Superman Through the Ages! Forum

You can thank Nightwing for this one.

(http://bat.kinlok.tk/bat-hombre/Batman_Golden_Age_Batman56_Horse_RT.gif) (http://bat.mulu.nu/bat-hombre/)

"Ride, Bat-Hombre, Ride!" (http://bat.mulu.nu/bat-hombre/)

(and the micro came from here (http://www.angelfire.com/comics/microheroes0/Pages/Batman.html))

:s:

Hurray!

"Gosh...a Bat Horse! Isn't that Super!" 8)

Great story, always one of my faves...a kid can also learn something about a different culture, curare, parrots...and Sprang's art is actually pretty cool, good atmosphere, I especially like the fight silhouetted by the moon...

Thanks guys...

Ay caramba! :shock:  :D

I just noticed Rao opted to post this story on the same day Latinos across America marched for their rights. Cool.

On the other hand, the message of the story seems to be that only an American can do the job right, even in a Latin country!   :shock:

So I guess it kind of all evens out.  :lol:

Everything gets posted for a reason, or we are looking too much into things.

Don't forget this guy: http://superman.nu/wiki/index.php/The_Gaucho

:lol:

That was great. A villain who takes orders from a parrot and guys who look like they've had someone run up to them and paint mustaches on their faces.

I once said that in reference to all the stories that I scan and post - but when someone else sends it in, the reasons get fuzzy.

:s:

Actually this story had a long running "cult" status on this site, which is the real reason why it was added. Do a search new members :)

And dig that Dick Sprang artwork! Real treat to see thr oginal cover as I was only familiar with it from the Batman annual I had read it in.

My favorite of that 80 Page Giant as well...

OK, who has "Robin Dies at Dawn" or Superman vs. Zha Vam? 8)

I have one of the Zha-Vams (last one) but no Robin Dies At Dawn (a great one IIRC).

But more importantly, I have Jimmy Olsen's Monster Movie (which Ive been threatening to scan for a year)!

It's not just this board that holds the story in cult status.  Since there were no credits on the original story, I had to do some research via Google and if you put in the title, you'll get a ton of references, many of them not about the story at all but just going on about what an awesome title it is and how people are planning to make it their new battle cry, etc.

I have to say that with that patented Dick Sprang barrel chest and the handlebar mustache, Batman cuts and impressive figure.  He looks like Sandor the Strongman from vaudeville days.  You half expect him to bend an iron bar in his teeth or something.

Well, "Jimmy Olsen's Monster Movie" would be a great representative of what his comics were, I loved that issue...

Sprang just does not get enough credit, his Batman has a very simple square face, and Robin has such a high waist and long legs, I suppose "Seduction of the Innocent" HAD to pick on him... 8)

But look at Sprang's complicated backgrounds, great detail and drawing skills that tested an inking for how much detail to put in...

I picked up last week two of the 67 Signet paperbacks I used to have - Superman (which is all Wayne Boring) and Batman (which is all Dick Sprang - save for the obligiatory Batman 'how he came to be' two pager)
and it's amazing how those two guys pretty much defined those characters from the late 40s to early 60s with Boring pretty much handing over the reigns to Curt Swan and Sprang handing it over to everyone from Carmine Infantino (those early New Look issues are gorgeous) to Sid Greene (feh).

Both had barrel chests you could over Niagra Falls in but that was how physically fit specimens were defined then (Steve Reeves anyone).

I have Wertham's book and it's soooooooooooo stupid but the best chapter heading is Murder at Dawson's Creek which I assue was Kevin Williamson's as well.

Ok ramblin here....what are those marks on my shoulder?????

LOL, I STILL think that Sprang drew Ace the Bat Hound really weird...I wonder if he was trained as a landscape artist or an archictectural renderer...its kind of funny, Boring brought a big chest and a huge ab to the table, Sprang liked an even bigger chest and a simple waist fading into the trunks...

If you think Sprang drew Ace funny, how about Boring's version of Krypto! He looked like some kind of devil beast.  :shock:

I don't remember how Sprang was trained, but in the years before his death a lot of great articles were written about him in magazines like Alter Ego and Comic Book Marketplace, so the info's out there if you want to dig it up.  I do know he spent his post-comics career painting Western scenes and doing archeology work in Arizona.

He certainly did have an eye for detail.  One of my (and his) favorite tales was the World's Finest story where Superman, Batman and Robin fill in for the injured Three Musketeers.  The castles, costumes and especially the swords were absolutely beautiful and dead-on accurate.  Part of the fun with Sprang, I think, is that he created a certain reality all his own.  Unlike say Neal Adams, who pretty much literally interpreted the world around us, Sprang -- like Kirby -- fashioned a world with its own internal visual logic and physical laws.  It's recognizable but at the same time not quite the world we know.

What is interesting about this story is that El Papagayo is the only other bird-influenced villain besides the Penguin to ever appear in the Batman chronicles - and he makes only one appearance, which is in this story.  In fact, he could well have been intended as a substitute for the Penguin, since that villain could have been originally intended to appear.