Back Issue #73

THIS ISSUE: BATMAN’S PARTNERS! J ul y

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“British Invasion” issue! History of Marvel UK, Beatles in comics, DC’s ‘80s British talent pool, V for Vendetta, Excalibur, Marshal Law, Doctor Who, “Pro2Pro” interview with PETER MILLIGAN & BRENDAN McCARTHY, plus BERGER, BOLLAND, DAVIS, GIBBONS, STAN LEE, LLOYD, MOORE, DEZ SKINN, and others. Fold-out triptych cover by RON WILSON and DAVE HUNT of Marvel UK’s rare 1970s “Quadra-Poster”!

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“Bronze Age Backup Series”! Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Black Canary, Metamorpho, GOODWIN and SIMONSON’s Manhunter, PASKO and GIFFEN’s Dr. Fate, “Whatever Happened To…?”, Nemesis, Rose and the Thorn, Seven Soldiers of Victory, art and commentary by CARY BURKETT, JOHN CALNAN, DICK GIORDANO, MIKE GRELL, ELLIOT S! MAGGIN, DAN SPIEGLE, cover

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“Bronze Age B-Teams”! Defenders issue-byissue overview, Champions, Guardians of the Galaxy, Inhumans, PETER DAVID’s X-Factor, Teen Titans West, Legion of Substitute Heroes, an all-star chatfest of Doom Patrol interviews, plus art and commentary by ROSS ANDRU, SAL BUSCEMA, KEITH GIFFEN, TONY ISABELLA, PAUL KUPPERBERG, ERIK LARSEN, GEORGE PÉREZ, BOB ROZAKIS, cover by KEVIN NOWLAN.

“Bronze Age Team-Ups”! Marvel Team-Up and Two-in-One, Super-Villain Team-Up, CLAREMONT and SIMONSON’s X-Men/New Teen Titans, DC Comics Presents, SuperTeam Family, HANEY and APARO’s Batman of Earth-B(&B), Superman/Captain Marvel smackdowns, plus art and commentary by BUCKLER, ENGLEHART, GARCÍA-LÓPEZ, GIFFEN, LEVITZ, WEIN, and a classic GIL KANE cover inked anew by TERRY AUSTIN.

“Heroes Out of Time!” Batman: Gotham by Gaslight with MIGNOLA, WAID, and AUGUSTYN, Booster Gold with JURGENS, X-Men: Days of Future Past with CHRIS CLAREMONT, Bill & Ted with EVAN DORKIN, interview with P. CRAIG RUSSELL, “Pro2Pro” with Time Masters’ BOB WAYNE and LEWIS SHINER, Karate Kid, New Mutants: Asgardian Wars, and Kang.

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Volume 1, Number 73 July 2014 Celebrating the Best Comics of the '70s, '80s, '90s, and Beyond!

Comics’ Bronze Age and Beyond!

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Michael Eury PUBLISHER John Morrow DESIGNER Rich Fowlks COVER ARTISTS Alan Davis and Mark Farmer (art from the collection of Eric Delos Santos)

COVER COLORIST Glenn Whitmore COVER DESIGNER Michael Kronenberg

BACK SEAT DRIVER: Editorial by Michael Eury . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Fantasy Batman team-ups in “The B&Bs We Didn’t See”

PROOFREADER Rob Smentek

FLASHBACK: Taking Wing: Nightwing Moves Out from Under Batman’s Shadow . . . . .5 New Teen Titans scribe Marv Wolfman discusses Dick Grayson’s maturation Bob McLeod Nigel McMillan Al Milgrom Doug Moench Aidan M. Mohan Michael Netzer Denny O’Neil Martin Pasko Ross Pearsall Alfred Pennyworth Mike Pigott Shannon E. Riley Bob Rozakis Eric Delos Santos Anthony Snyder Bryan D. Stroud John Trumbull Randall Wiggins Marv Wolfman Philip Youngman

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PRINCE STREET NEWS: Dick Grayson: Fashion Victim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12 Holy Haberdashery! Peeking into the Boy/Teen Wonder’s closet CHECKLIST: Batgirl in the Bronze Age . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14 From Dominoed Daredoll to information broker, issue by issue BRING ON THE BAD GUYS: A History of the Man-Bat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16 Friend or foe? Creators from Adams to Rozakis discuss Kirk Langstrom WHAT THE--?!: It Came from the Fifth Dimension: Bat-Mite! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25 The life and times of Batman’s most annoying sidekick FLASHBACK: Bronze Age Batmobiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29 What would Batman do without his wheels?

FLASHBACK: Batman and the Outsiders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33 Heroes old and new joined the Gotham Guardian to form one of DC’s most durable teams PRO2PRO: Mike W. Barr and Alan Davis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50 Chatting with the writer/artist duo of one of the best Bat-runs of the ’80s BEYOND CAPES: Commissioner Gordon in the Bronze Age . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59 The evolution of Gotham’s top cop FLASHBACK: The Final Days of World’s Finest Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .64 The last years of this long-running series splintered the Batman/Superman team OFF MY CHEST: Carrie Kelley: The Female Wonder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .69 An analysis of the Girl Robin from Frank Miller’s Dark Knight INTERVIEW: Jeph Loeb: Batman’s Mouthpiece . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .73 A sequel to the Long Halloween feature from BACK ISSUE #60 BACK TALK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .76 Reader comments about BI #68 and more BACK ISSUE™ is published 8 times a year by TwoMorrows Publishing, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614. Michael Eury, Editor-in-Chief. John Morrow, Publisher. Editorial Office: BACK ISSUE, c/o Michael Eury, Editor-in-Chief, 118 Edgewood Avenue NE, Concord, NC 28025. Email: euryman@gmail.com. Six-issue subscriptions: $67 Standard US, $85 Canada, $104 Elsewhere.

Please send subscription orders and funds to TwoMorrows, NOT to the editorial office. Cover art by Alan Davis and Mark Farmer. Batman, Robin, Batgirl, and related characters TM & © DC Comics. All Rights Reserved. All characters are © their respective companies. All material © their creators unless otherwise noted. All editorial matter © 2014 Michael Eury and TwoMorrows Publishing, except Prince Street News © 2014 Karl Heitmueller, Jr. BACK ISSUE is a TM of TwoMorrows Publishing.

ISSN 1932-6904. Printed in China. FIRST PRINTING.

Batman’s Partners Issue

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BACK ISSUE • 1

Detail from the cover of Batman and the Outsiders #1. TM & © DC Comics.

SPECIAL THANKS Neal Adams Frankie Addiego Mike W. Barr Al Bigley Dave Billman Norm Breyfogle Jonathan Brown Kurt Busiek Gerry Conway DC Comics Alan Davis Jose Delbo Chuck Dixon Michael Golden Grand Comic-Book Database Karl Heitmueller, Jr. Heritage Comics Auctions Ilke Hincer Jeph Loeb Andy Mangels

To commemorate the Darknight Detective’s 75th anniversary, this issue we take a look at Batman’s partners.

Although he began as a loner in Detective Comics #27 (May 1939), Batman has seldom worked solo, despite the hundreds of “solo” stories told about him.

Be it Commissioner Gordon, or Robin, or Alfred, or Superman, or Batgirl, or the Justice League, or the Outsiders, or more recently a network of brooding confederates—or even his Batmobile or utility belt!— Batman has almost always depended upon a helper in his crimefighting crusade.

No comic book (or spin-off animated TV show) exemplified Batman’s penchant for partners more than The Brave and the Bold. That long-running

Batman team-up comic has been spotlighted several times in BACK ISSUE, most recently in #66 (you’re probably still snickering at its “Prince Street News” cartoon by Karl Heitmueller, Jr., “Rejected Team-Ups from The Brave and the Bold”), and you can bet we’ll revisit it again (“Batman’s Weirdest TeamUps” leads off our forthcoming “Weird Issue,” BACK ISSUE #78).

Naturally, we can’t allow a “Batman’s Partners” edition to pass without a nod to The Brave and the Bold. With your friendly neighborhood Euryman being one of the biggest B&B fans around, please allow me to consider that series’ missed opportunities in a feature I just have to call…

by

Michael Eury

All art and characters TM & © DC Comics, except Tarzan TM & © ERB.

2 • BACK ISSUE • Batman’s Partners Issue

BATMAN AND ADAM STRANGE Instead of the head-scratching combo of Green Arrow and the Manhunter from Mars as the first team-up in The Brave and the Bold #50 (Oct.–Nov. 1963), what if B&B scribe Bob Haney had instead paired Batman and Adam Strange? This was during the waning months of Bat-editor Jack Schiff’s tenure, when science fiction was common in the Gotham Guardian’s milieu, and Adam Strange was still a DC headliner in his Mystery in Space series. Had Carmine Infantino, Adam Strange’s artist, been drafted for this inaugural team-up, before he delineated editor Julie Schwartz’s “New Look” Batman a few months later, one wonders, would he have drawn Batman in the Bob Kane house style of the day or begin to imprint his own take on the character?

(By the time Adam Strange finally made it into B&B in 1970’s issue #90, the spaceman’s star had faded in the DC Universe—he was appearing in reprints in Strange Adventures—and his Zeta Beam usurped his own importance in the team-up, providing a plot device for Haney to allow Batman to foresee his own death. Adam Strange returned as a Batman co-star 100 issues later, in #190, in 1982. And an interesting bit of trivia: Before he initiated Batman’s “New Look” in 1964, artist Carmine Infantino drew Batman—and the rest of the Justice League of America—alongside Adam Strange in the landmark tale “The Planet That Came to a Standstill!,” in 1962’s Mystery in Space #75.)

BATMAN AND CAVE CARSON The teaming of the costumed hero who operates from a cave and the explorer who enjoyed “Adventures Inside Earth” seems like a no-brainer, doesn’t it? Cave Carson’s second failed B&B tryout appearance occurred just over a year before the title switched to its team-up format and by then had been branded a dud by DC. Still, it’s too bad that B&B editor George Kashdan didn’t call Bob Haney into his office with the pitch, “Let’s give Cave Carson one last shot by teaming him with Batman”…

BATMAN AND SUPERMAN’S PAL, JIMMY OLSEN Silver Age Superman editor Mort Weisinger notoriously erected barbed wire around his Kryptonian camp and resisted his characters’ appearances in other DC magazines, with a few exceptions like JLA being beyond his control. A rare non-Weisinger Superman family outing during this era was B&B #63’s Supergirl/Wonder Woman team-up in late 1965.

But wouldn’t it have been fun to see the Daily Planet’s frecklefaced cub reporter, long the star of his own popular title, rubbing elbows with Batman in B&B? Haney never wrote a werewolf tale in Brave and Bold: A Wolfman (Olsen) sighting in Gotham City would have definitely been worth flashing the Bat-Signal over—and this issue would have been deliciously penciled by Curt Swan, who never drew a B&B tale!

(After Weisinger’s retirement, Superman family members began to creep into B&B team-ups with Batman: Supergirl in #147 and 160, Superman—with an Olsen cameo—in #150, Lois Lane and Metallo in #175, the Legion of Super-Heroes in #179, Rose and the Thorn in #188 and 189, and Superboy—with a Superman cameo—in #192. And, of course, as Superman’s bud, Jimmy occasionally popped into Weisingeredited World’s Finest Comics stories co-starring Superman and Batman, even forming a partnership with Robin; while Olsen didn’t know Superman’s Clark Kent identity, he was privy to Batman and Robin’s alter egos. Batman was also seen in a handful of Jimmy Olsen issues over the years. My personal favorite is the Cary Bates/Pete Costanza story “Jimmy Olsen, Boy Wonder!,” from 1968’s Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen #111, where Olsen swaps places with Robin to try to fool Batman.)

contrast to B&B’s Batman, a team player through and through. The adaptable Batman was poised to tackle any DP enemy, from the realitybased General Immortus to the outlandish Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Man. Plus: a Batman adventure rendered by Doom Patrol artist Bruno Premiani—imagine that!

(Batman, along with a host of other DC heroes du jour including Super-Hip [!], made cameos at the wedding of Elasti-Girl and Mento in 1966’s Doom Patrol #104.)

BATMAN AND THE CHALLENGERS OF THE UNKNOWN The Challengers of the Unknown—four fantastic voyagers living on borrowed time—were, like the Doom Patrol, dependable Silver Age B-listers, appearing in a long-running series that was, at best, a modest success. For most of their career, the Challs kept the rest of the DC Universe at arm’s length, although during the ’60s they did cross over with the Doom Patrol and DC’s aquatic C-listers, the Sea Devils, then with Swamp Thing and Deadman in the ’70s, as well as a legion of Showcase stars in that tryout title’s 100th issue. For the lion’s share of DC’s superhero fans of the Silver and Bronze Ages— overwhelmingly boys and male teens—Challengers of the Unknown was a title to ignore, lumped into a category of non-buys including Wonder Woman, Tomahawk, and Girls’ Love Stories.

But the Challs’ globetrotting exploits seemed ripe for a shared adventure with Haney’s Batman, who traversed deserts and mountains as easily as he did the urban jungle of Gotham City.

While a Batman/Challengers of the Unknown team-up might’ve increased the latter’s profile had it occurred during the heyday of Batmania, my preference would’ve been to see this team-up in the early 1970s, when the Challengers were stumbling in and out of print; this “revival” might have attracted more attention from readers previously disinterested in the Challs. Plotmaster Haney no doubt would have delivered a pulse-pounding page-turner, and with pencils by Challs illustrator-turned-Batman artist Bob Brown—inked by the incomparable Nick Cardy—this team-up had potential.

BATMAN AND TARZAN Jim Aparo’s third Batman team-up (Batman and Metamorpho in B&B #101) hit the stands the same month of DC’s first issue of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Tarzan (#207, Apr. 1972), written/rendered/edited by the remarkable Joe Kubert. Kubert’s Tarzan was heavily promoted, at least in its earliest days, and for a while ERB’s Ape Man appeared alongside DC’s superheroes as Mego action figures, on a 7-11 Slurpee trading cup, and in an Aurora “Comic Scenes” model kit.

It’s unfortunate that DC didn’t contract with ERB for a team-up in B&B. There was no environment into which Haney and Aparo would not take their Batman, and regarding Bruce Wayne’s and Lord Greystoke’s different time periods … let’s not forget that Haney paired Batman with Sgt. Rock, the Unknown Soldier, and Kamandi! A Kubert-drawn Batman/Tarzan B&B cover would’ve attracted many DC superhero readers to DC’s Tarzan, and interiors illustrated by Aparo would’ve returned that artist to the jungle, a milieu he expertly illustrated during his stint on Charlton Comics’ The Phantom.

This was a team-up that fans were asking for: In the lettercol of B&B #113, editor Murray Boltinoff dismissed several readers’ requests for a Batman/Tarzan story due to licensing restrictions (hey, that didn’t deter DC from teaming Batman and Condé Nast’s The Shadow—twice!).

(The Caped Crusader and the Lord of the Jungle eventually met in 2000 in the DC/Dark Horse crossover Batman/Tarzan: Claws of the Catwoman.)

BATMAN AND THE DOOM PATROL

BATMAN AND THE MANHUNTER FROM MARS

B&B’s Bob Haney is footnoted as co-creator of DC’s “World’s Strangest Heroes,” but as Doom Patrol creator and guiding light Arnold Drake stated in his interview in BACK ISSUE #65, Haney’s contributions were minimal.

Nevertheless, Haney had a familiarity with these oddball characters, and the DP’s non-stop bickering would have offered an interesting

As noted earlier, J’onn J’onzz was half of the (peculiar) very first B&B team-up in 1963, with Green Arrow, and a year later returned to join forces with the Flash. Yet he never appeared with Batman during the Gotham Guardian’s long run as the baron of Brave and Bold.

Our favorite Martian had left Earth during the late Silver and early Bronze Ages, but would that have mattered to continuity-blind writer

Batman’s Partners Issue

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BACK ISSUE • 3

Batman, The Brave and the Bold, and Super-Team Family TM & © DC Comics. Mars Attacks! TM & © Topps. Richie Rich TM & © Harvey. Captain America TM & © Marvel.

Bob Haney? (Besides, Denny O’Neil brought back DC’s Ol’ Greenskin in 1972 for a Superman team-up in World’s Finest Comics #212.) The notion of a Masked Manhunter/Martian Manhunter mystery drawn

by Jim Aparo boggles the mind…

(Outside of Justice League adventures, these heroes finally teamed up just a few years ago on television and in comics in Batman: The Brave and the Bold.)

It’s unlikely that even zany Haney could partner his not-quite-Dark Knight and the lighthearted Big Red Cheese, but the more realistic take on Captain Marvel certainly invited a Brave and Bold outing with Batman. Too bad it didn’t happen!

(Readers’ glimpses at Captain Marvel as drawn by Jim Aparo were relegated to random covers and contents pages, most notably on World’s Finest.)

BATMAN AND MON-EL

BATMAN AND THE NEW TEEN TITANS

Readers asked for it: In B&B #109’s “Brave and Bold Mailbag,” from 1973, editor Murray Boltinoff wrote, “All of a sudden, there’s a countrywide campaign to co-star Batman with Mon-[E]l of the Legion of Super-Heroes.” Seven readers’ names were listed asking for this team-up, with the editor replying, “Try it, you’ll like it, so maybe we will one of these days!”

At the time Boltinoff was editor of Superboy starring the Legion of Super-Heroes, so Legionnaire Mon-El—Superboy’s one-time “big brother” who was in protective custody in the Phantom Zone during Batman’s era—would’ve been readily available for a team-up. What if a temporary rift in the Zone allowed, say, Kryptonian baddie Jax-Ur to escape while Superman and Supergirl were off-world? What if he wreaked havoc in Gotham City instead of Metropolis? Batman would’ve turned to Mon-El for help, freeing him from the Phantom Zone to become a super-ally. It would’ve been fun to see Haney trip (and maybe stumble) through Superman mythology, and to see Aparo draw Mon-El.

The Teen Titans were familiar Batman teammates in B&B, working with him in issues #83, 94, 102, and 149. (The TTs actually got their start in Brave and Bold, launching in 1964 as a Kid Flash, Aqualad, and Robin team-up, then appearing for the first time under the “Teen Titans” logo in #60, with Wonder Girl joining the group.) With Batman’s protégé Robin being the Titans’ leader, it was only natural that the Boy/Teen Wonder’s young allies would sometimes be called into action with his masked mentor.

The creative team of Marv Wolfman and George Pérez rebooted the Titans in 1980, and after a slow start revved up the momentum to make The New Teen Titans DC’s bestselling title. It didn’t take long for “Brave & Bold Mailbag” letter writers to beg for a Batman/NTT team-up. B&B editor Dick Giordano announced in the lettercol of #187 (June 1982) that the New Teen Titans were that month’s “highest vote-grabber” in a readers’ poll. But before long, The Brave and the Bold reached its expiration date, ending with issue #200 (July 1983), without the New TTs appearing alongside the Caped Crusader. True, Batman and the Titans ultimately shared adventures—the Jim Aparo-drawn Batman and the Outsiders #5 (Dec. 1983) was part of a New Teen Titans crossover—but a single Wolfman/Aparo Batman/NTT team-up under the B&B banner was another missed opportunity.

BATMAN AND CLARK KENT While we’re fantasizing of team-ups pairing Batman with members of the Superman family, try this one on for size: Clark Kent, on investigative assignment for the Daily Planet, crosses paths with the Darknight Detective, on a crime case that turns out to be connected to Kent’s.

Idea king Haney no doubt could have concocted such a tale, and having Kent stay in his civilian guise throughout the case would have differentiated it from a standard World’s Finest Comics issue.

BATMAN AND SHAZAM! DC’s holiday gift to comics fans in December 1972 was the return of the original Captain Marvel (along with the entire Marvel Family) in Shazam! #1 (Feb. 1973). At first, the tone of the stories replicated the whimsical series of the Golden Age, but by 1978 sagging sales forced a short-lived modernization of Shazam! under the pencil of Alan Weiss (and later, Don Newton).

4 • BACK ISSUE • Batman’s Partners Issue

It’s time to bring my daydreaming to an end and allow our examinations of Batman’s other partners to begin. But in the meantime, if you’re a team-up fan, I highly recommend Ross Pearsall’s blog, Super-Team Family: The Lost Issues! (originally The Brave and the Bold: The Lost Issues!). Each day Ross reveals a new fantasy cover for a team-up comic book that never happened, mixing and matching DC and Marvel characters as well as characters from other publishers and media. Make a daily stop at braveandboldlost.blogspot.com, or look for it on Facebook! And courtesy of Ross himself, here’s a sampling of the type of fantasy team-ups you can expect on his blog…

by

Andy Mangels

TM

While music-industry legend Dick Clark was officially titled “America’s oldest teenager,” close behind him was one of comicdom’s first youthful sidekicks: Dick Grayson debuted as Robin, “the Boy Wonder,” in Detective Comics #38 (Apr. 1940). For over 50 years, Robin would stay under the shadow of Batman’s cape, until a pair of star creators made a bold decision to shake the status quo of one of DC Comics’ most iconic characters to its very foundation.

Robin was the creation of Bob Kane and Bill Finger, along with illustrator Jerry Robinson, and his story was not dissimilar to the (Bat)man who would become his dark mentor. Dick Grayson was the son of John and Mary Grayson, a pair of circus aerialist acrobats known as “the Flying Graysons.” After a mob boss caused the death of Dick’s parents, the angry youngster was adopted as the ward of Bruce Wayne, who trained him as a youthful sidekick to fight crime. The pair of Batman and Robin proved immensely popular— especially with young readers—and the “Dynamic Duo” fought crime by each others’ side for several decades in the pages of comic books, and in newspaper strips, a radio series, and a pair of movie serials. Robin also proved popular enough to star in his own solo stories in Star Spangled Comics from 1947 to 1952.

While Batman joined the super-team Justice League of America in 1960, Robin had to wait a few more years to found his own group. A “junior Justice League” debuted in The Brave and the Bold #54 (July 1964), as Robin teamed with Aqualad and Kid Flash. The debut proved popular enough that a group name was soon coined, and the Teen Titans—now including Wonder Girl—debuted in The Brave and the Bold #60 (July 1965), before moving to their own series with the Teen Titans #1 (Feb. 1966).

FROM BOY TO TEEN WONDER Oddly, even as he captained a group called “teens,” Robin wouldn’t move from the sobriquet “Boy Wonder” to “Teen Wonder” until the April 1970 issue of Detective Comics, #398. By then, it was clear that Batman’s ward was growing up. Grayson had already left Wayne Manor and enrolled at Hudson University in Batman #217 (Dec. 1969), though he still wore his brightly colored uniform to fight crime.

By that time, the American public already viewed Robin in a different light, influenced mostly by the popular live-action Batman primetime TV series (1966–1968)—wherein actor Burt Ward filled the red tunic, green briefs, and domino mask of Robin— and the Filmation animated series The New Adventures

There Shall Come a Titan!

A Golden and Bronze Age merger: Nightwing— as drawn by George Pérez, borrowed from the cover of Tales of the Teen Titans #44 (July 1984)—pops out of the Bob Kane/Jerry Robinson cover of Detective Comics #38 (Apr. 1940), the issue where Robin debuted.

TM & © DC Comics.

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Robin No More (left) Model sheets for Nightwing, by George Pérez. (right) Dick and fleet-footed friend Wally West leave their sidekick identities behind on Pérez’s cover to New Teen Titans #39 (Feb. 1984).

TM & © DC Comics.

of Batman (1968–1969). As the 1970s progressed, Robin remained a popular element of National Periodical Publications/DC Comics licensing, and he regularly starred on Saturday mornings on HannaBarbara’s many iterations of Super Friends (1973–1986).

Unfortunately, the Teen Titans comic ended in early 1973, with a brief revival from 1976–1978, and as a solo character, Robin made only irregular comic appearances. Writers didn’t seem to know quite what to do with the young man who still fought crime in bare legs and pixie boots.

Robin’s fate changed substantially in mid-1980, when writer Marv Wolfman and artist George Pérez began work on the revamped series The New Teen Titans, which was previewed in DC Comics Presents #26 (Oct. 1980) before its own debut issue the following month.

In addition to their newly created characters Cyborg, Raven, and Starfire, Wolfman and Pérez included Robin, Wonder Girl, Kid Flash, and Beast Boy (now renamed “Changeling”).

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“I think the feeling was right from day one that I wanted to use a couple of the old characters, and introduce brand-new ones,” says Wolfman. “But if you’re going to use some of the old characters, to me, that was Robin and Wonder Girl.” Wolfman had previously written Wonder Girl in the original Teen Titans run, where he gave her a real name and background. “But Robin was always the team leader, and he was the one grounded with the DC Universe, as far as I was concerned.”

In addition to being the Titans’ leader, Wolfman considered Dick the team’s tactician. “He was the one who could see what was happening and analyze.”

Gone were the character elements that Wolfman says had no part in the modern DC Universe. “I didn’t want him to be the little jerky Robin, the Boy Wonder, anymore. By 1980, that sort of stereotype should have long gone away. It was a very silly 1940s/1950s concept to me, which no longer had any validity. I just didn’t see any reason that Robin should still be the kid that was spouting those stupid puns. It was fine for the ’50s, but this was 1980.”

While acknowledging the minor character growth that had happened in the previous decades of comic marv wolfman stories themselves, Wolfman says, “I think that a lot of people still saw him in a very different light, and I wanted to very clearly show him as more adult. He was the person who could figure out what was going on at any given point, he understood everything, and because he didn’t have the powers, he had to be the team leader in my mind.” Pérez, meanwhile, saw Grayson in a literally older light, basing his face on that of 1960s Robin actor Burt Ward.

GROWING UP As The New Teen Titans progressed, readers saw that Wolfman and Pérez were really taking the “kid” gloves off of the characters, and darkening up their universe. Cyborg was missing most of his human parts, Starfire was essentially the end result of rape and slavery, and Raven was literally the daughter of a demon. “I started as a DC fan,” admits Wolfman. “I loved the DC sense of plotting, and the stories that DC gave, but I very quickly became a Marvel fan as well.

I liked their older approach to stories, the much more angst type of characters with problems, dealing with the real world. I liked the fact that the Marvel characters existed in the real world, while the DC characters were existing at that point in Metropolis and Gotham City and Star City.”

For the Titans series, Wolfman eschewed the fictional locales and placed the characters in New York City, an arena which held both promise and threat. “I think they were the only [DC] characters at the time who were in a real city. The darkness comes from the fact that I was trying to push away from the light that DC was; I wanted to show that DC had great characters, but they didn’t have to be rooted in that old style. My own style, which is pretty amorphous, it stretches in a thousand different places. At Marvel, I was doing both [Tomb of] Dracula and Nova and everything in between; Dracula was on the older side, Nova was on the younger side. The Titans were like DC’s Fantastic Four. They were a family, and we needed to push them into places that DC characters weren’t going. george pérez We needed to raise the stakes a lot more. That was my general attitude; the sense of importance to the characters had to matter, because if they didn’t, if it was so fantasy-driven, then the readers wouldn’t see themselves caring about those type of stories. The characters had to be more grown up, the leaders had to be more grown up than with the Titans before. In the old days, the readership was eight to 14, and by the time of the Titans they already were in their 20s, and now close to their 40s, so if the audience is older, you should be writing for an older audience.”

Wolfman looks at the evolution of the Titans growing up as really kicking into gear with New Teen Titans issue #18’s Russian Starfire story (Apr. 1982).

“This is about a man seeking his fiancé to kill her, because she’s spreading a disease. That is not a light story. That’s one of the darkest stories that we ever did. That was rooted in a very real situation of a character who has to make a hard decision that’s going to tear him apart, and the Titans are not the good guys in that issue. The Titans are, in fact, trying to stop him from doing exactly the right thing.” The moral quandaries the characters faced continued the following year as the team helped street runaways, and dealt with a new character named Vigilante who used lethal force to stop villains.

WHO IS DICK GRAYSON? By late 1982, The New Teen Titans was both a critical hit and a commercial one; it was DC’s top-selling book by far. But a storm of change was on the horizon, and Dick Grayson’s Robin was smack in the center of the maelstrom … even if it would take another year-plus to gather force. Following an astonishing story in which Grayson helps Donna Troy research her past—issue #38’s landmark “Who is Donna Troy?” (Jan. 1984)—he made a seemingly abrupt decision to retire from his mantle in issue #39 (Feb. 1984), alongside Wally West’s Kid Flash. “I’m done being Robin,” he declared, explaining that, “As long as I wear this same costume that I’ve worn since I was eight … I keep playing a role I’d long ago outgrown.

What I am now is a person with responsibilities, not a happy-go-lucky kid partner … I have to become someone—an adult. Whoever Dick Grayson decides to be.”

“The decision was foisted on us, in a way,” Wolfman reveals today. “What happened was, after we spent two-and-a-half years making Robin, or Dick Grayson, a very viable character, and his own character—which to me was vitally important—the Batman books decided they wanted Robin back. They wanted a kid hero again, and they not only wanted Robin back, they wanted to make him young again. We went through the roof, or at least I did, certainly, because Robin was one of my favorites. I suggested at that point, when the

I Did It My Way Nightwing makes his debut in Tales of the Teen Titans #44. By Wolfman and Pérez, with inks by Dick Giordano and Mike DeCarlo.

TM & © DC Comics.

