The Dark Knight Comic Book Influences (SPOILERS)

Paul (ral) · Tue, 12 Mar 2013, 22:48

Need to get thus up as a feature but I just wanted to add my 2 cents before we do.

I was flicking through some Batman Adventures comics today and saw the first issue had something that was striking...

It came out in 2003, based on the New Batman Adventures cartoon.

The first page of issue 1...

BatmAngelus · Wed, 1 May 2013, 17:42

Found this tumblr link and thought I'd post it here to point out that even though The Dark Knight lifts the "He does that" moment with Harvey and Gordon from The Long Halloween, the Batman-Gordon-Dent rooftop meeting is not something unique to that comic.

I see it cited to TLH all the time and sure, it's likely where the Nolans and Goyer picked it up. But a lot of TLH recycled a previous comic called Eye of the Beholder by Andrew Helfer, which reimagined Dent's origin and was the one that revealed that he had an abusive father with a two-headed coin.

This comic, from 1990, seems to be the first time Dent, Gordon, and Batman met by the Bat-Signal.

The moment would be recreated in the Batman newspaper strips around the same time and then in the 90s comics two more times before The Long Halloween.
http://about-faces.tumblr.com/post/36978608762/evolution-of-the-rooftop-meeting-from-1990-to

BatmAngelus · Tue, 11 Aug 2015, 19:23

Footage of Heath Ledger's Joker diary reveals that he pasted in some comic book panels into his character journal. The only visible one is from Englehart and Rogers's The Laughing Fish at 0:20.

Paul (ral) · Sat, 7 Jul 2018, 16:12

Now a site feature!

http://www.batman-online.com/features/2018/7/7/comic-influences-on-the-dark-knight-2008

The Dark Knight · Thu, 12 Jul 2018, 04:03

Another shout out to Silver Nemesis for these features. It takes a lot of time and effort, but it's done out of love.

thecolorsblend · Thu, 12 Jul 2018, 20:42

The bit where Batman swoops down on Crane's getaway car reminded me of LOTDK #50/Images, pages #28-#29. One of the camera angles even looks one of the panels.

Silver Nemesis · Thu, 12 Jul 2018, 22:05

Quote from: The Dark Knight on Thu, 12 Jul 2018, 04:03
Another shout out to Silver Nemesis for these features. It takes a lot of time and effort, but it's done out of love.

Quote from: thecolorsblend on Thu, 12 Jul 2018, 20:42
The bit where Batman swoops down on Crane's getaway car reminded me of LOTDK #50/Images, pages #28-#29. One of the camera angles even looks one of the panels.

Excellent observation, colors!

The Dark Knight · Fri, 13 Jul 2018, 01:53

Quote from: thecolorsblend on Thu, 12 Jul 2018, 20:42
The bit where Batman swoops down on Crane's getaway car reminded me of LOTDK #50/Images, pages #28-#29. One of the camera angles even looks one of the panels.

Funny how that's enough to instantly stop the car and halt Crane from driving off. I guess we're meant to believe the impact knocked him out. Also, notice the direction Batman descends from and the direction in which he lands. It's a goof I've never been able to ignore...and it's in such a prominent sequence.

The Laughing Fish · Sat, 18 Aug 2018, 03:08

This is an old article, but back in 2013, David Goyer once revealed he gave Nolan a lot of help in writing his take on Batman and developing Man of Steel, as the director had no knowledge about the comics.

Quote
Heading to London to participate in the the BAFTA And BFI Screenwriters' Lecture, screenwriter David S. Goyer said that, "Chris had never read comic books. He didn't know the world. So he trusted me on that franchise and with Superman to know what was canon: what could be changed and what couldn't be changed."

"I identified the ten things that remained sticky about Batman and Superman," Goyer added. "Wrote them up and said to Chris 'These are the 10 things that should be in the movie. Like the Ten Commandments. As long as we honour that, we'll be good.' " But the pair took their dedication to staying true to the character one step further, by meeting the very people who make their living thinking up new adventures for Bruce Wayne—the comic book writers behind the cape and cowl.

"We said, 'What do you think should be in a Batman film, and are there any rules that you absolutely would not break?' It sounds simple, but none of the other writers had bothered to do that," Goyer explained. "They dismissed the comic books and their creators. We earned their trust."

But even then, right down to the details, Nolan had questions. "Early in 'Batman Begins' he said 'does he have to have a utility belt?', and I said 'yes'. And he said 'why?' And then he showed me a design and it was all black. And I said 'it has to be yellow', and he said 'oh...,' " Goyer reveals.

