RKMBs Forums .::Robegories::. Comic Books Marshall Rogers: R.I.P.

Dead at 57.

http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?p=3414918&posted=1#3414918

Sorry G-Man.

Anyway, Rogers was a great artist.

Tragic...

sucks.

Damn. I just mentioned his "Dark Detective" story as one of my favorites of the past five years.

Rogers was one of the big-three Bat-artists, up there with Adams and Aparo in his prime.

In addition to Batman, Rogers made his name at DC in the 70s doing work for a short lived Mr. Miracle series.

Another bit of interesting trivia is that Rogers based his version of the Joker on...himself.

Even given the whole 'based on himself' thing, that's pretty spooky.

And someone should definitely use that campaign slogan.

I'll be photoshopping PJP's Hillary Clinton avatar into that cover any day now.

the world wants to know . . .what kind of pyjamas was he wearing at the time?

We know they weren't Marvel pyjamas, or the article about his death would have been titled "Bat-Man artist dies in Spider-Man pyjamas".

Salacious!

I was really sad to see Marshall Rogers had passed away.


There are four artists who I consider to be the definitive Batman artists:

Neal Adams
Irv Novick
Jim Aparo

and Marshall Rogers.


And now, regrettably, three of the four have disappeared in the last two years, and only Adams remains.



What I like so much about Rogers' Batman is that not only is his version detailed and stylized and dynamic, but Rogers' Batman also meshes well visually with the earliest 1930's/1940's version of the character, of Bob Kane, Jerry Robinson and Dick Sprang.
And that's a large part of what makes the Englehart/Rogers DETECTIVE run work so well, with Rogers' 40's-esque visuals and circular panels, combined with his renditions of the Joker, Penguin, Hugo Strange and his monsters, that all make it such a natural transition to continuity from BATMAN # 1, even though these elements were last seen 40 years prior.

Anyone who hasn't read DETECTIVE 471-476 (or more recently reprinted in the very affordable BATMAN: STRANGE APPARITIONS trade) you're depriving yourself of some of the best scripting, art and characterization that's ever been done in comics.

I also liked seeing Rogers' golden age version of Batman, in a 1986 issue of SECRET ORIGINS, issue 6, scripted by Roy Thomas.

Some other very memorable runs for me were the MISTER MIRACLE issues he did, issues 19-22, in the same period as his DETECTIVE run (also scripted by Englehart). I especially like issue 22.

Rogers and Englehart also collaborated on I AM COYOTE, serialized in ECLIPSE magazine 1-8 in black-and white, and collected with beautiful coloring added in an Eclipse graphic novel.
And then continued in ECLIPSE MONTHLY 1-4, and CAP'N QUICK AND A FOOZLE 1-3 (issue 3 reprints the earlier material from ECLIPSE magazine).

Englehart and Rogers also collaborated on MADAME XANADU # 1, a one-shot for DC, that Englehart/Rogers later transformed and concluded in SCORPIO ROSE 1 and 2 for Eclipse.

Rogers also did a DC graphic novel, adapting the Outer Limits TV episode DEMON WITH A GLASS HAND by Harlan Ellison, back in 1987.

And in 1980 with Don McGregor, DETECTIVES INC., an Eclipse graphic novel that has two regular guys working as private detectives, investigating the death of a lesbian woman, and struggling with low wages, loneliness, divorce, and other problems, mixed with a lot of humor.
This one's available both as a black and white graphic novel, and reprinted as a color 2-issue 1985 comic miniseries.


Rogers also did one of the definitive DOCTOR STRANGE stories in 1981-1982 with Roger Stern, in issues 48-53. That wove nostalgically through Lee/Kirby-reminiscent expansions of FF 19 and early SGT FURY issues, in a very creative way.
Stern and Rogers also collaborated on another DR STRANGE story in MARVEL FANFARE issue 5.


Another aspect I like about Rogers is he did a lot of other-genre stuff in comics, outside of the usual superhero stuff, such as "Tales of the Great Disaster" stories in WEIRD WAR TALES, and other stories for HOUSE OF MYSTERY and MYSTERY IN SPACE.
Even on superhero stories, Rogers' work often manifested a playful and inventive flair that made these issues transcend beyond just being another superhero book.

Rogers will be missed. But at least he left us a wide assortment of memorable work, that has enriched the comics field, and will continue to.

Rogers BATMAN Portfolio, 1981:

I didn't know that.


One other amusing self-portayal by Rogers is the famous cover for DETECTIVE 476, where the Joker-venom-infected Batman stands over his dead victims: Julius Schwartz, Marshall Rogers and Steve Englehart.

Comics 101 has a nice tribute to Rogers, with lots of examples of his Batman work.

I'm glad I got to meet him when he was in town.

He was the shit!

Sad news.

