This week I’m picking up the second issue of Gotham After Midnight (on comic book Thursday), this is a good thing for a couple of reasons. So far it has been an interesting enough stand alone story, which granted we’re only talking one issue so far.
The second reason is one that I’m really surprised that I’m saying( or writing as the case may be).
Kelley Jones
Let me give you some background on Kelley Jones and me first. Jones started drawing the Batman title in 1995 (my last year in high school actually, for some reason I thought it was earlier than that, in fact he may have been doing covers earlier than that) and I hated his run.
The art was surreal, unrealistic and more suited I think to some messed up horror comic. Arg - the ears! Jones drew the ears way too long!
I so disliked the comic at the time that I came very close to giving it up and in fact a year later (or even less) I believe I did just that. On reflection though there was a lot more reasons than just artwork and it definitely had nothing to do with the quality.
And the mushrooms?
Did you ever have anything in your childhood that you hated or at least thought you did until you matured (older..?) and you realised that you are actually quite partial to it. Well for me it was mushrooms and Kelley Jones.
When I saw that a Jones Batman limited series was coming I let go of my growing distaste for too many books coming out around the same character for a second and got very interested. Instantly without even thinking about it I discovered that I am a Kelley Jones fan (I already discovered I like mushrooms some years ago in case you were wondering).
Those wonderful gothic lines, the sweeping impossibly long cape and yes, those ears. Those unbelievably long demonic ears. I caught myself actually grinning as I read through those pages in Batman Gotham After Midnight. It felt like visiting an old house that you lived in as a child and hadn’t seen for years.
Yes it appears to be a good comic but better still it let me spend twenty minutes or so in the warm comfortable company of my childhood.
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24/06/2008 at 10:53 pm Permalink
Sorry… the ears… I can’t take it. How would he get into any room without scraping the ceiling apart? Or getting stuck in a drop-ceiling?
*walks menacingly toward gangster*
“I’m Batm— oh, crap… hold on a sec… look, give me a hand here. It’s these ears… I don’t know what I was thinking…”
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24/06/2008 at 11:03 pm Permalink
LOL yeah I think the ears are probably the most criticised aspect of the Jones Batman run. I don’t know how I’d feel if he was back on the normal Batman run and honestly I’m not completely convinced on quite a few of his covers.
25/06/2008 at 7:17 am Permalink
and you don’t think there’s a connection between the mushrooms and liking the long ears on Kelly Jones’ Batman? Think again
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25/06/2008 at 9:15 am Permalink
Now it’s interesting you say that because one of the more vivad memories I have of his art are of story involving Poison Ivy (I think) that heavily featured mushrooms all over the place. It is only a vague memory and he may never have even done an Ivy story, I have to flick through them sometime when I get them out of storage (the comics that is.. not mushrooms).
26/06/2008 at 7:27 am Permalink
Mushrooms ::Gag::
My mum was a big fan of tinned vegetables over fresh and tinned mushrooms used to make an appearance in most of our meals - nasty slimey things.
I enjoy a fresh uncooked mushroom but can’t stand the cooked version, too many bad childhood memories.
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