On August 23, we sadly lost Dave Taylor to prostate cancer.
A British artist, among North American comics readers, he’s probably best known for his Batman work, pairing with Alan Grant for a run on Shadow of the Bat and with Chip Kidd for the Death by Design graphic novel. His early career was populated with Marvel UK work like Gene Dogs with John Freeman and his later work for Rebellion on 2000AD and Judge Dredd Megazine, contributing notable serials like the Judge Anderson “Big Robots” again with Grant, the Judge Dredd story “High Spirits” and some Fiends of the Eastern Front, both with Ian Edginton. Though perhaps one of the brightest shining gems in his catalogue is the Moebius-inspired Tongue*Lash (and its sequel) with Jean-Marc and Randy Lofficier.
His style evolved beautifully, from more angular work that feels influenced by Carlos Ezquerra and Mick McMahon through to a more refined, simpler curved line reminiscent of Moebius until he developed a style uniquely his own that combined his influences, often added some gorgeous charcoal-like shading, a clean line, and an incredible amount of detail. I highly recommend both Batman: Death by Design and “1812” from Fiends of the Eastern Front to showcase how absolutely gorgeous his art could be. Inventive in character design, layouts, and panel transitions.
Although I’m sure that I had his issues of Force Works before anything else, the one book with his artwork that I remember first appreciating his work was Batman: Riddler – The Riddle Factory.
“What does the Riddler hope to gain from all this?”
In support of their movie releases, DC was putting out prestige format one-shots that featured the main villains from those movies. For Batman Forever, they released on featuring Two-Face and then also Batman: Riddler from Matt Wagner, Taylor, Linda Medley, and Bill Oakley. Giving us a story of the Riddler hosting a pirate game show forcing contestants to solve riddles lest they receive ridiculous punishments, the solutions to those riddles serving as a sort of fill-in-the-blank bigger puzzle. That phrase ultimately revealing secrets to humiliate and shame a rich and famous target. And a bit of a mystery as to why the Riddler is doing any of it.
Taylor’s style here is more angular and exaggerated, reminding me actually a bit of another Wagner collaborator Bernie Mireault. With a Riddler that seems a bit like an older Frank Gorshin. It really quite fits the game show nature of the story, while still showcasing the kind of formal structure in terms of page layouts that are common to Wagner’s comics. What really grabbed me when this book came out was how Taylor approached the shadows and silhouettes for Batman. Compared to the bright and arguably gaudy colour of the Riddler and his game show, Batman was often more a shadow here. It made me excited when Taylor was announced as the new regular artist on Shadow of the Bat.
The line art is beautifully enhanced with Linda Medley’s colours, balancing the two extremes of Riddler’s bright primary colours with the darkness of Gotham City, Batman, and the GCPD. And Bill Oakley’s letters nicely round out the creative.
“Not Puzzler! Riddler! I’m the king of keen-witted conundrums! Puzzles are only a sideline.”
Batman: Riddler – The Riddle Factory by Wagner, Taylor, Medley, and Oakley may have been a part of an oddly considered release schedule featuring characters from Batman Forever. Even if completely unrelated in terms of story. But it was indicative of just how good many of these prestige format one shots were. It’s a mix of character study and just damned good storytelling, tapping into a bit of then contemporary pop culture in the game show.
And it introduced many of us to the incredible Dave Taylor. A wonderful artist gone far too soon.
Classic Comic Compendium: Batman – Riddler
Batman: Riddler – The Riddle Factory
Writer: Matt Wagner
Artist: Dave Taylor
Colourist: Linda Medley
Letterer: Bill Oakley
Publisher: DC Comics
Release Date: June 1, 1995
Available collected in Legends of the Dark Knight: Matt Wagner
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