Apart from his Batman work I like his take on The Shadow and his comic adoptation of Harlan Ellison's short story "The Man With The Glass Hand" (which was an inspiration to James Cameron's Terminator, but that's another story).

I meant "DC Science Fiction graphic novel # SF 5, DEMON WITH A GLASS HAND".

Yeah, I enjoyed that too.

Way before this graphic novel was produced in 1986, Ellison did this as the "Demon With a Glass Hand" episode of the OUTER LIMITS tv series. Ellison was pissed off in 1964 at how the TV episode was changed by network executives.

In particular, Ellison scripted the maid character as hispanic, with dark hair, and more ethnic dialogue. The executives pushed for a non-ethnic blonde girl (Arlene Martell) who was selected to play the role, and downplayed the hispanic accent Ellison scripted, making her appear and sound more european. Although despite her physical appearance, she tried to be true to Ellison's scripted character.

The DC graphic novel version is more true to Ellison's concept, with the maid's portrayal, and with other elements.

Although I enjoy both. Even with the network changes, it's regarded as one of the best episodes of the series. With great photography, a sophisticated and dramatic musical score, and filmed in the Bradbury building used in several other movies and tv shows, with some very impressive architecture and decorative ironwork.
(Two other things filmed there I can recall are Bladerunner, and the opening and closing sequence of the Ray Bradbury Theatre series episodes.)


Here's an interesting Wikipedia expansion on the "Demon With A Glass Hand" episode, on its influence and awards, its connection to the Terminator movie you mention, and photos and history of the Bradbury building where it was filmed.
Along with brief mention of Marshall Rogers' adapted version.

Two other great Marshall Rogers Batman stories:

(Rogers cover)

DC SPECIAL SERIES 15 (BATMAN SPECTACULAR), That has a great text story by Dennis O'Neil, illustrated by Rogers. In addition, it has a Reed/Nasser/Rubinstein Batman story, and another O'Neil/Golden R'as Al Ghul/Batman story.
Classics all, and the Rogers story in particular, in a pulp-narrative style, captures the essence of what the Batman character is about: an avenging, relentless, almost supernatural creature of the night that strikes terror into the heart of criminals, always waiting in the shadows for the proper moment to strike.

and

(Starlin cover, Rogers interior story)

DETECTIVE COMICS 481. another O'Neil/Rogers collaboration, with a "murder on the Orient Express" quality. One of the best efforts by both Rogers and O'Neil, I fail to understand why this story was omitted from the STRANGE APPARITIONS volume. More fluid and visual than the text story, with far less words, and perhaps better for it.

Two excellent narratives, with widely variant styles, but both definitive Batman stories.

Took you fucking long enough to remember them, so they cant be that great!

Wasn't "apparitions" a collection of a particular arc (Rupert Thorne/Silver St Cloud)?

STRANGE APPARITIONS collects the Englehart Batman storyline from DETECTIVE 469-476 (469-470 by Englehart/Simonson, and 471-476 by Englehart Rogers/Austin), and DETECTIVE 478-479 by Wein/Rogers/Giordano(these last 2 issues a Clayface story, unrelated to the previous Rupert Thorne/Prof Hugo Strange storyline). So it's not clearly a Rogers collection, or strictly a Rupert Thorne collection, there's only the loosest reference to Silver St Cloud in issues 478-479, as Batman grieves over losing Silver in a "see last issue" reference.

So it would have been easy enough to include issue 481, or even the Calculator stories from 466-468, to show Rogers' development on the Batman character.

And a pleasure seeing you too, Nowhereman !

Sorry, I just mention them as they come to me. I happened to run across them in my collection over the last few days.

Shut the fuck up!

The DC SPECIAL SERIES 15 story is collected in the Greatest Batman Stories Ever Told hardcover and trade paperback.

So apparently the editors at DC would agree with at least one of my picks.

As I recall, the DETECTIVE 481 story was also tossed in a collection a few years ago too, I forget which.
____________
[ Edit:
according to this Marshall Rogers checklist...
http://mrogers21.tripod.com/main/mrchronology.htm
... it was reprinted in the BATMAN IN THE SEVENTIES trade (1999).
(Great checklist by the way, covering Rogers' comic art year by year in order) ]



But I think it would have been more appropriately included in a Rogers collection, as part of BATMAN: STRANGE APPARITIONS.

Or, better yet, add the other stories from the Calculator series, as well as the "Siege" stories from LOTDK and put out a second volume.

I'd actually forgotten that one !

That was a five issue storyline that was plotted and at least partially scripted by Archie Goodwin, and serialized shortly after Goodwin's death around 2001.

Nice art by Rogers, but I honestly didn't care for the story.


Forgive me, but I like my idea better, of collecting together all the Rogers DETECTIVE stories of one era in a single volume, or as you seemed to be saying, a shorter volume of the remaining DETECTIVE stories of the 1976-1980 era.

