1. 1POW! | 2014
POW!AllThings Superhero
DEC. 2014
ALL ABOUT
BAT-
MAN!
EXCLUSIVE!
Your traditional
superhero comic
with a twist!
SANDRA
CHEVRIER
Get to know
the artist
behind the
magic!
3. 4 5POW! | 2014 POW! | 2014
Ridwana Rafiq
Dear editor,
It is truly an honor to accept
the title of Executive Art Di-
rector of POW! Magazine. My
mission was to create an elegant
layout as well as bringing in
modern images without losing
the element of this publication.
It has been quite some time since
I have created such designs, and
I truly hope they are of your in-
terest. Designing this magazine
was very special to me because
superheroes hold a place in my
heart. I had so many designs
coming across my mind that I
just did not know which one to
ultimately choose.
After coming across many
ideas and creating numerous
sketches, I think this is it. I hope
you and the magazine viewers
enjoy my design as much as I do.
I want to thank POW! Maga-
zine once again for giving me
this huge opportunity to be their
designer. POW! Is such a dedi-
cated and hardworking compa-
ny dedicated to their audience,
which makes me even more
appreciative to work for such a
company. POW! belongs to its
members, and I really do believe
I am in great hands.
FROM
THE
EDI-
TOR
4. 6 7POW! | 2014 POW! | 2014
BATMANby: Sandra Chevrier
Batman, one of the most
influential comic book characters
to be penned, was created by art-
ist Bob Kane and writer Bill Fin-
ger, though Kane, who designed
the character, often receives
credit as the sole creator. After
the success of Superman in early
1939, DC comics started re-
questing more superheroes for its
titles. Bob Kane had an idea for
a character called “Bat-Man.”
There is a large controversy that
suggests Kane came up
with a “Birdman” and
Finger is the one who ac-
tually suggested the name
“Bat-man.” The charac-
ter’s alter-ego’s name was
influenced by the names
of the Scottish patriot
Robert the Bruce and rev-
olutionary U.S. Brigadier Gen-
eral Mad Anthony Wayne. For
the character’s costume, Kane
drew inspiration from a flying
device designed by Leonardo da
Vinci: the ornithopter, a glider
that had bat like wings. Most of
the Bat costume designs were
suggested by Bill Finger. Kane
initially drew Batman with a red
and black costume, a domino
mask, and wings. Finger suggest-
ed the character’s costume be
colored gray & black to make the
character look more “ominous.”
He also suggested replacing the
domino mask with a cowl and
the wings with a cape. Finger
also wanted Kane to change the
way Batman’s eyes appeared
behind the mask and urged him
to turn them into white spots.
Along with Superman, various
aspects of Batman’s personality,
character history, visual design as
well as equipment were inspired
by contemporary popular culture
of the 1930’s, including movies,
pulp magazine, comic strips,
newspaper headlines and even
aspects of Kane himself. Nota-
ble sources of inspiration were
two of Kane’s favorite movies,
The Bat Whispers (1930), the
film was a screen adaptation of
Mary Robert Rinehart’s mystery
novel that featured character
named The Bat, a de-
tective who has a secret
alter ego known as the
Bat. The other movie
that influenced Kane
was The Mark of Zorro
(1920). One might point
out that in the movies
young Bruce Wayne is
often shown to have seen
a Zorro movie before his parents
were murdered. The character
first appeared in Detective Com-
ics #27, published in 1939, and
later became popular enough to
spawn his own comics.
“It’s not who I am
underneath, but what I do
that defines me.”