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arguments started to get heated, that we keep Dick Grayson, and they create a new Robin. I didn’t care about Robin as a concept; we were trying to separate him emotionally from Batman, and wanted him to grow up, to become a very different kind of character. I never would have thought of changing him completely, because that had never been done before, and I didn’t frankly think that anybody would accept something like that. But when I was told that the Batman crew wanted Robin back, I said, ‘Let us keep Dick Grayson. I’ll change his [hero] name, no problem; it fits in emotionally with what we’re doing in the book.’

“Because Titans was the bestselling book by far, they were more than willing to let me do that,” Wolfman continues. “I suggested also that if you do a new Robin [Jason Todd], you have a way of creating publicity for Batman that he hasn’t had for a while. Suddenly, there’s going to be this introduction of a brand-new character, and you can draw some of that attention to Batman and get people to look at the book again. So the Batman people were really happy with that concept, and I was exceedingly happy because emotionally, it was exactly the right time for Dick Grayson to say, ‘I’m done with Batman, I’m done with wearing these stupid short pants, and I’m now an adult.’ So we were very lucky, in a sense, that this situation happened, and thank God the Batman crew was willing to do that. Frankly, because Titans was outselling Batman at that particular point, I’m sure I would have gotten my way if I’d said, ‘No,’ but it was such a good emotional change for what we were leading to anyway, that it was something to grab onto rather than repel.”

THE OTHER NIGHTWINGS

Nightwing and Flamebird, Unmasked!

DC’s first Nightwing—Superman—with Flamebird on the cover of Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen #69 (June 1963).

Cover by Curt Swan and George Klein.

TM & © DC Comics.

In 2013, the Dick Grayson version of Nightwing completed his second decade in the role, tying the character’s name use in the Superman mythos.

Beginning with Superman #158 (Jan. 1963), Edmond Hamilton wrote a story in which Superman visited the shrunken-and-bottled Kryptonian city of Kandor, accompanied by Jimmy Olsen. Because they had no powers in Kandor’s artificial environment, Kal-El and Jimmy took on the vigilante identities of Nightwing and Flamebird, inspired by both Batman and Robin and a pair of Kryptonian birds. The pair had a trio of adventures before abandoning the identities.

Because Superman had a never-ending string of lookalike family members, in Superman Family #183 (June 1977), second cousin Van-Zee and nephew-inlaw Ak-Var took over the identities of Nightwing and Flamebird. In Tales of the New Teen Titans #44, Dick Grayson decides on the Nightwing sobriquet as an homage to both his past and his friendship with Superman.

When the DC Universe was rebooted following the Crisis on Infinite Earths series, the Nightwing name is chosen by Grayson after Superman tells him about a legendary Kryptonian crimefighter who used the alias.

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Grayson next appeared in Batman #368 (Feb. 1984), in a story in which he gave his Robin costume and codename to Jason Todd, the newest adoptee of Bruce Wayne. The story, written by Doug Moench, was seamlessly blended in with the Titans continuity, and while Batman lost his original partner, he gained a new sidekick.

THERE’S A NEW KIND OF NIGHTWING COMING Interestingly enough, though Wolfman and Pérez knew they were going to evolve Dick Grayson into a new character, they didn’t know who it would be. In the promotional comic DC Sampler #1 (Fall 1983), a two-page spread on New Teen Titans asked, “Who is the mystery man in Dick Grayson’s life?” with a silhouetted figure.

“The name Nightwing was not there,” Wolfman reveals. “But I knew he was going to become a new character. Frankly, he was still Dick Grayson. He was still the exact same character that I had been writing two months before, just with a new name that fit his emotions, since he was pulling away from Batman. Whatever the new name was didn’t really matter; what mattered was he had grown up.

Yes, we absolutely knew he’d be coming back, and when he’d be coming back, but the name of Nightwing was actually a name that I was sort of against.”

Wolfman’s resistance stemmed from the fact that Nightwing had previously been used as a name for several characters in the Superman mythos [see sidebar].

“I dismissed Nightwing right away, because it was an obvious name, and went to like a million different names, trying to come up with something. The deadline was coming up as to when I needed to actually put it into a script, and finally I think Tony Tollin, who was the colorist with his wife Adrienne Roy, said, ‘Why don’t we use Nightwing?’ At that point, frankly, it was the best name available. I didn’t like any of the other names I came up with, but it was time to stop fighting it.”

Once the name was decided upon, Pérez designed a new look to fit the character. Gone were most of the gaudy colors, replaced by a skintight blackish-blue body suit and mask with light-blue boots, gloves, and a stand-up collar that harkened back to Dick’s circus aerialist past. Gold shoulder trim resembled feathers.

Wolfman recalls that he had very little input on Nightwing’s look: “The number of times I had specific inputs with George on the costume designs were very

few. He was a master. George’s costumes, they don’t need me interfering unless it’s very, very specific idea.”

In an interview with Michael F. Hopkins in Amazing Heroes #50 (July 1, 1988), Pérez said that he wanted to make Dick as Nightwing into “a swashbuckler, an acrobat, an incredibly good fighter … I want to make him happy-go-lucky, bring back the enjoyment of adventure that he had… Now we’re going to use Dick Grayson the way we want to use him, utilizing both his detective and acrobatic skills.”

Unlike today’s spoiler-conscious social-media world, the designs for Nightwing were leaked out to the press far in advance of his actual debut, alongside designs for new team ally, Jericho. Comics Buyer’s Guide featured the images on page one, and Amazing Heroes and other fanzines dutifully reported the news and showcased the Pérez designs as well. Part of the costume leak was intentional misdirection; Nightwing and Jericho were debuting in a multi-part storyline called “The Judas Contract,” in which one Titan would betray the entire team and lose their life. Compared to that shocker—years in the planning—a costume and name change seemed less spoiled. The new Nightwing made his first appearance in the retitled Tales of the Teen Titans #44 (July 1984).

The costume/name change also coincided with DC’s decision to publish a second Titans book. The company was using the direct market to offer companion books for Titans and Legion of Super-Heroes, with the stories

in these more-expensive, printed-on-Baxter-paper series taking place a year in advance of the regular newsstand newsprint comic series. The concept was known as the “hardcover/softcover” plan, as it aped the publishing world’s style of publishing a hardcover book, and then a softcover reprint a year or less later.

In preparation, the original New Teen Titans had transitioned its title to Tales of the New Teen Titans with #41 (Apr. 1984), while the Baxter book New Teen Titans #1 debuted immediately after the conclusion of “The Judas Contract” storyline, in August 1984.

In that first Baxter issue, Wolfman and Pérez put in a scene that was controversial for the time: Dick Grayson and Starfire were depicted naked in bed together, confirming that the former Boy Wonder was indeed having carnal relations with the buxom alien princess!

“We wanted him to be somebody who Starfire would be involved with,” Wolfman says. “Right from the very first issue, she looked at him and kissed him. She could’ve kissed anyone and gotten the language, but she kissed him. When we had the bedroom scene in the Titans Baxter book, that’s something we always knew existed between those characters. Our idea was that since we knew that he and Starfire were sleeping together, now we could make it very clear, he is definitely an adult, and everything that goes with being an adult.” Pérez would later recall that the scene only received a few letters of complaint, but that Wolfman wanted to print letters to the series (in issue #3) to make the point that both

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You Don’t Know Dick A Dick Grayson flashback from New Titans #57 (Aug. 1989), seen in lettered breakdowns and inked forms.

Plot/script by Marv Wolfman, plot/breakdowns by George Pérez, and finishes by this art’s contributor, Bob McLeod.

TM & © DC Comics.

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Nightwing’s New Look One of Nightwing’s costume modifications, as seen on the original cover art to the ’90s incarnation of Teen Titans, issue #12 (Sept. 1997). Art by Dan Jurgens and George Pérez. (right) Scott McDaniel/Karl Story cover to Nightwing #2 (Nov. 1996).

TM & © DC Comics.

Grayson and Koriand’r were of legal age, and not intended to be role models for premarital sex.

Either because of the costume and the skintight way Pérez and other artists drew it—there grew to be a penchant for depicting Grayson shirtless and only wearing the costume’s lower half—or the way the character was actually revealed as being one of DC’s first heroes to have a sex life, Nightwing became the company’s first major sex symbol. In Teen Titans fandom, those who fantasized about the character even had a nickname: “Wingnuts.”

Today, Wolfman jokes, “I never addressed the Wingnuts; they never liked anything I did anyway.” Still, he acknowledges that the Titans book—and previous books of his, such as Tomb of Dracula at Marvel—had strong female readerships. “If I recall correctly, Titans was the first group book that had pretty much an equal number of men and women characters. It was vital to me that the characters not be written as a guy writing females. Wonder Girl, Raven, and Starfire were completely different personalities from day one, and I put probably more effort into the female characters, trying to give them the nuance— especially Raven, who’s one of the best characters that I’ve created—than I had with the male characters.”

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FLY AWAY, NIGHTWING Following his debut, Nightwing continued on as leader— or a member—of the Teen Titans under Wolfman’s direction until New Titans #114 (Sept. 1994), when he retired from the newly restructured team and left the series. Wolfman himself left the book with its final issue, #130 (Feb. 1996), writing its last pages on October 25, 1995 and ending a mammoth 16-year run.

Wolfman isn’t happy about the final few years of the run, noting that he had severe writer’s block, and “an editor put on Titans that was dreadful beyond belief.

He wanted to have a whole new team built … and I was no longer plotting the book, he was. The point came where I couldn’t take it anymore, and I asked to get off the title, but I got to do Night Force again, and that was my trade-off. I was going to quit the book four issues earlier, and they suggested I do four more.

I said, ‘I won’t do it with the other editor,’ and they gave me Dan Thorsland, who I was going to do Night Force with, and Dan was great. He allowed me to end the storylines pretty much the way I wanted to.”

After a period of time in which he took on the mantle of being Batman, Nightwing himself would finally get his own special and miniseries in 1995, followed by a regular monthly title in 1996. Wolfman returned to the character of Nightwing a few more times over the years, penning Nightwing #125–137 (Dec. 2006–Dec. 2007) and eventually returning to the character’s glory days in the 2011 New Teen Titans: Games graphic novel, which had been started—and abandoned—in 1988–1989, after artist Pérez had finished around 70 pages. The new graphic novel allowed Wolfman one last chance to revisit Dick Grayson as he had once known and written him.

“Games was the first Titans book since, I can’t tell you when, long before I left the book, that I went back

to writing it in ‘my style,’” Wolfman says. “I wrote all the characters exactly the way I felt they should be written, and I had a very good editor who did not push me into writing it in any specific style. Everyone says I caught the old Titans exactly, but it’s actually not at all written in the old style, it’s written in today’s style. It’s much more terse, and I let the artwork carry things where I would have filled it up with dialogue in the past. The writing itself is a lot stronger; there’s a lot of subtext to the writing. It feels like the old Titans, because the characters are acting correctly, and, of course, you have George’s artwork. George had a much harder job, because he had to sort of try to go back to that style, because half the book was already finished. Unless you’re totally attuned to what was there, and how George is drawing today, you’re not noticing a difference between the early pages and the later ones, because they were just brilliant in different ways.”

Today, even with the “New 52” incarnation having had his secret identity revealed and his backstory significantly altered, Nightwing remains a vital presence in the DC Universe. Nightwing has made multiple appearances in the various animated Batman, [Batman:] The Brave and the Bold, and Young Justice cartoons on television, and Chris O’Donnell’s Robin character briefly referenced the Nightwing name in the 1995 Batman Forever feature film and wore a stylized version of the Nightwing costume. Though Wolfman won’t reveal details, he and Pérez receive remuneration and (generally) credit whenever Nightwing—and their original Titans characters such as Cyborg, Raven, and Starfire— is used in other media. Crediting the administration under the leadership of Paul Levitz and Jenette Kahn for pushing the credit and compensation policy, Wolfman says, “That was something DC decided on, contractually. What we did changed the character so much that they wanted us to have that. DC has always been very good at acknowledging creators.”

Recently, Wolfman might have come full circle on Nightwing’s evolution; he co-wrote the script for a direct-to-DVD animated film for Warner Bros.—originally planned for 2008 release—adapting “The Judas Contract” with X-Men and Transformers producer Tom DeSanto.

Unfortunately, the project has been put on indefinite hold. “Warners has decided, from what I’ve been told, that they want to concentrate on the bigger characters.

Titans isn’t in that arena right now. Frankly, my view is that ‘Judas Contract’ was the wrong story to go with anyway. You can't introduce a traitor to a group before you know who the group is. I think you need to care about the group. I think Titans should be done as a trilogy. I saw the first one as a Deathstroke/H.I.V.E. story, the second one being ‘Judas Contract,’ and the third one being Brother Blood/Trigon.”

With casting rumors swirling that Nightwing may be appearing on WB’s Arrow series and in the Batman vs. Superman film, the character’s future is brighter than ever. Wolfman has been seeing a lot of his characters on TV lately, as Arrow has been featuring Deathstroke, Bethany Snow, Brother Blood, and H.I.V.E. “I just love it! One week, several of my characters have been on Arrow in the same episode! That’s incredible to see.”

Today, Wolfman has been writing the New 52 Superboy series, as well as developing stories for video games and a proposed Captain Action animated series, among other projects. But he’s proud of how closely tied in he is to the long-running Dick Grayson

character and his evolution. He says that the best thing “about Nightwing to me was letting a character age, letting him become a real character with a real personality, and not just a kid partner anymore.

Making him real. And to now see that there’s a fanatical following for the character all these years later. You see the same thing with Deathstroke, and with Blade, or a rumored Black Cat in the new Spider-Man film. It’s a great feeling to know you were able to come up with something that keeps resonating long after you’re gone from the project.”

Terrific Trio Batman and partners Nightwing and Robin in this silhouetted pinup produced by Pérez in 1989 for the Atlanta Fantasy Fair program.

The interview with Marv Wolfman was conducted in October 2013 by Andy Mangels and transcribed by Jon B. Knutson.

Artwork is courtesy the collection of Andy Mangels, unless otherwise noted.

TM & © DC Comics.

ANDY MANGELS is the USA Today bestselling author and co-author of 20 books, including the recent TwoMorrows book Lou Scheimer: Creating the Filmation Generation, as well as Iron Man: Beneath the Armor, and a lot of comic books.

Additionally, he has scripted, directed, and produced Special Features for over 40 DVD releases.

His moustache is infamous. www.AndyMangels.com and www.WonderWomanMuseum.com.

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by

Michael Eury

“The Million Dollar Debut of Batgirl!” in Detective Comics #359 (Jan. 1967) introduced Barbara Gordon—Batgirl—to comic-book readers. She soon became a household name from her inclusion in the third and final season of TV’s live-action Batman.

Many BACK ISSUE readers recall Batgirl’s backup series in Detective, which started in the late 1960s and ran through 1972. During the Bronze Age, Barbara was frequently seen sans costume after being elected to the US House of Representatives, but Batgirl maintained a pop-culture berth as a merchandising character, appearing on items such as Mego action figures and a Pepsi collectible drinking glass.

During the second half of the ’70s, Batgirl was Robin’s teammate in Batman Family, and occasionally popped up in other titles. She eventually returned to Detective for a long stint, but by the mid-’80s was slowly disappearing from view, at that time considered a relic of a Bat-past DC Comics wanted to forget. Alan Moore and Brian Bolland’s celebrated but disturbing Batman: The Killing Joke (1988) left Barbara paralyzed, but soon she reemerged in Suicide Squad #23 (Jan. 1989) as Oracle, DC’s information broker.

The Dominoed Daredoll is no stranger to BACK ISSUE’s pages, and due to her coverage in issues #22, 38, and 50, there’s no Batgirl article in this issue. But we can’t ignore one of Batman’s most durable partners in this edition—so in addition to her co-starring on our cover, here’s a list of Batgirl’s Bronze Age appearances.

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Detective Comics #494 (Sept. 1980) Detective Comics #495 (Oct. 1980) Detective Comics #496 (Nov. 1980) Detective Comics #497 (Dec. 1980) Detective Comics #498 (Jan. 1981) Detective Comics #499 (Feb. 1981) Detective Comics #501 (Apr. 1981) Detective Comics #502 (May 1981) Detective Comics #503 (June 1981) Detective Comics #505 (Aug. 1981) Detective Comics #506 (Sept. 1981) Detective Comics #508 (Nov. 1981) Detective Comics #509 (Dec. 1981) Detective Comics #510 (Jan. 1982) Detective Comics #512 (Mar. 1982) Detective Comics #513 (Apr. 1982) Batman #346 (Apr. 1982) (as Barbara Gordon) Detective Comics #513 (Apr. 1982) (as Barbara Gordon) Detective Comics #514 (May 1982) Detective Comics #515 (June 1982) Detective Comics #516 (July 1982) Detective Comics #517 (Aug. 1982) Batman #349 (July 1982) (as Barbara Gordon) Batman #352 (Oct. 1982) (as Barbara Gordon) Detective Comics #518 (Sept. 1982) Detective Comics #519 (Oct. 1982) Batman #355 (Jan. 1983) (as Barbara Gordon) Detective Comics #524 (Mar. 1983) (as Barbara Gordon) Detective Comics #526 (May 1983) Detective Comics #531 (Oct. 1983) (as Barbara Gordon) Batman #365 (Nov. 1983) (as Barbara Gordon) Detective Comics #532 (Nov. 1983) (as Barbara Gordon) Batman #366 (Dec. 1983) (as Barbara Gordon) Detective Comics #533 (Dec. 1983) (as Barbara Gordon) Detective Comics #546 (Jan. 1985) (as Barbara Gordon) DC Comics Presents #86 (Oct. 1985) Crisis on Infinite Earths #4 (July 1985) Crisis on Infinite Earths #5 (Aug. 1985) Infinity, Inc. #22 (Jan. 1986): (Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover) Crisis on Infinite Earths #7 (Oct. 1985) Crisis on Infinite Earths #12 (Mar. 1986) Secret Origins #20 (Nov. 1987) Batgirl Special (1988) Batman: The Killing Joke (1988) (as Barbara Gordon) Batman #428 (Holiday 1988) (as Barbara Gordon)

Batgirl and related characters TM & © DC Comics.

Detective Comics #396 (Feb. 1970) Detective Comics #397 (Mar. 1970) Detective Comics #400 (June 1970) Detective Comics #401 (July 1970) Detective Comics #404 (Oct. 1970) Detective Comics #405 (Nov. 1970) Detective Comics #406 (Dec. 1970) Detective Comics #407 (Jan. 1971) Detective Comics #408 (Feb. 1971) Detective Comics #409 (Mar. 1971) Detective Comics #410 (Apr. 1971) Detective Comics #411 (May 1971) Detective Comics #412 (June 1971) Detective Comics #413 (July 1971) Detective Comics #414 (Aug. 1971) Detective Comics #415 (Sept. 1971) Detective Comics #416 (Oct. 1971) Detective Comics #417 (Nov. 1971) Detective Comics #418 (Dec. 1971) Detective Comics #419 (Jan. 1972) Detective Comics #420 (Feb. 1972) Detective Comics #421 (Mar. 1972) Detective Comics #422 (Apr. 1972) Detective Comics #423 (May 1972) Detective Comics #424 (June 1972) Superman #268 (Oct. 1973) Superman #279 (Sept. 1974) Superman Family #171 (June–July 1975) Batman Family #1 (Sept.–Oct. 1975) Batman Family #3 (Jan.–Feb. 1976) Batman Family #4 (Mar.–Apr. 1976) Batman Family #5 (May–June 1976) Batman Family #6 (July–Aug. 1976) Batman Family #7 (Sept.–Oct. 1976) Batman Family #9 (Jan.–Feb. 1977) Batman Family #10 (Mar.–Apr. 1977) Batman Family #11 (May–June 1977) Batman Family #12 (July–Aug. 1977) Batman Family #13 (Sept. 1977) Adventure Comics #453 (Sept.–Oct. 1977) (in Superboy story as young Barbara Gordon; becomes Mighty Girl) Batman Family #14 (Oct. 1977) Batman Family #15 (Dec. 1977–Jan. 1978) Batman Family #16 (Feb.–Mar. 1978) Batman Family #17 (Apr.–May 1978) Freedom Fighters #14 (May–June 1978) Batman Family #18 (June–July 1978) Freedom Fighters #15 (July–Aug. 1978) Batman Family #19 (Aug.–Sept. 1978) Batman Family #20 (Oct.–Nov. 1978) Detective Comics #481 (Dec. 1978– Jan. 1979) Detective Comics #482 (Feb.–Mar. 1979) Detective Comics #483 (Apr.–May 1979) Batman #311 (May 1979) Detective Comics #484 (June–July 1979) Detective Comics #485 (Aug.–Sept. 1979) Detective Comics #486 (Oct.–Nov. 1979) Detective Comics #487 (Dec. 1979– Jan. 1980) Detective Comics #488 (Feb.–Mar. 1980) DC Comics Presents #19 (Mar. 1980) (team-up with Superman) Detective Comics #489 (Apr. 1980) Detective Comics #490 (May 1980) Detective Comics #491 (June 1980) Detective Comics #492 (July 1980) Detective Comics #493 (Aug. 1980)

Special thanks to the Unofficial Guide to the DC Universe (www.dcguide.com) and the Grand Comic-Book Database (www.comics.org) for this chronology and for additional information.

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Things were changing as the dawning of the Bronze Age commenced, signaling dramatic changes in the Batman mythos. The Camp days were at an end and the latest renaissance for the Dark Knight occurred at the hands of rising star artist Neal Adams, beginning with The Brave and the Bold.

The stage was set, fandom responded, and soon Neal was called upon to do artwork for Batman in his own titles, including one of the most haunting tales in the pages of Detective Comics #395 (Jan. 1970), “Secret of the Waiting Graves.” This story cemented the return of the Darknight Detective, and with these changes perhaps some new antagonists were in order.

The first major new character was Professor Kirk Langstrom, alias Man-Bat.

TM

THE ORIGIN OF MAN-BAT “Challenge of the Man-Bat” was the introductory story for the character, published in Detective Comics #400 (June 1970), written by Frank Robbins, with art by Neal Adams and Dick Giordano. The readers are brought into the Gotham Museum of Natural History, where Professor Kirk Langstrom is working late on an exhibit. It turns out to be a pretense, however, as he is also in the midst of an experiment.

Langstrom has been collecting gland extract from bats in an effort to gain their sonar capability. He has succeeded, but with some unanticipated side effects, such as a nearly intolerable sensitivity to light and sounds. Still, he is enthused at his breakthrough. As he’s about to leave, however, he begins to note unexpected physiological changes: his hands are growing claw-like and hairy. Alarmed, he locates a mirror and to his horror discovers that his features are now that of a bat, right down to the enormous ears on his head.

His fevered mind races to grapple with the dilemma.

An antidote must be found, but he will need time.

He takes the precaution of sending his employer a telegram with the ruse that he must travel unexpectedly to Chicago. He then prepares to again work under cover of darkness.

That same darkness, however, has provided a prime opportunity for a gang of thieves to strike at the museum with a gem exhibit as their target. The gang has perfected night-vision devices to aid them and they appear to be succeeding, even keeping the Batman at bay, when suddenly a nightmare apparition appears as a man-sized bat races toward the thieves to stop them in their tracks. Now fighting side by side, the Batman and the Man-Bat quickly subdue the criminals. When the Cowled Crusader sees his benefactor, he remarks that he’s even more of a bat than he is himself. Batman

Creatures of the Night Detail from Neal Adams’ iconic cover to Detective Comics #400 (June 1970), Man-Bat’s first appearance.

TM & © DC Comics.

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by

Bryan Stroud

al plastino

commends his ally on his ability to see in the dark and on a truly awe-inspiring disguise, but Man-Bat reacts bitterly that he only wishes it were a disguise and then abruptly dashes away, leaving our hero to muse that he’d make a formidable friend … or foe. The closing panel poses that identical rhetorical question in regard to the future of Man-Bat. It is a theme that will reoccur in his continuing appearances.

Neal Adams well recalls the genesis of Man-Bat: “It occurred to me that a Man-Bat story would be a good story, and I was going to present it to Julie [Schwartz, Batman editor]. So I wrote out a plot and I did a quick design, but I wasn’t ready to present it because I was in the middle of other deadlines.

“One day Frank Robbins was in Julie’s office.

I was standing over by Dick Giordano’s desk looking over at the two of them, [who were] frustrated,

going over plots. What generally happened with Julie was, a writer would come in, he’d have a plot, Julie wouldn’t like it, and they’d sit and talk about other plots.

“It was clear that they were very frustrated and Julie turned to me and in his sarcastic way, which we all loved him for, said, ‘Got any ideas, Adams?’ And, of course, I knew they were talking about Batman, and I said, ‘Yeah.’ And Julie laughed at me, which was his way. I said, ‘No, Julie, I do have a pretty good one.’ He said, ‘What is it?’ I said, ‘Man-Bat.’ He said, ‘What?! What are you talking about?’ Now, this is the same Julie that came up with the idea to do Superman vs. Muhammad Ali. So I wouldn’t call that a thing to laugh about. But he did have his way.

“Now, Frank was sparking to this immediately, because he hadn’t worked out his assignment yet, so any port in a storm,” Adams continues. “He said,

Gruesome Discovery (top left) Panel from Detective #400, where Langstrom discovers his shocking transformation. (bottom left) Al Plastino’s interpretation of Man-Bat’s origin, as seen in two Nov. 1970 dailies from the Batman comic strip. (right) Plastino’s roughs for preparing to draw Man-Bat. TM & © DC Comics.

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‘Well, what is it?’ Julie was also chiming in, ‘What is it?’ I said, ‘Well, there’s this scientist, Julie. He’s a big fan of Batman and he idolizes him. Although he’s a scientist, he still idolizes him and he’s trying to come up with a serum that will give Batman more power—sort of like Spider-Man, only it will affect him with the abilities of a bat. Of course, he can’t try it on Batman, so he tries it on himself and he turns into this giant bat creature: Man-Bat.’ Julie groaned, but Frank Robbins said, ‘No, no, it’s good.’ Julie said, ‘Do you have a story?’ ‘Yeah, I have a story. I’ll go and get it. I even have a drawing.’

“So I gave him the story. It was one page; a handwritten thing and the drawing. He said, ‘Are you kidding about this thing?’ I said, ‘Julie, look, let me just say this…’ And, by the way, Frank Robbins was seeing this thing flying out the window and he was really unhappy.

I said, ‘…Julie, somebody at Marvel is going to have the bright idea occur to them to do a character called Man-Bat. And if they do that, they’re going to screw us here at DC.’ ‘Oh, right. Okay, fine. Are you going to draw it?’ ‘Sure, I’ll draw it.’ ‘You’re going to let Frank write it? Use the synopsis?’ ‘No problem.’

“So I handed over the synopsis to Frank and he did the story, basically the way I outlined it, and that was the beginning of Man-Bat.”

MAN-BAT RETURNS

Soon Batman arrives, and when he discovers the intruder there’s another battle. After a spirited struggle, Man-Bat crashes into a wall, falling into unconsciousness. Our hero ponders what to do and ultimately decides that if Langstrom dies, he should at least be in his natural form, ending the story on a cliffhanger that will only be resolved in Detective Comics #407 (Jan. 1971), containing the final story in this trilogy.

Batman arrives at a cathedral just in time to interrupt the nuptials of Kirk Langstrom and Francine Lee, revealing the Man-Bat by removing his disguise. The enraged Man-Bat flies off and Francine informs Batman that nothing can stop her from marrying him. It is then flashback time, and our hero recalls what happened with Man-Bat inside the Batcave and how Kirk revived just before the antidote could be administered. He declared himself superior to Batman and insisted his powers would not be stolen from him.

Francine shares recollections of her own about that fateful night when her fiancé came to her, desperate to know if he still held Francine’s heart. She reassured him, but suggested that Batman could help restore him to his human form. Langstrom resists, presenting his own plan, so that Francine can prove her love to him.

The flashback ends with Francine revealing to the Batman why nothing can stop their wedding, removing her own disguise, disclosing her transformation into a She-Bat. She ascends to where Man-Bat lurks, while our hero, determined to help the obviously mentally unbalanced couple, pursues them, antidote in hand. After a terrific struggle, the Batman successfully administers it to both creatures. Once restored to their human forms, the Langstroms are determined to forsake the obsession that drove them to the brink of madness.

The next appearance of Man-Bat was in Detective Comics #416 (Oct. 1971), when a marriage ceremony again takes place, but with two very human figures

An auspicious beginning it was, too and a mere two issues later, courtesy of the same creative team, Man-Bat was back in the thick of things in Detective Comics #402 (Aug. 1970). This tale is a continuation, and we begin to learn some more of Kirk Langstrom’s nature and motives, including that he idolizes the Batman and desires to help him, but he is also increasingly desperate to change back to normal.

A robbery of a biochemical laboratory is the backdrop of the latest meeting between Langstrom and Batman as the Dark Knight arrives to foil the caper.

Kirk had witnessed the safecracking and was poised to use it to gain access to material necessary for a potential antidote, but when Batman arrived and the fracas began, Man-Bat intervened to help, then tried to gain what he needed from the safe. Batman objects, despite Langstrom’s insistence that he’ll neal adams leave cash behind. When Kirk explains that time is running out and the Gotham Guardian continues to resist, a scuffle ensues. During the course of it, Batman discovers that it’s not just a disguise Langstrom is wearing. Man-Bat successfully overcomes Batman, and as he flees with the chemical he ponders the possibility that he may not be able to reverse his physical transformation.

