Neal Adam's Batman Odyssey

[theMan-Bat]

Frank Miller wasn't the first ever to have a flying Batmobile. He was the first in the modern era. There was a flying Batmobile in the Silver Age. The first flying Batmobile ever was in Detective Comics #351 (1966) "The Cluemaster's Topsy-Turvy Crimes!" written by Gardner Fox, art by Carmine Infantino. Batman and Robin had equipped the Batmobile with a new "hydrofoil attachment" and rear-end propeller that enable the vehicle to travel over land and water on a cushion of compressed air. Yeah, there was a flying Batcave in the Silver Age in Detective Comics #186 (1952) "The Flying Bat-Cave!" written by David Vern, art by Lew Sayre Schwartz, and Detective Comics #317 (1963) "The Secrets of the Flying Bat-Cave!".

 

[Blitzkrieg Bop]

The flying Batmobile going through a Lexcorp building was pretty awkward, considering 9-11 happened at around the same time that issue was released.

 

[theMan-Bat]

Yeah, that was right before 9-11 when Miller drew that and Batman says "Striking terror. Best part of the job." Frank Miller lives in New York City, in Hells Kitchen.

Frank Miller: 9/11 happened, and I had just run a flying Batmobile into a skyscraper and blown up downtown Metropolis. I hit the bricks.
When he said, “Striking terror. Best part of the job,” that was before the attacks. Then I was stuck with it. Because DC left it up to me whether the book would be changed, because the parallels are just creepy. I decided to write my way out of it. That whole period of time in this city… it was the flock of war. There were fighter planes flying over my home. Of course, every time I heard a plane, you know what I thought. So it was a very tough time to make those kinds of decisions.
I long ago determined that a character like Batman can only be defined as a terrorist if his motto is striking terror. I didn’t want to dodge it and also, I wanted Batman to creep you out. That I wanted from the start.
http://www.4thletter.net/2009/04/sons-of-dkr-frank-miller-x-tcj/

 

[C. Lee]

As we've seen, he obviously used guns but he is also morally against guns, and tremendously psychologically against guns.

Neal Adams: People looked at some of the first illustrations I did on this comic, and they saw that Batman had guns in his hands, and they said, "Aaah! Batman has guns? How can Neal do that? It's outrageous! He's going to ruin Batman!"
Now, I wish I could go to them and tap them on the shoulder and say, "No, Batman did, in the history of Batman, have guns in his hand, but within a very short time, he got rid of them. So has it ever occurred to you why he did that? Why he got rid of them?" I would think, probably, the reason he had guns in his hands when he was starting out is because he thought that's what crime fighters did, which is very logical and sensible. So then the next question would be, could he effectively use them? And I don't think he could, because his parents were killed with a gun. Even if he were morally against it, which we all believe, wouldn't he be tremendously psychologically against it? http://www.newsarama.com/comics/neal-adams-batman-odyssey-100409.html

There isn't just one version of Batman. There are radically different versions of Batman with radically different aspects of character. The guns and killing were censored out of the New Earth DCU version of Batman's history. This Odyssey Batman is obviously a different version of Batman, obviously closer and more authentic to the original Batman creators Bill Finger and Bob Kane created who used guns.

The guns here shouldn't concern you unless you can only acknowledge and accept and enjoy one version of Batman, the New Earth DCU Bruce Wayne Grant Morrison is writing, and if that's the case then you are not likely to enjoy Neal Adams' Batman: Odyssey.

Another thing to consider...

Batman was created during the height of the PULP magazine era....all the crime fighters were depicted with guns blazing (preferrably two guns) and were killing criminals right and left. The only main exception to this was Doc Savage....his character was written in the first 5 books killing criminals who deserved it....and then for the next 176 original books he decided to never again purposefully take a life, and tried to capture and turn as many over to the authorities as he could (many of course did wind up dead due thier actions). So there was a precedent for a hero using guns and killing criminals that most likely would have wound up in the gas chamber anyway...and then deciding to change his tactics and try to be more lenient.

 

[Drz]

Neal Adams was genorous enough to share a nice colored page from Odyssey:

What more can you say except: To the Batmobile!

 

[theMan-Bat]

I like how it has that retractable hardtop and door-area so they can just jump right into their seats without using doors. Neat.

 

[Blitzkrieg Bop]

Robin has pants, thank God.

 

[theMan-Bat]

 

[Bad Superman]

Neal Adams was genorous enough to share a nice colored page from Odyssey:

What more can you say except: To the Batmobile!

