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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 20, 1998)
— Comic artist searches for his past Illustrations Courtesy of Bob Hall (ABOVE) BOB HALL has been a comic book artist for the past 20 years. (RIGHT) HALL'S lesser-knewn work and experience led him te an opportunity te woik for B.C. Comics. By Bret Schulte Senior Reporter Comic artist Bob Hall recently discovered he shares a lot more with Bruce Wayne than a working rela tionship. Moving back to Lincoln in April after 20 years drawing comics in New York, England and Ireland, Hall is trying to unearth a . past that has been kept from him for 53 years - his true family. “I found out I was adopted through my Aunt Ethel,” Hall said. “I think she sort of felt a responsi bility to tell me, since she is the last living member of that generation of my r z ^ j family.” Jj )\ It is an eerie comic book-type tale for rrVr this man who has drawn and written such leg y/ endary heroes as “The Avengers,” “Spiderman,” “The Fantastic Four” and now, appropriately enough, “Batman.” Like the Batman character he is now draw ing for D.C. Comics on assignment, Hall grew up without his true parents and is now trying to set right a past he could not control. He returned to Lincoln shortly after his Aunt Ethel’s confession, hoping he will find his biolog ical mother and that she will want to meet him. Because of die legalities of a closed adop tion, Hall’s biological mother must give her permission to have her name released. If she consents, it would allow Hall to draw the ending to a mystery more dear and suspenseful than any he has created on paper. As he waits for the final word from the Department of Records, Hall continues drawing a new “Batman” comic, one of a series of “Elseworld” comics, which he describes as “what-if ” adventures for traditional super heroes. Still in progress, Hall’s comic book “I, Joker-2083” lncation ot Batman has been I oi a tas cist government, which coi fear of! the Dark Knight and his f< _ jfc The mock religion revolves around a ceremony where the traditional “Batman” villains are hunted down in a blood ritual. “In actuality (the villains) are enemies of the state,” Hall said. “They are surgically altered to look like them. Our hero is one guy who is made to look like Joker who thwarted his programming.” The man sets about destroying Batman, which will, by the laws of the time, make him the next Batman and grant him the power to return Gotham City to its previous (if rela tive)health. this is Hall’s first experience with D.C. Comics, having been employed primarifyJgrMprvel for most qf^|p£0 years; in the business. ^ ' 'W' ¥ ! Originally a theater director, he received his Master of Fine Arts from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and worked on several productions locally before pursuing his dream to New York, where so many artists hope to find suc cess. Hall found it, but not where he expected. “Going to New York, you realize pretty quickly you need some sort of marketable skill to be able to make it,” he said. “Usually it is a waiter or temp work of some type. A friend suggested I go into comics.” the ’70s was an era of burgeoning popularity for comics, but Hall entered the field with no expectations of great success.1 Hoping for a life in the theater, (he . i directed a sue 1 Classical pianist to perform at lied By Sarah Baker Senior Reporter Nineteenth-century composer Frederic Chopin played his first public concert at age 7. Garrick Ohlsson heard Chopin’s music for die first time in conceit at when he was 9. After that experience, Ohlsson decided he wanted to be a concert pianist Ohlsson, who is considered by many to be the foremost interpreter of the works of Chopin, will perform tonight at the Lied Cotter for Performing Arts. “Chopin is the litmus test,” Ohlsson told the New York Times m 1995. “He’s kind of the Rosetta stone for pianists.” Ohlssen’s gold medal win in 1970 of the Chopin Competition brought him worldwide recognition as one of the premier pianists of his generation. He has been nominated for a Grammy " Award twice, -f Ann Chang-Barnes, assistant professor of piano at the University of Nebraska School of Music, is giving a pre-performance speech in the Lied-Steinhart room tonight Chang-Bames said Ohlsson is not only world renowned for his renditions of Chopin’s music, but also few his other interpretations as well. “He is going to be playing four Chopin pieces for us tonight, but is also including a Beethoven piece as well as a Prokofiev,” she said. “Those are both huge works in themselves.” Chang-Barnes encouraged people to see Ohlsson because opportunities like this in Lincoln are rare. “He is a world class performer, and itk some thing we probably won’t get to hear again,” she said. “It is a good chance to hear Ohlsson do what he is so well known for.”Ohlsson is performing at die Lied Coiter for Performing Arts, 12* and R streets, tonight at 8. Ticket prices are $26, $22 and $18, half-price for students. For more information, con tact the Lied box office at472-4747. began as the winning entry of a contest held by D.C. Comics for the “Elseworld” series, a concept exploring the infinite but plausible possibilities of superheroes placed m different eras, worlds and dimensions. Set in the year 2083, % Joker-2083” is, in some ways, typical of “Batman” comics. It takes place in a dark world corrupt with evil and paralyzed with fear, where villains abound and citizens are victims. But something has changed: Batman is a bad man. “Batman is a cult leader,” Hall said. “Itb as if he Is the pope and a series of people assume the head of this cult, and their title is the Batman" - .. The United States has dissolved into a chaotic feu dal system consisting of independent city-states; and in Gotham City, the person