Source: https://www.indiewire.com/2013/09/david-s-goyer-says-he-had-to-tell-christopher-nolan-what-the-batman-canon-was-for-the-dark-knight-trilogy-93286/

So it turns out Nolan relied on Goyer a lot on ideas taken from comics. And to think people criticise Tim Burton's lack of knowledge. At least one can say Burton had read The Killing Joke and used that story to come up with his own ideas for B89. To also think people dismiss Goyer's involvement in the series and thought Nolan "understood" Batman all along.

With that said, Goyer has some nerve to dismiss the contributions of writers of the previous live action films. Not only does the damn trilogy recreate a lot of scenes and ideas from Burton's work and even Batman Forever, it's quite rich of him to claim he and Nolan came up rules you can't break for a Batman movie, because the character constantly breaks his moral code throughout all three films and wasn't even consistent in his approach at all. And if the comics creators they allegedly met were aware of this, then shame on them. Apparently, words speak louder than actions to these people.

It's ironic to me he'd insinuate somebody like Sam Hamm dismissed the comics and their creators, when Hamm co-created Henri Ducard as a comic character in the late 80s, who would later be amalgamated into Ra's al Ghul in the first Nolan film. Last time I time I checked, Ducard and Ra's weren't the same man, and Ra's didn't have anything to do with Bruce's destiny to become Batman. To me, that's not much different than making the Joker playing a part in Bruce's destiny to become Batman in B89.

What annoys me is despite arrogantly selling the past short, I wouldn't have cared what Goyer would have to say if I liked the movie. You can try make parallels to scenes or ideas from certain comics, but if the film is itself has a plot and characters so poorly written then it's not going to matter to me.

Dagenspear · Sat, 18 Aug 2018, 11:48

Quote from: The Laughing Fish on Sat, 18 Aug 2018, 03:08So it turns out Nolan relied on Goyer a lot on ideas taken from comics. And to think people criticise Tim Burton's lack of knowledge. At least one can say Burton had read The Killing Joke and used that story to come up with his own ideas for B89. To also think people dismiss Goyer's involvement in the series and thought Nolan "understood" Batman all along.

With that said, Goyer has some nerve to dismiss the contributions of writers of the previous live action films. Not only does the damn trilogy recreate a lot of scenes and ideas from Burton's work and even Batman Forever, it's quite rich of him to claim he and Nolan came up rules you can't break for a Batman movie, because the character constantly breaks his moral code throughout all three films and wasn't even consistent in his approach at all. And if the comics creators they allegedly met were aware of this, then shame on them. Apparently, words speak louder than actions to these people.

It's ironic to me he'd insinuate somebody like Sam Hamm dismissed the comics and their creators, when Hamm co-created Henri Ducard as a comic character in the late 80s, who would later be amalgamated into Ra's al Ghul in the first Nolan film. Last time I time I checked, Ducard and Ra's weren't the same man, and Ra's didn't have anything to do with Bruce's destiny to become Batman. To me, that's not much different than making the Joker playing a part in Bruce's destiny to become Batman in B89.

What annoys me is despite arrogantly selling the past short, I wouldn't have cared what Goyer would have to say if I liked the movie. You can try make parallels to scenes or ideas from certain comics, but if the film is itself has a plot and characters so poorly written then it's not going to matter to me.

I think someone can understand a character in writing them and not have a lot of prior knowledge, but after getting the knowledge gets the character.

Honestly I think having Ra's be Batman's trainer adds interesting context to their relationship and Ra's desire for him to be his heir.

The Dark Knight Comic Book Influences (SPOILERS)

Paul (ral)

Tue, 12 Mar 2013, 22:48 #50

BatmAngelus

Wed, 1 May 2013, 17:42 #51

BatmAngelus

Tue, 11 Aug 2015, 19:23 #52

Paul (ral)

Sat, 7 Jul 2018, 16:12 #53

The Dark Knight

Thu, 12 Jul 2018, 04:03 #54

thecolorsblend

Thu, 12 Jul 2018, 20:42 #55

Silver Nemesis

Thu, 12 Jul 2018, 22:05 #56

The Dark Knight

Fri, 13 Jul 2018, 01:53 #57

The Laughing Fish

Sat, 18 Aug 2018, 03:08 #58 Last Edit: Sat, 18 Aug 2018, 05:57 by The Laughing Fish

Dagenspear

Sat, 18 Aug 2018, 11:48 #59