I love the art.

 

[Drz]

Pretty cool. Oh yeah and it seems Neal Adams is inking #2. Each issue has a different inkist... Hope they all make the art look as good as it can be!

 

[Drz]

BATMAN: ODYSSEY #3
Written by NEAL ADAMS
Art and cover by NEAL ADAMS
1:25 Sketch variant cover by NEAL ADAMS
Batman legend Neal Adams returns to The Dark Knight! In the third chapter of Adams’s epic Batman tale, Bruce Wayne and Alfred strategize the next steps on The Dark Knight’s odyssey…but appearances by both The Riddler and Talia al Ghul might spoil their plans!
Retailers please note: This issue will ship with two covers. Please see the Previews Order Form for more information.
On sale SEPTEMBER 1 • 3 of 6 • 40 pg, FC $3.99 US

Talia!

 

[Drz]

http://nealadamsblog.blogspot.com/

O-KAY! Comics. So Batman gets thrown off the T-REX! No, that was last issue.

Let’s see,….I just finished the preliminary Martial Arts battle between Batman and ………. And witnesses ‘think’ The Batman has won. Only two people know the truth.

Something else that’s NOT KNOWN is that Robin has entered the underworld, against Batman’s direct orders. (Who will pull the safety line now, if it’s needed?) This is not looking good.

Batman’s resolve to never use guns, and never to kill, has been tested and tested, again and again. THIS however, could be bloody and mortal war. Will Batman just walk away? What then of Talia? And Tat? Who? O-kay, it IS 12 issues, and covers a lot. Next blog, I’ll focus on the specific-next-to-be-published book.

 

[Drz]

Batman Odyssey #1 preview!

It’s finally here. Legendary Batman artist Neal Adams returns to Gotham with the first issue of two six-part mini-series. In the story, Batman faces a series of seemingly unrelated challenges as villains and allies old and new push him to his limits. And after Batman discovers a dark and dangerous matrix being superimposed over his life, what must he do to escape? Get a few clues below, and pick up the first issue, which hits tomorrow.

 

[theMan-Bat]

Preview pages with the dialogue!

 

[Cobblepot]

I've just finished #1, and I don't know what to think of it. So far it's a mediocre story with Batman over explaining the obvious like he did in the 70's.
For example when he's climbing up the traincart, he thinks "Could've waited on drawing the gun. Now I have to climb with one hand...stupid"

Batman doesn't think like that, and these first three pages could have easily not been inserted. I mean look at his mask...

Not to mention what he did to Man-Bat.

 

[GlasgowBat]

Batman seems slightly out of character, and the dialogue is really poor.

Also, the bigger man-bat is just....no thanks.

but it was ok i guess. I'll get the next issue, seeing as this didn't reveal enough about the story to truly judge the plot.

 

[theMan-Bat]

when he's climbing up the traincart, he thinks "Could've waited on drawing the gun. Now I have to climb with one hand...stupid"

Batman doesn't think like that, and these first three pages could have easily not been inserted. I mean look at his mask...

Batman doesn't think like that and make errors like that now, because now he's a professional. The first pages is a flashback to the very beginning of Batman's crime-fighting career where he's wearing a early amateurish version of the costume, not Batman currently.

 

[CrimsonMist]

So I thought the issue was pretty cool. The artwork was fabulous, but the writing seemed a bit choppy and a little stilted. The whole thing with Batman yelling at Man-Bat confused me, and the overall read of the entire issue left me feeling like I missed something. Hopefully it's cleared up in the next batch of issues.

But I did appreciate the length of the read. It didn't take 30 seconds to read.

Also, did anyone else have a giant streak of pink ink running down page 22? The page where the batmobile turns into the boat?

 

[Cobblepot]

Batman doesn't think like that and make errors like that now, because now he's a professional. The first pages is a flashback to the very beginning of Batman's crime-fighting career where he's wearing a early amateurish version of the costume, not Batman currently.

I knew someone was going to mention this, still he sounds ridiculous and he never wore a suit that was that amateurish in other first year books. Neal is just taking this thing a bit to far.

 

[CrimsonMist]

I knew someone was going to mention this, still he sounds ridiculous and he never wore a suit that was that amateurish in other first year books. Neal is just taking this thing a bit to far.

It makes sense though. Even in Year One, Batman isn't prepared for some things and he gets pretty beat up. The suit is kinda goofy only in the cowl. It works. Worry about the story.

