Seeing as we just got to tell you about the next “Black Beetle” book, we thought it might be fun to take some more time out of your Monday morning to celebrate how awesome Francesco Francavilla is.
Specifically, by showing you this “Batman: 1972” artwork by Francavilla.
Based on an ElseWorlds pitch (whether its real or just for fun I’m not entirely sure), Francavilla has taken the Bat Man and placed him in his favorite era for stories. Showcasing a series of 70’s iterations of some of your favorite Bat-verse characters, Francavilla’s retro pulp characters show off exactly why we like his artistic prowess in the first place. Utilizing the grainy oranges that we know he loves so much, these fake posters featuring Foxy Catwoman and Pimp/Gangster Ed Nygma seem more to play towards exploitation films than Francavilla’s usual pulp style. They’re still a lot of fun, though. Even James Gordon, who sort of looks like John Lennon a bit, is pitch perfect for the era and the genre, and you have to wonder what a smoking Beatles-listening Gordon might do when faced with a man in a trenchcoat and a bat mask who drives around in an Oldsmobile.
Here’s Francavilla on the art:
I have been tinkering recently with a ElseWorlds story/take on Batman set in that 70s styling. So, from the pages of PULP SUNDAY, I give you BATMAN 1972!
To keep him in “the part”, my Batman smokes, wear a leather coat and a turtleneck, and drives a cool 70s BatMobile (an OldsMobile maybe? 😉 I still need to decide on brand and model.
Of course, as usually it happens in these cases, I start to flesh out all the other characters/stars of the story. Pictured above we have Selina Kyle, aka Foxy CATWOMAN, Lieutenant Jim Gordon (with period appropriate ‘stache ;)) and Ed Nygma AKA The Riddler.
Yes, you are witnessing the first case of BATPLOITATION. Hope ya dig it.
And here is all of the aforementioned art:
Pretty great stuff, right? I’d read it.
