Gary Frank, artist on the upcoming Batman: Earth One mused on his Batman influences for this book. And, while Christopher Reeve was clearly his inspiratioon for Superman in Superman: Secret Origin, he has no such influence for Batman. And, he’s right about the Bat-actors!
You referenced Christopher Reeve when drawing Superman, are there any Hollywood versions of Batman you are channeling for Batman? Or any artists who have worked on the character in the past?
I don’t think there is any other actor playing any other superhero who has ever so completely embodied a character in the same way as Christopher Reeve did Superman. But there have been a lot of great actors to play Batman. Obviously, Christian Bale has done some wonderful stuff and I still really, really enjoy watching the Tim Burton ones with Michael Keaton. I love his version of the character. But no, there is not really an actor who has played the character in a way that has dominated Batman in my imagination in the same way as Christopher Reeve has in doing Superman. So I didn’t really see where I would go to get that kind of inspiration, so I’m just trying to feel out the character and come up with a look and a body and a set of facial expressions which are kind of relevant to the character rather than someone because I liked them from a previous portrayal.
Source: CBR
