BATMAN #59

Publisher: National Comics

Publication | Artist: David Vern Reed

Colorist: Bob Kane and Lew Sayre Shwartz

Retro Review

Enter the Silver Age of Comics. Enter Deadshot. Yes, the Deadshot you know and love from the Suicide Squad movie except in his first appearance, he looked like Zatanna and acted like a classic one and done villain. I know a lot of fans detest this time in the publication of the Dark Knight. Long gone were Batman’s vigilante ways. Both he and Robin were now a super-police duo. The darker tone of the last decade was replaced by a jovial and whimsical theme. I love that Batman at one point, afraid that

Deadshot masquerading as a hero is going to replace him, refers to himself a “prima donna.” The Silver Age of Batman comics is largely remembered for the whacky, out of this world plot lines and characters. I’ve always found this era to be fascinating. The zany costumes, the lighter themes and crazy stories are a constant reminder of why we need a Light Knight every now and then. You can probably count on your hands the number of times Batman smiled and most of them came from the 50s and 60s. This is the era where we get a live action Batman on television. The camp of Batman ’66 and the Batman comics stand in stark contrast to the grim realities of the Civil Rights Movement, Korean War and Vietnam War. Of course, this change in tone was both endemic and problematic for the DC line of superheroes, most of which were canceled by the end of the 1950s. Batman was largely indistinguishable from other heroes like Superman and Green Lantern. With drooping sales and stagnant storylines, it was only a matter of time before the Dark Knight changed or faced cancelation.