When our hero recovers, he decides to return to the museum where he first encountered Man-Bat, and there we meet for the first time Francine Lee, Kirk Langstrom’s fiancée. She is worried to the point of tears about the whereabouts of Kirk, who, as it happens, isn’t far away.

In an upstairs lab, Man-Bat is about to consume what he hopes is the antidote when Francine and Batman burst in, startling him into dropping the mixture onto the floor. Hurtling from the window, Man-Bat lands gracefully and runs into the night, cursing Batman’s interference.

The World’s Greatest Detective examines the chemical compound and recognizes it. Realizing he can formulate it in the Batcave, he hatches a plan to help the tortured creature. Batman swiftly pursues Man-Bat and when he locates him, offers his assistance, but Langstrom’s rationality is slipping away. And then, in a fateful and dramatic moment, he abruptly develops wings that allow him to fly away into the night, following another bat and hoping to share its ultimate sanctuary. Ironically, the bat leads Man-Bat to the Batcave itself.

With These Wings I Do Thee Wed Extraordinary original art page by the one and only Neal Adams, courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com), of a heartgripping unmasking in ’Tec #407 (inks by Dick Giordano).

TM & © DC Comics.

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and their benefactor, the Batman, in attendance. Neal Adams’ workload had increased and something had to give, causing writer Frank Robbins to illustrate the storyline for the next two showings of Man-Bat. Each story continued the theme of Langstrom being torn desperately between living a normal life or following his ambition to be something more, with the added complication of dragging his lady love along for the ride, both emotionally and in some cases physically. Batman continued to be a watchful presence, inevitably coming in to pick up the pieces and try to set the Langstroms on a course toward a normal life, but something always seemed to intervene in those limited segments of humanity.

Neal Adams has some definite ideas about what drives Kirk Langstrom: “I think he’s just a little wacky. The idea of him as a scientist doing this and then turning into something of a drug addict who likes this stuff and Batman tries to keep him away from it—it’s already a setup for a whole bunch of stories, because if he were just a nice guy with real shiny teeth and would just choose to be a hero all the time, he’d be really boring. I think it’s his addiction to do these drugs to turn him into a Man-Bat and that when that happens they start to drive him wacky, that’s a really good plot for stories. You have lots of potential stories. Anyone who tries to imply he’s a bad guy, I just don’t think that’s the way to write the character. He’s confused. He’s sort of like Jekyll and Hyde without the really bad stuff. The drug that makes him into Man-Bat affects him mentally. So he makes mistakes and he does things wrong. He feels guilty about it.

“You never want a whole, good character who knows what he’s all about,” Adams declares. “You want a wounded dove, who doesn’t necessarily know which direction they’re going.”

Al Plastino is a name most commonly associated with Superman, or as the co-creator of Supergirl or the Legion of Super-Heroes, but he also was involved in drawing the Batman daily newspaper strip for a few years. During his watch, Kirk Langstrom (and Man-Bat) debuted in the strip—though in this case, Professor Langstrom is an instructor at Hudson University, where Dick Grayson is enrolled. The storyline otherwise closely followed what had happened in the regular books, but the strip didn’t last long enough to fully realize Man-Bat’s potential in an adventure daily.

All You Need is Love (top) The She-Bat saga begins in Detective #407 (Jan. 1971). Cover

by Adams. (bottom) Writer Frank Robbins stepped in to illustrate the next chapter, in issue #416.

TM & © DC Comics.

MAN-BAT FLIES SOLO The role Man-Bat played in the Batman’s world began to do a subtle shift beginning with his appearance in Batman #254 (Jan.–Feb. 1974). On display was a more introspective Kirk Langstrom, who was continuing his experiments but longed to be an asset to Batman. Here he’s confident that he’s gained control of the bat-serum and that he can help clean up Gotham City. frank robbins Through the course of the story, he successfully aids Batman in capturing a theft ring. The pair shakes hands at the conclusion, with Batman speculating that they could be an unbeatable team.

The next time the Caped Crusader and Man-Bat cross paths is in the pages of The Brave and the Bold #119 (June 1975), with a new creative team handling things. Bob Haney is the scribe, with Jim Aparo on art. In this instance Kirk Langstrom sees an opportunity to further his hopes in being a crimefighter.

A $100,000 reward has been posted for the capture of “Killer Krag,” and Langstrom aims to collect. Ultimately, with Batman’s help he does gain the reward money after a particularly unusual plot twist in which he gives the Dark Knight a dose of the bat-gland extract, changing him into a literal Bat-Man to help them escape imprisonment.

Somewhere around this time, the decision was made to give Man-Bat his own book. Man-Bat #1 (Dec. 1975–Jan. 1976)

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Uneasy Alliance (left) Nick Cardy cover to Batman #254 (Jan.–Feb. 1974). That tale’s conclusion teases of a possible Caped Crusader/Kirk Langstrom partnership. (middle) Batman and Man-Bat work together in Bob Haney and Jim Aparo’s Brave and Bold #119 (June 1975). (right) They’re at odds again in B&B #165 (Aug. 1980). Cover

by Aparo.

TM & © DC Comics.

brought together yet another creative team, with Gerry Conway serving as writer and editor along with Steve Ditko on pencils and Al Milgrom on inks.

Notable is that this is the sole instance where Steve Ditko drew Batman, one of the signature characters associated with his old instructor, Jerry Robinson.

The tale revolves again around Francine and her transformation into a She-Bat, but in this instance she is under the control of a new baddie called Baron Tyme.

Man-Bat is engaged in dealing with the manipulative sorcerer, both to stop his evil and to rescue his beloved.

Regretfully, Steve Ditko declined to contribute to this article, but Al Milgrom shares some thoughts about this project: “Loved inking that Ditko stuff—this may’ve been the first time I ever got to ink him. I was especially intrigued because his approach to Batman was that his face was always in shadow—with never a clear shot of his features. Would’ve loved to see Steve pencil a Batman story or series—his moody use of blacks and spooky night/city scenes would’ve been a great mesh with the Dark Knight.

“I remember I was trying to give the stuff a slightly Neal Adams finish (not that I was really capable of it at the time),” Milgrom continues. “So I may have done a bit more pen work and crosshatching than was actually in the pencils. I believe that when Steve saw it, he felt like it was close enough to his own approach that he didn’t understand why they bothered to have someone else (other than himself) ink it. Steve’s pencils were relatively tight and complete, so if you ink them as penciled, you’d get the strong Ditko look.”

Man-Bat #2 (Feb.–Mar. 1976) offered another change-up, this time with Marty Pasko writing the story and the art team evolved into Pablo Marcos on pencils and Ricardo Villamonte inking. Kirk Langstrom continues to be in heroic mode with full control over his Man-Bat changes via a serum and antidote. For the first time in his career, Man-Bat’s tale does not include an appearance by the Batman, though he does find himself dealing with one of Batman’s foes, the Ten-Eyed Man. While Man-Bat ultimately triumphs over this latest malefactor, his series came to a screeching halt.

Issue #2’s lettercol offered an explanation:

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-BAT, we have To celebrate the second issue of MAN news. The bad e som and you for s new some good d supply inue cont a red assu good news is that you’ll be news is bad the es; ntur adve eerie ’s strom of Kirk Lang in his e plac g takin be ’t that those adventures won -BAT MAN ths, mon two in g nnin Begi e. own magazin t mos and st olde DC’s of will be a back feature in one r the unde ICS— COM TIVE ETEC —D titles prestigious tin Pasko and capable hands of Julie Schwartz, Mar cos.

Pablo Mar Simple—we Why the sudden change of mind? couldn’t get that ket mar a in -BAT MAN launched , and that’s sters mon and enough of macabre heroes character good a let than er rath So . changed since g time, wron the at d duce bomb because he was intro position to r lesse a to back -BAT MAN ing we’re mov readers go out await better times. Of course, if you we’ll happily , issue this of es copi of lots and buy the trend buck can -BAT accept the fact that MAN . mag own his in back and put him That wish didn’t come to pass, and Gerry Conway has his own explanation for the abrupt cancellation: “Well, it was an excuse, because honestly you wouldn’t have had any sales results to make a decision in time to announce it in the second issue. Carmine Infantino, DC’s publisher, could be capricious, and if he didn’t like something, he would cancel it. It didn’t matter whether it was selling or not selling. He would just say, ‘I don’t think that’s gonna work,’ and cancel it. So he didn’t give us time to develop anything.

“One thing to remember is the kind of sales we were talking about then were so much bigger than they are today,” Conway continues. “You would cancel something because it was selling 10,000 copies less than you expected it to, because you thought you could put out another book that would sell just as many copies. Today, you might hang onto a book that’s selling a little bit less than you hoped, because you can’t know if the next one will do any better. But back then there was a sense of, ‘We’ll just throw this one away and try something else.’”

Gerry was the force behind giving Man-Bat his own title and recruiting Steve Ditko as penciler: “It was my notion. We were looking for various properties we could try to turn into ongoing series, and Man-Bat was one of them.

“I had always liked the character of Man-Bat. I thought it would be cool to write a series featuring him, or at least oversee it, and I also had the opportunity to work with Steve Ditko, and that definitely seemed like a cool thing to do. Putting Steve together with Man-Bat seemed like a no-brainer and the rest just fell into place.”

Regarding the enigmatic artist best known for his Silver Age work on Marvel’s Dr. Strange (in Strange Tales) and Amazing Spider-Man, Conway recalls, “I’d heard Steve might be available, and decided I would give it a shot and see if he was, in fact, free and willing. And yes, he was, so that was great. He did a terrific job. To be fair, when you look at a lot of Steve’s comic-book work, except for the work he was doing for himself, it was paying-the-bills-work. He didn’t put a lot of passion into it. But given that reality, what he did do was pretty neat. It had such a great look that even if he wasn’t trying to knock it out of the ballpark, he did knock it out of the ballpark. [chuckles] “When I worked with Steve, he was very professional, very straightforward, delivered the work in a timely fashion, but he didn’t really have a desire to do more than one [Man-Bat] story. Once he was done with the first book, it was like, ‘I don’t really want to do this.’

No discussion, no request for any adjustments. Nope, he’s done.

That was that. [laughs]” Martin Pasko was a lettercol regular and had written about Man-Bat’s debut, remarking that he was the first reoccurring villain of the new Batman era. It seemed fitting that as a comics pro Pasko got to write for the character. He kindly shares several memories of that work: “What I meant by ‘the new Batman era’ was the one that began in 1969, after the television series had been canceled. With ‘Batmania’ having run its course, Batman suffered the same fate as most huge fads in America, which was that once the public was done with it, most people other than diehard fans were sick to death of it. The Batman titles’ sales had plummeted, so it was necessary for editor Julius Schwartz to reinvent the character all over again. He did this by having Bruce Wayne shut down the Batcave and Wayne Manor and move to a penthouse; having Dick Grayson go away to college so that Batman

would work as a solo act; etc. This overhaul also included pressing the writers to come up with new villains. Few of those efforts produced villains still in use today, but two of them became the most popular of Batman’s rogues’ gallery, ever. Ra’s al Ghul was one and Man-Bat was the other, and Man-Bat preceded Ra’s by almost a year, so Man-Bat was ‘the first recurring villain of the new Batman era.’

“I wasn’t really thinking so much in terms of hero or villain,” Pasko recalls, “because the unique selling proposition about the property, I thought, was the ambiguity about that very question: He’d started using the formula that turned him into a ‘were-bat’ with the best of intentions, to be a hero like his idol, Batman, but the side effects of the transformation made him do things that, in comic-book terms, would be considered villainous. To the extent that I had a chance to form any long-term plans, of which I ultimately had only a few, I thought it would be fun to play with that ambiguity and always keep the reader guessing—to try to do stories in which you never knew what side of the moral issue, if you will, Man-Bat would come down on. I could see situations in which Kirk Langstrom would be the hero where Man-Bat wasn’t, in the sense that Langstrom would have to ‘clean up’ after Man-Bat. But the first thing I had to do was set up a series franchise that would allow him to function independently of the Batman continuity, which was why the first order of business was moving him to Chicago and starting to work out all the changes in his personal life, the status of his troubled relationship with Francine, etc. And then, of course, the book was canceled before any of that could get off the ground.”

Man-Bat’s move to backup feature in Detective Comics was equally short-lived, consisting of a single two-part tale in issues #458 and 459 (Apr. and May 1976). Pasko recalls this phase: “The very short format— six pages each—was frustrating, because with a character like Man-Bat you really wanna have room to cut loose with it. But what really dampened my enthusiasm was that Julie was more of a traditionalist than Gerry in the sense that he wasn’t comfortable with the idea of being ambiguous about whether Man-Bat was hero or villain. Meanwhile, Pablo [Marcos] had been given an inker that I didn’t think was serving him terribly well, and I found the art even uglier than it had been on Man-Bat #2. In any event, Julie’s heart wasn’t really in using the character as the star of his own feature, and I know he gave up on it after a few more stories, first in Detective, which is where I think Bob Rozakis took it over, and then

Flying Solo Beginning with issue #1 (Dec. 1975– Jan. 1976), Man-Bat got his own series— for two issues.

Covers by Aparo. (background) Courtesy of Bryan Stroud, letterer supreme Gaspar Saladino’s Man-Bat logo.

TM & © DC Comics.

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in Batman Family. In any event, I had bigger fish to fry at that point and was happy to move on.”

A side note is that during this timeframe Man-Bat popped up in a Power Records produced book and record set titled Robin Meets Man-Bat, with artwork by Neal Adams and Dick Giordano.

Does Whatever a Bat Can Copies of original art pages from Man-Bat #1, where artists Steve Ditko and Al Milgrom pit the title star against a shadow-faced Caped Crusader.

TM & © DC Comics.

again in the mode of crimefighter, although he seemed to have given up his day job, relocating to New York City with his pregnant bride. His hardscrabble existence is evident, too, as he begins to seek out rewards when they’re available for his services. Rozakis’ notion was “ to play with the fact that Kirk was married and needed a job to provide for his family. I thought making him FAMILY MAN(-BAT) into a private detective was an interesting spin.”

Kirk Langstrom did enjoy a fairly long run in Julie Schwartz and Al Milgrom both the pages of Batman Family, starting with served in the editorial capacity on this issue #11 (May–June 1977). series and brought their own strengths Letterhack-turned-pro Bob Rozakis’ to the position. “Julie was a plot man,” talents were called upon to scribe Bob tells BACK ISSUE. “You had to come Man-Bat’s adventures in the pages of up with an interesting story or he Batman Family, and an equally talented wasn’t going to give you the go-ahead. group of artists worked alongside We always talked through the plot “the Answer Man” during this run. before I would start on the script. As I The stories saw the penciling and recall, Al was not as concerned about the inking work of Marshall Rogers and fine points of the plot. If he liked the Terry Austin, Don Newton and Bob basic idea of the story, it was enough Wiacek, Howard Chaykin and Joe for him to give me the go-ahead.” steve Ditko Rubinstein, and Michael Golden in The stories centered on making one of his first regular gigs. When Kirk Langstrom a detective in his own queried about the rotating lineup and his favorite artists, right. Much like Batman, Man-Bat began to collect a Rozakis shares, “It was a backup feature, and very often colorful rogues’ gallery all his own, including the Sunset it was just a matter of a) who was available, and b) who Gang, the Shotgun Sniper, and SNAFU. SNAFU, doubtless needed a short fill-in job to keep them busy. I especially named for the old military acronym (Situation Normal, liked the Marshall Rogers work in Batman Family.”

All Fouled Up), was particularly inventive. He made his This series of stories offered a slightly different debut in Batman Family #11 and brought to the table direction for Kirk Langstrom. The character was once

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Fluttering Around A sampling of cover blurbs touting Man-Bat backups. (top) From Detective #458. (center left) From Detective #481. (bottom left) From Batman Family #11. (center ) From Detective #489. (right) As one of the Bat-stars, on the Michael Kalutadrawn cover to Batman Family #17 (Apr.–May 1978).

TM & © DC Comics.

the notion of someone who was a walking sensory overload, which played particular havoc with the heightened senses of Man-Bat. Rozakis recalls this villain’s genesis: “SNAFU was created specifically because his powers would screw up Man-Bat’s abilities. I later used him in Hero Hotline, because we had just started using computer coloring and separations and I could do all sorts of fancy effects.”

Fortunately, Langstrom cracked the code of how to deal with SNAFU by drowning out his distracting persona via the use of his sonar and also his own piercing bat-cry.

Another Rozakis innovation was to allow Man-Bat to be free of the constraints of falling back, as it were, on Batman, who was not a recurring guest in the storylines: “We tried to stay away from Batman himself so that the others could shine on their own, particularly in Batman Family.”

When questioned about possible future directions for Kirk Langstrom, Bob had some plans in mind: “I wanted to do more straight detective stories, as well as play around with the problems Kirk had being a new father. I had particular fun with the story ‘Cinnemattack’ [Batman Family #14, Oct. 1977]. I thought it was a nice blend of dark humor and action.”

As of Batman Family #20 (Oct.–Nov. 1978), the DC Implosion— the infamous sales drop that forced the cancellation of many DC comic books—caused a change in Man-Bat’s home title.

“At the time of the DC Implosion, Detective Comics was on the verge of being canceled because sales were low, but Batman Family was selling well,” Rozakis reveals. “When it was pointed out to the powers-that-be that it might not be the best thing to cancel the title that gave the company its name, Batman Family was turned into Detective. The features remained pretty much the same, with the addition of a Batman story.”

The Batman Family title may have ended, but Man-Bat’s gig continued, if a bit irregularly, once again in the familiar stomping grounds of Detective. The ’70s might have been winding down, but Man-Bat continued to be a visible character.

As the new decade dawned, Man-Bat was back in some team-ups, first in The Brave and the Bold #165 (Aug. 1980) with the Batman, and then in an unlikely pairing with Superman in DC Comics Presents #35 (July 1981). The new twist in the former story has the Langstroms as parents of a daughter, Rebecca, who seems to have inherited some undesirable genetic traits from her parents. Man-Bat spends most of the tale in desperate search of a cure and when Batman intervenes, Kirk begins to blame the Darknight Detective for his daughter’s continuing issues, portending another shift back to antagonist.

Man-Bat’s quest for a scientific solution to help his daughter continues in the latter tale, leading him to S.T.A.R. Labs in Metropolis, where he crosses paths with the Man of Steel. Superman is able to help Rebecca with an otherworldly ray machine, which seemed to resolve this particular new development in the Langstrom household.

Martin Pasko was again scripter for these two stories, and offers, “I never got the chance to touch on, even obliquely, some of the ideas I was kicking around in my head. The reality of Kirk Langstrom was that he was a little nuts; he’d been conceived as a mad scientist type, and I never wanted to treat him as if he were suddenly completely rational and functional, magically and overnight, just because somebody thought it would be a good idea to make him the star of his own series. And Francine, too, was probably a little bit around the bend herself, if not before being turned into a were-bat herself, then certainly afterward. It was always my intention to treat their marriage as troubled; I saw them as two people who would probably be better off without each other, but were chained together by the secrets and the shame associated with what they’ve been through.

“It was never my idea to give them a child,” Pasko states. “And when I found out that DC had done that, I could see all kinds of story possibilities that never would have been possible in the comics of the so-called Bronze Age. I could see them thinking that they could have a normal child, since acquired characteristics are not hereditary, but Batman’s Partners Issue

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Top-Flight Artists (left) Splash to Man-Bat’s first Batman Family story, from issue #11.

By Bob Rozakis, Marshall Rogers, and Tex Blaisdell. (right) Your friendly neighborhood editorin-chief went to Michael Golden to illo Man-Bat for the looseleaf version of Who’s Who he edited in the early 1990s. From issue #12 (Sept. 1991).

TM & © DC Comics.

making Rebecca a planned pregnancy would have been an irresponsible act at best: What person in their right mind would think that they could be good parents if at any moment there was the threat that they could turn into those monstrosities without warning? But then, as I said, they weren’t necessarily in their right minds.

“I could see a storyline in which Francine got pregnant without trying to, and there would be some question about the wisdom of taking the pregnancy to term.

Maybe Kirk would do some research and suspect that the serum they’d taken to become the were-bats had caused some chromosomal damage, and we could get some drama out of their agony over whether the daughter would be born a ‘permanent’ were-bat or with some serious birth defect, and the debate over whether or not to abort would strain the marriage even further. That would have been far more interesting, not to mention dramatic, than the way the birth of the child was actually treated, but if anyone had tried to go in that direction, they wouldn’t have been able to get away with it.”

character, of course, but I think what has made it popular among two or three ‘generations’ of comics readers now is that it’s an example of a particularly appealing theme: empowerment through transformation.

“The idea that characters who might otherwise be seen as deformed, handicapped, or in some other way ‘abnormal,’ turn out to be actually ‘superior’ because of their abnormality is an underpinning of all superhero fiction to some extent, of course. But when it’s brought into sharp focus and treated overtly, it’s particularly enticing to young people who get into comics.”

Later incarnations of Man-Bat have shown an utterly subsumed creature, still concerned with his family, but apparently doomed to live out his days as a monster, and not even as the sympathetic monster traced back to his beginnings. Still, in whatever form he may take, the Man-Bat continues to fly high as a truly unforgettable character that has proven his staying power, holding readers fascination for over four decades with no end in sight.

FRIEND OR FOE?

This article is dedicated to the memory of Al Plastino.

As the decade rolled forward and Man-Bat became a routine visitor to the Batman title, things took another turn for the worse as Kirk could no longer control the transformations or himself. Man-Bat became an irrational, vengeful creature and Batman again found himself in the position of trying to save Kirk from himself and attempt to help restore the Langstrom family to normal.

A series of conflicts and temporary resolutions continued in this vein in a handful of issues of Batman and Detective Comics in the early to mid-1980s.

Regarding the enduring appeal of Man-Bat, Martin Pasko relates: “Well, in its design it’s a cool-looking

24 • BACK ISSUE • Batman’s Partners Issue

BRYAN STROUD is a longtime fan of DC Comics, particularly the Silver and Bronze Ages. He has been contributing to the website of his lifelong best friend, Ron Daudt, for over a decade, doing reviews and interviews with creators, and has been fortunate enough to conduct over 80 to date at w w w. t h e s i l v e r l a n t e r n . c o m .

Bryan co-authored the book Nick Cardy: Wit-Lash.

TM

Dig That Crazy Elf! Detail from Bat-Mite’s entry in Who’s Who #2 (Apr. 1985). Art by Marshall Rogers. (background) Detective Comics #267 cover, introducing Bat-Mite.

TM & © DC Comics.

by

Let’s just get this out of the way right up front: Bat-Mite is a ridiculous character. As Robin exclaims upon seeing him for the first time, he’s an “elf dressed in a crazy looking Batman costume!” But like the annoying kid brother who won’t go away, Bat-Mite has somehow become ingrained in my consciousness and has endeared himself to a generation of comic-book fans.

Beyond a four-panel story by Stephen DeStefano in The Brave and the Bold #200 (July 1983), Bat-Mite only appeared once in a Bronze Age comic, in the six-page “Bat-Mite’s New York Adventure” in Detective Comics #482 (Feb.–Mar. 1979). Though he gained wider exposure with the animated 1977 Filmation series, The New Adventures of Batman, the question remains: How has Bat-Mite endured?

SILVER AGE BEGINNINGS Created by Bill Finger and Sheldon Moldoff, Bat-Mite made his first appearance in “Batman Meets Bat-Mite,” in Detective Comics #267 (May 1959). After having observed the Darknight Detective from his home in the fifth dimension, Bat-Mite appears in the Batcave and proclaims himself to be Batman’s biggest fan. Though rebuffed, Bat-Mite is single-minded in his desire to help Batman and Robin fight crime. As the Dynamic Duo leave the Batcave to go out on patrol, Bat-Mite follows and conjures up all sorts of mischief, almost causing Batman and Robin to lose the criminals they are trying to apprehend. At the end of the yarn, Batman insists that Bat-Mite return to his dimension. The imp agrees—but slyly hints at a return.

Bat-Mite showed up three more times in Detective, most notably in “The Return of Bat-Mite” with special guest Batwoman in issue #276 (Feb. 1960). He then popped up in six issues of Batman, concluding with “The Bat-Mite Hero” in #161 (Feb. 1964). Our favorite imp also plagued the Superman/Batman team, partnering up with Mr. Mxyzptlk in World’s Finest Comics #113 (Nov. 1960) and 123 (Feb. 1962).

Shannon E. Riley

By late 1963, the Batman titles were facing flagging sales and purportedly, cancellation. It was a dire situation for one of DC’s biggest properties. Carmine Infantino summarized the dilemma for online magazine Dial B for Blog (www.dialbforblog.com): “The book was at 32 percent sales. Which is a heavy loss. [Batman creator] Bob Kane hadn’t even been doing the work—he was farming it out to others. He hadn’t touched the drawing for years. What he was turning in was too old-fashioned.” As DC publisher Irwin Donenfeld told Infantino and editor Julie Schwartz: “It’s this simple: Batman is dying.

We’re giving you two guys six months to fix it. If not, it’s over.” In a last-ditch effort, Schwartz jettisoned many of the Darknight Detective’s supporting characters with Batman #164 (June 1964).

This was the “New Look” Batman: gone were the aliens, dinosaurs, and crazy multi-colored Bat-costumes of the 1950s. Poor Bat-Mite just didn’t fit in anymore. He would make one last Silver Age appearance, again teaming with Mr. Mxyzptlk in “The Supergirl-Batgirl Plot!” from World’s Finest #169 (Sept. 1967), before seemingly returning to the fifth dimension for good … until TV came calling.

“STAY IN YOUR OWN WORLD AND OUT OF OUR HAIR!” It seems you can’t keep a good imp down. With the arrival of The New Adventures of Batman in 1977, Bat-Mite had returned. The 16-episode animated series featured the voices of Adam West and Burt Ward, reprising their star-making roles as Batman and Robin. Also featured were Batgirl and Catwoman, both voiced by Melendy Britt (who later went on to become the voice of She-Ra). In the premier episode, appropriately titled “The Pest,” Bat-Mite shows up once again to help apprehend the Joker. Frustrated by Bat-Mite’s continued interference, Batman retorts, “Don’t call us. We’ll call you.” Though the Joker is ultimately captured, it’s through no help from Bat-Mite, who fumbles and bumbles his way through the caper.

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Voiced by Filmation founder Lou Scheimer, Bat-Mite was a recurring character in the series. He appears in every episode, culminating in “This Looks Like a Job for Bat-Mite!” Given the fact that he hadn’t shown up in a DC comic in ten years, I was curious how Bat-Mite came to be featured in The New Adventures of Batman. For answers, I spoke with USA Today bestselling author and fellow BI contributor, Andy Mangels, who co-wrote the stellar book Lou Scheimer: Creating the Filmation Generation (2012).

As Mangels explains, “Filmation had had a history of including ‘impish magical sidekicks’ in a lot of their series.

They had done characters like that in The Brady Kids, Mission: Magic!, and so forth. It wasn’t just that the magical little character represented ‘magic,’ per se— it was also that they represented a child. Bat-Mite was kind of a perfect example of that. He was magical but he was basically a little kid. He wasn’t a teenager like Robin or Batgirl, he was actively a child.

He did the same types of things that a child would do: He wanted to tag along, he had a crush on Batgirl, he ended up doing things wrong that sometimes caused trouble, but oftentimes in the end [things] turned out for the better because of him. Bat-Mite lou scheimer was kind of a ‘wish-fulfillment character’ that allowed children an ingress into the show.”

Mangels goes on to explain that there’s a literary precedent for including a character like Bat-Mite: “The appearance of the talking animal or the youthful scamp is pretty much as old as comedy.

Shakespeare had comic-relief characters, as well. The fact that [Filmation] took it into a younger arena was a pretty smart move because it allowed children to identify with those characters.”

Given that Bat-Mite was voiced by Scheimer, I asked Mangels if Scheimer played a part in bringing the imp into New Adventures. “It was most likely Len Janson and Chuck Menville, who were the story editors,” Mangels posits. “Arthur Nadel was in charge of the story departments for a lot of the Filmation shows. Lou ran the company and would oversee things, but a lot of the staff members that he had hired knew the kinds of things that he wanted in his shows. And he worked very closely with them, so it’s doubtful that Lou was responsible for bringing Bat-Mite in, but he would have wholeheartedly supported the idea given that it was the type of character that Filmation liked to do.”

Of Bat-Mite’s inclusion, Scheimer wrote in Creating the Filmation Generation, “…I think we may have added that he had a crush on Batgirl. We also changed up the costume some so that he didn’t look exactly like a shrunken-down Caped Crusader, and we gave him a greenish tint to his skin, yellow eyes, and buck teeth.” The animation legend went on to explain, “I was the voice of Bat-Mite (and the BatComputer and Clayface), but I didn’t work with the other voice actors in an ensemble setting. I worked by myself after-hours. I felt uncomfortable working with those people because they were the veterans. I didn’t hide that I did it from them. I just told them I wasn’t good enough to do it with them around watching me and laughing at me.

