Your Top 5 Batman Designs

General Discussion Comic Books
1

Post your top 5 comic versions of the Dark Knight here! Based purely on design, not story.

  1. Jim Lee’s Hush Batman
  2. Frank Miller’s Dark Knight v2
  3. Bob Kane’s First Appearance Batman
  4. Neal Adams Batman
  5. Tim Sale’s Batman
2 Likes
2
  1. David finch’s rebirth design
  2. Jim lee’s either hush or Europa design (basically the same)
  3. Mikel Janin’s rebirth design
  4. Frank miller’s dark knight returns black cowl and cape costume
  5. Greg capullo’s new 52 design
1 Like
3

Comics only?

  • Batman Incorporated.
  • Neal Adams design.
  • Lee Bermejo’s design (especially from Damned).
  • Current design (basically Hush with black instead of blue, right?)
  • Earth One
1 Like
4

Wait, I think I did this wrong​:sweat_smile: was this supposed to be specifically the Different costumes he’s worn, or am I good with the artists who’ve done him?

1 Like
5

lol no you did great, nice picks!

6

Actually a bit torn between New 52 and Earth One. New 52 was my first regular foray into Batman comics so it holds a special place in my heart. Let’s call it an honorable mention :slightly_smiling_face:

1 Like
7

5: Jim Lee
4: Curt Swan
3: Neal Adams
2: Neal Adams
1: Neal Adams

I admit I’m biased. I’ve never seen anybody come close to Neal Adams when it comes to Batman. He had a renaissance quality to his anatomy that was on its fullest display in Batman. He is to Batman art what Raphael was to the painters of the renaissance. Simply the best.

3 Likes
8

He was definitely the gold standard for a long time.

2 Likes
9

And still is in my book. I find Millar’s style to angular, to wide a torso, not elegant. Brian Bolland is ok. Though not well known today but Ernie Chan had a nice style. Irv Novick is certainly the precursor to Neal Adams.

So for a top 5 with no duplicates, even though most people probably won’t recognize a couple of names:

5: Jim Lee
4: Curt Swan
3: Ernie Chan
2: Irv Novak
1: Neal Adams

1 Like
10

If we break down by artist, I’m just going to list a bunch of different takes on the classic blue cape/yellow oval suit, with maybe a bit of the darker '90s version sprinkled in for flavor. So I’m going to say I’ll only list one artist’s take on any given design.

5: The Rebirth suit. Alright, fine. This suit is alright. I guess. But I can’t remember any of the artists who worked on it, nor did I think any of them brought much of a distinctive look to it.

4: The AzBatsuit. Yeah, I said it. I dig this design, especially with the original, simpler helmet. I guess Graham Nolan is the artist who I remember doing the best work with this.

3: The Year One suit. Now, in terms of the traits I like to see in a Batman costume, this one does everything “wrong,” but David Mazzuchelli’s art just makes it look so good.

2: The darker-toned '90s variant of the New Look suit, which might even be my favorite if it had trunks. I’m fond of Graham Nolan’s work with this costume.

1: The New Look '66-'94 suit, Jim Aparo’s depiction of it being a particularly definitive take.

1 Like
11

5: (Loathe to admit it as I am) Batman: Hush outfit

4: Costume worn in Batman: Year One

3: Neal Adams/Jim Aparo look

2: 1960s New Look (Yellow oval, shorter ears, etc.)

1: Batman: The Animated Series/Batman Adventures (this doesn’t have to be purely comics, right?)

12
  1. Greg Capullo’s New 52 Batman
  2. Jim Lee’s Hush Batman
  3. Andy Kubert
  4. Neal Adams
  5. Tim Sale
1 Like
13
  1. Carmine Infantino’s New Look
  2. Neal Adams
  3. David Mazzuchelli’s Year One
  4. Detective 27 first appearance
  5. Kelly Jones all Black
1 Like