I was recently surprised by a wonderful email from a Bat-Blog Fan named Marc. He lives in Germany & loves to collect "international Batman Comics". He sent us some photos from his comic book collection & they're a total joy to see. Basically, they're a few issues he has where he shows different variations from different countries. We get to see books in many foreign languages: German, English, French, Spanish, etc... The interesting thing is that sometimes they create whole new artwork for the cover. The "BATMAN: GOTHAM NOIR" Graphic Novel is the perfect example of that. I wanna thank Marc for taking the time to shoot these pics, I appreciate that. If any other Bat-Blog Readers have interesting things about their comic book or toy collections that you would like to share then please do. The main focus of the Bat-Blog is the joys of being a Bat-Fan & Collector.
I don't know what my fascination is with "Foreign Batman items" but that sort of stuff is really cool! Plus it's very hard to find. Here's some great examples: The 1st photo shows a JAPANESE POTATO CHIP BAG with a 1989 BATMAN movie promotion. Now, how wacky is that! Speaking of "Japanese", right now my heart goes out to all the people of Japan. The recent events there are such a tragedy. Let's hope things get better soon. The next pic features a 1980's German-Language BATMAN Comic Book... from Germany ( Duh!, ha! ). The the last group of photos are vintage Batman items from Australia. These Australian comics are from the 1970's. So, what do you think? Is this stuff kinda cool!? Hey, I got a question, Do YOU have any foreign bat-items you would like to share? If so, then please send us some pics today. Remember, the Bat-Blog is all about sharing information about the joys of collecting.
Lately I have been sort of obsessed with "Foreign Batman" comic books. They're really hard to find in the US. I like the ones that have a total foreign language on the cover. I can't read them at all, but they're cool to look at, ha ha! Here are a few examples of a title called BATMAN KLASSIK. They're published in Germany by the Hethke Publishing Company. This series reprinted all the classic "Neal Adams Batman" stories from the 1970's, mostly the ones featuring the characters that Neal Adams created, R'as Al Ghul & Man-Bat. I always loved those stories from my childhood so they're kinda great to see in another format. If there are any Bat-Blog Readers from other countries who could send some information or photos that would be great, thanks!
This amazing 3D Computer Graphic Art was done by our good friend Achim Loobes to celebrate the 70th Anniversary of Batman, the Caped Crusaider! He has a website devoted to Batman that has a ton of very cool 3-D computer artwork. Now, the only problem is that the website is from Germany & is totally in the German language. So some of you, like me, can't read anything, ha ha! But it's very well designed & easy to navigate. It's worth a look just to see the cool images. Some of them are interaction & when you move your mouse around on top of the image, they come alive! Oh yeah, the site is called DER-VIGILANT & you can make a visit by clicking HERE!
Here's an interesting piece of Bat-History, a TV promo spot for the 1966 Batman TV Show that aired in Germany! And for people who understand German, read this: Programmhinweis von Pro7 zur Batman Serie von 1966.
For this post I thought I would share some photos of some very obscure pieces of Batman Memorabilia from around the globe. The 1st bat-item is a Set of Batman ( Comic Book Version ) Story / Music Cassettes. These were made in the Netherlands in the early 1980's. There's actually a lot more of these in the original set but finding even these 3 are pretty difficult. I really really like the cover art. The next item might look just like it's American-counterpart but it's totally in German! Yes, it's the 1989 BATMAN MOVIE Novelization Paperback Book, but from Germany. I wonder if these are as common there as the US versions are here, ha ha! But still, it's really cool that it is "foreign language". On to the next photo we see a toy made during the BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES cartoon craze in Argentina! This is one of those Batman: Drawing Play Sets where there's a machine you load plastic tiles into that have "drawings" embossed on them ( raised design ). You snap them into a template, load a piece of paper, & then scratch a pencil across to get the artwork on your paper. It creates an image that is black-outlined & you can then color it. Sort of like having a manual "coloring book sheet maker" in your home, whew! Anyways, it's so great that it's from South America and it's got the BTAS thing goin' on. Plus, seeing the Joker on the box is kinda cool too. OK, right now I want to extend an offer for all Bat-Blog Readers living all over the world to send in any "Foreign Collectibles" photos & stories you might have.
