Batman: The Animated Series "Legends of the Dark Knight" Cel!

Presented here is a special lot for Batman fans everywhere, featuring an elderly and battle-hardened Batman who has only one question for the mutant thug in this original hand-painted cel setup with a matching animation drawing, signed by director Dan Riba, the location of his leader. Originally aired almost 30 years ago on 10/10/1998 as Episode 6 of Season 2, this episode sees three children in Gotham City tell their own distinct tales of the Caped Crusader which pays homage to various incarnations of Batman throughout his comic history. The seminal 1986 four-issue comic book miniseries The Dark Knight Returns was a real gamechanger not only in Batman's world but for the comics industry as well, and this Frank Miller comic heavily inspired this segment of the episode from The New Batman Adventures. The episode title is based off the 1989 comic series Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight, which was the third major monthly Batman title following the popularity of Tim Burton's 1989 film Batman. Batman's close-up can be seen at the 10:59 timestamp of the episode. Batman's cel image, measuring approximately 10.25" x 7.5", is displayed with archival tape over an archival print background for presentation purposes. The matching studio print with additional hand-drawn features (eyes and mouth) measures slightly larger at 10.5" x 8" with only the eyes and mouth rendered in graphite. Both items are signed by Dan Riba in the lower right corner, who not only directed this iconic episode, but directed several episodes from other DC animated properties. Purchased at Heritage Auctions.