Mazzucchelli draws Batman

A few short notes on the brilliance of David Mazzucchelli, based on the extraordinary kinetic energy of this panel.

A single panel arrests, freezes, a single moment, or perhaps two or three – depending on how many speech bubbles there are. No speech here – although we might take Batman’s narration to spread the action here over a second or a second and a half.

But let’s think about the way Mazzucchelli distributes action over space.

First, the element most easily missed – the perspective created by the lines denoting brickwork and the bars of the balcony floor. These align the reader’s eye with a vanishing point somewhere behind the panel. This is the first movement of the reader’s eye and mind.

The second, and clearest: the downward motion of line, eye and mind. All in parallel: The vertical fencing of the balcony, the ladder at the left of the panel, and Batman, drawn with his cloak flying behind him so that he bisects the panel.

This already sounds busy – the reader’s eye is working on two planes. But here’s the really clever thing:

There is a line of motion, left to right, across the panel, making a third plane that the eye moves along.

At the far left: the thief ready to spring into action. He’s hoisting himself onto the balcony, so that his motion reverses Batman’s, mirrors it inversely. Then: Batman himself, landing right in the middle of the panel. And then, right: the third thief in motion, falling backwards. His line of motion is on the same plane as the first thief’s, so Batman splits that plane with his arrival. The amount of kinetic energy in the panel increases as we move left to right across the panel. Even the washing line at the bottom right contributes to this effect.

Also worth noticing – the textures. No costume detailing, no exaggerated muscles in his legs; heavy black for the the boots and cowl; splashes of black to indicate folds in the cape. Compare it with the gritty, rugged denim of the thieves’ jeans.