“Doing the voice of Bat-Mite was the first time I think I used a machine called a ‘harmonizer.’ It was a way that we could control the pitch of the audio without altering the speed of the sound. I couldn’t really talk as high as Bat-Mite, though I did try to record it as closely as possible to that sound, so that we didn’t have to mess with it too much. ‘All I wanna do is help!’ was the phrase Bat-Mite said in almost every episode.”

Mangels concludes, “Interestingly, when Filmation created the animated series for He-Man and the Masters of the Universe based on the

Animated Annoyance The pointy-eared pesterer joined the Dynamic Duo on the Saturday morning cartoon The New Adventures of Batman, from Filmation Studios. Courtesy of Andy Mangels, shown here are the series’ title card, a Bat-Mite model sheet, and storyboards.

Batman and related characters TM & © DC Comics.

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Mattel toy line, they created a new version of Bat-Mite in Orko [see inset]. He was another flying, floating, magical child-like creature who often tried to do the right thing but sometimes screwed up and sometimes saved the day.” Andy adds, “Orko was really kind of the grandson of Bat-Mite, even right down to the fact that they were from a different dimension. Beyond that, behind the scenes, Lou Scheimer was the voice of both Bat-Mite and Orko.”

© 1982 Mattel/Filmation Studios.

BAT-MITE MEETS DC EDITORIAL

evening, wrote the complete script in about an hour, and brought it in to Al Milgrom the next day. I told him, ‘Read this. If you like it, buy it. If you don’t, throw it away.’ He liked it and paid me for it. And I even got royalty payments later on because it ended up in The Greatest Batman Stories Ever Told (1988).”

[Author’s note: Funnily enough, I ran into Golden during Preview Night at the 2013 San Diego ComicCon and told him I was writing about “Bat-Mite’s New York Adventure” for BI. Golden laughed and said, “I’m still getting royalty checks for that story!”]

Rozakis remembers, “I did not know that the artists would be Michael Golden and Bob Smith, so the script just listed them as ‘penciler’ and ‘inker.’

But I specifically wrote Jack Harris, Todd Klein, Milt Snapinn, and Anthony Tollin—and Al Milgrom, of course— into it. Todd and Tony were in the production department at the time, so I worked with them every day.”

Troublemaking Tourist (left) The Rich Buckler/ Dick Giordano cover to Detective Comics #482 (Feb.–Mar. 1979) teased the issue’s appearance of the pint-sized pest in (right) the cameo-packed “Bat-Mite’s New York Adventure!” By Rozakis/Golden/Smith, with Tollin colors.

Bat-Mite’s only significant Bronze Age comic-book tale appears in the aforementioned Detective #482, which hit the spinner rack almost two years after The New Adventures of Batman had concluded its one-season run. Written by Bob Rozakis and penciled by Michael Golden, “Bat-Mite’s New York Adventure” sees our favorite interdimensional imp pop into DC Comics’ New York bob rozakis offices to implore editor Al Milgrom to write a Bat-Mite feature for Batman Family. Over the course of the next six pages, Bat-Mite proceeds to corral Golden, Jack C. Harris, Bob Smith, Todd Klein, Milt Snapinn, and Anthony Tollin in an effort to jumpstart the project. It’s actually pretty funny: Rozakis’ script is clever and Golden’s art goes a long way in selling the comedy.

I reached out to Rozakis to get his recollections on how the story came to be. “Actually, I wrote the story on a whim,” says the writer. “I had the idea for it one

TM & © DC Comics.

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in which Bat-Mite is a figment of the psychotropic drug-addled Bob Overdog’s imagination.

• Superman and Batman: World’s Funnest, a one-shot Elseworlds tale written by Evan Dorkin and released in 2000, where we see Bat-Mite battle Mr. Mxyzptlk and the two destroy the multiverse.

• Grant Morrison’s epic “Batman R.I.P.” storyline from Batman #676–681 (June–Dec. 2008), in which Bat-Mite appears before Batman after he’s shot and suffers a heart attack.

While Morrison shunned the humorous aspects of the Bat-Mite persona, the 2008 Batman: The Brave and the Bold animated series certainly didn’t. Voiced by the zany and eccentric Paul Ruebens (better known as Pee-wee Herman), Bat-Mite breaks the fourth wall, causes trouble for Batman, and makes fun of comic-book fans in four episodes, including “Legends of the Dark Mite,” “Emperor Joker,” and “Bat-Mite Presents: Batman’s Strangest Cases!”

Bat-Mite appears in the Paul Dini-written final episode, “Mitefall,” and tries to make the show so bad it has to be canceled. “Oh, BTBATB! What was once so fresh has become formula,” laments the imp to the viewing audience. “It feels like only yesterday we learned the next Batman cartoon would be a lighter incarnation. Fanboys everywhere panicked! But it was for nothing, because what we got was a love letter to Silver Age comics!” Bat-Mite goes on to complain how the lighter approach has worn thin and longs for a darker incarnation of the Gotham Guardian. “You were great in your day, Campy Crusader, but now you’ve jumped the shark!” It’s a hilarious episode to end the series with—rife with in-jokes, references to previous episodes, voice actors, and storylines from the comics.

GONE FOR GOOD?

Rubbed the Wrong Way Bat-Mite’s demand, in this one-pager by Stephen DeStefano from The Brave and the Bold #200 (July 1983).

TM & © DC Comics.

Of Golden’s art for the story, Rozakis recalls that the penciler “came in with a camera and a young boy—his nephew, if I recall correctly—who was about Bat-Mite’s size. We posed a bunch of photographs that he used as models for the art. I remember one in which I was holding the boy in the air about where Bat-Mite would be floating.”

“Bat-Mite’s New York Adventure” was originally slated to run in Batman Family. But as Rozakis recounted in this issue’s Man-Bat article, after the DC Implosion of 1978, “the powers-that-be at Warner Publishing (which called the shots for DC at the time)” merged the struggling Detective Comics—from which the company took its name—with the better-selling Batman Family.

POST-CRISIS APPEARANCES Since the Rozakis and Golden Detective story and the DeStefano Brave and the Bold strip, Bat-Mite has made scant few comic-book appearances. Some highlights over the past several decades include: • The Alan Grant-scripted “Legend of the Dark Mite” from Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight (Oct. 1992), 28 • BACK ISSUE • Batman’s Partners Issue

I’d pretty much given up hope of a Bat-Mite appearance in any current publications, lamenting that I’d have to rely on his Silver and Bronze Age adventures to get my fix. There just doesn’t seem to be a place for Bat-Mite in DC Comics’ more serious-minded “New 52.” Really, though, if we can accept an alien from Krypton and a crimefighting orphan dressed as a giant bat, why not a magical imp from the fifth dimension?

As this issue was going into production, I got a pleasant surprise. DC released its March 2014 solicitations and, lo and behold, there’s Bat-Mite in ScoobyDoo Team-Up #3. Does this foreshadow a full-fledged return? It remains to be seen, but so long as there are creators like Paul Dini, Grant Morrison, and Evan Dorkin continuing to produce animated series and monthly comics, it’s probably just a matter of time.

After all, as Bob Rozakis succinctly notes, “I think fans just like entertaining stories and Bat-Mite tales [fall into] that category.”

As to why Bat-Mite endures, for me and I’m sure for many BI readers, it’s about nostalgia: happy memories of simple stories and simpler times. And while we all like our Batman dark and brooding, there’s something to be said for a character that can poke fun at our comic-book heroes and their tropes. Ultimately, Bat-Mite is really making fun of us.

A very special thank-you goes out to Andy Mangels for supplying this article’s amazing artwork, and to everyone’s favorite Answer Man, Bob Rozakis, for his Bat-Mite memories!

SHANNON E. RILEY used to run around the house in a blue microfibre bathrobe, until his mom sucked up the tie with her vacuum cleaner. In his five-year-old mind, he was Batman.

But he probably looked more like Bat-Mite.

by

Mike Pigott

Drive-By History From 100-Page Super Spectacular Batman #255 (Mar.–Apr. 1974), an illustrated history of Batman’s wheels.

Special thanks to Al Bigley for reminding BI of this two-pager.

(For loads of comics rarities, check out Al’s awesome blog: http://albigley-theblog.blogspot.com/).

TM & © DC Comics.

Over the years, one of Batman’s most effective partners has not been another superhero, but a vehicle … his powerful, high-tech Batmobile, throughout its many incarnations. Due to the Batmobile’s high profile in TV and film interpretations of Batman, the car is almost as well known to the general public as its owner!

ORIGINS After using various anonymous roadsters in early issues of Detective Comics, Batman unveiled the first “real” Batmobile in Batman #5 (Spring 1941). This was a large sedan with a distinctive “Bat-head” battering ram over the grille, fared-in wheels, and a large “Bat-wing” dorsal fin. Depending on the artist, the 1940s Batmobile could range in appearance from a slightly modified 1941 Ford through to a heavily armored, almost tank-like vehicle with porthole windows. This design of Batmobile lasted for several years until it was destroyed in Detective Comics #156 (Feb. 1950), and replaced with the “Batmobile of 1950,” which Batman and Robin built themselves. This large, sleek car looked to be inspired by the contemporary Studebaker, but had a wraparound windscreen and roof-mounted light in addition to the traditional Bat-head battering ram and rear fin. It also featured radar and a full laboratory at the rear. Over the years, however, this streamlined design evolved into a very strange version, with slab sides, a clear dome canopy, and a Bat-fin mounted on the trunk.

With Batman’s “New Look” in 1964, a smaller, more realistic Batmobile was introduced in Batman #164 (June 1964). This light,

open sports car was more like a Corvette or MGA, and instead of a heavy battering ram at the front had only a Bat-head painted on the hood. This agile little car did not last long, because when the Batman TV series made its debut in 1966, the George Barris-designed Batmobile from the show was soon carried over to the comics. The complex design of this car, with its strange angles and front and rear twin windshields, proved difficult for artists to draw, so simplified versions were used in the comics. The first type was a boxy convertible with a very angular Bat-shield on the grille, plus very large, sharp tailfins (Detective Comics #362). This design was later standardized as a modified version of the TV car, but with a more sloping nose, front air intakes, a painted Bat-logo on the nose, and faired-in headrests replacing the rear windscreens. This car remained in use until Batman closed up the Batcave at Wayne Manor and relocated to the Wayne Foundation building in late 1969.

BRONZE AGE As Batman returned to his dark and gritty roots in 1970, he moved away from showy Batmobiles to more realistic-looking cars. (Of course, that was when he drove at all; during this period he mainly seemed to swing around Gotham on his Bat-rope, like an urban Tarzan.) The first of the new-style Batmobiles was seen in Detective #394 (Dec. 1969).

This was a futuristic, rear-engined coupe, similar to the concept cars of the era. It had two-way mirrored windows, a thick GT stripe along the top, and, rather unusually, a yellow Bat-shield on the roof!

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Atomic Batteries to Power... (top) Jason Todd, up to no good, in Batman #408 (June 1987). (middle) A completed example of Johnny Lightning's 1-24 scale 1968 Batmobile. The wheels are obviously inspired by the TV car, while the front air intakes have been interpreted as fog lights. (bottom left) The Corgi version of the 1968 Batmobile included a Batman figure and pop-out chain slasher in the nose, no doubt inspired by Corgi's famous 1966 TV Batmobile model. (bottom right) In 2002, Johnny Lightning also produced a diecast kit of the 1960s Batboat.

TM & © DC Comics.

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Neal Adams designed the next Batmobile, a modernlooking sports coupe, similar to a Corvette but with a rounder nose (Detective #400, June 1970). Unlike previous Batmobiles, it looked like a stock-standard car except for a black Bat-mask design on the hood. A caption in the issue read, “Dig this experimental car an advanced-thinking manufacturer offered to Batman for testing!”; so presumably, instead of building his own car, he got it on loan from a motor company. This car was used fairly frequently in the early ’70s in many comics drawn by Neal Adams and Jim Aparo.

Apparently, at some point the “advanced-thinking manufacturer” recalled the vehicle, as a few years later Batman took to driving stock-standard cars instead of Batmobiles. In Batman #246 (Dec. 1972) he used a normal Corvette, while the following issue saw him in a Ford Mustang. Later, he opted for imported cars: In Batman #254 and #258, he opted for an E-Type Jaguar, and the car used in #288 looked very much like a French sports car, the Ligier JS2. However, back in Batman #274 (Apr. 1976), he had been using a traditional Batmobile again, this time an open two-seater with a full-length windscreen and a strange, scalloped rear deck.

While there were several Batmobiles that appeared during this period, many of them only appeared in a single issue, and often only for one or two panels. It wasn’t until 1978 that a standardized model appeared again. This was

an open two-seater which once again had twin-bubble windscreens and large tailfins. It may have been influenced by the Super Friends animated TV show, as a similar car appeared in the program—with oval Bat-emblems on the doors, a motif that was carried over to the comics. The hood featured a Bat-mask silhouette painted on it, with the eye slots functioning as pop-up headlamps. Later issues showed this car to have a retractable roof and optional four-wheel drive. In the 1980 miniseries The Untold Legend of the Batman, it was revealed that these Batmobiles were provided by a stunt driver named Jack Edison, whom Batman once saved from a burning wreck.

Presumably Jack built more than one Batmobile during this period as there were different versions of the car; one had an angular nose with two air intakes, while another had a more rounded, sloping nose. This proved to be a very long-lived Batmobile, lasting throughout the runs of artists Don Newton, Gene Colan, Alan Davis, and Tom Mandrake on the Batman books.

POST-CRISIS After the conclusion of Crisis on Infinite Earths in 1986, Batman’s backstory was given a mild reboot, particularly in regard to the origin of the second Robin, Jason Todd. With Denny O’Neil taking the reins as editor, “realistic” Batmobiles were back. Batman #408 (June 1987) featured a Lamborghini Batmobile on the cover, but inside the issue it appeared to be based on a De Tomaso Pantera, while issue #412 had another Corvette. O’Neil seemed to favor stock-standard cars; in his novelization of the Knightfall storyline in 1994, he described the Batmobile as a “modified Maserati.”

However, during 1987, artist Norm Breyfogle took over the art chores on Detective Comics, and soon introduced a futuristic Batmobile of his own design. This was the first of several different “space age” Batmobiles created by Breyfogle, all of which were streamlined, rear-engined, high-tech vehicles with sliding canopies and enclosed wheels. The last one of these was destroyed during the Knightfall saga, with the “pretender” Batman, Jean Paul Valley, choosing to use his “Subway Rocket” vehicle on the railroad tracks under Gotham rather than driving a car.

The introduction of new Batman title Legends of the Dark Knight in 1989, with its rotating roster of guest writers and artists, led to inconsistencies as each guest artist designing their own Batmobile. This practice carried over to the other Batman titles, with a different Batmobile appearing in virtually every issue.

Some of these designs—including several “retro” versions—bordered on the bizarre. Except for a period in the late 1990s, when a jagged, heavily armored coupe was used, it was rare to see the same Batmobile in two consecutive issues.

MODEL BATMOBILES As many readers are aware, the first diecast Batmobile model was made

by Corgi Toys of Wales, and was based on the 1966 TV version. This was soon accompanied by an accurate model Batboat, and a not-so-accurate Batcopter and Batbike (Batcycle).

The next wave of toys came after the 1989 Batman feature film, with models made by Ertl and Kenner, all of which were based on the films and animated series. It was not until 2002 that diecast models appeared based on Batmobiles from the comics. The first items were made by American company Johnny Lightning, but because of licensing restrictions, these were sold as construction kits. There were four small 1/64 models, which were mostly simple screw-together kits, and two big 1/24 scale items, Batmobiles from 1950 and 1968. These had pre-painted metal bodies, but the rest consisted of plastic parts that were quite complex to build and paint. There was a 1968 Batmobile in 1/64 scale, together with a matching Batboat and trailer.

A few years later, Corgi regained the Batman license, and between 2005 and 2007 introduced a series of diecast Batmobiles ranging from 1939 to the

...Turbines to Speed (top) Released by Eaglemoss, the Batmobile from Detective #394 looked like a contemporary concept car. (second) The first-ever version of the Detective #456 Batmobile by Eaglemoss, capturing the unusual scalloped rear deck. (third) Corgi's 1980s Batmobile included an opening hood and a Batman driver figure. (bottom) The Hot Wheels 1980 Batmobile was in the smaller 1-50 scale.

TM & © DC Comics.

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(top left) The Neal Adams-designed car from Batman #400 was modelled by Corgi, but with odd proportions. (top right) Corgi's model of a Breyfogle-era Batmobile featured a heavily armored nose and large spoilers over the rear engine. (middle) Corgi's other version of Breyfogle's Batmobile featured a canopy that opened to reveal a detailed interior. (bottom) A Breyfogle Batmobile: Detective Comics #601.

TM & © DC Comics.

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present day in 1/43, 1/24, and 1/18 scales, including several ancillary vehicles and villains’ cars. These were fully built models, not kits, and most of these versions had ever been replicated before. Models included the 1968 Batmobile in 1/43 and 1/24 scales, the smaller car featuring a pop-out chain slasher. Corgi’s models were, for the most part, very well made, although some were rather poorly proportioned, such as the 1970 Batmobile, which appeared much wider at the front than the rear. However, Corgi’s 1978 Batmobile was an excellent model, with an opening hood and a Batman figure at the wheel. There were two different versions of the futuristic Breyfogle-designed cars: one with a heavy Bat-shield on the front, and an opening rear-engine cover, plus another more streamlined version with a sliding canopy. Corgi also made the Subway Rocket from the Knightfall saga, which had an opening engine cover and rotating turbine. The range also included four 1/43 villain cars: the Jokermobile, the Catmobile, TwoFace’s car, and the obscure Killer Moth’s Mothmobile.

Mattel’s Hot Wheels brand acquired the DC Comics license in 2006, and made a wide variety of Batman vehicles in different scales and price ranges, the majority of which were based on TV and movie versions. However, a few comic-related models were made in 1/50 scale, including a 1978 Batmobile that looked to be a scaled-down copy of the Corgi model.

The most exciting recent development is the Batman Automobilia Collection, a fortnightly “partwork” published by Eaglemoss Publications of the UK. Each release includes a model Bat-vehicle and a slim magazine. All models are to a consistent 1/43 scale, and are made by leading manufacturer Ixo. The series includes a mixture of model Batmobiles from TV, film, cartoons, and comic books, presented in a clear case with a diorama and backdrop. There have been new interpretations of the 1968, 1970, 1978, and 1992 Batmobiles, plus the never-before-modeled 1969 and 1976 cars … and hopefully many more new items in future issues.

Special thanks to Nigel McMillan for much of the photography.

MIKE PIGOTT is a London-based freelance writer who specializes in diecast toys and model vehicles.

His articles appear in every issue of Diecast Collector Magazine and Diecast Model World.

TM

by

“To stop me, you’ll have to kill me.” It was with these words that Batman quit the Justice League of America and headed off for the small European nation of Markovia.

P h i l i p Yo u n g m a n

“NO TEAM BOOKS!”

Bye-Bye, Two-Bit Justice League

Barr had always been a fan of team books. As a reader, that is mike w. barr … writing them was an entirely different matter. All those What could possibly have led to the shock resignation characters to coordinate, remembering the different of one of the founding members of the JLA? To find the speech patterns, the creation of villains who could answer, we need to go back in time to late 1982. present a credible threat every month—who needed Readers have thrilled to the adventures of the that sort of headache?

Darknight Detective teaming up alongside almost every However, any doubts he may have had were cast conceivable DC superhero for more than 120 issues of aside one afternoon in the office of editor Len Wein The Brave and the Bold (B&B). when he learned that B&B was indeed headed toward But the sand is running out, with #200 to be its cancellation, with plans to replace it with a new last. Batman is graduating to another book—only this book starring the Dark Knight. Perhaps lured by the time, he is going to lead his own team. opportunity to write an issue #1 of a Batman title, While perhaps to the relief of many, Batman and Barr found himself volunteering for the assignment. the Mystery Analysts of Gotham City never saw the light Not surprisingly, the reason for B&B’s cancellation of day, but what instead followed was Mike W. Barr’s was a financial one—what is surprising, however, is the creation of a “new group of heroes for our troubled creation of the replacement title was also. Barr explains: age”—the Outsiders.

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From Mike W. Barr (MWB) and Jim Aparo’s Batman and the Outsiders #1 (Aug. 1983): (left) its gripping cover, and (right) from the MWB files, a photocopy of the splash page’s original art.

TM & © DC Comics.

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“One of DC’s foreign publishers—I believe it was in South America—was publishing Batman, Detective Comics, World’s Finest, and The Brave and the Bold under an umbrella title as a weekly Batman book. So when B&B was canceled, DC needed another Batman book.”

Marvelous Team-Up (left) A Halo/Ms. Marvel sketch done for Mike W. Barr by Dave Cockrum in 1985. From the MWB files. (right) This George Pérez sketch established the basic looks of siblings Terra and Geo-Force.

Halo, Terra, and Geo-Force TM & © DC Comics. Ms. Marvel TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

a version of Siegel and Shuster’s Superman, a mainly physical character who wasn’t threateningly intelligent.

“Halo (Gaby Doe/Violet Harper), I realized, years later, was another variation on a theme. Earlier I had created Arisia, a cute, teenaged girl who became a Green Lantern. Arisia was a kind of dry run for Halo.

ENTER THE OUTSIDERS “I have always been fascinated by Japanese culture, Once it was decided the new book would feature a so Katana (Tatsu Yamashiro) seemed a natural team led by Batman, Barr set about creating outgrowth. I would not have expected that the lineup. “I had originally proposed that she would be merchandised more than Batman take a leave of absence from the any of the other new Outsiders.”

JLA,” he tells BACK ISSUE. “I didn’t Barr continues, “Naming of think DC would let him resign, but characters is absolutely crucial. Halo editor Len Wein (who was also the was an ideal name; despite its JLA editor) thought it would be masculine ‘o’ ending, it sounded stronger to have him resign. He was feminine, it described her powers, right, and it was awfully good of him and it’s impossible to mispronounce. to give me that kind of latitude.”

“Geo-Force was a little trickier.

Barr began with two existing Len and I both thought of the name characters—Metamorpho and Black ‘Magman,’ playing on the word Lightning—who on the surface may ‘magma,’ but Len shook his head have seemed a strange fit. They did and said, ‘It sounds like a man who len wein have however have something in sells magazines.’ Neither of us were common with Batman—they had also 100% happy with “Geo-Force” when turned their backs on JLA membership. [Editor’s note: I submitted it, as it sounds a little clumsy, but I later Metamorpho said “no!” to the JLA in Justice League realized that sometimes names take on meanings of of America #42, while Black Lightning told them to their own. ‘The Punisher,’ for example, is an almost “forget it!” in JLA #173.] laughable name when taken literally, but due to the It was now time for Mike Barr to create some character it’s connected with it’s taken on a meaning new members: of its own over the years. By the way, Geo-Force’s alter “All three of the first wave probably came to me in ego of Brion Markov was named after Brian Bolland, a two-or-three day period of mad creation, though I the artist of Camelot 3000. I changed the spelling of do recall the exact moment I came up with the idea for the name, but it was always intended as a tribute to a Geo-Force (Prince Brion Markov). He was intended as friend and one of my favorite collaborators.

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“Katana was the biggest challenge of the three. I thought it was a perfect name for the character. Both a name and a proper noun describing her main weapon, it ended in a feminine ‘a,’ and it was also nearly impossible to mispronounce. But Len claimed he hated it, calling it ‘a terrible name,’ and he said he would think of another. I left the office, determined not to yield on this. And when I next saw Len, a couple of days later, he said, ‘I thought of the perfect name for the samurai—Katana!’ I cocked an eyebrow at him, skeptically—did I really have to remind him of our earlier conversation?—then he grinned, cueing me to the joke, and we both enjoyed a hearty laugh.”

It all seemed perfect, except for one small hitch.

As fate would have it, Geo-Force strongly resembled a character about to be introduced into The New Teen Titans—Terra. What could have spelled a very quick end to Geo-Force instead became a plot point. At the suggestion of then-Titans writer Marv Wolfman, Geo-Force and Terra became brother and sister.

The team was in place, but who was to draw their adventures? It was never in doubt—the duties were to be given to veteran B&B artist Jim Aparo.

“Jim was a little leery about the idea, but soon grew to love the new characters. His only advice to me was: ‘Let’s have plenty of the Batman in there.’ And I tried to oblige.”

Given character outlines and a sketch of Terra and Geo-Force by George Pérez, Jim Aparo designed the look of each of the remaining characters inside of a week. The team was ready to meet the world.

In B&B #200, readers finally saw the (sort of) team-up of the Bronze and Golden Age Batmans (also scripted by Barr), but an arguably even more important 16 pages followed. Tantalizingly, it introduced readers to this mix of familiar and brand-new characters—and the news that Batman was no longer part of the JLA. Their curiosity piqued, readers were primed for an ongoing series, and thankfully they wouldn’t have to wait long with Batman and the Outsiders #1 hitting the stands just one month later on May 19, 1983.

TM & © DC Comics.

“A BUNCH OF OUTSIDERS LIKE US? IT MIGHT WORK…” Batman and the Outsiders opens on the familiar skyline of Gotham City. jim aparo We are in the Wayne Foundation Tower, the scene a farewell dinner Portrait by Michael Netzer. for Lucius Fox. However, what started as a simple business trip to the small European nation of Markovia would end in a revolution and Fox’s abduction.

The Youngest Outsider (top) Our pal Joe Staton—no stranger to DC heroines, most notably the Huntress and Power Girl—drew this Halo sketch for Mike W. Barr at a convention in Philadelphia in 1983. (bottom) The artistry of Jim Aparo, as seen on the splash to Batman and the Outsiders #4 (Nov. 1983). Both images from the MWB files.

TM & © DC Comics.

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Double Your Pleasure The George Pérezpenciled/Jim Aparo-inked covers to New Teen Titans #37 and Batman and the Outsiders #5 (Dec. 1983) combined into a single image— which DC Comics used in this promotional poster for the crossover.

TM & © DC Comics.

Determined to rescue his friend, Batman calls an emergency meeting of the Justice League of America but is met with firm resistance. Superman has promised the State Department that no member of the JLA would enter Markovia for fear of provoking a full-scale war. In reply, Batman assures him that no member of the JLA will enter Markovia, and promptly resigns. “I’ve heard the cries of the dying … the victims of crime and injustice … I swore I’d do everything in my power to avenge those deaths … and if I fail to keep that promise, my entire life is a lie.” Without another word he is gone.

Enlisting the then-powerless Black Lightning’s help, Batman enters the war-torn Markovia, but things very quickly go awry. In an effort to locate Fox, Black Lightning poses as Fox’s brother, allowing himself to be captured by the rebels. However, before he can bargain for Fox’s life, his captor is killed by a mysterious sword-wielding woman—Katana. It is now up to Batman to rescue both Fox and Black Lightning.

En route to the rebels’ base, he encounters an unconscious woman in a bombed out building. Regaining consciousness, the young woman instinctively blasts at Batman with a beam of light, glowing in a fantastic array of colors. Seemingly unaware of her identity or surroundings, Batman dubs her “Halo” (after her aura) and they continue on the rescue mission.

Meanwhile, in the laboratory of Dr. Helga Jace, Markovia’s Prince Brion is preparing to undergo an experimental procedure designed to grant him superpowers. Bombarded with power from the very earth itself, Jace says the so-called “geo-forces” will turn him into Markovia’s savior. Meanwhile, Metamorpho has arrived in search of Dr. Jace. Believing she could hold the key to restoring his humanity, he appears just as a band of revolutionaries descend upon the lab.

Metamorpho is quickly overpowered and torn to elemental pieces while Brion is shot and buried in an unmarked grave.

Blaming himself for “working with amateurs,” Batman is also captured, and the issue closes with the Dark Knight chained to a dungeon wall alongside Black Lightning, an inert Metamorpho, and Lucius Fox. “I am your host and the author of this modest insurrection,” says his captor. “I am Baron Bedlam.”

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The second issue opens with our heroes still imprisoned. When their deaths are ordered by Bedlam, Black Lightning overcomes his long-term mental block that had dampened his lightning-generating powers, and our heroes escape their captors, regrouping with Halo and Katana.

As Brion’s brother King Gregor readies his citizens for battle, Bedlam forces Jace to perform the same procedure she did on Brion, gaining the same powers as a result. He battles the resurrected Brion— who has taken the name Geo-Force—but the battle is short. Bedlam’s body, not being of the royal bloodline, rejects the powers and they fade. His fate to be determined by the populace, Geo-Force throws the defeated Bedlam from the roof of the castle to the waiting mob below.

With peace restored, Batman suggests the group return to Gotham City, where he will train them and make them a team. Dr. Jace agrees to accompany them and help search for a cure for Metamorpho.

WELCOME TO GOTHAM The team’s next adventure, “Bitter Orange,” pitted them against the first of many outrageously named villains, Agent Orange. After foiling his plans to detonate a gas bomb over Gotham City, the remainder of BATO #3 detailed the team establishing themselves in Gotham City and in their new Bruce Wayne-funded headquarters in the abandoned Wayne Foundation Batcave.

While some letter writers would suggest that Batman’s presence is there merely to generate sales, Barr reassures them that BATO is as integral a “Bat-book” as Detective Comics or Batman. While events of the main Bat-books would occasionally impact BATO (such as Commissioner Gordon’s stroke), it was not the case in the reverse with neither Batman nor ’Tec ever acknowledging the series.

