Howdy everyone, and welcome back to the latest Creator Spotlight. Zach here as always and in this entry, we are going to be taking a look at the career of artist, Norm Breyfogle. And here we go:
Norm Breyfogle started working in comics at a very young age; 16 to be exact. Breyfogle’s first gig was writing and cartooning a book titled, Tech-Team. Breyfogle would then go on and complete high school. While in college, he did some work for a local magazine in Michigan and also did some work for the publisher, Book Concern. In 1984, Breyfogle met a talent agent and illustrated a six page story in DC’s New Talent Showcase. Breyfogle then started to receive more work; a back up in American Flagg, pencils in Eclipse Comic’s Tales of Terror, a Captain America short story in Marvel Fanfare, and then the title; Whisper for First Comics. However, in 1987, Breyfogle returned to DC and began working on Detective Comics, and that is where the story begins.
At the time of Breyfogle’s arrival to Detective Comics, the book’s sales had stooped tremendously and the title was sinking fast. However, with the help of writers Alan Grant and, briefly John Wagner, they were able to stop the bleeding and begin the revival of the series. Breyfogle would work on Detective Comics consistently for three years (1987 to 1990). During this time, Breyfogle would become the numero uno Batman artist of the late 80s and early 90s. After his work on Detective Comics, he moved over to the main Batman title.
Breyfogle would make twenty six appearances on Batman that spanned form June of 1990 to July of 1998. During his time on the title, Breyfogle and Alan Grant would remain a strong combination. Breyfogle was also responsible for penciling Tim Drake’s first night as Robin in issue #465. Much like Detective Comics, Grant’s and Breyfogle’s created villains would often appear in Batman as well.
However, Breyfogle and Grant were not done with the bat quite yet. The two would introduce a new Batman title, Shadow of the Bat in June of 1992. And while Breyfogle would only work on a total of eight issues during the series run, the initial story arc, The Last Arkham is arguably the most unforgettable.
For most of the early 90s, Breyfogle was considered “The Batman Artist”, and somehow I feel like he is always forgotten by so many. Breyfogle’s artwork was so energetic and had so much life to it. In my opinion, he really brought the pages to life, something that I think many artists struggle to do. Maybe he is forgotten because he didn’t pencil the epic storylines, but instead, along with Alan Grant, they just wrote solid Batman comics for years. Breyfogle’s Batman was my first interpretation of the character in comic book form. To me, he should always be considered in the same breath as Neal Adams, Jim Aparo and David Mazzucchelli as one of the greatest Batman artists of all-time.
Well, again thank you for reading and I hope you all enjoyed a peak into the career of Norm Breyfogle. The next creator spotlight will be highlighting the very talented and controversial writer, Grant Morrison. I can hardly wait! Tune in next time, same bat time, same bat channel.
Posted by Zach
