Comments on: On Influence: Batman, Gotham City, and an Overzealous Architecture Historian With a Working Knowledge of Explosives

By: Kevin Kuczynski

Kevin Kuczynski — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 01:51:41 +0000

Okay, I have a question about this Destroyer Arc. Denny O’Neil is listed as the writer for the second part and Goodwin is listed as editor. Whereas O’Neil is listed as editor on parts 1 and 3. On Wikipedia, not always reliable, it lists Grant as writing all 3 parts and doesn’t have 27 listed on O’Neil’s LoTDK issues he wrote. Your entry just lists mentions Grant as the writer. Who actually wrote LOTDK 27?????????

By: Matt

Matt — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 01:05:27 +0000

Great writing, props on your choice of images throughout the article as well.

By: Tim Maly

Tim Maly — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 02:54:00 +0000

I love that you posted this just a few weeks before my brain decided that I needed to know about it. I’s also read this arc when it first came out and loved it. Then I forgot about it until 3 days ago. Asked around, got the name of the architect and then google brought me here. Thanks for this!

By: MJA

MJA — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 01:07:32 +0000

great post. those anton furst drawings are bad-ass. i remember when burtons batman came out, i bought a fan-boy type magazine dedicated to the film. there were a couple small pictures of antons gotham conceptual drawings – i used to strain my eyes studying those things. i wanted to live in a city like that.

another guy who draws gotham (and metropolis) extremely well, is comic artist jim lee. i got a chance to see a jim lee art show in la jolla, CA last year. they even had some of his non-inked covers of batman. his gotham renderings were outstanding.

By: Jimmy Stamp

Jimmy Stamp — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 05:42:34 +0000

@Enrique – Great spot on the Torre Velasco! For those too lazy to google it, check it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torre_Velasca

@Robin – The “Cataclysm” and “No Man’s Land” storylines are definitely worth a read. Everything’s in trade now too if you don’t have the single issues. “No Man’s Land,” where the Federal Government essentially gives up on Gotham and destroys all access into / out of they city, is especially interesting as another study of the impact of a city on the psyche of its residents. In the aftermath of the Earthquake, the cops and the criminals both transform into something new, something harder, something necessary.

By: Robin

Robin — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 17:52:02 +0000

Wow. Thanks for the blast from the past. I also loved this arc — it happened back in the days when I was actually subscribing to Batman! my gosh — even though I don’t think I had the intellectual horsepower yet to realize just how cool it was.

I love the idea that the new “characters” being introduced here were buildings, not people — and that they stuck around! The new (old) Gotham Police HQ, “revealed” in this arc, was a familiar fixture for years to come.

I missed the earthquake & rebuilding, though. Might have to ferret those issues out…

By: Enrique Ramirez

Enrique Ramirez — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 17:38:12 +0000

Interesting! Furst studied architecture at the RCA in London (although Dietrich Neumann told us he also studied at the AA … must check on this). Also, if you notice the uppermost image (fully realized in Tim Burton’s Batman) Furst has placed BBPR’s Torre Velasco smack dab in the middle of Gotham City.