When I picked up the first issue of Marshall Rogers' all-too-brief run, with writer Steve Englehart, on Detective Comics in 1977, it was readily apparent -- even to little 12-year-old me -- that this was something special.
I wasn't really of comics-reading age when Neal Adams made his debut, proving a visual reinterpretation-reinvention of Batman, taking the character back to his Dark Knight roots. I imagine that, when it comes to making an impact, Rogers was my age group's Adams.
Yes, like pretty much every Batman artist that came after, Rogers was inspired by Adams' take on the character. But Rogers sharpened the edges, laid on the noir and paid overt tribute to Golden Age Bat-artist such as Jerry Robinson and Dick Sprang.
Moreso than dark, Neal Adams' version of Batman was "real." You were made to believe that this was a real guy in a batsuit. He could get hurt. The only thing between him and death was a thin layer of spandex and his own courage.
Marshall Rogers' Batman was less real and more comic-booky, but dark. He looked like he stepped out of a really good, scary 1930s movie serial. Rogers' villains were super spooky and weird, too. His version of the Joker is terrifying, as is his Hugo Strange, a character derived from the Golden Age of the Batman series.
Rogers trained as an architect, and it shows in his captivating page and panel designs; the long, pointed ears of his distinctive take on Batman's cowl; Batman's long, swooping cape, and the imaginative ways he graphically incorporated text and sound effects lettering into his drawings.
The Englehart-Rogers run on Detective lasted only five issues but is rightfully regarded as one of the highpoints of Batman's adventures in comics. The pair reunited, less successfully for Batman: Dark Detective in 2005. Rogers also had memorable, but brief, runs on Marvel's Doctor Strange and Silver Surfer. He's one of those artists I wish had been able to produce more work, particularly on Batman. He passed away, all too early, at age 57 in 2007.
All of Rogers' Batman work is collected in "Legends of the Dark Knight: Marshall Rogers," published last year.
Here's a look at some of his great work on Batman.
Your explanation of their styles illustrates why - good as Rogers is - I've always preferred Neal Adams' work on the Batman character. Adams' reality was the perfect counter to the still-then recent TV show (which I still live) and, as you said, made the character believable. Rogers' work was indeed great, but at the same time it helped to usher in a preoccupation with darkness that has culminated in the crap DC is producing today and in the Christian Bale cinematic versions which I loathe with a purple passion.
ReplyDeleteI see your point, but distinguish the Englehart/Rogers brand of darkness from the Frank Miller-type darkness that came later.
ReplyDeleteIn my mind, Englehart/Rogers drew on the dark atmosphere of the early Golden Age Batman stories -- things like the first Joker story with art by Jerry Robinson, etc.
Miller, in my opinion went over-the-top, dehumanizing Batman and going dark for the sake of provocation and sensationalism.
That wasn't the dark, realistic Batman of Englehart/Rogers or O'Neil/Adams, but almost a parody of it.