It’s tough for me to date drawings from this period because I always I assume I was very young when I drew them, but if I’m quoting Tim Burton’s Batman it must be June of 1989, when I was ten. These drawings are hilarious for several reasons: note Robin’s short pants (drawn here at a modest length, rather than the Speedo-briefs Robin normally wears while fighting crime), the 1960s television Batman versions of The Riddler and The Penguin, my barely competent imitation of Brian Bolland’s famous Joker art, but, most of all, Batman’s silly grin beneath the famous movie line, “I’m Batman.” This was over-the-top but kind of cool in Burton’s Batman (and Christopher Nolan’s homage to same in Batman Begins). Here it’s just ridiculous. It actually reminds me more of one of Matt Groening’s “Life in Hell” strips from Will and Abe’s Guide to the Universe, in which a young Abe informs his father that he wears a cape because he’s “‘Dracuya’” and that he likes to “‘suck byud.’” So, imagine my smiley-Batman saying, “I’m Byatman.”

Extra Bonus Trivia: My girlfriend Audrey and I like to be disgustingly cute by adding a “y” sound to the beginning of words, as in “byud” instead of “blood” or “that comic is syo cyute.” After reading the “Life in Hell” strip discussed above, “I fyi away beardface” became a favorite catchphrase with endless permutations, such as “I fyi away blondeface” as a farewell from me to Audrey (because she’s blonde). 1999.