Hi, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab...
I got some serious hate mail the other day after I ran a piece about the WB’s new animated take on BATMAN, so let me clear something up...
I adore BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES, and don’t think anyone’s going to beat the incredible creative team behind that show in any effort to bring the Bat to the small screen. Having said that, I’m also a fan of the character in general, and I’m curious about any new take on the material. Especially after this:
Hi Moriarty,
Just wanted to pass along some more batman info. As some folks may already know the guy in charge of all the art on the show is Jeff Matsuda. He was the lead character designer on the Jackie Chan animated series, also on WB. You can check out his stuff on www.jeffmatsuda.com. I don't think he has any batman stuff on it but there's some good representative art which should give folks a taste of his style.
I've seen some of his Batman stuff and it rocks. Batman has a powerful but lithe body that hasn't quite built up the mass of his traditional form. In terms of body shape there's actually some similarity with Christian Bale's physique (American Pyscho or Equilibrium not Machinist). I'm not sure what the finished product will look like but some of the art I've seen used a contrasting style between characters and background. Characters have a manga like quality whereas the background has a grittier feel. This contrast conveys greater emphasis on the characters' movements. But again, who knows what the final work will be like.
Apparently the marketing screws at WB won't let any art slip through but Jeff wanted me to pass on this image of an upcoming magazine with his Bats and Joker design on the cover. It's a toy magazine so before folks bust a gut whining that the new animated series has gone Davey and Goliath, the cover is of some toy maquettes not actual animation cells.
Lates,
James
That is pretty cool, darn it, and I reserve the right to be interested in this show, despite the awfully big shoes it’s going to have to fill.
"Moriarty" out.
