a lighter tone with Batman teaming him up with other superheroes from the DC Universe.

I really enjoyed the last episode which featured R. Lee Ermey (of Mail Call and Full Metal Jacket) as an aged superhero Wildcat. Wildcat became somewhat a precursor to Batman in the post-Crisis DC Universe. The lines R. Lee Ermey spoke as Wildcat had me in stitches. It's definitely my favorite episode in the series thus far apart from the episodes that feature Green Arrow. And the one with Aquaman as a pompous windbag is a hoot as well.

Definitely a series worth checking out if you have nothing to do on a Friday night.