Holiday times in Gotham City

[kingrockwell]

Little late here due to an unexpected nap, but holiday times keep marching on with these two shorts featuring Alfred and the Joker!

Kicking off with "Just Another Night", from DCU Holiday Bash #1 (1997), by Jim Aparo and inked by Kevin Nowlan.





Worth noting that the art here looks a lot more like Kevin Nowlan than Jim Aparo to me, especially those shots of Alfred's face on the second page. It says it's pencils/inks, but I'm wondering if it isn't more layouts/finishes going on here.


Our next story is "Joker's Twelve Nights of Christmas", written by Chuck Dixon, with art by Joe Staton and Bill Sienkiewicz.





And of course you can always tell when Sienkiewicz has touched a page. Maybe "strong inking" is the unintentional theme of this post.

As an additional holiday bonus, check out these ornaments printed at the end of DCU Holiday Bash #2, drawn by the inimitable Rick Burchett! Maybe print them out and try hanging them on your tree!





(worth noting that this was 1998, back when Babs was still the most recent Batgirl and you'd have to look past Electric Blue Kool-Aid Supes)

Tomorrow (well, later tonight): We've seen how Apokolips reacts to holiday times, next we take a look at New Genesis!

Comments

[shanejayell]

The Alfred faces look rather off, don't they? Art assist by somebody, I think.

[aaron_bourque]

They look like Kevin Nowlan.

Who inked the thing.

Notice they don't say "Pencils by Jim Aparo" or "Script by Jim Aparo," or even "Story by Jim Aparo," it just says "by Jim Aparo." He probably just broke the thing down.

[inthefuturethereisnofuture.blogspot.com]

You can clearly see the Aparo pencils-- that panel with Alfred holding the cowl for instance-- but whenever Nowlan inks, his style always shines through. He did some Dan Jurgens inks I think, same situation arose. Very cool though, nice collaboration.

[kingrockwell]

Yeah, his inking can be really overpowering, it even shows through over pencillers with as strong a style as Terry Dodson (granted, Dodson always looks different when Rachel isn't inking him). About the only artist I've seen with work with where it wasn't as clearly a Nowlan joint was Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, though the art on that arc was gorgeous enough that I'd be tempted to call it the best in either of their considerable bodies of work (justlook at Eddie!)

[inthefuturethereisnofuture.blogspot.com]

Hell yes! That Confidential arc was AMAZING. Actually made King Tut a brilliant threat/character. Was psyched to read it when it came out, and those two are total talents. Good call!

[kingrockwell]

That was the arc that got me reading Confidential! It...hasn't been quite that good since (but i've got hope for Sam Kieth's upcoming arc!). Though, to be fair, it wasn't even readable before that.

[jelly_ace]

I am so gonna print those and hang them somewhere in my room!

And nice Alfred story! I wonder what Bruce gave him for Christmas...

[sistermagpie]

Okay, those cut outs look really fun!

[mad]

I'm very tempted to try and make that bat-ornament.

[sailorlibra]

The Alfred story is adorable.

[roxrox]

Tim's Christmas card is sweet. I love how he left it in the study and not the cave... just seems a little more personal.

[retro_nouveau]

[kingrockwell]

Too rad, dad.

[lyraeinne]

Aw, Alfred seems so lonely it breaks my heart. Even really good presents are not a substitute for giving the guy who raised you some companionship on Christmas, Bruce. Dick needs to come home and they can all have hot chocolate and snuggle up under an afghan to watch It's a Wonderful Life together. And I'm sure that's exactly what happened right after this story was over, shut up.

[kingrockwell]

I say the gift was a DVD of It's a Wonderful Life with a note that says "Look behind you!"
and then Alfred looks behind him and everyone's there and they've already got the popcorn and cider ready so he doesn't have to and they're letting him sit in the big comfy chair and take a load off while enjoying the company of his Batfamily!

[psychopathicus_rex]

I like the first one of these, but I can't say I'm too fond of the second - there's nothing really Joker-specific about it. Apart from the electroshock treatments and the dead sidekicks, the lyrics could apply to just about any Batman villain (not to mention, of course, that the meter is now COMPLETELY off). I say it needs a rewrite. For instance:

Twelve orange waistcoats,
eleven squirting flowers,
ten fish a grinnin',
nine wild cards,
eight pinstriped pants,
seven scarlet lips,
six pet hyenas,
five exploding thiiiings!
Four ticking bombs,
three henchmen,
two purple gloves,
and a smooch on the lips from Har-leey!

Anyone else want to give it a try?