This is the first issue of Biljo White’s classic 1964 fanzine devoted entirely to the Caped Crusader. An interesting look back at where Batman fans’ heads were at prior to the 1966 TV show, Denny O’Neil & Neal Adams, and Frank Miller.
Batmania #1
This is the first issue of Biljo White’s classic 1964 fanzine devoted entirely to the Caped Crusader. An interesting look back at where Batman fans’ heads were at prior to the 1966 TV show, Denny O’Neil & Neal Adams, and Frank Miller.
Biljo White’s art looks as good as art I’ve seen from some established pros, and I’ve often wondered why he never got an opportunity at the “major league” level. Was he a good artist but not a good storyteller? Or was it racism on someone’s part?
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Bill was a fireman by vocation. Don’t know that he ever really tried to crack the industry. And it wouldn’t have been racism—you may be confusing him with Grass Green.
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That moody Batcave illo on the final page is pretty nice. Even in 1964 it seems there was some yearning for the return of dark and grim Batman!
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Thanks for taking the time to reply, Tom.
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Weird that White knows Kane wasn’t drawing the comic in the mid-Forties, but doesn’t realize that the pencils were being ghosted after that despite all the art style changes he notices.
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Thanks for this! A completely fascinating “time capsule” of comics fandom of the “new look” era of Batman.
But can someone explain what’s going on in Russ Manning’s loving tribute to Jesse Marsh (and it *is* Jesse Marsh, isn’t it? Thank you GCD!) and why he does not mention the artist by name? In the course of the article we learn all sorts of amazing trivia about other writers and artists of the era and a fair amount about JM himself (influenced by Ingres – got it!) so why is Manning playing coy here by omitting his name? Thanks to Wikigoolepedia, I learned that Manning succeeded Marsh on Tarzan in 1965, so was there some professional consideration at play?
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(Sorry for all the extra quotation marks BTW. I must be reading too many Kirby New Gods comics or something!)
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