FOUR NOTEWORTHY ART SWIPES BY BOB KANE

In relation to art, “swiping” is the practice of taking another artist’s drawing and copying it into your own work. Bob Kane, cocreator of Batman, was no stranger to swipes. He even swiped an Alex Raymond drawing for the cover of Detective Comics #27, the first appearance of Batman. In addition to that famous swipe, Robby Reed of the website Dial B for Blog and DSK of the Vallely Archives website discovered the following notable art swipes by Kane.

1 Detective Comics #33. Kane swiped the following layout that Hal Foster used in the Tarzan comic strip.

Kane later did a Batman poster using an enlarged version of this panel.

DSK, who runs a website about 1930s artist Henry Vallely, came across a particularly shocking collection of swipes. Vallely drew a 1938 “Big Little Book” called Gang Busters in Action, written by Isaac McAnally. That one book was used by Kane in two different stories, including one of the most famous panels from early Batman history!

2 Detective Comics #33. From the first origin of Batman, we see Bruce Wayne note that criminals are a cowardly and superstitious lot. The panel is clearly lifted from the Gang Busters panel by Vallely.

3 Detective Comics #27. From the first appearance of Batman and Commissioner Gordon in 1939, you can see how Gordon in this panel is patterned after the following Gang Busters panel.

4 Detective Comics #27. Of all the Gang Buster swipes, this might be the most amusing. Kane swipes a car, for crying out loud, from Vallely. A car! You don’t have the time to draw a car?