|
|
Post by Figuremaster Les on Oct 4, 2005 20:31:15 GMT -5
Hey guys, Somebody here can answer this one... it may be dumb...but I want to get your opinions. Why does both the First Appearance Batman Figure AND the Masterpiece Edition First Batman both have purple gloves?   I can't find reference in the comics to his gloves being anything other than the same blue as is in his costume... What ya reckon that's all about? Some subjective decision? Rare reference? I'm stumped. I willmost likely repaint my figure's gloves as I want them accurate, but before I do, are they accurate as painted? Has there been a tampering with the original images in the reprint books I have? |
|
|
|
Post by radioscooter on Oct 4, 2005 20:49:13 GMT -5
It's an adherance to a historically correct but debatable color choice. In the very, very first appearances of Batman the ink used in SOME panels of the gloves was purple. The gloves were defintely intended to be little driving type gloves, not his finned gauntlets to come, but whether Kane really intended them to appear as purple is a topic for debate.
As is the inner blue cape. There were a bunch of things that happened because of cheap ink prices, bad coloring of Kane's designs, or misinterpretations of shading techniques which then got translated later into other things.
For example - Kane never intended for him to have ANY blue in his costume. And certainly not the amount that he sported in most of the 50's, 60's, 70's and 80's. This "new" "Darker" black and gray Batman is not new at all. Kane always intended him to be black and grey and dark. The blue shading was intended to break up the black and show texture and shine. As other artists started interpreting his work - the blue was misunderstood or liked better by the editors and was incorporated as a color.
This is a can of worms which I have definite opinions on. I rarely paint in or incorporate "shading" techniques on figures because I think they do not generally work in 3D. That's what actual light and shadow is for. However - there are many exceptions to this and I have seen some examples of it that I like. But generally - highlights and shading of muscles and such is just horrible on figures to me.
That's why I like to try to find out what the artist was intending with the colors. And then either adhere to that or veer away as I see fit.
Sometimes it jut doesn't work. For example - Alex Ross is probably my favorite all-around superhero illustrator in the world. But why he chooses to deck out superheroes that he is trying to paint *realistically* in bad Halloween store costumes is beyond me. Flash's suit never fits. Green Lantern wears metallic green spandex, and Oh My God - someone please give him some yellow paint instead of all the crappy gold toned surfaces. It makes no sense to me to see a big huge Ben Cooper seam on the mask of the fastest man in the world...
But I have digressed...
Yes Les they were purple for an issue or so. They also varied based on ink availability and inker's not paying attention. BUT - what you are looking at are newer bad reprints and they have not been faithful to the originals there. The ORIGINAL Detective 27 had purple gloves.
In SOME panels... In the Michael Fleisher Batman encyclopedia he says the gloves were purple.
-S
|
|
|
|
Post by Figuremaster Les on Oct 4, 2005 21:17:57 GMT -5
[glow=red,2,300]Holy crap Batman![/glow]  Scooter can be in Tibet, walking with the llamas, in the mountains, no computer in reach, and you ask one good question about toys, and [glow=red,2,300]WHAMMO![/glow] He's on it!I am, for the moment, very appeased. I still want to see the old art, but I take your word for it. Cool. ;D That got you a point for sure sir! Plus, you saved me a spot of paint, and that costs me money! |
|
|
|
Post by radioscooter on Oct 4, 2005 21:32:05 GMT -5
What's even more aggravating or pause-causing - consider this:
DC is a COMICS company. But for about 60+ years they have been perfectly content with issuing reprints upon reprints of Detective 27 which almost all have blue inked gloves.
Now - either they decided that the original was WRONG, and they were correcting it all these years. OR they didn't even pay attention to it and it came out blue because that's what their inkers were used to. This is the COMICS company DC we are talking about. Issuing archive quality reprints with different colors than the originals had.
Now many years later comes both the Masterpiece edition and this First Appearance ACTION FIGURES and somehow they want to make really super certain that they portray them super accurate to their original appearances yet their reprint hardcover editions apparently don't warrant the same adherance to accuracy??
It's a head scratcher.
-S
|
|
|
|
Post by BlackKnight on Oct 4, 2005 22:01:49 GMT -5
Damn Scooter!!!! Thanks for the info, I had no idea.  |
|
|
|
Post by casimir on Oct 5, 2005 8:23:05 GMT -5
Yeah, what Scooter said!
C.
|
|
|
|
Post by Figuremaster Les on Oct 5, 2005 10:19:26 GMT -5
 This is great! Apparently, for once, I asked a good question for everybody. I just want to see a nice shot of an original page now. That would be really cool. Like I've ever been within reach of a first print copy of Det. 27! 
|
|
|
|
Post by radioscooter on Oct 5, 2005 11:13:40 GMT -5
I just want to see a nice shot of an original page now. That would be really cool. Like I've ever been within reach of a first print copy of Det. 27! Oh I have one you can borrow...HAH! No I don't but if I did - you could boprrow it Les! But anyway - you don't need the original to see the purple as *some" reprints have shown the purple panels just fine. In "Batman: The Complete History" by Les Daniels (the one put out by Chronicle with the Masterpiece edition) in the first pages we see examples of maroon, blue and a grey blue, dusty violet gloves. Then on page 30 is a whole page of panels sporting the lilac ones. Looks like he had many experiments with his gloves for 11 issues or so at least because the cover image from Detective 36 shows him wearing grey-blue flared gloves like Robin has... This is agreat reference book by the way and I reccomend it heartily. There are answers to several questions I myself have posed here that I could have just used the book for! I forgot I had it. LOL -S |
|
|
|
Post by retroprops on Oct 5, 2005 11:32:49 GMT -5
This is a scan from my Batman the 30’s to the 70’s book. It was printed in 1971 I believe anyway they’re purple in this one print.  |
|
|
|
Post by Figuremaster Les on Oct 5, 2005 15:05:36 GMT -5
Thanks Steven!
Yeah, I have looked through all my books and, sad to say, I don't have enough Batman books! I could find nothing, but I do believe it. I will now oficially refrain from repainting my figure's gloves.
This is very cool and I appreciate all the info you guys have supplied here.
I almost can't wait to come up with another good question.... ;D
|
|
|
|
Post by faithfulbutler on Oct 5, 2005 18:59:06 GMT -5
Scot you are a fountain of knowledge as always,thanks so much. Yeah Steven i have that same book which i was trying to find,glad yours was on hand.I also have a reprint of Det27 somewhere too which i was gonna check but again it's buried away in boxes with everything else. Man i can't wait to get my playroom set up properly so everything's back to easy access!  |
|
