Cover Gallery: Group shots from the 90's
The 90's saw an increased focus on depicted the Rogues Gallery as a whole, particularly in Arkham-centric tales and sometimes also accompanied by the Bat-Family and Allies. This produced some great covers such as this:
(Scan generously provided by zegas, AKA Michel Fiffe, comics creator extraordinaire)
I'd kill to read an Arkham story drawn by Mike Mingola. Drawn, but not written. I love Hellboy so much more in theory than in practice, but those stories sure are pretty to look at. Much as I like Harvey here, I'm mostly impressed by his take on Scarecrow (right down to the fact that he's holding his squish-skull! Oh, Squishy), and would love to read a Crane tale drawn by Mingola. Again: drawn, not written.
As for the story itself, those who've read it might agree with me that it's fun, but not as fun as it should be. But at least it gave us one of the crackiest Bat-Rogues covers of all time...
Kyle Baker looks inked by Bill Sienkiewicz here, and even if he's not, that's a partnership I'd love to see. It would have been an improvement over the interior's artwork by Tim Sale, who hadn't yet reached the levels he'd achieve in his Batman work. Whether you love or hate Sale, take that how you will.
Like the above two-parter, this one's an Alan Grant tale, mainly worth reading for the neat artistic collaboration between Brian Stelfreeze and Rick Burchett. Alas, neither did the cover, but Dave Taylor's work here is better than average for him. Taylor was a great cartoonist who had mixed results when it came to drawing the Bat-villains. Case in point: The Riddle Factory.
Stupid logo, getting in the way of the portraits. But considering how big Bane and the Joker were in this era, it's heartening to see Harvey down among the top three enemies.
This is only the back cover to a collection of pin-ups, but the front is in less-than-pristine condition, so I'm leaving it out. I've always loved the way Quesada draws Harvey's scarring here. I've always been partial to red and black, rather reminding me of Darkman.
The rest of the picture is rather ridiculous. What the hell is Catwoman holding onto, and why is the Joker's eye swollen to the point of popping out?
This jam piece features the art of Graham Nolan, Jim Balent, Dave Taylor, possibly Kelly Jones, and others. Remember what I was saying about Dave Taylor's cover above being better than average? That's because his characters don't look the way his Riddler does here. Taylor was repeatedly drawn some of the worst Eddies I've ever seen, making the character look more like the elderly Six Flags mascot.
Also, what the HELL is Ra's wearing? Has that ever been one of his outfits? Egads.
As for Harvey, whoever drew him here didn't seem to care all that much. He looks like a nondescript guy who got singed a bit.
Finally, what the hell is Anarky doing there?
Out of all the people to throw a pie in the face, the Joker chose Harvey. I love it. Also, if we ever wanted to know what Sheldon from Big Bang Theory would look like as Eddie, now we have some idea.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: Brian Bolland is god. Well, mainly for how he draws Harvey and the Joker. God, I love how he draws Harvey and the Joker.
The rest aren't exactly stellar, although dig the random nobody character who gets cover treatment. He's called "The Answer," and he's included on the cover and gets his own bio... without ever actually being in a story. The fact that the bio's by Alan Grant indicates to me that was WAS going to appear in an issue of Shadow of the Bat, but it never happened. I love these rare instances of "never were" characters making teaser appearances in these Secret Files type issues.
I miss Glenn Orbik's pulptacular comics work, but I'm glad to still see him around on novel covers now and again.
I actually had this as a poster. Harvey looks like a Christmas elf with half a face of grape jelly. Jervis looks odd, but hey, just glad to have him there. That might be the very last appearance of Jervis' pet chimp, named Carrol Lewis. Because Doug Monech decided that, for no reason, the Hatter should have a pet chimp. No origin, no explanation, just cuz.
(Scan generously provided by zegas, AKA Michel Fiffe, comics creator extraordinaire)
I'd kill to read an Arkham story drawn by Mike Mingola. Drawn, but not written. I love Hellboy so much more in theory than in practice, but those stories sure are pretty to look at. Much as I like Harvey here, I'm mostly impressed by his take on Scarecrow (right down to the fact that he's holding his squish-skull! Oh, Squishy), and would love to read a Crane tale drawn by Mingola. Again: drawn, not written.
As for the story itself, those who've read it might agree with me that it's fun, but not as fun as it should be. But at least it gave us one of the crackiest Bat-Rogues covers of all time...
Kyle Baker looks inked by Bill Sienkiewicz here, and even if he's not, that's a partnership I'd love to see. It would have been an improvement over the interior's artwork by Tim Sale, who hadn't yet reached the levels he'd achieve in his Batman work. Whether you love or hate Sale, take that how you will.
Like the above two-parter, this one's an Alan Grant tale, mainly worth reading for the neat artistic collaboration between Brian Stelfreeze and Rick Burchett. Alas, neither did the cover, but Dave Taylor's work here is better than average for him. Taylor was a great cartoonist who had mixed results when it came to drawing the Bat-villains. Case in point: The Riddle Factory.
Stupid logo, getting in the way of the portraits. But considering how big Bane and the Joker were in this era, it's heartening to see Harvey down among the top three enemies.
This is only the back cover to a collection of pin-ups, but the front is in less-than-pristine condition, so I'm leaving it out. I've always loved the way Quesada draws Harvey's scarring here. I've always been partial to red and black, rather reminding me of Darkman.
The rest of the picture is rather ridiculous. What the hell is Catwoman holding onto, and why is the Joker's eye swollen to the point of popping out?
This jam piece features the art of Graham Nolan, Jim Balent, Dave Taylor, possibly Kelly Jones, and others. Remember what I was saying about Dave Taylor's cover above being better than average? That's because his characters don't look the way his Riddler does here. Taylor was repeatedly drawn some of the worst Eddies I've ever seen, making the character look more like the elderly Six Flags mascot.
Also, what the HELL is Ra's wearing? Has that ever been one of his outfits? Egads.
As for Harvey, whoever drew him here didn't seem to care all that much. He looks like a nondescript guy who got singed a bit.
Finally, what the hell is Anarky doing there?
Out of all the people to throw a pie in the face, the Joker chose Harvey. I love it. Also, if we ever wanted to know what Sheldon from Big Bang Theory would look like as Eddie, now we have some idea.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: Brian Bolland is god. Well, mainly for how he draws Harvey and the Joker. God, I love how he draws Harvey and the Joker.
The rest aren't exactly stellar, although dig the random nobody character who gets cover treatment. He's called "The Answer," and he's included on the cover and gets his own bio... without ever actually being in a story. The fact that the bio's by Alan Grant indicates to me that was WAS going to appear in an issue of Shadow of the Bat, but it never happened. I love these rare instances of "never were" characters making teaser appearances in these Secret Files type issues.
I miss Glenn Orbik's pulptacular comics work, but I'm glad to still see him around on novel covers now and again.
I actually had this as a poster. Harvey looks like a Christmas elf with half a face of grape jelly. Jervis looks odd, but hey, just glad to have him there. That might be the very last appearance of Jervis' pet chimp, named Carrol Lewis. Because Doug Monech decided that, for no reason, the Hatter should have a pet chimp. No origin, no explanation, just cuz.