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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
