#toonskin

FAT BAT, 2005

by Virginie Barré 

"I feel pretty and witty and gay And I pitty Any girl who isn't me today. la la la la la la la la"

  Amanda T. has a great love for all things that grow.

Amanda T. wonders if Inge knows that she adores her voice and would love to hear her sing again. 'INGE IN CONCERT'

Amanda T. is in the mood to do some writing. Stay tuned for new stories. petitecareme.wordpress.com

Gonna be chillin like a villain with Jordhache Marley.

Amanda T. is a Library Witch "Today's spell includes: eye of newt, hair of dog and the whole canon of English Literature."

"Batman Black and White refers both to a four-issue comic book limited series published in 1996 by DC Comics, and three collections of 8-page black-and-whiteBatman stories, comprising the limited series and backup features from the Batman: Gotham Knights comic.

 The origin of the series is told by editor Mark Chiarello in his introduction to the first collection, in which he writes about a dinner table-discussion with "a few famous comic-book artists," at which they pondered the "desert island" question in terms of a single complete run of comics one would be happy to be stranded with.[1]Ultimately, with "half a minute"'s thought, they "amazingly... all agreed, pound for pound, page for page" that the unequivocal choice was Warren Publishing's Creepy, a high point unmatched since "there has never been such a collection of stellar artists assembled under one banner publication" as in Creepy, whose pages were host to (among others) "Toth, Frazetta, Williamson, Torres, Colan, Ditko, Wrightson, Corben[, etc.]."[1] Chiarello notes that "most of those stories" were written by one man: Archie Goodwin "probably the very best editor ever to work in comics, probably the very best writer ever to work in comics," (and early mentor to Chiarello when the two worked at Marvel) whose Warren work was itself an "homage to the favorite comics of his youth, the E.C. line."[1]

When Chiarello became a Batman editor "a whole bunch of years" later, he naturally "pitch[ed] the idea of a black and white anthology."[1] Told by many colleagues that it wouldn't sell - both as an anthology and a black-and-white title, neither purportedly widely liked by comics readers - the idea was green lighted, and Mike Carlinand Scott Peterson joined Chiarello to "make sure [he] didn't destroy the integrity of [Batman]."[1] Chiarello's initial thought - "to hire the very best artists in the business" led to he and Peterson assembling a wish list and contacting artists.[1] The series ultimately became "a creative and financial success," when the first four-issue volume was published between June and September 1996.[1] (There was also a free Preview issued in 1996.[2]) Each of the four issues featured several self-contained short-stories, all written and drawn by a diverse group of comic artists and writers, most of whom had previously worked on Batman comics. Each story varied in theme, setting, and tone (depending on the creative team involved), offering multiple interpretations of Batman - and, in some cases, his supporting characters - usually by exploring their inner pathos and relationships."

 AND