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Blog: Creative Whimsies (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: children's book illustration, robin, bunny, Highlights, fox, bear, Raccoon, Highlights Hidden Picture, Add a tag
Blog: Noblemania (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Robin, Batman, Bill Finger, Add a tag
Courtesy of the thorough and tireless and stylish Bill Finger Appreciation Group:
Blog: PW -The Beat (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Comics, Breaking News, Mini Comics, Indie Comics, Small Presses, News, Reviews, Robin, parody, Batman, Joker, Patrick Kyle, Add a tag
TweetYou Can Never Be Me by Patrick Kyle There’s a meme (as I believe they’re called) that I see cropping up fairly regularly in my forays of Internet yonder. Here, allow me to show you: Batman is a seductive fellow, isn’t he? Fetishes aside, one of the main appeals of the character is that, theoretically, anybody [...]
Blog: Noblemania (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: just for fun, superheroes, Robin, Add a tag
The character I dressed up as the most for Halloween was Superman (three times); Robin comes in second, at two; I do have a third image of me as Robin, but from summer. (I was Robin this often in part because I delusionally thought I resembled him; hence Batman didn't even place.)
Blog: Noblemania (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: superheroes, Robin, Batman, series: Super '70s and '80s, Add a tag
Introduction to series “Super ‘70s and ‘80s.”
In the late 1970s, Rodger Hess produced a series of stage shows featuring live-action superheroes. This was one.
Of the ten shows/topics I’m covering in this series, this is, I believe, the only one that had literally no other Google-able presence online beforehand. And they say the Internet knows all.
I got permission to post all images; if you want to repost, please do the same and ask me first.
Performers interviewed:
Gary Meitrott
James Rebhorn
Gary Meitrott: I auditioned for it. I had watched the TV series and I could mimic very well the actor who portrayed [Robin]. When I went into my act, I could tell the producer was sold on me.
James Rebhorn: I auditioned via an agent submission, although I was hired to do an earlier version of the show featuring only myself [as Batman] and Gary Meitrott, who played Robin. We toured the country playing shopping malls. It was a safety show for kids.
What were you doing before that?
Gary Meitrott: I was new to New York City. I had come to seek my fortune in the Big Apple on the Broadway stage,
James Rebhorn: Pretty much whatever I could do as an actor. Commercials, dinner theatre, showcases productions in New York, etc.
How old were you during the show?
Gary Meitrott: I was around 23-24.
James Rebhorn
Blog: OUPblog (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: classics, Philosophy, robin, republic, ancient greece, Plato, oxford world's classics, Humanities, *Featured, Classics & Archaeology, political philosophy, robin waterfield, waterfield, spoils, dividing, z1xmsa_bur4, gwbvfb1ccre, Add a tag
Plato's Republic is the central work of the Western world's most famous philosopher. Essentially an inquiry into morality, Republic also contains crucial arguments and insights into many other areas of philosophy. In these videos Robin Waterfield, editor of the Oxford World's Classics edition of Republic, explains why we should read it, and what makes Plato so interesting.
Blog: GregLSBlog (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Roger Sutton, Robin, boy readers, Jason Todd, Tim Drake, DIck Grayson, Add a tag
In his essay "Go Big or Go Home," reprinted in A FAMILY OF READERS: THE BOOK LOVER'S GUIDE TO CHILDREN'S AND YOUNG ADULT LITERATURE (Candlewick 2010), Roger Sutton opines that "what reluctant [boy] readers don't want are books filled with interpersonal emotional drama...It's not that boy readers are afraid of emotions, exactly, it's that they want to feel them in service to high stakes...Boys like to think Big."
I was thinking about this in context of Robins I, II, and III.
Robin I, you will recall, was Dick Grayson. Robin III was Tim Drake.
Both Dick Grayson Robin and Tim Drake Robin are much loved by the fandom and are among the most popular characters in the DC Universe.
Robin II was Jason Todd, whom the fandom voted to kill off.
Why?
Let me address this in context of Tim Drake-Robin and Jason Todd-Robin -- both started off having to fill the shoes of Dick Grayson, but one is liked and the other, really, really not.