BATO #4 (Nov. 1983) was originally slated to contain the second half of a New Teen Titans crossover, but due to scheduling issues, the first part in NTT would be delayed a month, meaning part two would ship a month before part one. Essentially a fill-in by the regular team, what followed was a very well-received issue as the Outsiders take on the escaped Ned Creegan, a villain previously seen in Batman #195 and Black Lightning #4–5, searching to rid himself of his powers.

“One-Man Meltdown” presented a far more sympathetic take on Creegan than readers were expecting, with the true villain being revealed as the warden who had denied him a cure.

One of the strengths of BATO already on display was Barr’s knack for maintaining a healthy balance between action and the private lives of our heroes. Character moments such as the evolving relationship between Katana and Halo, and Metamorpho’s attempts to win back his former girlfriend, heiress Sapphire Stagg, would prove as engaging as the main storyline. In fact, as the series progressed, these B-stories would often become the main storyline.

Identity Crisis Rex Mason (a.k.a. Metamorpho), posing as Batman’s lawyer, clearly knows Bruce Wayne’s alter ego on this page from the Batman/Plastic Man/Metamorpho team-up in The Brave and the Bold #123 (Dec. 1975), by Bob Haney and Jim Aparo.

This story would later plague BATO scribe Mike W. Barr.

TM & © DC Comics.

ALL IN THE FAMILY An important issue, New Teen Titans #37 (Dec. 1983) was the first time the Outsiders had been written and drawn by people other than Barr and Aparo. It also explained the Geo-Force/Terra relationship and presented their first on-panel meeting. While keen-eyed readers had spotted clues as far back as Terra’s debut, many may have missed her speak of her parents who ruled a “foreign country” and her brother Brion during her first appearance in NTT #28 (Feb. 1983).

The teams are brought together under a pair of joining covers by George Pérez and Jim Aparo when Dr. Jace is kidnapped by the recently escaped Fearsome Five. The path to victory would be tense, with Batman and Robin engaging in a power struggle over the leadership of the combined teams.

If some readers believed that Jim Aparo’s artwork had grown tired during his tenure on B&B, it felt like he had a new lease of life during BATO, with issues such as the NTT crossover proving he was still in top form, handling the huge roster with apparent ease.

Next came the “Coming of the Cryonic Man!” This two-parter in BATO #6 and 7 presented a villain who could have merely been another Captain Cold. In Barr’s hands, he became part of a cryogenic experiment gone wrong. It’s 1947, and in an attempt to preserve themselves in the event of a nuclear war, a scientist built sleep chambers designed to preserve himself, his assistant, and their wives. With the assistant timed to wake at specific intervals to appraise the situation, he instead lied, telling them the world had indeed suffered a nuclear holocaust. In a rather macabre turn of events, he began harvesting the others’ bodies in an attempt to save his wife from a degenerative disease. Due to the decades in shared stasis, their minds became linked. “We’re in this together,” he says, “one purpose, one body.”

“Yes,” the others reply when they learn of his actions, “…and we reject you.” And they promptly terminate themselves—and in turn, the Cryonic Man. BATO #8 (Mar. 1984) brought readers the first annual Christmas tale, “The Hand That Rocks the Cradle…” Barr’s tale featured an unlikely guest star in the Phantom Stranger as babies and toddlers across Gotham City are found rapidly aging. Responsible for this calamity was the Stranger’s old foe Tannarak. A decidedly spooky tale, it was

a treat to see Aparo return to the Phantom Stranger a decade after his run on the mystery hero’s title. The tale would prompt reader Michael Eury to write in, complimenting the team on the book in general and in particular their handling of Christmas.

The focus would move to Black Lightning for #9 and 10, as his past came back to haunt him.

Barr, who graduated to editor with this storyline, picked up story threads stretching back as far as 1979’s “The De-volver!” from DC Comics Presents #16. In the story, Black Lightning had been taking down a mugger when the thug’s gun discharged, the bullet killing an innocent bystander. The resulting psychological toll would eventually cause him to lose his powers.

While he may have recovered his powers, the parents of the dead girl never recovered. Her mother sought out the Masters of Disaster and hired them to kill Black Lightning.

With the powers of water, earth, air, fire, and ice, the Masters of Disaster—New Wave, Shakedown, the reluctant Windfall, Heatstroke, and Coldsnap, respectively—would become the Outsiders’ most oft-recurring foes. They would also be a favorite of the series’ writer: “I like the Masters of Disaster enormously. That led to a relationship between Halo and Windfall, which was both a great deal of fun, and occasionally heart-rending. The MODs even showed up in a recent animated ‘DC Nation’ short [on Cartoon Network], battling Black Lightning. Their costumes were redesigned somewhat, but they were still recognizable.”

When the girl’s mother finally comes face to face with the man she blames for her daughter’s death, she realizes the futility of revenge. In a poetic twist, she heroically saves Black Lightning’s life when the MODs attempt to kill him as originally planned.

Having been absent during the second half of the Black Lightning tale, Jim Aparo would return just in time for Katana’s origin, “A Sword of Ancient Death!” The issue also marked a major milestone in the artist’s career as it was the first story in 15 years that would see him pencil but not ink his own work. The last time this occurred was way back in 1969 in Aquaman #46, which was inked by Frank Giacoia.

Coincidentally, the inker of BATO #12 was Dick Giordano, who had been Aparo’s editor on Aquaman in 1969.

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Tony’s Tones (left) Courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com), the color guide to the Aparo-drawn cover of BATO #10 (May 1984), signed by color artist Anthony Tollin. (right) Katana’s biggest challenge, in issue #12.

TM & © DC Comics.

Katana had often been seen by readers as quite a cold and brutal character. Even the one running gag in the letters column about her involved her handing the writers of negative comments their “lungs in a bucket.” This view would finally begin to change as readers finally learned her tragic origins, though the “Bucket-lung Brigade” would be around for the entire BATO run.

As a young woman, Tatsu Yamashiro had displayed a proficiency in martial arts. Courted by two brothers— Takeo and Maseo—she married the latter and they had two children. However, the evil Takeo (who by this time was a member of the Yakuza) did not take rejection well.

Having come into possession of two identical swords forged by a mad 14th-Century swordsmith— one of which, the “Soultaker,” possessed the ability to absorb the souls of its victims—he murdered the Yamashiro children and his own brother. Vowing revenge and now wielding the sword herself, Tatsu would take the name Katana.

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When Katana loses the Soultaker to Takeo, she pursues him to Tokyo, though she will not face him alone as the Outsiders follow closely behind. Before she arrives, though, Takeo and the Oyabun of the local Yakuza perform an ancient ritual, one that brings forth spirits of those slain by the Soultaker, returning them to life but forever under their control.

Among them is Tatsu’s husband Maseo, who is then ordered to slay her.

Katana would eventually kill Takeo, whose spirit, along with that of her husband, would return to the sword. However, they would not be the only casualty of the battle, with Batman struck by a blowdart laced with an ancient poison. As the issue closes, he lays unconscious—“He is dying,” declares Katana, “…and there is no antidote!”

The Jim Aparo-less “In the Chill of the Night!” in BATO #13 (Aug. 1984) essentially becomes a retelling of Batman’s origin. When the Outsiders learn the blowdart’s poison must run its course, Black Lightning removes the mask from the feverish Batman, learning his true identity. They re-stage the events of the night Wayne’s parents were killed in an effort to keep him active, allowing the poison to work its way through his system. They are instead left with a delusional Darknight Detective, who they in turn must bring down.

By far the most important event in this issue is the revelation of Batman’s secret ID, which—unaware they already know—the Caped Crusader shares with them upon his recovery. They “deserved to know,” says Batman. Of course, some readers would argue that this would not be the first time Metamorpho would learn Batman’s identity, which had been integral to the story presented in B&B #123 (Dec. 1975) … a fact Barr would strongly refute in the coming months.

Human Torch The unpublished splash page pencils by Bill Willingham for BATO #15 (Nov. 1984), the conclusion of the Olympics two-parter featuring Batman villain Maxie Zeus. Willingham drew the previous issue but was unable to complete part two, with Black Lightning co-creator Trevor von Eeden subbing on the published version. From the MWB files.

TM & © DC Comics.

WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG? After the events of NTT’s “The Judas Contract,” a still-grieving Geo-Force learns the truth of his sister’s betrayal. [Editor’s note: Terra was one of the “Heroes Behaving Badly” profiled back in BI #28.] He fears he can no longer work with the Outsiders, “to wear the same uniform she wore … it would only remind me of her betrayal … and her death!” A solution arrives in the form of the green-and-gold uniform that he will wear for the remainder of the original series.

Still recovering from the after-effects of the poison, Batman would remain mostly absent during BATO Annual #1’s “…Land Where Our Fathers Died…!” What readers didn’t know was it was Barr’s attempt to see if they would accept the Outsiders without their leader.

Under a Frank Miller and Jim Aparo cover, readers were introduced to the Force of July: Major Victory, Mayflower, Lady Liberty, Silent Majority, and Sparkler, and the instigator of Project Orwell, Security Chief B. Eric Blairman, who together would provide the first truly controversial moments of the series.

Discovering as a child the writings of George Orwell and his book 1984, Blairman had a vision of a benevolent Big Brother working for America, not against it. He planned to see it become a reality with the “Omni-Cast,” a device aboard a satellite able to reverse television signals, making all TVs two-way.

BLASTS FROM THE PAST “You can spy on any home in America!” shouts an trevor von eeden The mystery surrounding Halo’s true identity incensed Black Lightning before taking him down. would begin to be resolved in BATO #16’s The character of Blairman and his “heroes” would Photo: Mark Godlett. draw heavy criticism, giving rise to an ongoing political debate in the “…Goodbye…” As a result of an investigation conducted by Jason letters pages—one the readers and Barr seemed more than inclined Bard at the behest of Batman, it was finally discovered that Halo was in reality a girl named Violet Harper, from Arlington, Michigan. to continue over the following months.

Reunited with parents she does not recognize, there are obviously ON YOUR MARKS! far deeper mysteries in her shadowy past that are yet to be With the aid of the Monitor in one of his many pre-Crisis on Infinite revealed. As the issue closes, Batman is seen breaking into her Earths appearances, Batman foe Maxie Zeus forms the New police file, where he discovers Harper was involved with a young Olympians—a gang of superpowered villains with powers based on man named Mark Denninger, who had left Arlington with her, only the Greek and Roman gods—for a two-parter appearing in Batman to be found dead some time later in Paris. Without explaining her and the Outsiders #14–15. Crashing the 1984 Olympic Games opening powers or the cause of her continued amnesia, the issue raises far ceremony, Zeus takes the spectators—including President Ronald more questions than it answers.

Reagan—prisoner (this would be the first of many BATO guest However, readers would have to wait. Interrupting Halo’s origin appearances by Reagan, who frequently popped up throughout the would be a trip to Egypt as the team is hurled 3,000 years into the DC Universe during his presidency). Issue #14 was penciled by future past under a terrific painted cover by Lynn Varley over Jim Aparo’s Fables writer Bill Willingham, who at the time was also making his original art in BATO #18 (Feb. 1985). In an attempt to save a critically mark in the industry with his hard-hitting superhero series, The injured Metamorpho, the Outsiders travel to the Pyramid of Ahk-ton, Elementals, at Comico [see BACK ISSUE #24]. the site where soldier of fortune Rex Mason was first transformed The Outsiders would, of course, prove triumphant against their foes into the Element Man. Instead of simply restoring Rex, the team during a “winner takes all” battle in the two-parter’s conclusion, #15, find themselves transported to ancient Egypt. By the time they which was the first Trevor von Eeden-drawn issue of the series. Von return to the present, Metamorpho will again be exposed to the Eeden’s style had evolved considerably in the six years since he last meteor that originally gave him his powers, meaning he can never worked on his and Tony Isabella’s co-creation Black Lightning. It was regain his humanity. probably the most radical artistic departure during the book’s early run.

In the present, an even more important storyline was unfolding.

The action in this two-parter is not limited to the sporting arena, Brion Markov’s college classmate Denise Howard had become the with one of the more surprising changes to a character relationship victim of sexual harassment at the hands of one of their professors. occurring. After a heated argument, Geo-Force and Halo surprise both Unable to cope with the shame, an unconscious Denise is lying next themselves (and readers) by ending up in a passionate kiss. Geo-Force to an empty bottle of pills at the end of #18. This confronting event had always, and would continue to, display a healthy libido, but his resulted in one reader suggesting it was the first time such subject becoming involved with a 16-year-old came as quite the surprise. matter had been dealt with so openly in a comic.

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In Kobra’s Coils Barr brought the Bronze Age baddie Kobra into the pages of Batman and the Outsiders. Covers to issues #26 and 27 (Oct. and Nov. 1985) by the title’s new artist, Alan Davis.

TM & © DC Comics.

The Outsiders would return from the past just in time for another As the past catches up with her (a recurring theme in the BATO), Christmas issue. In what was becoming tradition, “Who’s Afraid of the Halo and her parents are abducted by Whale and Syonide.

Big Red S?” (BATO #19) was anything but a traditional Yuletide tale. Determining Halo’s amnesia to be genuine, Whale employs the After realizing they do not love each other, Geo-Force and Halo put talents of Wonder Woman foe Dr. Moon to forcibly extract the an end to their romantic involvement. Shortly afterward, Geo-Force formula from her memory. The Outsiders arrive on scene, but the receives a call from Denise Howard. She has survived her suicide Harpers are killed trying to protect their daughter from Syonide. attempt and confesses to Brion what drove her to this course of action.

The book sees a change of pace with #21 (May 1985), presenting Incensed, Geo-Force goes on a rampage, with Professor Raeburn three solo stories and three guest artists. clearly in his sights. Batman has no choice but to call in The true standout is Katana in a wonderful Will Eisner Superman to bring down Geo-Force.

Spirit pastiche. Inspired by the 1946 Spirit tale “Smuggler’s The ensuing battle between Geo-Force and Superman Cove,” the otherwise silent story is narrated by a radio would prove that Brion was no lightweight, with the broadcast of a football game. In a sly wink to the limits of his powers pushed further than they ever had readers, the announcer’s name is Bill “Rensie” been before. Geo-Force would learn an important (Eisner backwards). “We received a fan letter from lesson in justice, with the professor not escaping Will, whom I had known for years,” says Mike W. unpunished, his history of sexual battery uncovered Barr. “It doesn’t get any better than that.”

by Batman. Dedicated to Superman’s creators Jerry NEW KID ON THE BLOCK Siegel and Joe Shuster—who would send their best Alan Davis had been involved with his first professional wishes in BATO #24—the issue closes with Mark work in the UK, Captain Britain, for about a year when Denninger’s sister contacting Black Lightning’s old DC began headhunting the top UK comic creators. foe Tobias Whale. She is determined to make Violet After the initial exodus of UK creators to DC, there Harper “pay” for her misdeeds. alan davis were openings at the anthology title 2000AD, which Violet Harper’s final days would be recounted in allowed him to move on to more prominent work.

BATO #20—Jim Aparo’s last. A bad seed, she had left Photo: Gabbot.

This heightened profile meant that during DC’s town with the smitten Mark Denninger in tow. Stumbling upon a car accident, she steals a drug formula from the injured occupant, leaving second wave of headhunting, Davis was on their radar. Dealing primarily him to burn to death in the wreck. Thanks to her photographic memory, with DC Vice President/Executive Editor Dick Giordano, Davis received Violet memorizes the formula and makes plans to sell it back to the his first DC gig. However, it wasn’t Outsiders, but rather the first issue owner—who turns out to be Tobias Whale. Not one to succumb to of an Aquaman miniseries that never saw print. It obviously impressed Giordano and DC’s editors, as on the strength of that issue, Davis was extortion, Whale sends his operative Syonide to deal with the pair.

Syonide locates Denniger in Paris, but it is too late. He is dying of asked to draw BATO, leaving the King of Atlantis behind.

Barr explains further, “When the book went ‘hardcover/softcover,’ an “accidental” drug overdose administered by Violet herself after we realized we’d need a second artist as Jim wasn’t quick enough to do she had grown tired of him. Syonide would eventually track Violet to Markovia, where she would shoot her and leave her for dead in an both. The British artists had only recently become available as a sizable abandoned building. It was an inspired twist, making the wide-eyed talent pool, and I went through many samples. Dick Giordano said the artist of Marvelman, from Warrior, was available. I said I had heard Halo in reality a thoroughly evil, sadistic girl. that artist was very slow, but Dick said he was one of the fastest.

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“So I decided to give him a try,” Barr continues. “Turns out Dick was talking about Alan Davis, who had recently taken over Marvelman, and I was talking about previous Marvelman artist Garry Leach! But it was one of the best choices I ever made, even if it was accidental. Someone watches over fools and children. (Neither of which refers to Alan.)”

Taking over the reins from the original creator of any book is going to bring with it a certain level of expectation, but one can only imagine that there’s added pressure when you follow in the footsteps of a legend. “Very much so,” Davis tells BACK ISSUE. “I was, am, a huge Jim Aparo fan. He had drawn my favorite version of Batman and designed the Outsiders.” And although Davis downplays his significance to the book—“I was literally a fill-in artist,” he says—it is safe to say he was a very worthy successor.

Davis’ first issues would finally reveal “The Truth About Halo.”

When Dr. Jace unlocks Halo’s memory, it causes an ancient energy being to reawaken inside her. Part of a vast collective, these so-called “Aurakles” had observed life since the dawn of time, accumulating knowledge, but never wishing to participate.

However, there was one exception, with one Aurakle becoming fascinated with organic life. Witnessing the death of Violet Harper, it instinctively reached out to her and found itself pulled into her body, reviving Violet’s body but retaining no memories of its previous existence.

With the Aurakle inside her reawakened, others from the collective soon arrive and spirit her away to their plane of existence.

The team are able to follow thanks to Katana’s capture of one of the Aurakles with the Soultaker, and after a lengthy battle they manage to free Halo and return her to Earth.

Although she finally knew who she was, Halo was more lost than ever.

THE GREAT CONTINUITY CONTROVERSY If Mike W. Barr thought that no other letters column controversy would match the heights of the one concerning the Force of July continuing to be played out in the pages of the deluxe title, he was sadly mistaken. For some time, readers had pointed out what they considered a glaring inconsistency—Metamorpho knew Batman was Bruce Wayne. He had to. It was integral to the plot of B&B #123. “You can call B&B #123 an imaginary story, you can call it a parallel earth story … but the Batman and Metamorpho in that tale are not the same people that appear monthly in these pages,” he responded to their cries.

“I didn’t think anyone would take much offense with an issue of Brave & Bold being written out of continuity,” says Barr, “but—now it can be told!—I actually got a deaththreat from a reader who advised me ‘not to attend any conventions this summer because I can’t guarantee your chances of survival.’ He had signed his name and address, so he didn’t realize what he was saying, but I gave the letter to the FBI anyway, who gave him a stern dressing-down in front of his parents. I was told the kid collapsed in tears when he realized the full implications of what he’d written. I was a little sorry for him, but he was a young adult and he had to learn words have real meanings and actions have consequences.”

THE “HARDCOVER/SOFTCOVER” PLAN The comic-book retail landscape was changing. The early 1980s had seen the newsstand lose ground as the primary outlet for comic books. The comic specialty store was on the rise.

As DC’s third top-selling book, BATO quickly followed in the footsteps The New Teen Titans and The Legion of Super-Heroes, both of which had been awarded direct market-exclusive books in May 1984.

DC’s “hardcover/softcover” plan followed the publishing-industry practice whereby books are first published in hardcover and then followed a year later by a cheaper paperback edition. Adding the prefix “Tales of” to the original titles, the newly launched books would present tales set a year in the future with the original book continuing along the same timeline and filling in the gap. At the end of the first year, the newsstand edition would begin reprinting the adventures presented in the direct market title. A relatively shortlived experiment, Barr was the only creator who would write all 24 issues of the same “hardcover/softcover” title.

The deluxe book brought with it many plusses. Readers were treated to high-quality Baxter paper, better printing delivering full bleed artwork, and richer colors and additional pages of content.

They also got a double dose of their favorite characters every month.

The Outsiders #1 (Aug. 1985) introduced readers to a new team member—Looker—a new city, and a new HQ—Station Markovia, off the coast of Santa Monica— plus the news that Batman and the Outsiders had parted ways.

“I tried to use the one-year delay to stimulate reader anticipation,” says Barr. ”I had outlined all two years of the ‘hardcover/softcover’ plan in advance, so I sometimes referred to events in the Baxter book that the characters had experienced in the newsstand version, but had not yet been published. Readers seemed to be intrigued by the fact that Batman had left the team, as they had yet to learn why.”

TO THE MOON, ALICE! Having foiled an assassination attempt on Simon Stagg’s life in BATO #24 (Aug. 1985), the Outsiders launched headlong into outer space for their next adventure.

On a quest to find herself after the recent issues’ revelations, Halo instead finds herself in the Eden commune. Run by the charismatic leader Brother Abraham, it is in fact a front for the supervillain Kobra, with the villain himself posing as Abraham.

“I like the ‘War Stars’ arc, as it restored Kobra to a major standing as a DC villain,” says Barr—and it certainly did.

“You Acted Like a Team for Once” Original art page by Alan Davis from BATO #32 (Apr. 1986), the issue where Batman leaves the group. Courtesy of Heritage.

TM & © DC Comics.

Batman’s Partners Issue

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Having remained out of the spotlight since Wonder Woman #278 (Apr. 1981), Kobra returned with a vengeance, hijacking the latest Space Shuttle. Leading his followers to the United States’ Star Wars space station, he reveals his true purpose: “You have 24 hours to turn over to me the entire contents of your Fort Knox,” he announces, “…or I shall sell your system to Soviet Russia!”

Taking control of Kobra’s own ship, the Ark, the Outsiders follow Kobra into space and a dramatic Moonraker-style battle ensues.

While Kobra manages the rare feat of besting Batman in combat, he eventually loses the day and is forced to retreat.

HERE COMES THE BRIDE When Metamorpho debuted in The Brave and the Bold #57 in 1964, literally the first on-panel word out of Rex Mason’s mouth was “Sapphire.” Fans of the Element Man had been waiting for a happy ending for this odd couple ever since, and they would finally get their wish in BATO Annual #2 (1985).

“I was never the hugest Metamorpho fan, though I obviously liked and respected the character, so I can’t say there was a great deal of emotional satisfaction to his marriage to Sapphire Stagg,” admits Barr. “But the Fabulous Freak had a strong following among BATO’s readers, and they deserved some closure.”

Drawn by David Ross and Dan Adkins, “Dissembler at the Wedding” also features the return of the Masters of Disaster, ready to disrupt the nuptials.

FURTHER READING— COLLECT ’EM ALL!

The Outsiders rarely appeared outside their own books, and in almost all of those rare cases the stories were scripted by Mike W. Barr: • World’s Finest Comics #300 Barr co-writes this story guest-starring the JLA and the Outsiders, who team up to stop a “Cosmic Tree” from destroying Earth.

Batman and Superman finally make peace following the events of BATO #1. [See BI #69 for more info on WFC #300.]

• Tales of the Teen Titans Annual #3 The history-making “The Judas Contract” concludes and Terra dies. The Outsiders are in attendance at her funeral.

• DC Comics Presents #83 Under a Jim Aparo cover (right), it’s the team’s second meeting with Superman. An accident causes Alfred to return to his villainous Outsider identity in this Barr-scripted tale.

• Crisis on Infinite Earths #1–5, 9, 11–12 While it was never acknowledged in their own book, the Outsiders still played a part in the Crisis. This was particularly apparent during Geo-Force’s involvement in protecting the Monitor’s tuning forks, one of which appeared in Markovia during WWII. • Secret Origins #6 Halo recounts her origin to Looker, adding new details of Violet Harper’s past that were not included in the “Truth about Halo” arc.

She also receives a birthday present—a brand-new uniform!

• Detective Comics #604–607 “The Mud Pack” presents a curious postThe Outsiders appearance from Looker, who has been restored to her previous state of beauty and power. While an entertaining tale—with awesome Norm Breyfogle art—it remains vexing for its obvious continuity errors.

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Sadly, it hadn’t been all smooth sailing for Alan Davis. From all appearances in the letters, it seemed that the readers were generally very positive about his work. However, this was not the case behind the scenes.

While obviously taking his lead from Jim Aparo, Davis had allowed himself to adapt character designs to his approach. Some, like Halo’s neckline, were fairly minor. Others, he would discover, would cause far more controversy.

“The only deliberate, significant change I recall was to Katana,” Davis tells BACK ISSUE. “She was the only Jim Aparo design I didn’t like. Not the costume—that was great, but the hair and generic physique. I drew Katana flat-chested, more muscular, and with wilder hair. Naively, I didn’t think anyone would notice or be bothered, but it did cause quite a commotion. At one point I was told to hold off drawing any more pages until a decision was made as to whether I should redraw Katana on the pages I’d finished.”

Thankfully, he found support among a few of the “more powerful females at DC,” and Davis’ modified body form for Katana survived.

“I have no memory of this,” says Mike W. Barr. “Either I had forgotten it or I had never been informed of any such conflict (which is certainly possible), so if I abdicated my responsibilities as editor by not defending Alan to the powers-that-be, I fervently apologize.”

“THE TRUTH ABOUT LOOKER” Although readers of the direct-market edition of The Outsiders had already been introduced to the fabulous redhead, #28–31 mark Looker’s first chronological appearance.

“Looker referenced the manifestation of her powers—from her eyes—and is, of course, a long-held term for a beautiful woman,” explains Barr. “Looker’s original costume is one of the most hated in all of comics, a badge I wear with pride. The costume is actually two layers: one black, the other pink. It was based on an outfit Diane Lane wore early in the 1984 film Streets of Fire.”

Having first appeared as a “Plain Jane” bank clerk in BATO #25 (Sept. 1985), Emily Briggs reappears, only to be kidnapped by shadowy figures from the underground civilization of Abyssia. To fulfill her destiny and “rule as queen of all the world!” they spirit her away to their city hidden under Switzerland. When a honeymooning Metamorpho stumbles upon them, he is also kidnapped.

The Outsiders give chase, only to be confronted by a possessed Metamorpho, who—under the thrall of Tamira, the head of one of the warring factions—defeats them in battle, claiming Geo-Force and Halo as her slaves. The others are welcomed into Abyssia by Tamira’s brother, Prince Mardo. It was Mardo’s people who were responsible for bringing their “most honored guest” to Abyssia.

In truth, Emily Briggs is the next in line to the throne, her grandfather having left Abyssia for the surface world some decades earlier. Thanks to a fragment of Halley’s Comet that had fallen to Earth over two millennia previously, members of her bloodline had been granted extraordinary powers and beauty. The imminent reappearance of the comet would allow Mardo to transform her appearance and awaken her powers. Reluctantly, she agrees and allows herself to undergo the ritual.

Mardo, however, had plans of his own, bringing the transformed Emily under his control with the phrase “looker.” He commands Looker to kill his sister and claims her as his queen. He then reveals his true intentions—to destroy the surface world. However, Looker resists and Katana kills Mardo. Forgoing her birthright, Emily leaves the Abyssians to rule themselves.

LIFE WITHOUT BATMAN “It was my decision to have Batman leave BATO, which would have happened had the Baxter series materialized or not,” Barr tells BACK ISSUE. ”This may have been a mistake, but I, like George Costanza, wanted to see if my boys TM & © DC Comics.

THE “SONNET 29” HISTORY

by Mike W. Barr

I have been a fan of Alex Toth’s for decades and really wanted him involved in some way with the Outsiders backups. But he rejected a couple of scripts I wrote for him, claiming he wanted nothing to do with superheroes. So I offered him “Sonnet 29,” expecting another rejection, until the finished art arrived one day. Then I was fired as editor of The Outsiders, and new management had no interest in publishing anything that wasn’t people in costumes punching other people in costumes: “Shakespeare?

What are we, gay?” So this fine piece remained unpublished until it first appeared in an issue of Comic Book Artist, years ago. And until now.

Fun fact: The copy for the sonnet text was from the script I sent Toth; he just cut it from the script and pasted it down on the board. I’m sure he was paid for lettering, too, but that’s okay. He got little enough from his time in the business.

“Statue of Limitations” An unpublished version of a gag page from The Outsiders #1 (Nov. 1985). Jim Aparo redrew this in a more cartoony style in its published version. From the MWB files.

TM & © DC Comics.

could swim on their own. (By this time, four issues of Batman a month were no longer required by our overseas publisher.)”

With readers preparing themselves for Batman’s exit since the launch of the deluxe title, it would have come as a surprise to few to see the Gotham Guardian storm out in BATO #32 (Apr. 1986). The issue would receive some criticism in the perceived abruptness of his exit, with Batman coming across as quite petulant, walking out on his second team in almost as many years. Ironically, Batman would go from leading the Outsiders to leading the newly formed JLA the very next month in #250 of Justice League of America.

“It may have been that Batman’s exit seemed sudden, but it was planned well in advance,” Barr assures us. “And the best changes are those that seem abrupt. The book continued to sell as well without Batman as with, but after a couple of years or so, when sales started to drop, I decided to bring him back. That was probably too little, too late. And it may have been that the title would have been canceled anyway. But at least we took some risks, rather than playing it safe.”

