Jerry Robinson - The Man That Added Lustre To The Batman

Avan Nisan 25, 2022

I've already mentioned Jerry Robinson's remarkable work on the early years of the Batman, he it was the either created or co-created (it depends on who you're getting the story from) the Joker and he who came up with Robin as a humanizing sidekick for the Batman and if these achievements weren't worthy of guaranteeing Mr Robinson a place in the Comics History Hall of Fame, he was also an artist of exceptional talent whose capabilities extended well beyond just being one of Bob Kane's anonymous ghosts.

Someone working at DC comics when the Batman was still a new but rapidly rising star also thought the same, as the work being sent in from Kane included pages that were increasingly beginning to look as if they had been created by someone with considerably more ability than Kane. The changes had been gradual as Kane had started Robinson on lettering with work on backgrounds and then inking rapidly following on. But it got to the stage where with the launch of a comic devoted solely to the Batman who would feature in four stories that even with an initial quarterly publishing schedule, Kane's required output had more than doubled within a year.

Robinson found himself drawing full length stories as other inkers and assistants helped cover the chores that Robinson had initially covered - most notably George Roussos. The observant editor at D.C. - may well have been Batman editor Whitney Ellsworth, spotted that the work was too good to be Kane's and having made a few enquiries put Robinson directly onto the D.C. payroll.

More can be gleaned about this fascinating artist in N.C. Christopher Couch's newly published book on Robinson, "Jerry Robinson: Ambassador of Comics" published by Abrams and a definite Christmas list essential for anyone remotely interested in the early years of comic books.

Here as an appetizer is a gallery of some of the most exciting work to grace the covers of U.S. comic books as well as a photo of Robinson himself and some of his comic book collection.