I think most of it goes back to Roger's statement above. Tim Drake-Robin is not insensitive -- he is concerned about his girlfriend's safety and is sometimes miffed by Batman's treatment of him and others. He, like all the Robins, is an orphan. But his emotions serve higher stakes -- the fight against evil and his ambition to become the next Batman.
Even better, he is smart, funny, likeable, can use computers, and can kick butt when necessary. He came to be Robin by figuring out that Bruce Wayne is Batman and is the leader of his generation of superheroes, a position that no one questions.
In contrast, Jason Todd's tenure as Robin was filled with overwrought emoting and Sturm und Drang. Granted, when Bruce Wayne is your "father," a certain amount of this is justified (Dick Grayson Robin rebelled rather memorably on several occasions), but there are limits.
Now, even boy readers want a character to have emotional depth, but at some point "interpersonal emotional drama" becomes off-putting melodrama and self-indulgent navel-gazing. As exemplified in A Death in the Family, Jason Todd-Robin was pointlessly reckless, and endlessly and annoyingly self-absorbed and whiny.
To me, this is the kiss of death for any protagonist but particularly for a boy protagonist who is supposed to appeal to boy readers.
Blog: Noblemania (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Robin, Bill Finger, Add a tag
In spring, hence now, robins return. Ergo, from whose mind was Robin the Boy Wonder sprung?
When I passed along excerpts from articles and interviews addressing Robin’s creation to Robin-N-More blogger J.L. Bell, he synthesized a characteristically thoughtful post about it.
My conclusion nearly overlaps with J.L.’s. I believe Bill Finger most likely came up with the idea for a sidekick (though Kane took full credit and Finger himself modestly categorized Robin as a “group” creation), early Batman ghost artist Jerry Robinson was responsible for the name (inspired by Robin Hood, not himself) and costume, and Finger crafted the origin. J.L.'s theory on who suggested making the sidekick a boy (an editor) seems plausible, though I rarely rule out Finger.
Finger was the primary Batman writer at the time, so even casting aside the particular personalities involved, it just makes sense that he’d be the one to start a campaign for a partner (no matter the age). It’s not easy to write a solo character. Even the marooned man Tom Hanks played in Cast Away had a volleyball to talk to.
Among the various interviews in which Robinson gives Robin credit to Finger, my favorite is from Alter Ego #39 (1/03). In that, Robinson said he is “positive” Robin was Finger’s idea. Of course, memory isn’t infallible, but Robinson is one of the few still alive with the authority to be trusted.
In a 1989 magazine publication called Comics Interview Super Special: Batman—Real Origins of the Dark Knight, Kane was quoted as follows: “Robin was mine, it wasn’t even Bill Finger’s” (page 16).
Kane probably didn’t realize that his “wasn’t even” was both defensive and revealing. It seems that Kane’s conscience was admitting that so much of Batman was Finger’s while his ego was holding on to the idea that at least this component (a significant one, of course) was Kane’s.
In that same publication, Kane was also quoted as saying, “I came up with Riddler and Joker, maybe Penguin was mine—time erodes memory” (page 17). I'd wager it was not time affecting memory but rather intentional manipulation, with that breezy "maybe" thrown in to diffuse the disreputable nature of Kane's brazen and perpetual idea-grab. That said, I do allow that there may have been a small degree of truth in Kane's statement, at least in his own mind, because memory (as mentioned above) is indeed notoriously unreliable.
In either case, various sources suggests that none of these three classic villains came from Kane. It’s a subject for other posts, but in short, I believe that Joker was a co-production of Finger and Robinson while Finger alone has been credited for the concepts of both Penguin and Riddler.
Kane had an explanation for where he got the idea for Penguin, but Finger’s son Fred (among others) said the character came from Bill—and of Kane and Finger, only one was known for stretching the truth when it came to credit.