And maybe a volume after, collecting the Goodwin storyline.

And I'd push for another volume collecting the BATMAN: DARK DETECTIVE sequel to STRANGE APPARITIONS. But this last one's not necessary since I saw awhile back it's already out in trade and hardcover.

Strange Apparitions stands up on its own, however.

That's why I suggested that the unrelated stories would fit better in a separate volume.

In a perfect world I'd like to see the following separate volumes:

• Miscellaneous Rogers Batman work (Calculator, DC Special, the Secret Origins GA Batman story, maybe even the Clayface arc);
  
  Strange Apparitions, ending with the Laughing Fish;
  
  Siege
  
  Dark Detective

In the end, you'd have three different Rogers "novels" plus a short story collection.

Yeah, that sounds like a good separation of Rogers' work into canonized volumes, without merging vastly different material into one volume. Maybe I misunderstood what you meant earlier, but it makes sense to me now.

I'd definitely buy the "Miscellaneous Rogers Batman", and STRANGE APPARITIONS in a new volume, if it were formatted nicely.

I'd assume you'd include the DETECTIVE 481 in the "miscellaneous Rogers BATMAN" volume.



I actually think DC got the idea of how to canonize the Neal Adams Batman stuff from a topic I posted on the DC boards in 2000-2001, suggesting a 3-volume "complete Neal Adams Batman" collection across 3 sequential Adams hardcovers:
stories chronologically in order, including all Adams Batman covers inserted chronologically between the Adams stories, separated into three volumes, (1) Adams' BRAVE & THE BOLD, (2) Adams' DETECTIVE COMICS run, and (3) Adams' BATMAN issues.

Except DC fucked it up by having Adams re-draw parts of the stories (probably at Adams' insistence), and in vol 3, they didn't include BATMAN 255 ("Moon of the Wolf"), and DETECTIVE 439 ("Night of the Stalker", the award-winning story by Englehart/Almendola/Giordano partly plotted by Adams, and manifesting Adams' enduring influence and torch-passing on to other creators, as Adams' influence has continued to do so since then for over 30 years).
What's the point of having a "complete Neal Adams Batman" if the third volume isn't complete ?
And the re-drawn art amounts to self-butchery on Adams' part, it diminishes work I truly love, to the point that despite my affection for it, I can't support it in that format, and I refused to buy the third volume.
I can still enjoy it, in all its greatness, in its original and unaltered form.

I have the third volume here in front of me.
Moon of the Wolf is in it
I can understand the exclusion of Stalker since Adams didn't draw it
But yeah, some of the art suffers from redraws and, worse yet, shitty photoshop re coloring
Still I'm glad I bought all volumes

I have two of the three Neal Adams Batman volumes, and the DEADMAN volume as well. All have re-drawn sections. And while they are nice to have in collected volumes, they are much diminished by the re-drawn sections, and I enjoy them far more in the original form, and in 80's reprints (i.e., unretouched).

The inclusion of the BATMAN 255 werewolf story is news to me. It was not included in the contents list in 2 ads I saw for Volume 3. But even with its inclusion in the volume, I won't purchase it with sections re-drawn, as the previous two volumes were.
I'd hoped this last volume would have been considered by Adams to be definitive enough to not "need" re-drawn by his accounting. And only in that case, with the art un-retouched would I purchase it.

Volume 1 was the worst.
I purchased volume 2 thinking it would only have been the earliest stories he felt a need to re-draw. But with how much was re-drawn in volume 2, I figured vol 3 would suffer the same fate, and could not purchase it, no matter how much I love these stories. I won't support Adams' vandalism of his own previous work. If I'd never seen the originals, I wouldn't know what I was missing. But I have the originals, and I know what I'm missing in the butchered version. I prefer them as they were.

I'll have to look at the book again but I though 3 was the least retouched of the series.

Wonder Boy retouched Jack Kirby.


















































If you know what I mean.











































































































































And I think you do.

Was that before or after he died?

I liked this link of yours when I looked at it earlier, G-man. Apparently it's been archived since then.

Here's the updated link:

• Comics 101, Marshall Rogers tribute

I just stumbled on a beautiful collection of Rogers original art and commission pages:

http://www.comicartfans.com/comic-artists/marshall_rogers.asp



Did anyone know Rogers did a Batman newspaper comic strip? Maybe it was prepared but unpublished, I never heard of it. But here are several pages, including a larger Sunday page.

https://cafart.r.worldssl.net/images/Category_3563/subcat_35751/aaaMarshallRogersBatmanSun1790.jpg

https://cafart.r.worldssl.net/images/Category_182/subcat_83497/MarshallBatmanStrip.jpg

The comic strips shown range in dates from Nov 1989 to Jan 1990. Maybe it actually ran for a few months, at roughly the time the Batman movie was released.