Batman is one of my favorite costumed heroes. He was the only reason I would watch the Super-Friends.
I had been toying around with doing an illustration of
the Bat-Man for a while now. Ever since I started doing pen and ink work exclusively in 2000. The inspiration started again when I was looking at Andy Fish's Batman art for the upcoming
Bat-Man 1939. Which is going to be off the hook!!
I suppose I was going for a
Sons of the Silent Age style Bat-Man. I suppose if Douglas Fairbanks was going to star in a Bat-Man film, this is the way it would look in my mind. But a great deal of the influence came from the stiff wings of the first Batman story as well as the two Tim Burton films.
But I was also greatly influenced by the costume from the Batman serials of the 1940's. Yeah, they're awful. But I like them. And I like the whole idea of Batman looking like just a man in a costume.
Most Batman fans know that his costume is pretty much bulletproof and flame retardant and everything else. But I liked the concept of Bat-Man
appearing human and having to rely on his own wits to get him out of a situation.
I also wanted to give the impression of the costume being made out of some sort of army canvas. I had gotten the chance to wear my Grandfather's army jacket a while back and I thought about how heavy the material made it feel. So, I kept that in mind when I was creating his wings and even his costume.
I also wanted to make the costume less of a form fitting leotard and more of a uniform. Hence the
army canvas look.
Despite having no super powers, Batman has proven over the years NOTHING can kill him. None of his villains have succeeded in killing him.
And even Joel Schumacher two crappy Batman movies couldn't kill him!!