Besides, I have a feeling that we're gonna see similar stuff in that Batman: Earth One book, which everyone will probably praise, while piss and moan about Batman's flappy ears in this book.

Anyways, was anyone else still confused as to what that weird white cowl thing Bruce was wearing was? Something to put under the cowl to keep it stiff? And was anyone else kinda disjointed when you first see Dick, he's in a t-shirt and then the next time after that he's all of a sudden in his Robin costume?(actually, on second look, you can see him finishing putting his boot on, to show that time passed...but still.)

also, kinda bummed that Dick Giordano died. It would have been cool to see him ink Adams one last time.

 

[theMan-Bat]

I knew someone was going to mention this, still he sounds ridiculous and he never wore a suit that was that amateurish in other first year books. Neal is just taking this thing a bit to far.

Not too far for me at all. Neal portrayed Bruce believably as an inexperienced amateur and it's believable that he would have worn a flawed amateurish version of the costume originally and made a lot of mistakes when he was just starting out.
The characterization is perfect. Batman upset that Kirk took the formula again and came to the cave in Man-Bat form after all the times Kirk as Man-Bat has had trouble controlling himself.

 

[Drz]

I loved the first issue. Dialogue was good enough for me, but nothing special. Loved all the art, characters and pacing. The other Man-Bat was a brand new character, right? Still very cool stuff happening! Next issue will have AQUAMAN!

It's refreshing to see a harsher more violent Batman too, whos not too overly kind to people such as Man-Bat, and i did like Adams' take on Batman's first night. He was amateurish BUT lucky, just like in Year One.

 

[JTStarkiller]

I was also less impressed with this issue than I was hoping. I'll probably give it another issue or two to pick up, but just realizing this will be two miniseries (I thought it was only going to be six issues) makes me less interested. 12 issues is 50 bucks.

 

[That-Guy]

I read this last night... interesting but I'm not sure what to make of it. The beginning is confusing. It starts out with Batman talking to someone, beginning his narration of the story. We know that he's not talking to Dick, because he mentions Dick in the third person. Yet, later, as he is continuing his narration of the story, he IS talking to Dick, who is wearing Tim's costume (which I have no problem with, because I hate the original Robin suit). I thought this was Tim until Batman starts talking internally about how "this was the last time I saw Dick in his element" or something.

The Man-Bat stuff is confusing too... was the larger Man-Bat actually Ra's?

Anyway, I think Neal Adams was the guy who said Batman Begins was the best interpretation of Batman in any medium, so I guess that's why decided to model his new Bruce Wayne design on Christian Bale. It's a nice touch, because I often get annoyed how most artist just make Bruce look like a Clark Kent clone with more sinister eyebrows.

 

[Drz]

Neal Adams posted a blog post regarding #1:

Book 1 of Batman Odyssey, is at your stores now. I did a signing at Mid-Town Comics today Saturday, a few hundred people came.

Most had more than one copy. Heck, most had more than three copies. We talked about all the clues and delayed fuses that were set in Book 1.

1. Who was the new Manbat? Clues are everywhere.
2. Why did Batman say, "We will face this Riddler?" Why did he phrase it that way?
3. Why has Batman chosen to go to the Piers, instead of the Mint? Was there something in Riddler's poem/riddle, that we didn't get?
4. Why does Batman say, that his story begins on his very first case?

These and other mysteries, will have to be cleared-up. But here's an interesting gag in the first book, that only one person on the signature line, picked-up on. If you flip the cover up and down to page one, you'll quickly see Batman's identity.

Now this one is between you, me, and the fencepost. Way back in the day, Ras Al Ghul greeted Batman in the Batcave, and revealed he knew Batman's secret identity, which apparently, he did. I would argue this. There's absolutely no way, that after all the hundreds of attempts, that even a brain like Ras Al Ghul, could figure-out Batman's secret identity. I just don't believe it. But let's take the high road, and assume he could figure it out. Would he also somehow, have the ability to figure-out how to get into the Batcave? When in fact, there woud be no reason to suspect that such a thing as a Batcave actually existed. I don't buy it for one minute, and yet, there he was, with Ubu, big as life, standing in the Batcave. Totally wrong. So how did he get there?

One more little question. Who is Bok?

Guys and Gals. This story lays down clues to what you're going to discover, like the first episode of "Lost". As you read the 12 issues of Batman Odyssey, you will see what I mean. Welcome to my adventure.

http://nealadamsblog.blogspot.com/