HEIL AND FAREWELL For the last major storyline in their original book—now retitled Adventures of the Outsiders (“After The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes,” says Barr. “These weren’t just ‘Tales,’ they were Adventures.”)—the team returns to Markovia and face no less than the combined forces of a revived Baron Bedlam, the Masters of Disaster, Soviet agent the Bad Samaritan, and a clone of Adolf Hitler, in #33–36. Sadly, this was also Alan Davis’ final storyline. He would not see out the final two issues of the run; they were a late extension to DC’s original schedule and Alan had already agreed to do a New Mutants Annual with Chris Claremont, after which he was moving to Detective Comics with Barr.

After a bloody battle, Bedlam is defeated and rather gruesomely decapitated by Geo-Force. In a final twist, the Hitler clone commits suicide upon learning of the atrocities for which the original was responsible. In a move that completes their separation from Batman, Batman’s Partners Issue

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Outsiders Three Jim Aparo-drawn models of Black Lightning, Geo-Force, and Metamorpho, produced for Batman: DC Heroes Role-Playing Reference by Mike Stackpole (1986).

Scans courtesy of Ilke Hincer. Adds Mike W. Barr: “The costume Geo-Force is wearing is the one he was given in 1984’s BATO Annual #1.”

King Gregor appoints the Outsiders as unofficial agents of Markovia and begins secretly funding the team.

As they say goodbye to their old lives in Gotham, the team prepare for the move to a new centrally located headquarters in Los Angeles.

Despite the pressure of following Jim Aparo, the steep learning curve, and the controversy over Katana, BATO is an experience Davis holds in high regard: “[It was] most definitely a source of many fond memories. I was woefully inexperienced, and may well have sunk without Mike’s support and encouragement, so I look back on my work as clumsy and, on occasion, short of the quality Mike’s stories deserved. But I have no regrets. It was part of the learning process and a great deal of fun.”

Barr adds, “Alan’s reservations about his work were not shared by me. He made my scripts look good. He took direction wonderfully and often seemed to know what I was up to before I did. We were a good team, working for the same goal, and it showed.”

Trevor von Eeden would return for #37–38, the final two new-content issues of Adventures of the Outsiders, which see the team battle the Marine Marauder. With a short second feature “Welcome to LA,” the story segues directly into the Outsiders’ deluxe series and consequently, the first issue of the reprint run. “I love working with Trevor,” says Barr. “His style was a breath of fresh air.”

While this would be the final issue containing original content, the series would continue until #46, reprinting

TM & © DC Comics.

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the now 13-month-old Baxter series and sporting some terrific new covers by such talents as Kevin Maguire, Brian Bolland, and Kevin Nowlan. All interiors remained unchanged from the Baxter issues.

STARTING OFF WITH A BANG August 1985 was a big month for DC Comics. The same week that Barry Allen died in Crisis on Infinite Earths (a crossover which neither BATO nor The Outsiders ever tied into), The Outsiders graduated to the direct market.

If there was one thing that benefited from the new series more than any other, it was Jim Aparo’s artwork.

Given the freedom to stretch his artistic legs, Aparo opens The Outsiders #1 with a three-page gatefold depicting the team on one side, and a Los Angeles destroyed by a nuclear bomb. While purely hypothetical, it signaled that the stakes were being raised for the Outsiders.

“I had visited Los Angeles,” Barr says, “liked it, and thought it would be a nice venue for the characters as opposed to perpetually gloomy Gotham City.

Anything set in Gotham will always have the Shadow of the Bat falling over it.”

With Looker now an official member, the team would face the threat of the robotic “Nuclear Family” and their creator, Dr. Shanner, who plans to detonate an explosion in a nuclear power plant. “The world has to learn the horror of nuclear devastation before it’s too late!” he declares.

While chronologically not her first appearance, this was most fans’ introduction to Looker, and in

Ladies’ Day (left) Jan Duursema illustrated the cover of The Outsiders #8 (June 1986), and was the guest artist for the issue’s interiors. That issue was reprinted a year later in the last issue of the newsstand or “softcover” version of the title, (right) Adventures of the Outsiders #46 (June 1987), sporting a new Duursema cover. Autographed original art from the MWB files.

TM & © DC Comics.

what could be record time she would receive her first solo backup tale in #2.

The Outsiders #3–4 saw the return of the Bad Samaritan, Gorbachev, and the Force of July in a case involving stolen Markovia printing plates. However, the theft was just a cover, with the Soviet’s real intent being to study the American metahumans to assist in the creation of their own super-team.

It was appropriate that The Outsiders #4 (Feb. 1986) had featured the return of the Force of July, with its lettercol war “in which our writer/editor leaps into the controversial water of politics—without a life raft!” reaching its peak. Old “new left” liberals, “murdering babies through abortion,” Norman Lear, accusations of bigotry, and the stereotypical conservative were all ripe for discussion. “I was prepared for that one,” recalls Barr. “The fieriest letters saw print in the lettercol, which were always fun for me. I think for the fans, too.”

For a book about a group featuring a super-strong European prince, a woman with a magical sword, an elemental freak, a man who could hurl lightning bolts, and a teenage girl whose dead body was possessed by an alien consciousness, things were getting serious.

With the current Soviet threat behind them, the Outsiders would face a succession of villains ranging from an old-style racketeer in the team’s annual Christmas tale (#5); the Skull and their robotic agent, the “Duke of Oil” (#6–7); and the return of the Oyabun (#8), who would send a “trickster god” after Katana in a very well-received issue drawn by Arion co-creator Jan Duursema.

When Black Lightning’s ex-wife Lynn is kidnapped, it is up to the team to mount a rescue in a storyline that would round out the first year of the title (#9–12). Responsible for her abduction is Edward Bentama, with whom she had been involved via her company’s fundraising efforts for F.A.M.I.N.E. While she believed the millions of dollars she had raised for the “Fund American Money Into Needy Eurafrica” organization was going to help the starving citizens of Mozambia, it was in reality being funnelled back to the Soviet Union. Discovering that Bentama’s humanitarian persona is merely a front—and that he is, in fact, the undisputed ruler of the Soviet satellite nation—she is taken to Mozambia to guarantee her silence.

Journeying to Mozambia, the team are quickly captured by the Soviet’s new superpowered group—the People’s Heroes—with only Black Lightning managing to escape.

Over the coming weeks, the remaining members of the Outsiders are brought to their lowest point to date, subjected to slavery, mind control, torture, and all manner of degrading situations.

The reality of an oppressive regime was skillfully handled by Barr.

It could have been very easy to gloss over real-world problems when dealing with superheroes, but he never sugar-coated the seriousness of their situation.

Thanks to Black Lightning and the unbreakable spirit of the citizens of Mozambia, the regime is overturned, Bentama meets his fate, and freedom is returned to the small African nation. With the People’s Heroes imprisoned, the Outsiders bid the nation farewell, but as their plane disappears into the distance, it is shot down by a Soviet fighter jet piloted by the Bad Samaritan.

The unlucky issue #13 (Nov. 1986) opens with the team “Marooned…” on a remote island with no means of escape. An issue rife with tension, the team would eventually be rescued thanks to Metamorpho literally sending up an “SOS”—but not before Geo-Force and Looker find themselves involved more intimately than ever before.

Back on US soil, the 1986 Outsiders’ Annual was an all-around winner.

Featuring a tense storyline about stolen nukes, a brief return by Batman, and Kevin Nowlan’s first DC work, the book would see the return of Kobra and the Skull organization, who would reignite their longstanding feud.

It would not be the last time either would cross paths with the Outsiders.

In a classic “whodunit”-style mystery, Looker is charged with the murder of a PI who had been investigating her past in #14’s “The Looker Murder Case.” It’s a fairly lighthearted piece, with comedy coming from Halo dealing with her new braces (and sporting a new costume) and Looker dealing with her new prison outfit. “…If any photographer gets a shot of me in this hideous bag, my career will be over!” she laments. With a long list of suspects and no shortage of motives, the Outsiders set about clearing her name.

Meanwhile, in the letters column, the People’s Heroes manage to draw criticism, becoming the most controversial characters since the Force of July. With one reader in particular unimpressed with the writer’s “one-man Batman’s Partners Issue

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Pretty in Pink (left) Looker—in her controversial costume—takes center stage on the cover of Adventures of the Outsiders #34 (June 1986), and (right) the team gathers for a group pose on #36. Both covers by Davis.

TM & © DC Comics.

anti-Russian campaign,” Barr replies that among the many comments he receives every month, one group will accuse him of “taking orders from the Kremlin,” while according to the other he’s “in the pocket of the Reagan administration.” Barr remembers, “Some reader asked if Gorbachev would be getting his own Who’s Who page, as he appeared in The Outsiders so often. If I could have found enough personal statistics about him, in those pre-Internet days, I would have written one.”

Booster Gold’s Dan Jurgens is on board with Barr for #15’s “Biohazard” (Jan. 1987), in which the Outsiders face the threat of an intelligent virus that possesses its victims. Before succumbing to the infection, Dr. Jace successfully formulates an antidote. However, when it is discovered she is allergic to one of its components and unable to be treated, rather surprisingly it is Looker who manages to outthink the intelligent virus and save Jace’s life.

Having tangled with Halo in #12’s backup, Bat-villain Firefly would return for a rematch in #16 (Feb. 1987). Dubbed the “Man of 1,000 Lights,” Firefly was still using his color-based motif rather than the pyromania gimmick he would be known for later. Claiming the Outsiders had humiliated him, he attacks Dodger Stadium in “The Firefly’s Blaze of Glory.” Ripping Halo’s energy self from her body, he absorbs her powers and comes dangerously close to killing her. Thanks to some quick thinking on Katana’s part, the Outsiders trick Firefly into overusing his newly acquired powers, and they switch off. Under a Brian Bolland cover, it’s a fantastic-looking issue, with the art chores shared by Jerome Moore and Al Vey, and Jan Duursema returning for her second and final time on the title.

THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS After a couple of fill-ins, Jim Aparo returns in #17 (Mar. 1987), and he brings an old friend. Displaying all the hallmarks of a jumping-on issue, Batman returns to the fold after an absence of well over a year as the team faces the threat of Eclipso. “Hey, if Arthur Conan Doyle can change his mind about killing Sherlock Holmes, I can change my mind,” Barr wrote in that issue’s lettercol.

However, in Batman’s absence the team had evolved, members had matured, and they would not be as easily ordered around as they had in the past, and Batman would have to deal with this reality in the coming months.

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MORE PAGES! NO ADS! One of the benefits of the extra page count afforded by the direct market book was that it allowed for a great deal of additional content. “Jim, who produced one full page of comics (pencils, letters, and inks) every day,” explains Barr, “couldn’t draw the full 32 pages every month, so I used a lot of backup features.” A great deal of fun, they came in the form of pinups, humor pages, bios, parodies, and in one case, “collectible” trading cards featuring the Outsiders, their supporting cast, and their foes drawn by Curt Swan. “As much as I love superheroes, I remembered when comics were more than superheroes and tried as many stunts as I could.”

These bonus features attracted a terrific array of talent that included John Byrne, Brian Bolland, Steve Lightle, Jerry Ordway, Steve Ditko, and Kurt Schaffenberger. Highlights included artist Joe Staton’s Metamorpho adventure, “The Gold Standard” (#4); “The Outsider at the Bat!,” a parody of Casey at the Bat (#6); and the Brian Bolland-drawn “Freeway of Fear!,” starring Looker and Metamorpho (#18).

After months of requests from readers, the Masters of Disaster’s Windfall would finally join the hero team in The Outsiders #19’s (May 1987) “The Winds of Change!”

With Batman firmly in place again, the team are busy establishing the “Batcave West” (complete with its own dinosaur and giant penny!), while in Markovia the Masters of Disaster break free of their prison, vowing revenge on the Outsiders and Windfall.

Accepted onto the team after she saves the day during a hostage situation, Windfall’s presence would draw concern from some readers as the parallels with Terra were apparent. “Everybody deserves a second chance,” Black Lightning reminds the team as Batman adds, “I agree—especially in light of my recent return.” As the issue closes, it appear that readers’ suspicions were correct as Windfall is seen contacting her sister New Wave in the middle of the night: “Yeah, they swallowed it, all right,” she says. “I’m in.”

However, it had all been a ruse. Having captured Windfall, New Wave created a clone of her sibling and used her to infiltrate the Outsiders’ headquarters. But the Dark Knight was one step ahead of her, and the entire “Batcave West” project was a cover to draw out the Masters of Disaster.

As the two teams clash, the Windfalls are forced to battle each other and the genuine article is eventually forced to kill her doppelganger.

With the battle over, the Masters of Disaster are imprisoned once again—it would prove to be the last time the two teams would face each other.

CALIFORNIA TEAMING With the conclusion of Crisis on Infinite Earths, a single Earth with a single history remained. As a result, the Outsiders and Infinity, Inc. both called the same Los Angeles home—and having the two teams cross paths was inevitable.

Therefore, one night during the 1986 San Diego Comic-Con, Mike W. Barr got together with Roy and Dann Thomas, the husbandand-wife writing team of Infinity, Inc., and worked out the details for a 72-page story. Originally slated to appear in each title’s respective annuals, the crossover would instead appear in two standard-format “Specials” the following August.

Ironically, a large portion of the adventure would not even take place in Los Angeles, as the teams race to Markovia to rescue Skyman, who had been taken prisoner by the Psycho-Pirate. Disguised as Baron Bedlam, the Psycho-Pirate had installed a puppet government, holding the entire population under his thrall. Fans were not disappointed by the meeting, with both books delivering some great moments— including tension between Looker and Jade as they vie for Brainwave’s attention, and Katana and Wildcat’s explosive first meeting.

KOBRA RETURNS Attacked from within and without, Kobra would launch his final assault on the Outsiders via his newly created Strike Force Kobra— Elemental Woman, Planet Master, Zebra-Man, and Lady Clayface—in The Outsiders #21–22 (July–Aug. 1987). However, the drama going on behind the scenes almost outshone the action on the page.

With little explanation, Barr had ceased editing the title. He also stopped handling the letters column, an absence that would be keenly felt. In his place was editor Mike Carlin, who would go on to state that while “Mike B. is going to be hanging around a while still in his capacity as writer,” there would be “several major shake-ups ahead … and we trust you’ll be more than pleased with what we’re cooking up!”

Barr expands on the story behind his exit: “I had been fired as editor of The Outsiders by DC VP Dick Giordano for allegedly ‘speaking out against the company’ by writing, in a letter to The Comics Journal, that Bill Finger should be given his rightful credit as Batman co-creator and his estate compensated financially. Giordano called this my ‘resignation,’ but I refused to go gently into that good night and demanded that he fire me. This was just an excuse on Giordano’s part, of course. Giordano wanted to save DC some money by bringing all freelance-edited titles back ‘in-house,’ that is, to be staff-edited (I was not on staff and was a freelance editor), but he had no grounds to fire me, as The Outsiders had never shipped late. So rather than look like the bad guy and to save DC a few bucks by not having to buy out my contract, Giordano used my letter as a pretext for his cowardice. Rather than having the stones to just out-and-out fire me, he tried to make the loss of position as editor my fault rather than his.

Fortunately, I was vocal about this and no one believed him.

“I was first told Mike Carlin would edit the book, which was swell, as Mike and I got along fine, and Mike might have been interested in saving the title. Then I was told Andy Helfer would edit the book, and Andy had no interest in saving it. I was told the book would be canceled after the mandatory Millennium crossover. I was no longer the editor, but I was still a professional, so I took the assignment of a Millennium crossover and did the absolute best I could with it.”

THE BEGINNING OF THE END Picking up the threads of the Mozambia storyline, The Outsiders #23–24 (Sept.–Oct. 1987) sees a rescue mission mounted by the Soviets to free the People’s Heroes, who had remained imprisoned in Africa. Sending their new creation “Fusion,” he goes rogue and heads to the US to assassinate President Reagan. It would take the combined efforts of the People’s Heroes, the Force of July, and the Outsiders to bring him down.

The Outsiders #24 would be Trevor von Eeden’s last. After six stories and two covers, he would conclude his run with the first chapter of “Night of Camp David.” Wrapping up the storyline would be Erik Larsen on one of his early assignments for DC. In an interview in The Comics Journal #298 (May 2009), Larsen stated he was asked to complete the issue by the now-editor Andy Helfer when von Eeden hadn’t finished an issue of The Outsiders. He was also asked draw the splash page in von Eeden’s style: “I did it to the best of my ability,” he explained, “which was pretty sorry, actually.”

He obviously equipped himself well, as he would be asked to return to draw the final two issues of the title just three months later.

Issue #25’s appropriately titled “The Eve of Disaster!” saw the Outsiders under fire from both the US Government and the Skull. Notable for its introduction of the Atomic Knight to the team, the issue also presented the transformation of Metamorpho, with Dr. Jace beginning the process to return the Fabulous Freak’s humanity. While retaining his powers, Metamorpho would emerge from the procedure a changed man.

“I don’t know why Metamorpho’s appearance was changed,” says Barr. “I was opposed to the change, but because I was a professional, I complied. Ditto with killing him.”

Meanwhile, the Outsiders are attacked on the home turf by Major Disaster, operating under orders from the Skull, during which Station Markovia is spectacularly destroyed. “Do you not realize what this means?”

Beauty and the Bot Original cover art to Adventures of the Outsiders #45 (May 1987),

by Barr’s Camelot 3000 collaborator Brian Bolland. This issue reprinted the deluxe format The Outsiders #7. From the MWB files.

TM & © DC Comic.

Batman’s Partners Issue

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A Thing for Knights From the MWB files, Erik Larsen original art to the Atomic Knights splash page from The Outsiders #27 (Jan. 1988). Look closely at the bottom, just below the art trim line, for an unannounced Marvel guest-star!

Outsiders and Atomic Knights TM & © DC Comics. The Thing TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

asks Geo-Force. “The US Government is hunting us, our base of operations is destroyed, the resulting investigation will uncover our connection with my country of Markovia. This is a dark day for us, my friends.”

BACK TO WHERE IT ALL BEGAN The Outsiders #26 (Dec. 1987) marks the final time Jim Aparo drew the team, as they return to Markovia. Just as Alan Davis had been absent from the final two issues of The Adventures of the Outsiders, Jim Aparo would be absent from the final two issues of this title. He, too, would move onto one of the flagship Batman titles, beginning with Batman #414.

“Because I didn’t edit them,” explains Barr, “I had very little editorial influence over the last two issues. I don’t know why Jim didn’t draw them; perhaps it was because DC felt that Jim’s time would be wasted on them. When I was told the title was canceled I called Jim’s home to tell him, only to find that he had already been told and was at DC discussing his next assignment.” In Aparo’s place would be a returning Erik Larsen. “Erik did a fine job on the last two issues of The Outsiders,” says Barr. “He later gave me the splash page of the Atomic Knights pastiche, which was darn nice of him.”

MILLENNIUM For a team that had remained at arm’s length to the wider DC Universe for much of its existence, it is ironic that the Outsiders would meet their end as part of a company-wide crossover.

DC’s Summer 1988 event, “Millennium,” revealed a number of beloved supporting cast members were either under the control of the Manhunters or had been replaced by robotic duplicates.

However, never one to follow the crowd, the Outsiders’ infiltrator proved to be acting of her own free will. “I was told someone on the team had to turn traitor because one character in every title was

YOU CAN’T KEEP A GOOD OUTSIDER DOWN “It was always DC’s intent to revive the title,” says Mike W. Barr, “but I don’t think anyone thought it would take six years, until the third series in 1993.”

• Outsiders Following Geo-Force’s two-issue preview in Showcase ’93 #4–5, the team returned six months later in Outsiders #1 Alpha and Omega (Nov. 1993). Story threads from the original The Outsiders were picked up as Geo-Force, Katana, a re-powered Looker, and a revived Halo were joined by new characters Technocrat, Faust, and Wylde.

Now truly “Outsiders,” they spent most of the early part of the series on the run from Markovian authorities. Barr would close out the series after 25 issues with the entire original team in attendance at the wedding of Prince Brion and Denise Howard.

• The Outsiders The Outsiders moniker would be resurrected again in 2003 when Judd Winick produced a Titans spin-off, linking to the past via Metamorpho, as well as Black Lightning’s previously unrevealed daughter. Ironically, after a 50-issue run, the series would end to make way for a new Batman and the Outsiders series reuniting most of the original cast.

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• National Comics: Looker Looker was awarded a one-shot as part of the National Comics Digital First event in August 2012. Writer Ian Edington offered an almost complete reinvention of the character. Now firmly planted in the horror genre, the one-shot saw Emily Briggs dealing with the dark underbelly of New York’s modelling world, battling an ancient evil that feeds on the young and the beautiful.

• Katana In the brave new world of DC’s New 52, in early 2013 Katana graduated to her own title. While visually far removed from the original, many of the core elements of the character remained intact. Katana was canceled with its tenth issue.

• Batman: The Brave and the Bold Not just limited to print, the Outsiders graduated to the small screen with two appearances in Batman: The Brave and the Bold. “It was fun,” says Mike W. Barr. “I loved the ‘Japanese schoolgirl’ version of the early version of Katana. The characters were done with a little humor, but were treated respectfully, which was always my basic approach.”

• Beware the Batman!

In 2013, Katana bacame a major player in the Cartoon Network’s CGI series, Beware the Batman!, filling the role of young Bruce Wayne’s bodyguard.

“No Good Deed” Another gem from the MWB files! In Mr. Barr’s own words, this is a “double-page spread of the original team done by Bryan Hitch in 1991 for the unpubbed Outsiders #1. Bryan graciously gave me the entire penciled first issue.”

Not to be confused with Barr’s The Outsiders #1 from 1985, this 1991 reboot didn’t make it into print.

Our loss.

TM & © DC Comics.

turning traitor (nothing like predictability to excite the readers),” Barr explains, “so I decided Dr. Jace would be the traitor as I refused to make any of the actual team the betrayer. Even so, I tried to make her betrayal seem in character, because that was my job.”

“There was no corrupting of my will,” explains Dr. Jace as she confronts the Outsiders. “I gladly serve the Manhunters and their higher cause—the subjugation of human emotion to their pure, cold logic.”

It was a pretty shocking turn of events for a character that had been part of the team since the very first mission. Reaffirming her position, she declares, “It was for the Manhunters’ cause that I betrayed my country … my allies … my race! There will be no turning back!” And there wasn’t.

With Metamorpho now under her control—thanks to her procedure in #25—Jace orders him to attack. Subduing the team, she places them in stasis where they live out a lifetime in the post-World War III dream world of the Atomic Knight in a terrific sequence dedicated to John Broome and Murphy Anderson, creators of the original Atomic Knights.

Breaking free, Looker tricks Metamorpho into attacking Jace, with the resulting explosion destroying them both. Geo-Force decrees that thanks to her treachery, Jace will have “nothing but a nameless grave.”

With the threat of the Manhunters seemingly concluded with the death of Dr. Jace, the Outsiders are summoned to Abyssia (Millennium #5), only to find the kingdom overrun. The Manhunters have made a pact with Tamira (who it is revealed had not been killed) to use Abyssia as a base to attack the surface world, in return for making her its ruler.

Hideously disfigured, she also now possesses Looker’s powers.

As the citizens of Abyssia and the Outsiders battle to repel the Manhunters, Looker battles Tamira. Looker is bested, losing both her beauty and her powers. As Tamira prepares to cast the defeated Looker into a pit of lava, she strikes back and Tamira falls to her doom.

Abyssia is free, but in a last show of defiance a surviving Manhunter fires at the powerless Looker. Halo throws herself between the beam and its target, and the blast renders her unconscious.

Returning to Los Angeles’ S.T.A.R. Labs, the Outsiders gather around the comatose Halo. The toll has been too great and Geo-Force disbands the team. “For now, at least,” he says, “our story has reached its end.” With more than a couple of dangling plot threads, it would be six years before fans would see most of the cast again.

Barr says, “The only time I’ve had more professional fun writing and editing Batman and the Outsiders and The Outsiders is when I

write my creator-owned series The Maze Agency. The readers seemed to enjoy it, too; BATO was DC’s third-bestselling title of its day and the only Batman title in DC’s top-ten-selling books. It’s hard to believe nowadays, but despite Batman’s status as a fan-favorite there was a time when his books didn’t sell well—but not when he appeared in BATO or when Alan and I did Detective, which then became DC’s bestselling Batman title during our tenure.”

“A GROUP OF HEROES FOR OUR TROUBLED AGE” Filled with crisp artwork, gaudily dressed heroes, and villains with fanciful monikers, the Outsiders stood apart literally and figuratively from the rest of Batman’s world during the “grim and gritty” Dark Knight Returns era. As a result, it would be easy to dismiss The Outsiders as light relief, but this would be a mistake. In fact, his tenure with the Outsiders often seemed far more in keeping with Batman’s original concept than did the time he spent in a satellite 22,300 miles above the Earth.

Like all art, Batman and the Outsiders was a product of its time.

While frequent appearances by Reagan and Gorbachev, the Cold War, Halley’s Comet, the L.A. Olympics, and references to Bananarama records do date the title, the fact that the characters and concept lived on long beyond Barr’s original run and with real-world topics such as terrorism, famine, big oil, foreign dictatorships, bias in the media, and government surveillance of its citizens remaining just as relevant today, it speaks volumes to its timelessness.

“Thirty years after their creation, when I was told many times by staffers that the characters were ‘dead,’ the Outsiders are still active and Katana is a featured character in the current animated series Beware the Batman!” concludes Barr. “Not bad for characters that have at least once been written out of ‘existence’.”

No, not bad at all.

The author would like to thank Mike W. Barr, Alan Davis, and George Pérez for their time and assistance.

The editor would like to thank Dave Billman for making the scans from the Barr files.

PHILIP YOUNGMAN has been a DC Comics fan for as long as he can remember. A longtime reader of BACK ISSUE, this is his first article and he hopes not his last.

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JOHN TRUMBULL: First, a little background on how you guys got together. How was Alan selected as Jim Aparo’s replacement artist on Batman and the Outsiders?

ALAN DAVIS: I had penciled the first issue of an Aquaman miniseries for Dick Giordano. He phoned, said he liked what I had done, and offered me BATO. TRUMBULL: Were you two familiar with each other’s work before you started working together on BATO? MIKE W. BARR: I wasn’t really familiar with Alan’s work, but I quickly familiarized myself with Harry 20: On the High Rock and other series Alan drew [for 2000AD].

I don’t know if he was familiar with my work.

DAVIS: Of course. I had followed BATO from the first issue.

TRUMBULL: How did you two get the Detective Comics assignment? Did you submit a pitch or were you selected for it by editor Denny O’Neil?

DAVIS: Mike asked me. That was all I knew.

BARR: I actively campaigned for the ’Tec assignment, rather than waiting to be selected, as I had before (and which didn’t work out well). I recall trying—convincingly, I guess—to persuade DC to drop the plan of having Batman and ’Tec tell one long story, saying this wasn’t working, and it was driving away readers who didn’t like that approach, but it may have been that this decision may have been made in-house. With two separate creative teams, readers would be offered two choices.

I suggested Alan as the penciler, and gave Denny a few copies of BATO. He agreed. I think we lured Alan away from some other assignment; if true, this gave me a great deal of satisfaction.

DAVIS: I’m afraid I’ll have to let Mike down, because there wasn’t one. I had accepted a single annual from the X-office [Uncanny X-Men Annual #11, 1987] in anticipation of my run on BATO ending, then felt pretty bad when I discovered DC had miscalculated the length of [the] run and I had to tell Mike I couldn’t do the last two issues of BATO. I had enjoyed working with Mike and loved drawing Batman so I was very enthusiastic about Detective.

BARR: Denny and I discussed the approach to the book, which I probably described as “classic Batman and

50 • BACK ISSUE • Batman’s Partners Issue

by

J o h n Tr u m b u l l

TM & © DC Comics.

In 1986, the DC Universe was being redefined in the wake of the crossover Crisis on Infinite Earths, and DC Comics was looking to reinvigorate its flagship characters.

After years under the editorial watch of Len Wein, the Batman books were now under the stewardship of Denny O’Neil. And Detective Comics, the book that gave DC its name, received a new creative team fresh off a bestselling run on Batman and the Outsiders: writer Mike W. Barr and penciler Alan Davis.

While Barr and Davis only stayed together on Detective for seven issues, they certainly didn’t waste any time. In these issues, Batman and Robin encountered the Joker, Catwoman, the Scarecrow, the Mad Hatter, new villain the Reaper, and several surprise guest-stars.

Batman’s origins were redefined, a new Leslie Thompkins was introduced, and the book celebrated its 50th year of publication. For everyone who followed them on the Dark Knight, Barr and Davis cast a long (bat-shaped) shadow.

This interview was conducted via email over the summer of 2013.

– John Trumbull

Robin stories,” “classic” referring to the approach. We discussed strategies if this didn’t work, like guest-starring some of the Outsiders which, with the creative team of Barr and Davis, would have been a natural. Fortunately, we didn’t have to do any of that.

The title was an instant hit, and quickly became DC’s bestselling Batman title, a stunt Alan and I had done with BATO a year or so earlier. In fact, the only acknowledgement of the Outsiders was in the Mad Hatter issue (#573), where we briefly used Warden Fisher, who had been introduced in BATO #4 (Nov. 1983). This certainly isn’t because I disliked the Outsiders; we just wanted Detective to sell on its own.

