That Batman movie coloring book is the only one that I think looks pretty bad.  Too literal interpretation of that costume makes him look like a cyborg or something.  The Band-Aid box has a classic Neal Adams-ish look to it.  The one with the yellow burst behind him looks positively Sprang-ian.  The Justice League Bruce Timm style looks iconic.  The animated Batman following it doesn't look that bad.  It still looks "on model".  Even the Super Friends one is in keeping with the other hero styles - kid-friendly and recognizable.

If anything I believe the animation crew working with Bruce Timm have as close to an "on model" look to Batman as there is and that's for TV or DVD!

"A while back somebody got the bright idea to mix the Indy style with superhero comics on a line-wide basis. Maybe it was Bill Jemas at Marvel. Quesada's early editorial push was certainly in that direction. It was cute for a little while, but it ended up giving us stories that were even further off the mark than the vapid comics of the 90's.

"It can be argued that Pope, Peter Bagge and others offer distinctive perspectives to superheroes. Let's give Jim Lee a chance to re-interpret Maus, using the cast of WildC.A.T.s . Have McFarlane go nuts with American Splendor. Let's see how the Indy fans like it when the shoe's on the other foot."

Is there anything like an indie artist anymore?  Is Frank Miller an indie artist?  Is Mike Mignola?  Both of them sure don't have an "on model" Batman they draw.  Was Toth an indie artist?  What makes an indie artist anyway? 

The industry is changing.   

It can't be argued that Pope, Bagge, Miller, Mignola and others offered distinctive perspectives on Batman and other heroes.  They did. 

I don't think anyone would care if McFarlane or Lee did MAUS or some other title. 

I don't see why so many cared about Pope's work on Batman of the future and Batman of the past. 

Was Neal Adams really the height of Batman?  By what measure?  Sales?  I would guess that the 1950s/1960s Batman books sold far more than the ones done by Neal Adams.  I believe it was by individual preference and that alone.   

"I meant more for today. Lopez's art's great but it is 20 years old or more at
this point; to be competetive, shouldn't DC use a modern artist who can
capture the imaginations of the youth of today?"

I don't know if such a thing exists but I doubt the youth of today make up the most buyers of comic books in all their incarnations. 

Garcia-Lopez did some wonderful covers on JB's Wonder Woman and is one of those artists who never goes "out of style" for me.