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: