May, 1939 The Batman! (The Case of the Chemical Syndicate)

Going into this issue of Batman I had read that Bill Finger was influenced by Walter B. Gibson's issue of The Shadow "The Partners of Peril" and I knew that the premise was the same, but I didn't assume that the comic would be a sparknotes of the fiction. There isn't much to say for the writing. Some of the dialogue indicates, not trusting the images enough, but its fine.

Today in my storyboarding class the professor recommended keeping a bible of every day things, anything that is interesting. Floor patterns, furniture, etc. I had heard this before, from I think it was the Art Crumb documentary Crumb, in which the famous cartoonist goes through Polaroids he's kept of telephone poles and buildings.

With this in mind I went back through the batman comics, and I noticed that there aren't telephone poles or even much detail in the background.

Most of the backgrounds in the comic are different gradients. I didn't notice the flat space this created, or the lack of background detail while I was reading it, but it works, its something I didn't really think of before. Which makes the items in the room more prop like. The details all do set the tone, and aren't ever in excess in the frame. The technology is very period, and each of the suits has excellent, and different texture.

The negative space is lighter than the filled space, which has a darker grade.