Best of 2025 :: Published/Unpublished Comic Book Splashes, Title Pages

The Bat-Man: First Knight #3 p.36

Owner: Ruben DaCollector
Artist: Mike Perkins (All)

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The Bat-Man: First Knight #3 p.36 - Color

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Artwork Details

Title:	The Bat-Man: First Knight #3 p.36
Artist:	Mike Perkins (All)
Media Type:	Pen and Ink
Art Type:	Splash Page
Views:	973
Likes on CAF:	42 43
Added to Site:	1/14/2025

Description

This page comes from a project which, as difficult to imagine as it might be, surpassed even Perkins' work on The Swamp Thing as the high point of his career so far. As a lifelong fan of vintage Americana, the sights and sounds of America from the 1920's to the 1960's has always been of high, personal interest to me, so when DC accepted the Jurgens/Perkins pitch for this Bat-Man story set in 1939 at a time very early on in Bruce Wayne's career as a crime fighter, I was absolutely ecstatic. I love the entire aesthetic of the time period, from the hairstyles and fashions to the vehicles and architecture. So as a fan of comic book realism, pairing up this setting with Perkins was a match made in heaven.

A lot has been made of the fact that unlike The Shadow, who preceded and inspired his creation, The Bat-Man never uses a gun. However, any self-proclaimed Bat-Man fan knows that the character HAS in fact carried a gun on a few very rare occasions. There is a wonderful sequence earlier in this issue where Bruce contemplates permanently carrying a gun as part of his arsenal after getting badly beaten up by the Monster Men, but is ultimately convinced not to.

In this scene though, it's not that he was carrying, but simply that he picked it up after his opponent dropped it. I personally love the idea of a vigilante like The Bat-Man carrying a gun, because when you don't have any super powers, you kind of need all the help you can get. That's not to say that I'm a proponent of him carrying and using firearms, but much like The Shadow, it does present a very interesting visual. In the case of this page, I loved not only the fact that it is a very rare interpretation of The Bat-Man with a gun, but specifically that it's a classic 1920's era tommy gun, more formally known as a Thompson submachine gun! What it comes down to is that it's just a really badass looking image of The Bat-Man, dripping with atmosphere so thick you'd have to cut it with a knife. Or perhaps tear it open with a tommy gun?

NOTE: The page measures 16.5" x 21. The bottom panel alone is the size of a standard 11" x 17" Bristol Board sheet turned sideways.

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About the Owner

	Ruben DaCollector ( 1 ) Premium Gallery Owner
Joined:	April 2008
Last Login:	January 2026
Website:	http://www.ComicBookArtGallery.com
Country:	UNITED STATES
On CAF:	Premium Member Q&A Ruben's Classifieds Ruben's Want List Artworks Commented On Liked Art Site Activity on CAF Read More About RubenDaCollector

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