As for Riddler, no less respected an editor than Julie Schwart
Blog: Sugar Frosted Goodness (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: bird, robin, celebrate, sugar frosted goodness, twirl, ice skater, figure skate, white-out, illustration, Girl, dance, Illustration Friday, art, drawing, Add a tag
Blog: Sugar Frosted Goodness (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: robin, batman, Aaron Sowd, Mike Wieringo, Add a tag
I woke up Monday morning to stumble into my studio with a cup of coffee and answer emails while waking up. The first one was from Tim Townsend, and it carried the report from Newsarama: "The comics industry lost a luminary this weekend - Mike Wieringo passed away Sunday of a sudden heart attack. Details are still sketchy as of this time, but according to close sources, the acclaimed artist had chest pains at some point during the day and called 911, but the responders did not make it in time." I was stunned. Unbelievable. It felt wrong somehow, like I was still half asleep or hadn't read the news correctly. He was only 44.
I had only known Mike through emails and conventions, but he was an inspiration to all of us in comics and the kindest person to talk to. His personality shown through in his art; innocent and playful, dynamic and heroic, passionate and stylized in such a way as to make it all look effortless. So much so, he posted a sketch a day on his blog. A sketch a day! He inspired me to do the same. I lasted maybe three days. He loved what he did, and it showed through in everything that he did. His drawing looked fun.
I was lucky enough to ink him on one occasion, on this Batman and Robin commission. I don't really have time to ink comics much any more, but when I was asked "wanna ink Ringo?" I jumped. Of course I did! And I'm glad I did. I got the chance to touch a piece of his art, one page in a huge body of work that has touched us all. Thanks Mike. You were one of the best.
Someone once said of Mike, "he draws like we all wish we could draw." That sums it up perfectly for me. The only consolation is the work he left behind. It's bound to continue to inspire artists and amaze children for generations to come.
Blog: Sugar Frosted Goodness (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: robin, batman, ?, elffz.com, Add a tag
Blog: Sugar Frosted Goodness (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: robin, dean trippe, spoiler, stephanie brown, Add a tag
(Large version here)
I drew this for my pals over at Girl-Wonder.org. This is Stephanie Brown (AKA Spoiler, AKA Robin IV) who was killed and subsequently forgotten. I kinda looked at the pic as a chance to show what might've been had Stephanie been given the chance to carry the mantle this last couple years.
Blog: Barbara Bietz (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Friends, Julie, The Artists Way, Tina, Robin, Add a tag
Writing is a craft. It is a craft that requires nurturing and inspiration, along with skill and knowledge. Most writers look for news ways to be creative and inspired. I remember years ago listening to the audio tape of Julia Cameron talking about THE ARTIST'S WAY. I realize she is most well-known for the implementation of morning pages - but it was something else she said that struck me. She spoke of the possibilities that open up when you allow yourself to be creative. In my own words that means when you let creativity in the front door, it's amazing what comes in through the back door. Julia said to notice the things you start doing - suddenly you will be making curtains for your windows. The concept gave me pause. If I spent time doing other creative things, I would run out of time to write! I didn't have time to paint, or sew, or even plant flowers. If I made the time for these pursuits, wouldn't it detract from my writing? I struggled with this notion for years - really! I found myself actually avoiding other creative endeavors in rebellion. But the universe gave me signs, and friends!
My friend Tina Nichols Coury is an illustrator/artist who made the decision to become a writer - and her first book about Mount Rushmore is coming out in the Fall of 2008. Tina showed me the similarities between art and writing - they are skills that require passion, commitment, and a tenacious spirit. She writes in her studio, surrounded by paints and canvases - and the colors nurture her words.
Then I had the blessing to have Julie Williams, author of ESCAPING TORNEDO SEASON, in my critique group. Julie is an artist's artist. She creates beautiful works of art - she loves pens and beautiful papers and incorporates photos into her art. Knowing Julie made me realize that different art forms will actually foster the creativity needed to write. Art nurtures art.
Finally, I took a wonderful workshop from author Robin LaFevers. She encouraged us to create collages of our stories to provide insight and inspiration. I was hesitant, tentative - but I felt myself beginning to let go. I went home and pulled out a stack of magazines. I cut and pasted with abandon. I looked at my final product with awe. It was my story - with details I hadn't yet discovered in my words. That's when it hit me. I am a writer. I am an artist. I finally gave myself the permission I needed to be a fully creative person.
Now I gotta go - I have to sew some new curtains.
I recognized Rebhorn's face immediately, though I didn't know his name. A hard-working actor who's been in a lot of supporting roles. Good to know he was the big lead at one time.