TRUMBULL: How did you two typically work together? Was it full-script, Marvel-style, or somewhere in-between?

BARR: Every issue of Detective—as well as every issue of BATO—was written full-script, with Alan understanding that he could change anything he wanted as long as the story was told.

DAVIS: Always full-script. And I was grateful for that at the time because I had no training or experience so was learning on the job. As I have said on many occasions, I was very lucky because Mike is the most visual writer I have worked with. His panel descriptions are always on the money. I would sometimes try something different, but almost always quickly realized Mike’s staging was the best way.

TRUMBULL: What do you feel you each bring to your collaboration, and what do you bring out in each other?

DAVIS: For my part, it was a steep learning curve. Thankfully, Mike was patient and generous with his knowledge and experience.

BARR: I have worked with many, many great artists, and I feel the collaboration of Alan and myself really became an example of the end product being greater than the sum of its parts. Alan seemed to know what I was trying to bring out in the scripts, no matter how hamhandedly I might have written it, and did his best to improve on it.

And his sense of humor is second to none. With most artists I indicate a humorous bit with the notation [humor], just to make sure they get it. I soon realized this wasn’t necessary with Alan—he always got it.

DETECTIVE #569: “CATCH AS CATSCAN” When the Joker learns about Catwoman fighting crime with Batman and Robin, he kidnaps her and brainwashes her into resuming her criminal career.

BARR: Denny wanted me to come on the title with #568, which was a Legends crossover.

But I begged off because Alan couldn’t start until #569, and I realized the only way to peak sales on a long-running title was for the new creative team to all come on in the same issue.

“Start Collecting NOW!” TRUMBULL: How was it decided to make Catwoman a villain again?

BARR: My first marching orders from Denny O’Neil were: A) Make Catwoman a villain again, and: B) Erase from her memory any knowledge of Batman’s secret identity. We decided a story using the Joker would be the best way to do this, as having Batman and Catwoman working together would drive him crazy (or crazier). And, since the Joker and Catwoman first appeared in Batman #1, it was also a very subtle tip to the readers that we were starting over again.

TRUMBULL: Alan, how did you approach drawing Catwoman and the Joker? Did any particular artists influence you?

DAVIS: No, I was following Mike’s direction. The only deliberate deviation on my part was to give Catwoman a sort of Gaucho culotte instead of a skirt—just to make her a little more modern and sleek.

BARR: Alan’s Joker is one of the best versions. Someone referred to him as “a deranged praying mantis.”

TRUMBULL: You had both done Batman by this point, but now he was joined by the Jason Todd Robin. How did you approach Jason, and how was he different from Dick Grayson?

BARR: I never really saw him as any different than Dick Grayson.

I believe it was later that his backstory would be rewritten to include

Two-Face, which was utilized in issues #579–580 [drawn by Jim Baikie after Davis’ departure].

DAVIS: Again, I was following Mike’s direction. No significant difference from the classic Dick Grayson; he was a young Jiminy Cricket.

TRUMBULL: Commissioner Gordon is called “Captain” in your first two issues. Was this the original post-Crisis plan for the character, as he’s promoted to Captain at the end of Batman: Year One? BARR: I guess so. I was told to call him “Captain,” and obliged.

TRUMBULL: How did you decide on using Dr. Moon as the agent to turn Selina Kyle evil again?

BARR: We needed someone to do the dirty scientific work and I thought using Dr. Moon (who was created by editor O’Neil, of course), who already existed as a character, would root the book more deeply in the DCU than creating a new character.

The comedy stylings he and the Joker exhibited on pages 18–20 were not plotted, they came to me as I wrote the script. I loved the idea of a Joker who would appreciate having a gag played on him, as a contrast to the relentlessly grim (and dull) mad killer Joker that had been prevalent in the Batman titles for years.

Holy No-No! (top) Jason Todd Robin gets a dressing-down after channeling the Burt Ward Robin in this hilarious sequence from Detective #569. (left) Mike W. Barr communicates with readers in the lettercol of Detective #569.

TM & © DC Comics.

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DETECTIVE #570: “THE LAST LAUGH!”

Enough!!

Batman reacts to Catwoman being turned into a bad kitty on this powerful original art page from Detective #570, with Alan Davis inked

by Paul Neary.

Courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com).

TM & © DC Comics.

Batman and Robin track down the Joker in the hopes of reversing Catwoman’s brainwashing, while Catwoman returns to her life of crime.

TRUMBULL: This issue saw the introduction of McSurley’s, a criminal bar where Batman gets information.

Was it influenced at all by the real-life McSorley’s in New York City?

BARR: I have no recollection of such an influence, but since I did live in NYC in those days, I have to wonder if I was aware of McSorley’s existence.

TRUMBULL: The scene with Batman intimidating Profile is a real standout.

BARR: I was trying to make Batman as formidable as possible. And if this included threatening to frame

a criminal to get what he wanted, that was the way he rolled. (Also, do you know how strong he’d have to be to break a glass the way he did on page 6?) Profile came from the desire to have a unique criminal agent we could turn to if Batman needed info.

TRUMBULL: Where did the Joker’s henchman Straight Line come from?

BARR: Straight Line was, I blushingly admit, copied from the character “Gaggy,” from “The Joker’s Original Robberies” [in] Batman #186 (Nov. 1966), written by John Broome.

TRUMBULL: Did you have any plans for Selina Kyle/Catwoman beyond her “revillainization”?

BARR: No. I assumed her fate would be controlled by editor O’Neil, who would allow her appearances as needed.

DETECTIVE #571: “FEAR FOR $ALE” The Scarecrow returns with a new extortion scheme— having his victims pay for the antidote to a drug that removes fear.

TRUMBULL: Judging by your comments in the Scarecrow article in BACK ISSUE #60, you’re both quite fond of this issue.

And going by the number of reprints it’s had, it seems that lots of others agree. Is this issue your favorite from the run?

BARR: Well, it’s one of them. It’s just one of those swell little stories where everything seems to fall in place as you’re writing it. I knew I’d done something good when I finished the script, but I had no idea it would prove to be as popular as it’s become.

DAVIS: I think as a standalone Batman story it is a brilliant piece of writing. I have always believed I wasn’t good enough to draw it at the time—and would love to have the opportunity to redraw it.

I’m sure that if Neal Adams had drawn it, a wider audience would recognize it as one of the very best Batman stories.

TRUMBULL: Was it tough coming up with new twists on the villains’ motifs, like the Scarecrow removing fear or the Mad Hatter going hatless?

BARR: Tough? Hmm … I never thought of it that way, it’s just what I was paid to do. My approach with the Batman villains harkens back to when I grew up reading them in the ’50s and ’60s.

Every time an established villain reappeared, the plot would ring a change on his classic motif. With the Joker it was comedy, with the Penguin it was birds or umbrellas, with the Mad Hatter it was hats.

I used this approach, trying to think of a new variation on the villain’s motif. With the Scarecrow and the Mad Hatter, it turned out well to have each villain temporarily reverse his usual tactics. Believe me, this is as much fun for me as it is for you.

I think I was grinning every minute I was writing “Fear for $ale.”

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Man without Fear From the oft-reprinted Scarecrow story, “Fear for $ale,” from Detective #571: (top) its splash and (bottom) the return of a Batman staple—the deathtrap!

TM & © DC Comics.

DETECTIVE #572: “THE DOOMSDAY BOOK” Batman and Robin team up with Slam Bradley and Ralph Dibny the Elongated Man to solve a lost case of Sherlock Holmes. This 56-page issue also features guest artists Terry Beatty, Dick Giordano, Carmine Infantino, Al Vey, and E. R. Cruz, as well as a special double-page pinup by Dick Sprang!

TRUMBULL: For the 50th anniversary issue of Detective Comics, you had Batman team up with some other famous detective guest-stars. What challenges did the Raymond Chandler and Arthur Conan Doyle pastiches present?

DAVIS: I tried to draw the brilliant Jeremy Brett Sherlock Holmes, which was being broadcast around that time.

BARR: Making sure the narration seemed true to the character was the main goal. The Doyle pastiche was an enormous amount of fun to write.

TRUMBULL: Mike, did writing chapters for multiple artists present any additional difficulty?

BARR: The artistic choices—since Alan couldn’t draw the entire anniversary issue himself—came fairly easily. I’d always loved E. R. Cruz’s Sherlock Holmes comic from DC in the middle ’70s (written by one Denny O’Neil), and he came through brilliantly [Author’s note: For more on this issue, see BACK ISSUE #71]. Carmine Infantino was a natural for the Elongated Man since he co-created the character. I think Denny came up with the idea of using Terry Beatty on Slam Bradley, which worked out beautifully.

TRUMBULL: This issue shows Batman using one criminal as a human shield against machine-gun fire, which is certainly edgier than Batman was usually treated at the time. In terms of Batman killing, where did you draw the line and how far could you push it?

BARR: When I wrote him, Batman never actually killed in cold blood. Denny said that was forbidden, and I complied. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t take appropriate measures against criminals who were trying to kill him.

TRUMBULL: Why was the Elongated Man was wearing a mask again in this issue?

BARR: I specifically asked for one, since he always wore a mask in his [earliest appearances in The Flash]. I’ll cop to this being extremely self-indulgent, but it didn’t affect the story one way or the other, so what was the harm?

TRUMBULL: Mike wrote in his intro for #572 that Paul Neary had jury duty in the middle of his deadline. Do either of you recall any details about this?

BARR: I do not, no. Thankfully, Paul came through like the champ he is.

DAVIS: I recall Paul tried to get out of jury duty by dying his hair and wearing an earring at the selection—hoping he’d look too “Punk-ish” to be selected. They made him jury foreman.

DETECTIVE #573: “THE MAD HATTER FLIPS HIS LIDS!” The Mad Hatter is released from prison and resumes his criminal career, despite Batman and Robin’s best efforts to the contrary.

TRUMBULL: I really love the opening scene of Batman and Robin in the car with Jervis Tetch. The panel with their reveal displays the contrast between the two characters perfectly.

BARR: The pacing on that was partially due to the participation of Br’er Davis. I had originally written Batman’s Partners Issue

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incredibly visual writer, as well. One version of the creation of Batman is that Bob Kane brought in a concept called “Birdman” and Finger said “How about a bat…?” and the rest is history. The fact that Bill Finger has never been acknowledged as the co-creator of Batman, much less never received more than page rate—not a single reprint payment—is to the eternal shame of the industry.

TRUMBULL: This issue illustrates just how far Batman will go in his pursuit of justice—Bruce Wayne runs for city councilman just to catch the Mad Hatter! Are there any lengths that Bruce Wayne will not go to for the sake of his obsession?

BARR: He would not deliberately endanger innocent citizens, or allow them to come to harm. An expenditure of hundreds of thousands of dollars means nothing to him if he can take a criminal off the streets.

DETECTIVE #574: “…MY BEGINNING … AND MY PROBABLE END” Batman rushes a severely wounded Robin to the Park Row clinic of his foster mother Dr. Leslie Thompkins. While waiting for him to recover, Batman recalls his origins.

Haberdastardly Barr successfully made the mundane villain the Mad Hatter a chilling threat in Detective #573.

Original Davis/Neary art page courtesy of Heritage.

TM & © DC Comics.

the script with the splash page—now page four—as page one. Alan called me all the way from England, in those pre-Internet days, to suggest slightly rearranging the pages so the splash now served as a “climax” to the scene. I immediately realized he was entirely right, and agreed. Alan is also an excellent writer, of course.

TRUMBULL: Why did you choose to use the mustachioed version of Jervis Tetch for this issue?

BARR: This was the version of the character that appeared in his first two stories (Detective Comics #230, Apr. 1956, and Batman #161, Feb. 1964), and, being a Silver Age baby, my default setting is always for the Silver Age version of anything. The “Mad Hatter” episodes of the Batman TV show (“The Thirteenth Hat”/”Batman Stands Pat,” airdates 2/23/66 and 2/24/66) are my two favorite episodes of the series, as they’re very closely adapted from those first two comics stories.

TRUMBULL: #573 displays several Bill Finger trademarks—the introductory title pages, the giant props, the clever clues the criminals leave—how did Bill Finger influence your Batman stories?

BARR: Bill Finger came up with virtually everything that we consider a Batman “trademark”—and he was an

54 • BACK ISSUE • Batman’s Partners Issue

TRUMBULL: This is my personal favorite issue of your run. I love all the background information on how Bruce Wayne became Batman, and it features several standout sequences: the evolution of Park Row/Crime Alley on the first page, the Wayne murders seen from young Bruce’s POV, and the graveside vow with the angel headstone forming a Batman silhouette… It’s just a wonderful issue.

DAVIS: It is a great story and more evidence, if in fact it were needed, of Mike’s understanding of, and versatility within, the Batman mythos.

TRUMBULL: Mike, this issue makes it obvious what a fan you are of Denny O’Neil’s Batman stories. What was it like having the man who wrote stories like “There is No Hope in Crime Alley” (Detective Comics #457, Mar. 1976) editing your run?

BARR: It was a little daunting. When you’re writing a character who’s been around for decades and referencing old stories, you’re always checking yourself, fearful that you’re just coasting on the old stories rather than adding something new. I hope we added something new, and if Denny had any objections to the referencing of what is certainly one of his absolute best stories, he didn’t express them. I hope he appreciated it as the tribute it was intended. I had thought about dedicating the story to him, but since he was also the editor, that seemed a bit much.

TRUMBULL: This issue introduces the post-Crisis version of Leslie Thompkins, who went on to become a regular supporting character in the Batman books. Why did you choose to bring her back as a more aggressive character who talks back to Bruce/Batman?

BARR: Denny and I wanted to explore Bruce Wayne’s youth and what must certainly have been a lonely childhood. We decided he needed a foster mother, and Leslie Thompkins fit that bill perfectly. We just tweaked her history a little, making her a doctor as well as a social worker, and making her aware of Bruce’s double identity.

Explaining the Bruce/Leslie relationship to Alan is one of my favorite memories of working on the book. I was clumsily explaining to Alan, while simultaneously enriching Ma Bell’s transatlantic coffers, that Bruce and Leslie were always arguing, that they never agreed on anything, but that there was a strong bond of love between the two… …Alan interjected, tersely, “She’s his mum.” And he was entirely right.

It occurred to me at the time that Alan and I could have made more money if we had created a new character, rather than revamp Leslie Thompkins, but I liked her—and “There is No Hope In Crime Alley”—too much to discard her. And her constant squabbling with Bruce was just too much fun to write.

TRUMBULL: The embellishments you made to Batman’s origin in #574 are very well done, particularly Bruce Wayne’s college years.

How did you come up with these? Was the concurrently running Batman: Year One any influence?

BARR: I’m not sure if I read any of the scripts to Year One before writing either this issue or Year Two. I was told where Frank Miller’s stories would begin and end and what ground they

covered. But I recall duplicating some of Frank’s narrative devices, like Batman talking to his father, so perhaps I was given the scripts.

Fortunately, though our stories seemed to dovetail well, there’s almost no overlap in the backstory. Frank didn’t have much interest in Bruce’s college years, and I was happy to cover that ground, though I’d do much of that differently nowadays. Most of the character bits came simply (!) from an analysis of what it would be like to be Bruce Wayne, to be the absolute smartest guy in the class, yet never being able to show it. That’s more common ground between Batman and Superman.

TRUMBULL: What would you do differently on the college sequences?

BARR: I think some of the flashback portion of ’Tec #574 is a little clumsy, perhaps a little “stagey.” I’d try to write it with a little more of the illusion of naturalism nowadays. But that’s okay. Any writer who would write the same story exactly the same after over a quarter of a century isn’t growing, he’s stagnating.

DETECTIVE #575: “BATMAN: YEAR TWO, CHAPTER ONE: FEAR THE REAPER” In the second year of Batman’s career, Gotham’s previous vigilante the Reaper returns, forcing Batman to start fighting crime with the very same gun that killed his parents.

TRUMBULL: Mike, Batman: Year Two grew out of a previous pitch of yours from 1984 entitled Batman: 1980. How did your story evolve from that initial pitch?

BARR: I don’t recall, exactly. I do recall that since Frank and Dave [Mazzucchelli] were doing Year One, Denny told me Alan and I would be doing Year Two. This interfered with my plans to do nothing but Batman and Robin stories, but I was given the assignment and I’m a professional. I also realized we had a chance to define a large part of Batman history, as well as acknowledge more of Bill Finger’s fine work by folding in some concepts from the great story “The Origin of Batman!” from Batman #47 (June–July 1948). It worked out well. Original plans called for Years One and Two to be published concurrently, but DC staffer Peggy May pointed out it would be less confusing if Two ran after One. I took what could be used of my plot and remolded it into a structure that would serve as a sequel to Year One. I wish the animated movie Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, which was adapted from Year Two, had kept more of the original plot structure, as well as given some credit to Alan and me. But once you have a good idea, everybody claims it’s theirs.

ALAN DAVIS’ DEPARTURE TRUMBULL: Alan, I know that this point your frustrations behind the scenes were reaching a peak.

Can you talk a little about what led you to leave?

DAVIS: Like most things, it all sounds petty and overblown in retrospect. In a nutshell, Denny just didn’t communicate with me. For months I had made numerous calls to get clarification on various story points, but always got Denny’s answering machine. I’d leave messages, but he never replied. Mostly it was small stuff, like confirming how I should handle the “Help me” Rhonda character [seen in #570].

BARR: Looking back, I’m not sure we didn’t go too far in having Batman and Robin consorting with prostitutes. Sometimes we forget that these are stories for children, whether our precious injured egos like it or not.

DAVIS: And there appeared to be a long-running squabble between [Mike and Denny about] whether Batman wore a uniform or a costume. Mike would type UNIFORM frequently throughout each issue and every script I was sent had every reference to “uniform” red-lined TM & © DC Comics.

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Gunning for Revenge Alan Davis’ fresh— and gripping— take on a classic Bat-image as illustrated for the cover of a UK edition of Batman: Year Two. Courtesy of Heritage.

TM & © DC Comics.

with “costume” scribbled in place. Petty and silly, perhaps, but it, and the lack of editorial contact, reinforced my uncertainty.

BARR: I don’t recall any differences between Denny and me over the term “costume” or “uniform,” but Alan is the one who got the edited scripts, so I bow to his memory. Of course, Denny selecting one term over another didn’t necessarily indicate tension between us— unless Alan recalls that I had mentioned that to him.

DAVIS: It all just seemed petty and unnecessary to me, but wasn’t a real problem. It just made me feel uncomfortable and insecure. The real problem arose over the gun used by Joe Chill to murder the Waynes and subsequently carried by Batman in Year Two. Mike had asked for a Mauser and that was what I drew.

BARR: I had selected a Mauser for the gun Batman would carry in Year Two, the gun that had killed his parents, because it looks deadly, like a snake. But in Year One, an automatic pistol was used.

DAVIS: Somewhere during the penciling process I saw a copy of some pages from Year One and noticed that Joe Chill did not use a Mauser. Mike didn’t seem too con-

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cerned because the Year One appearance was a single, very small panel and we hoped that might be changed to match Mike’s intention. I wasn’t confident because it seemed unlikely to me that anyone at DC would dare to contradict (or ask for changes on) Year One. BARR: I was told the gun in Year Two would have to be changed, after Alan had drawn it. I begged Denny O’Neil to ask Frank and Dave if they would agree to change their story instead, but Denny refused to even ask them.

DAVIS: I had made frequent calls to Denny O’Neil (and leaving messages about my concerns) in the hope of getting editorial confirmation about the model of gun, but as the deadline was fast approaching I needed to keep producing pages and ultimately finished the issue without any editorial communication. Not long after, Paul Neary had sent the inked pages of the first part of [Year Two] to DC, an editorial assistant phoned to say the cover had been redrawn and I would have to redraw a number of interior pages. And they wanted it done quickly because the deadline had been moved up, as Christmas was imminent.

BARR: The last straw, I recall, was when the cover art for Detective #575 had been changed, in-house, without Alan’s knowledge or consent. You don’t do that to a guy like Alan.

DAVIS: I was furious, because the redraw could easily have been avoided if Denny had bothered to reply to my messages. I rang to say just that but got Denny’s machine again. So I left a message saying I wouldn’t be bothering him again because I quit.

TRUMBULL: How far were you into Year Two when you decided to leave?

DAVIS: I hadn’t started the second issue. I always took a two-week holiday over Christmas—which is when the problem occurred. Some assistant editor phoned to say the first part of Year Two required an urgent redraw. The fact Denny didn’t phone himself, and that I was being expected to forego my holiday to fix his blunder, only added to my anger.

Dick Giordano did the redraw.

TRUMBULL: Mike, how did you learn that Alan was leaving, and what was your reaction?

DAVIS: I phoned and told Mike after the assistant editor had phoned. Then again, after I left my quit message.

BARR: I was enormously disheartened, particularly because Alan’s leaving could, I think, have been forestalled had the office simply called Alan and told him of the needed art changes in the first chapter of Year Two, rather than having them done in-house and telling Alan of them afterward. I recall hearing the news when Alan called me.

I didn’t even try to talk him into staying because I realized I couldn’t, and in a way I agreed with him.

[Denny O’Neil responds: “Geez … not how I recall it, but there may be some truth in what Alan says.

At that point, we weren’t the most organized office in town, and I hadn’t found my editorial sealegs yet. But I doubt we neglected to reply to a freelancer’s needs, at least not deliberately, which would be violating a personal rule. Bad manners, if nothing else. So whatever we did was not intentional, certainly not an insult to Alan or Mike, and if we offended either of them, I apologize.”]

[Mike W. Barr replies: “I am certain Denny honestly remembers the circumstances this way. I stand by my version. But we agree that we love the film Rashomon.”]

AFTERMATH TRUMBULL: Mike, you stayed on the book for another six issues after Alan left (Detective #576–581, July–Dec. 1987). How did Alan’s departure affect the completion of Batman: Year Two? BARR: I don’t think it affected it at all. I had probably written at least #576 before I heard that Alan was leaving.

TRUMBULL: Was Todd McFarlane your choice for Alan’s replacement or Denny’s?

BARR: I had nothing to do with the choice of Todd McFarlane as artist. I thought he was a very good choice, in that his version of Batman is unique, as is Alan’s, though in a totally different direction.

TRUMBULL: Were #579–581’s stories with the Crime Doctor and Two-Face originally planned for Alan to draw?

BARR: Yes. I was especially vexed that Alan left the book when he did (while in full agreement with his reasons for doing so), as the Two-Face story was one I had wanted to write for years, and was planned to climax what was to have been our first year on the title. But I understood and agreed with his reasons for leaving. I could hardly ask him to stay after the way he’d been treated.

I had intended to stay on Detective, but the situation after Alan’s resignation became very uncomfortable. I told Denny I would stay if a regular artist could be found and if he would be more solicitous of the artists’ feelings, but that didn’t happen.

And why should it have? There was no penalty for chasing Alan off the book, even though it cost DC sales, so why should he change his conduct?

Late in 1987, I had a phone message from Dick Giordano asking me to return to writing Detective. I asked him if he had the power to make this offer, and he said, “I’m vice-president.” I gladly accepted, but this offer evaporated when I was in the air between Los Angeles and New York.

BATMAN: FULL CIRCLE Batman’s old foe the Reaper returns—and is revealed to be the long-lost son of Joe Chill!

TRUMBULL: In 1991, you two reunited for a special that was a follow up to Batman: Year Two and your Detective run in general. How did you come up with the twist to have Joe Chill’s son assume the identity of the Reaper?

BARR: Sheer genius, I guess. Also thematic resonance. If I do nothing else as a writer, I pick a theme for a story and exploit it to bleeding death.

TRUMBULL: Did you plan to continue any Year Two story threads beyond this?

BARR: I thought that wrapped them up, though you never can tell when inspiration will strike again. At the time, Full Circle

Chilling Revelation The origin of the Reaper, as told by Barr and Davis in the 1991 one-shot Batman: Full Circle.

TM & © DC Comics.

was the longest full script I had ever written. I was a little nervous about writing such a long story as a full script, but it worked out fine. I love everything about that story except the coloring, which is very hit and miss. It’s one of Alan’s best art jobs, but the coloring makes much of it looks as though it’s been covered with mud. [I] don’t know why they didn’t give this one to Adrienne Roy.

BATMAN: GOTHAM KNIGHTS #25: “LAST CALL AT MCSURLEY’S” A look at all the ways how gathering information at the underworld bar McSurley’s helps Batman in his crusade against crime.

TRUMBULL: In 2002, you teamed up again for a Batman: Black and White story. What was it like to reunite after a decade apart?

BARR: For me, it was great. The story came about when I heard a message on my answering machine from the editor, saying he had approached Alan about a B&W story and was told Alan would draw one only if I would write it, a gesture I very much appreciated. The script had a few challenges in it, but I knew Alan could handle them.

DAVIS: It was easy [to reunite].

I received Mike’s script just before I went to San Diego and the whole time I was away I was looking forward to getting back to my drawing board.

TRUMBULL: How did the shorter length and the black-and-white format affect your collaboration?

BARR: I at first tried to “think” in black and white, until I realized that was futile. And kinda stupid. I just wrote the best story I could and knew Alan would do his absolute best. I had no problem with the shorter format, as I’ve always written short stories, though it’s becoming a lost art in the days of sloshing out five-issue “epics” because they have to be collected for the TPB. Technically, “Last Call” is the most perfect story I’ve ever written in terms of the narrative device, the plotting, and especially the pacing.

DAVIS: As with all of Mike’s writing the story was exactly the right length and perfectly paced. BUT, I was sorry it ended so quickly.

BARR: The two best Batman stories I’ve ever written are probably Full Circle and “Last Call,” which are also two extremes in length. I’m also extremely fond of “The Player on the Other Side,” with Michael Golden, from Batman Special #1 (June 1984).

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BATMAN STORIES by MIKE W. BARR and ALAN DAVIS REPRINTS AND COLLECTED EDITIONS • Batman: Year Two trade paperback (1987) Detective Comics #575, “Chapter One: Fear the Reaper” • Stacked Deck: The Greatest Joker Stories Ever Told, Expanded Edition (1990) Detective Comics #569, “Catch as Catscan” Detective Comics #570, “The Last Laugh!”

• Batman: Year Two – Fear the Reaper trade paperback (Dec. 2002) Detective Comics #575, “Chapter One: Fear the Reaper” Batman: Full Circle

• Batman in the Eighties (2004) Detective Comics #571 “Fear for $ale” • Batman: Scarecrow Tales (Apr. 2005) Detective Comics #571 “Fear for $ale” • Batman: Fear (Jan. 2006) Detective Comics #571 “Fear for $ale” • Batman: Black and White, Vol. 3 (May 2007) Batman: Gotham Knights #25, “Last Call at McSurley’s” • Batman vs. the Scarecrow #1 (May 2008) Detective Comics #571 “Fear for $ale”

• Batman: Black and White, Vol. 3 (Sept. 2008) Batman: Gotham Knights #25, “Last Call at McSurley’s” • DC Retroactive: Batman – The ’80s #1 (Aug. 2011) Detective Comics #575, “Chapter One: Fear the Reaper” • Legends of the Dark Knight: Alan Davis vol. 1 (Feb. 2013) Reprints the entire Barr/Davis run in hardcover

WRAPPING UP TRUMBULL: Looking back, is there anything that you two would’ve done differently on Detective?

BARR: Not for that first run, no.

DAVIS: I wish I had been able to draw better.

TRUMBULL: Were there any villains that you regret not getting to use? I personally would’ve loved a Barr/ Davis Riddler or Penguin story.

BARR: Me, too. Had I continued on the book I would have tried to write stories for all the classic Batman villains. But “gang aft agley.”

DAVIS: I snuck a couple of Bat-villain cameos into The Nail’s Arkham sequences. Classic versions of Penguin, Riddler, Two-Face, and Poison Ivy. So I know I definitely still have a fanboy itch to draw such iconic characters and I have no doubt Mike would do a great job on all of them. I’d just love to draw more classic Batman— Brave and Bold or World’s Finest were always favorites.

TRUMBULL: Lastly, are there any upcoming projects you’d like to mention?

BARR: I have recently written a three-part Legends of the Dark Knight story for DC Digital titled “Elements of Crime,” with art by Tom Lyle. If readers liked the Detective stories, they’ll like this. And I’ve written over 14 Star Wars eight-page stories for Titan Magazines.

Otherwise, no. The business is in a very strange place nowadays. A few months ago I wrote query letters to every comics house I could think of—Avatar, Boom, Aspen, you name it—and received precisely three responses (from Valiant, Red Circle, and Image). I’m not looking to have my path strewn with rose petals, but you’d think a guy with my sales record could at least get his query letters answered, rather than ignored. But I’ve always spent too much time on the work and not enough time on office politics.

[Author’s Note: If there are any BI readers who would like to get the entire Barr/Davis Detective run in a single hardcover, DC Comics’ 2013 Legends of the Dark Knight: Alan Davis vol. 1 is highly recommended. Other reprints of these stories are listed in the sidebar.]

Bruce Wayne’s Woe Another rarity from the Heritage archives: Davis/Farmer original cover art to a UK edition of Full Circle.

TM & © DC Comics.

