Batman Family 15 page 2 by Michael Golden

I write it every year because it is true, no –b-day update on my CAF Gallery would be complete without a Michael Golden addition.

This is page 2 from the Man-Bat story from Batman Family 15 (not page 2 of the issue itself).

I have a tendency of loving monster-like characters and Man-Bat is no exception probably due to the great work of Adams, Rogers, Newton, Henry and obviously Golden on the character.

An early effort by Michael in which he inked himself. And even though he would get much much better than his early days, the signs of greatness were already quite present in his work.

Note the attention to the body language of the two characters through the pages.

When Man-Bat dives on his opponent in the first panel, swerves in the second and later soars in the sky again, you actually feel like he is flying. See for instance how Michael, contrary to most artists drawing flying characters, will avoid joining legs and feet against each other. And why should they? To look more dynamic? Michael’s way is more realistic in my humble opinion.

Same thing with the body language of the guy with the baseball bat. How he readies himself to hit in the first panel, gets lifted in the air by the hero in the second, his position on the ground after having fell or avoiding the bouncing bat (the weaker panel of the page I would say).

I also love how Michael inked Man-Bat’s eyes to make him look more ominous or monstrous.

The shadows are discreet throughout the whole page but intelligently used. Their use in the second panel informs us for the first time that the action is happening during the night (as in Bat obviously) and in the last panel, the tops of the buildings on each side of the street create a corridor for the reader’s eye that showcases the main figure of Man-Bat.

All these details, whether conscious or not from Michael’s part, are proofs of a great and natural storyteller at work.

Plus the before last panel features the long lost art of zipatone!

This is part 4 of my 2018 CAF B-Day celebration.