FORTRESS OF BAILEYTUDE SHOWCASE PRESENTS…REMEMBERING NORM BREYFOGLE

FOBSP: Remebering Norm Breyfogle

On September 24, 2018 artist Norm Breyfogle passed away.  Breyfogle was an extremely talented artist and is probably best known for his work on Detective Comics, Batman, and Batman: Shadow of the Bat.  He was definitely my favorite Batman artist when I was reading the books in 1989 and 1990.  Because of this I wanted to talk about how his work had an impact on me but I’m not alone for this conversation.  Joining me is Tom Panarese, host or co-host of such shows as Pop Culture Affidavit, In Country and Required Reading With Tom and Stella.  Through the course of the hour or so that we talk Tom and I cover a lot of ground; where we first remember seeing Norm’s work, things we loved about his style, some of the moments or pages that stand out for us and a discussion on Batman in general.

Norm was an amazing artist.  He will be missed.

During the course of the discussion we talk about certain pages and covers that stood out to us.  Below is a gallery of those images.

Next Time: Donovan Morgan Grant and I versus Batman v Superman.

2 thoughts on “FORTRESS OF BAILEYTUDE SHOWCASE PRESENTS…REMEMBERING NORM BREYFOGLE”

  1. Another excellent Bat-episode Michael, one that brought back a lot of memories.

    Like many comic readers, I became a fan of Batman because of Norm Breyfogle’s art. The first time I saw his work was in Batman #456, which I found at a flea market for just a dime. I instantly fell in in love with Breyfogle’s Batmobile and his use of shadows. I also enjoyed seeing Batman doing some detective work and how the art reflected the cold weather in Gotham.

    From that point on Norm Breyfogle was my Batman artist. I tracked down his Detective run and followed him to Shadow of the Bat. No other artist has come close to his stuff, and I’m very sad we’ll never see more of his Batman.

    Rest in Peace Norm.

  2. Michael and Tom great show and i couldn’t agree more!

    We (The Drake) did a tribute show as well and the feelings are the same. This was my Golden Age of comics. I mean my podcast is heavily influenced by Norm’s work. He was my Batman (and Robin) artist, he drew the first appearance of Tim Drake in that bad ass costume for crying out loud! Like you said as well my love for Tom Lyle and Tom Grummett for Robin is sound, and i wanna say they both are my favorite Robin artist. But if I’m being honest when i was first reading Detective and Batman i was captivated by Grant and Breyfogle’s work and when Batman and Robin appeared together again…. BAM!.. that’s all i needed! I mean the splash page on pg 12 & 13 of Batman 465 with Robin swinging across the page has been my favorite image of Robin for the longest time. Tom talked about Norm’s batmobile, it is also my favorite version of the car, speaking of cars did you ever read the Detention Comic special #1? It’s 3 separate stories for Robin, Superboy, & Warrior. The Robin story is written by Denny O’Neil and art by Breyfogle and he drawls the Redbird for the first and only time and it’s amazing! I could go on forever…

    In closing Norm’s passing hit me harder than i thought. Sure Batman 89 brought into collecting comics officially but it was the wonderful art of Norm Breyfogle that captivated the eyes of that Freshman/Sophmore year in high school where I fell in love with comics….. forever! Thanks Michael and Tom for this great episode!

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