Arts & Entertainment
ON THt:
pen and pencil and
ink and typewriter.
Usually it was a single
short comic book at a
time, but one day, publishers
asked for an entire Batman book
of four stories. Robinson volun-
teered to write one of the four,
which also "would serve as my
assignment for my creative writ-
ing class [at Columbia]," he says.
Until then, the Caped Crusader
had merely battled "a lot of
small-time hoodlums," Robinson
says. "But a strong protagonist
needed a villain worthy of him."
That's when Robinson came up
with the Joker, the first supervil-
lain. Fellow artists-writers Bob
Kane and Bill Finger worked with
Robinson to produce the final
version of the Joker, based on a
photograph of actor Conrad Veidt
(in makeup for a silent film, The
Man Who Laughs). The finish-
ing touch — the Joker's fondness
for leaving his calling card at
the scene of his crime — was
Robinson's idea alone, his piece
de resistance.
Giving Away Superman
America's most famous super-
hero, Superman, was created
by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.
While still in high school, the
pals
came up
with the
idea, but it
took four years
before anyone published
their comic. Superman made
his first appearance in 1938 in
Detective Comics (later DC) and
quickly became a success. Soon
after comic books, Superman
was on radio and in cartoons,
then movies and on a TV show.
Yet the men who brought
Superman to life benefited little
from their creation. With their
first comic-book sale, the two
gave all rights for the Superman
image to DC Comics. The price:
$130.
Another early popular
comic-book figure was Captain
America, by Joe Simon and Jack
Kirby. One of many patriotic
figures introduced just before
and during World War II, Captain
America, with sidekick Bucky,
regularly battled the Germans
and the Japanese.
The lives of many of these
writers is told in the new
paperback book Masters of
the Comic-Book Universe
Revealed! (Chicago Review
Press; $18.95) by Arie Kaplan
(see sidebar). Kaplan, who has
written for Mad magazine,
Nickelodeon, Total Request
Live, National Lampoon and
the Internet's funniest site,
Jibfab, will present several
workshops during his visit to the
Charach Epstein Gallery, from
Nov. 3-8. II
"ZAP! POW! BAM! The
Superhero: 1938-1950
– The Golden Age of
Comic Books" runs Oct.
22-Dec.14 at the Janice
Charach Epstein Gallery
and Shalom Street in
the Jewish Community
Center of Metropolitan
Detroit, 6600 W. Maple
Road, in West Bloomfield.
Exhibit hours are 10 a.m.
to 5 p.m. Mondays through
Wednesdays, 10 a.m.- 7 p.m.
Thursdays and 11 a.m. to 4
p.m. Sundays. Admission
to the exhibit is free. There
may be fees for some activ-
ities or programs. Call (248)
432-5579 or visit www.
jccdet.org for information.
The exhibit requires greet-
ers and docents and help-
ers in the arts and crafts
workshop. To volunteer, call
(248) 432-5449.
Detective Comics #71. Cover art by Jerry Robinson.
© 1942 DC Comics. Batman, Robin & The Joker TM
and © DC Comics. All rights Reserved. Used with
Permission. From the collection of Jerry Robinson.
BATMAN
and
ROBIN
versus
JOKER
In
A CRIME
A DAY!"
Among the items on exhibit are rare early comic
In a re-creation of an artist's studio, visitors can see some of
In an interactive drawing studio, guests can practice
books, culled from institutions and individual collec-
the early comic-book creators: Joe Genalo, Joe Simon, Jack
creating their own art at tables equipped with comic-
Kirby (rear), Mort Meskin, Jimmy Infantino and Ben Oda at
book panel paper and a variety of colored pencils.
tors, and superhero memorabilia.
the Kirby and Simon Studio in 1947. This "studio" also is
equipped with memorabilia from Superman creators Jerry
Siegel and Joe Shuster.
52
October 19 • 2006