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JOHN TRUMBULL still thinks it’s really cool that’s he getting paid to write about Batman. Thanks to Mike W. Barr, Alan Davis, and Denny O’Neil for sharing their memories with him for BACK ISSUE.

by

Aidan M. Mohan

Commissioner James Gordon has been a part of the Batman family longer than any other character. It’s strange but true that the commissioner was in the books before Alfred, Robin, or even Batman’s origin! He appears alongside Bruce Wayne on the very first page of “The Case of the Chemical Crime Syndicate,” Batman’s debut tale in Detective Comics #27 (May 1939), and he’s been an integral part of the Bat-mythos ever since.

However, there wasn’t always as much to the character as there is today, and that development came over time. At first, Gordon was a social friend of Bruce Wayne’s who would discuss his most unusual cases with him over dinner in a manner very similar to Lamont Cranston and Commissioner Weston’s “relationship” in The Shadow. With the advent of the ’40s came the first use of the Bat-Signal by Gordon to summon Batman in Detective Comics #60 (Feb. 1942), and then in the family-friendly ’50s Gordon and Alfred became the adopted uncles, of sorts, to the Batman family. And who can forget the comically ineffective Commissioner Gordon on the 1966 Batman TV show?

BATMAN’S “M”

He’s Got Batman’s Back Although their relationship has been contentious at times, Batman and Commissioner Gordon generally are the staunchest of allies.

Original cover painting to Batman: Shadow of the Bat #49 (Apr. 1996), by the remarkable Brian Stelfreeze. Note that the art was flopped in the published version (inset), reversing the characters’ positions.

Courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com).

TM & © DC Comics.

From a storytelling perspective, Gordon serves an absolutely vital role within the context of Batman. Bruce Wayne has no legitimate law enforcement ties of his own, and as a result, neither does Batman. Superheroes tend to be very reactionary characters, and without anything to react to there is nothing for them to do … and coincidence can only go so far. Spider-Man and Superman work at newspapers to hear news of crimes and accidents, The Shadow has a series of agents all around the city, and Sherlock Holmes has an open-door policy toward interesting cases.

Commissioner Gordon serves the role of alerting Batman to the story and giving him valuable information about it. Basically, he’s Batman’s “M.” The genius of the Batman comic books of the ’70s ushered in by Denny O’Neil, Neal Adams, and company was the fact it was often either a gothic crime/horror tale or it was a globetrotting adventure. Those are two types of tales that a character like Batman can easily fit into.

And how did Gordon fit into those stories? Well, the same way he fit into every other Batman story: to exposit information to Batman about the plot.

From his initial appearance through to the beginning of the ’70s, Gordon was mostly a cipher … a very good cipher and sometimes a very interesting cipher, but a cipher nonetheless [see sidebar 1 for info about Gordon’s personal life—ed.].

What changed? How did the character of Commissioner Gordon get any meat on his bones?

It started with the aforementioned mood change of the Batman books and Gotham City as a whole.

Gotham was, in the ’50s and ’60s, a normal major metropolitan city … excluding, of course, the activities of the Dynamic Duo and their rogues’ gallery. Criminals Batman’s Partners Issue

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Information Broker (top) Gordon and socialite Bruce Wayne, in Batman’s first story, from Detective #27 (May 1939), by Bob Kane and Bill Finger. (right) A rare Gordon cover appearance, on Batman #212 (June 1969). Cover by Irv Novick. (bottom) The commish fills in his Bat-buddy in Brave and Bold #115 (Oct.–Nov. 1974).

By Bob Haney and Jim Aparo.

TM & © DC Comics.

struck, but their crimes were often very cartoony, and the police made honest efforts to stop them. The Gotham PD was not corrupt but simply outmatched by some of the fantastic threats that plagued the city.

In the early ’70s, the police department of Gotham City stayed pretty much the same even though the city turned into a gothic, foggy, and almost mythic place.

Batman worked closely with Commissioner Gordon, and the police force mostly regarded Batman as an ally.

[Editor’s note: In one over-the-top example, The Brave and the Bold #102 (June–July 1972)—which may or may not be regarded as part of the Bat-mythos of the day, depending upon your tolerance of its continuity-averse scribe—writer Bob Haney has the deputized Batman flash a badge, cementing his professional bond with Gordon and the force.] Batman #219 (Feb. 1970), featuring “The Silent Night of the Batman,” depicts an optimistic Gordon who wants to spend his holiday with his unofficial partner. Other Christmas stories from the era depict the two exchanging gifts, with Batman giving Gordon distinctive tobacco.

However, as the decade progressed, American culture became cynical and questioning, and you need only look at cinema from the period to see that. In Dirty Harry (1971) and Death Wish (1974), the real-world public that was frustrated by law enforcement’s ineptness over increasing crime and street violence was given a release through vigilante heroes. The main characters of both those films step outside the law to create what they perceive to be justice. Even cinema cops who played more by the rules had a harder, more skeptical edge to them, and the noir detective with human foibles became fashionable in films like Chinatown (1974).

These attitudes began to slowly creep into Batman stories. A noteworthy example is the one-time appearance of a grizzled detective named “Bullock” in the Archie Goodwin-penned Batman tale in Detective Comics #441 (June–July 1974), who resents the Caped Crusader’s interference and the license-to-meddle afforded him by “weak sister” Gordon. Before long, in 1975, readers witness the first time Batman disappeared during a conversation with Gordon, which has since become a staple with their characterization.

In 1980, Batman’s story was updated in Untold Legends of the Batman, and so was Gordon’s [see BACK ISSUE #50—ed.]. The second issue of the three-issue miniseries tells the updated story of how Batman came to earn Gordon’s trust. In their first real moment of bonding, shortly after Batman saves Gordon’s life for the first time, an agreement between them is formed as Batman explains how he can act for justice outside of the law while Gordon cannot.

GOTHAM GETS GRITTY It was in the early ’80s that it all started to really get interesting, with a shift in attitude between those elected and hired to protect and serve Gotham City and their relationship with its Darknight Detective, with Gordon often finding himself caught in the middle. Writers Gerry Conway and Doug Moench implemented those changes.

Conway introduced Gotham’s untrustworthy mayor, Hamilton Hill, in Detective #503 (June 1981).

A political puppet of Gotham City Councilman (and crimeboss) Rupert Thorne, Mayor Hill is not a fan of Batman or Gordon and systematically complicates Gordon’s life to push this unbendable good cop out of office. Hill’s campaign against Gordon goes overt in the pages of Batman #346 (July 1982) when he installs

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THE PRIVATE LIFE OF COMMISSIONER GORDON DC guru John Wells points out that there were periodic Gordon spotlight stories in the 1940s and 1950s offering glimpses into his personal life, most notably “The Private Life of Commissioner Gordon” by David Vern, Dick Sprang, and Charles Paris, in World’s Finest Comics #53 (Aug.–Sept. 1951).

That story revealed Gordon’s “James W.” name, the existence of his wife and his son Tony, and established his birthdate as January 5, 1900.

Once Batgirl (Barbara Gordon) made the scene in late 1966, it became clear that Gordon, presumably widowed (a fact later confirmed quite explicitly in stories in the early 1980s), was the father of an adult daughter, Barbara.

A milestone in Commissioner Gordon’s history occurred in the Frank Robbins and Don Heck Batgirl backup in Detective Comics #422 (Apr. 1972), when Barbara revealed her Batgirl identity to her dad—only to

learn that he had deduced it earlier (see inset)!

The 1951 World’s Finest story was referenced in Batman Family #12 (July–Aug. 1977) when writer Bob Rozakis revived Tony Gordon as Barbara’s presumed-dead older brother who was a US spy in Red China. Tony died in a 1978 sequel in Detective #482.

Commissioner Gordon also teamed up with Alfred in Batman Family #11 and starred in three solo stories (Detective #489 and 504 and Batman #334). He was targeted by an intergalactic bounty hunter in the Batman/Hawkman team-up in The Brave and the Bold #139.

Other non-Batman Commissioner Gordon adventures: Showcase ’94 #7, Batman Chronicles #5, Batman: Gordon’s Law #1–4, Batman: Gordon of Gotham #1–4, Batman: Legends of TM & © DC Comics. the Dark Knight #105–106, Batman 80-Page Giant #1, and Batman: Room Full of Strangers #1. –ed.

Thorne’s agent Peter Pauling as commissioner. Gordon begins working for Bat-family ally Jason Bard’s detective agency, while Batman attempts to unravel Thorne’s plot. It’s clear in these tales that Gordon isn’t a public servant for glory or money, and if he couldn’t be a cop he would find some other way to do good for the right reasons.

In Batman #354 (Dec. 1982), Rupert Thorne, driven mad by the supposed ghost of Hugo Strange, kills Commissioner Pauling. Gordon is reinstalled as commissioner but is warned by his doctor about his stressful lifestyle.

Enter another bad “good” guy, Detective Harvey Bullock.

Bullock—presumably a revival of the once-seen character mentioned above—was introduced by Doug Moench in Batman #361 (July 1983) as a crony of Mayor Hill. Hill assigned the Columbo-ish Bullock to stay on the commissioner’s case and sabotage him. This was a dirty move on the mayor’s part. It’s really the first sign of where the Gordon-and-Batman lore as a whole was headed. (It’s hard not to draw parallels between Bullock and Hill from this era and Flass and Loeb from Batman: Year One a few years later.) Eventually, the stress from these events leads Gordon to be hospitalized from a heart attack, and inadvertently leads to Bullock’s reform.

The fatherly side of Gordon is put on display by Moench in the pages of Detective Comics #533 (Dec. 1983), as Barbara Gordon sits by James’ bedside, thinking back on her childhood and how good a father he was to her, remembering his warmth and genuine goodness.

“I’m old enough that I remember when the ’66 Batman TV show came on,” says Moench. “I rushed home from school to see the first episode and never watched it again. I hated it. So I attempted to do everything I could to get Gordon away from the bumbler [he was] on that show and to become a grittier and more realistic cop.”

The Gordon Files Gordon fills in Batman on this original page signed by penciler Irv Novick, from Batman #252 (Oct. 1973). Script

by Frank Robbins, inks by Dick Giordano. Art courtesy of Anthony Snyder (www.anthonyscomicbookart.com).

TM & © DC Comics.

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Gerry Conway tells BACK ISSUE that corrupt characters like Mayor Hill and Detective Bullock were intentionally introduced “to contrast Gordon’s by-the-book (but not completely by-the-book) sense of honor with the seedy underside of police work.”

In Batman Special #1 (June 1984), Mike W. Barr tells the tale of “…The Player on the Other Side!,” one of the finest Batman stories ever told, in this writer’s opinion. Barr’s story reveals that during Gordon’s time as a beat cop in Gotham, he shot two suspected robbers in front of their son; in a reverse-image version of Batman’s origin, the boy grew up to be the Wrath, a costumed cop killer. The importance of Gordon in the story is exhibited by his prominence on the cover of the Special.

“I chose Gordon as one of the foci of the story because I’ve always liked and admired him,” Barr informs BI. “Batman is a great character, but there’s a lot to be said for the ordinary man who risks his life to keep his city safe.

“I took the [story] title and main theme from what I thought, as stated in the text column in Batman Special #1, was an essay

by Aldous Huxley. Turns out the essay, originally named ‘A Liberal Education and Where to Find It,’ was written by Thomas Henry Huxley. I took the theme and the essay quotes from the 1963 Ellery Queen novel The Player On the Other Side, and dedicated the story to Ellery Queen’s creators, Frederic Dannay and Manfred B. Lee. That novel is my favorite E.Q. novel… “…And this story, due in no small part to its excellent interpretation

by Michael Golden and Mike DeCarlo, remains one of my personal favorite Batman stories.”

Frank Miller’s Batman: The Dark Knight (1986) is a classic story and a perfect example of the importance of Gordon to the Batman mythos. He is as intrinsic to the mythos as any other element, and that is on display in this story. Miller strips Batman down to his utter basics, and Gordon is still there by his side—and with full knowledge of Batman’s secret identity. The middle-aged Bruce Wayne and the elderly James Gordon are now drinking partners and freely discuss the good old days. This story depicts Gordon as being completely drained

by the mindless violence of Gotham and the seeming meaninglessness of his efforts to improve the city. However, despite his beaten-down state and advanced age, when he is needed in the climax, Gordon steps up to the plate and helps people on the street.

THE POST-CRISIS GORDON Miller, with artist David Mazzucchelli, streamlined the disparate elements of Gordon’s personality in the landmark four-part tale “Batman: Year One,” in Batman #404–407 (Feb.–May 1987). Gordon, returning to Gotham after years on the force in Chicago, is revealed to have Special Forces training and is surrounded by a Gotham and a police force completely unlike anything that had ever been seen before.

This was where Gordon became characterized as the only honest cop in Gotham. He stands solely for law and order, but is also, like a noir detective, extremely flawed. When Batman arrives on the scene, Gordon doesn’t approve of his vigilante tactics in the same way he disapproves of a dirty cop’s tactics. However, his attitude about the Dark Knight changes when he sees that Batman is legitimately attempting to do the right thing for the city, and the two become allies when Batman saves Gordon’s son, James, Jr. Actor Bryan Cranston, who voiced Gordon in the direct-to-DVD Batman: Year One animated film, summed up Gordon’s role in the story beautifully by saying in an interview that Gordon was the real main character.

(Additional details about Gordon’s time in Chicago were revealed in the Gordon of Gotham miniseries of 1998.)

In Alan Moore and Brian Bolland’s Batman: The Killing Joke (1988), the Joker is portrayed as the complete opposite of the Batman in that he stands for anarchy and chaos. But by standing for these things he also opposes Commissioner James Gordon, a cop who understands that sometimes you have to work outside the law to do what’s right.

The Joker’s barbaric and sadistic treatment of Gordon in The Killing Joke still has readers’ skin crawling decades later.

At the beginning of the ’90s, Alan Grant and Norm Breyfogle’s excellent Batman run in Detective Comics and Batman focused a lot on the commissioner [see BI #22 for a Grant/Breyfogle “Pro2Pro” interview— ed.], including having him suffer an unexpected heart attack not long after his reunion with Detective Sarah Essen, the woman with whom he’d had an extramarital affair in Batman: Year One. Artist Breyfogle declares, “Alan Grant’s scripts were always relevant on many levels.

Gordon had been smoking for a long time— something like 50–60 years of publishing time!—and it was high time for him to come to terms with his bad habits, to overcome them. I’m just glad that he didn’t die and that came out the other end all the stronger.

“As I recall,” Breyfogle adds, “Alan himself also had a heart attack around that time.

Perhaps that inspired these stories, in part.”

After recovering from his heart attack, Commissioner Gordon continued to be a pivotal part of the Batman family. In addition to his marriage (see sidebar), he had a fallingout with the Batman during the 1993–1994 “Knightfall” storyline. After Batman was gravely injured during his battle with Bane, he tapped his apprentice Jean-Paul Valley to temporarily take over as Batman. Gordon immediately spotted the difference between this new Batman and his old friend, and resented as a betrayal of trust the Dark Knight’s turning over the mantle of the Bat to someone else without telling him.

The Mirror Crack’d Parallel origins revealed for Batman (top panel) and the Wrath (bottom panel). That young cop in panel 2 is Gordon. From Batman Special #1 (June 1984). By Michaels Barr and Golden.

TM & © DC Comics.

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Writer Frank Miller and artist David Mazzucchelli redefined Gordon’s roots as well as the Gotham Guardian’s in 1987’s “Batman: Year One” in Batman #404–407. Their different methods led to the conflict depicted on the cover of #407 (May 1987).

TM & © DC Comics.

For a brief period, Gordon was removed from his role as commissioner and replaced by his wife Sarah, and then Andrew Howe was given the job.

The beauty of Commissioner Howe’s tenure, from an artistic viewpoint, was that it showed just how much Gotham needs Gordon and his abilities.

During the 1999 Batman event “No Man’s Land,” Gordon slipped back into his Special Forces role and led a street war against the gangs and marauders in the city. He saw the city he loved torn apart by chaos and simply wanted to piece it back together. Gotham PD Lieutenant Pettit’s rash actions and frequent use of lethal force in “No Man’s Land” were the line that Gordon would not cross. Gordon allows the Batman to function in this climate because the Dark Knight doesn’t use needless force … and if he did, Gordon would be there to take him down.

Gordon’s paternal relationship with Barbara Gordon has weathered continuity changes. Frank Miller established Jim as relatively young in “Year One,” enough so that Barbara Gordon had to be reestablished as his adoptive daughter. Gradually, the commissioner began looking older, so in the early 2000s it was revealed that he Jim indeed Babs’ biological father.

Chuck Dixon, who penned some of the greatest Batman stories from this era and did quite a little bit with Commissioner Gordon, has this to say about the character: “He’s the greatest cop in comics! I liked that Gordon was always wrestling with the differences between the law (which he represented) and simple justice (represented by Batman). Sarah Essen provided a sounding board for that struggle.”

Commissioner James Gordon’s renown has seeped into popular culture and his role is almost as much a part of the Batman mythos as is Batman himself. The multi-billion-dollar-earning Dark Knight film trilogy from director Christopher Nolan featured very prominently the strong character Gordon became in the Bronze Age. Denny O’Neil offers this succinct and eloquent perspective of Batman’s plainclothes partner: “Gordon’s an interesting example of a character who began as a minor player, almost a cliche, who mainly served as a kind of herald—the guy who brought problems to the hero’s attention. Nobody, including me, saw any reason to develop him further, until Frank Miller made him a virtual costar of Year One. Then the movie guys took Frank’s characterization and gave it to an excellent actor [Gary Oldman] who gave Gordon even more reality. What we now have is a flawed but decent man who’s a big improvement on his chubby, avuncular previous self.”

HOLY HEART ATTACK!

After Gordon’s second heart attack in Batman #459 (Feb. 1991), the American Heart Association and DC Comics teamed up for a comic-book public-service announcement about heart attack risks. It is notable for two reasons: its Jim Aparo artwork and the fact it identifies Gordon as Batman’s best friend.

DOES GORDON KNOW BATMAN’S IDENTITY?

It’s an old question and a tricky one … to answer definitively, that is. Frank Miller clearly came on the side of the camp that believes that Gordon knows in Year One and Dark Knight.

But in Legends of the Dark Knight #125 (Jan. 2000), Batman attempts to regain the trust of his good friend that he had lost during “No Man’s Land” by revealing to James Gordon his true identity as Bruce Wayne. He unmasks before him, and Gordon refuses to look at the face of his longtime ally.

James Gordon is too good a cop not to be able to figure it out, so maybe he just … ignores it. Leaving the matter unresolved is the best choice from a storytelling perspective, as the ambiguity of Gordon’s knowledge gives writers the chance to include more variety and interest in their stories.

MRS. GORDON

Sarah Essen, later Essen-Gordon, was the love of James Gordon’s life. After a post-Crisis first marriage damaged

by Gordon’s devotion to his work and his affair with Essen, Sarah was a saving grace for James. (The Earth-One, or pre-Crisis, Gordon was a widower.) They bonded over a common job—an affinity for justice. She was a bit New Age, as well as beautiful and edgy. She was a Miller creation, having been mentioned in Dark Knight as being his wife and later actually appearing as his partner and sole ally on the police force in Year One (below).

When she returned to the books in Batman #458 (Jan. 1991), Essen and Gordon quickly begin to grow close over mutual loss. By Legends of the Dark Knight Annual #2 (Oct. 1992), an interesting part of their relationship was the disparity the two often had about Batman. Essen believed that Batman was a vigilante and should be arrested, and she wouldn’t have given him any slack at all if it wasn’t for her husband’s feelings about him and the good he did.

TM & © DC Comics.

White Knight vs.

Dark Knight

Special thanks to John Wells for fact-checking and a last-minute assist. He has been duly deputized as a Gotham City continuity cop, and has the badge to prove it.

AIDAN M. MOHAN mostly writes fiction. He’s the self-published author of two novellas and is a reviewer for several comic-related websites.

Batman’s Partners Issue

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TM

The 1980s were a pivotal decade for Batman, from seeing his former sidekick become the leader of DC Comics’ most popular team, to becoming an icon of the big screen all over again. One major shift during this time concerned his relationship with his most venerable, long-lived ally: Superman.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE WORLD’S FINEST DUO As DC’s two most prolific superheroes of all time, Superman and Batman have often crossed paths, though many have considered the concept of the two working together rather strange. “Pairing Superman and Batman made sense financially, since the two were DC’s most popular heroes,” wrote Les Daniels in his book DC Comics: Sixty Years of the World’s Favorite Comic Book Heroes. While Superman and Batman shared the covers of many issues of a series entitled World’s Finest [Comics, originally World’s Best]—which featured solo stories of each—according to Daniels, “production economics had shortened the page count and forced them to share the same story,” so in 1954, Superman and Batman became a regular team.

DC Comics teamed the two icons for the first time in Superman #76 (May 1952). The two had shared many comic-book covers, and even a cameo in All-Star Comics #7 (Oct. 1941), but never officially teamed up in the comics, though they had on the Adventures of Superman radio series.

Starting with issue #71 (July 1954), World’s Finest became a platform for Superman and Batman’s new joint adventures. Their stories often featured sci-fi themes, and at times they battled their more famous foes, such as Lex Luthor and the Joker. Occasionally new villains were introduced to challenge “Your Two Favorite Heroes—Together,” none more fondly remembered than the Composite Superman, first seen in World’s Finest #142 (June 1964); he was the Superman Museum janitor who gained the powers of the Legion of Super-Heroes, wore a half-Superman/ half-Batman costume, and made Superman, Batman, and Robin duck for cover.

As the Bronze Age began in 1970, DC editor Julius Schwartz, who oversaw most of the titles in the Batman and Superman franchises, put the two heroes through some rather pivotal changes. Bruce Wayne moved from Wayne Manor to the Wayne Foundation penthouse, while Dick Grayson went to college, joining Batman sporadically, and enjoying a solo backup feature.

Meanwhile, Clark Kent found a new vocation as a TV anchorman instead of a newspaper writer, while coping with a temporary reduction in his powers.

By the end of 1970, World’s Finest became a team-up series, pairing Superman with various superheroes from the Flash to the (Western) Vigilante, paralleling the

The Superman/Batman Split Your two favorite heroes say goodbye to their partnership on the Denys Cowan/Dick Giordano cover of World’s Finest Comics #323 (Jan. 1986), the series’ last issue.

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by

Frankie Addiego

Batman team-up title The Brave and the Bold. Batman returned to the book every few issues, but the modernizations visited upon the characters in their own titles often seemed absent from World’s Finest. Case in point: issue #202 (May 1971, inset). Its Neal Adams/Dick Giordano cover depicted Superman strangling Batman, with a blurb promising that it was “Not an imaginary fight scene, nor a symbolic picture! Nor any other sort of cop-out!” Yet the “Superman” on the cover was, in reality, one of the Man of Steel’s many Superman robots.

Murray Boltinoff took over as editor with World’s Finest #215 (Dec. 1972), which featured the permanent return of the Superman/Batman team to the title. Yet this issue had a distinct twist: Writer Bob Haney and penciler Dick Dillin introduced the rotating SuperSons feature, co-starring Superman and Batman’s teenage offspring. Their mothers were never revealed, and many fans scratched their heads in disbelief over how these previously unseen sons could exist—although sales increased on Super-Sons issues. (In 1980’s World’s Finest #263, the Super-Sons were revealed to be an elaborate computer simulation, and they sacrifice their lives during the course of the story— while cleaning up a continuity conundrum in the process.)

Throughout the ’70s and early ’80s, World’s Finest soldiered on, through different editors and through a host of format changes from a traditional comic to a 100-Page Super Spectacular, back to the regular 32-page format, then to the giant-sized Dollar Comics format … before returning to the traditional format yet again. The Dollar Comics era [covered in BI #57—ed.] featured backups starring other superheroes such as Hawkman, Captain Marvel, Green Arrow, and Black Canary.

BEST FRIENDS FOREVER??

A new era for the Batman/Superman team in World’s Finest starts when the Composite Superman reappears in #283 (Sept. 1982), written by Cary Burkett and penciled by George Tuska. The story begins with the villain attacking each hero while disguised as the other, leading to a hostile confrontation between the real heroes Doug Moench, who would soon when an enraged Superman confronts doug moench continue on to be a prolific writer of Batman in the Batcave. The Composite Batman comics [see Commissioner Superman shows up in the cave to Gordon article—ed.]. Moench’s first challenge both heroes, which comes as a shock as they issue was #289 (Mar. 1983). He tells BACK ISSUE, believed him to be dead.

“Doing an issue of World’s Finest becomes a frustrating Because the Composite Superman was imbued exercise in answering the question, ‘Why does with the powers of the Legion of Super-Heroes, Superman need Batman?’”

Superman travels into the future to gather help from Moench’s two-parter in World’s Finest #290–291 that team. However, this Composite Superman was introduces a love interest for Batman named Yumiko, not the original, but a villain from the future known as who suspects that he and Bruce Wayne are one in the Xan, who is also known as the Amalgamax. The heroes same. Superman and Batman travel to a deep cavern (along with Legionnaires) thwart him in #284. to face Kryptonite-powered mutations. After the This two-parter served as a reminder of how an heroes return from their adventure, Superman and adversarial Superman and Batman relationship makes Batman play an identity-thrwarting ruse on Yumiko, a more dynamic mix than the two “best friends” we’d with Superman masquerading as Batman. seen over the decades.

The following issue served as a summation of Several issues went by, with Superman and Batman Superman and Batman’s relationship up to this point. usually battling magic-based threats with other During a radio interview, Batman reacts negatively superheroes joining in, before a new writer signed on: to being called a “vigilante,” reminding listeners that Batman’s Partners Issue

The Grin and the Grim Gil Kane deftly delineates the differences in our heroes’ personalities on this cover to WFC #289 (Mar. 1983).

Original cover art courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com).

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Shaking Things Up Null and Void were among the new characters writer David Anthony Kraft introduced to World’s Finest.

Original cover art to issue #304 (June 1984) by Klaus Janson; courtesy of Heritage.

TM & © DC Comics.

he is deputized by the police commissioner, a distinction DC Comics would downplay in later years.

“I’m very uncomfortable with that aspect of Batman,” says Moench, who believes that Batman’s relationship with the Gotham Police during that era made him more of a “super-cop.”

WORLD’S FINEST RIFT David Anthony Kraft took over the writing in World’s Finest #293 (July 1983), which begins with Superman vanquishing a supervillainess calling herself the Expropriator, who makes the mistake of attacking the Daily Planet. After having her arrested, Superman feels guilty about having taken this single mother away from her children.

Superman discusses his guilt with Batman, as both of them had lost their mothers, but agree that Superman did the right thing. However, the focus of the issue is the introduction of two new characters known as Null and Void, who menace Superman and Batman with such powers as teleportation and nullifying areas of the light and sound spectra.

Interviewed by Randall Wiggins for BACK ISSUE #69, Kraft said that World’s Finest’s then-editor, Roger Slifer, “offered me the opportunity to script Superman and Batman—how could I resist?”

Kraft would soon find himself at the helm of the long-running series during its most pivotal saga.

The year 1983 marked the beginning of a new era for Batman.

Jason Todd had recently entered his life, and would soon be taking up the reins of Robin, as his predecessor Dick Grayson had relinquished the role. Then came the debut issue of Batman and the Outsiders (Aug. 1983). As Superman and the rest of the Justice League had refused to help Bruce Wayne’s friend Lucius Fox for fear of ramping up tension between the United States and the fictitious nation of Markovia, Batman formed the Outsiders to aid in this rescue mission.

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The Outsiders storyline had an effect on World’s Finest itself, marking an incredibly huge rift in the relationship of Batman and Superman.

In World’s Finest #294 (Aug.1983), Superman saves Batman from a villain called Tonatiuh, based on the Aztec sun god, but Batman responds, “I’m not an amateur” and accuses Superman of being “selective” in whom he chooses to help. At the end of the issue, Batman lectures Superman, saying, “Call me … when you decide you can make the hard decisions. When the villains aren’t so easily defined.”

The next few issues presented Superman and Batman teaming up (sometimes under rather contrived circumstances) with their falling-out as a running theme. Their animosity came to a head in “The Pantheon Saga,” in World’s Finest #296–300 (Oct. 1983–Feb. 1984), in which Superman and Batman battle a group of villains who hatched out of a “cosmic tree” in Mount Ossa. The villains had a robotic appearance, as well as powers greater than even those of Superman. The villainess Rho explains that they began as ordinary humans who fell under the influence of a diamond, which turned out to be the acorn of the cosmic tree. A priest involved with the discovery of the “diamond” becomes the all-powerful villain of the story, known as Zeta, who seeks to create a new race of people by forcing an “Adam” and “Eve” to breed.

The 300th issue wrapped up the saga and included appearances by the Outsiders and the Justice League, and even a vignette featuring the New Teen Titans, including Dick Grayson, who was, at this point, without a codename [see the Nightwing article in this issue—ed.]. In that issue, JLAers Hawkman and Green Lantern implore the Outsiders to help them. At first, Geo-Force refuses, as the League had refused to assist the operation in Markovia, but Black Lightning tells him that they wouldn’t be helping the Justice League, but instead people who need them.

Meanwhile, it was in #300 that Superman and Batman put their differences aside, realizing that they’re both heroes fighting for a common purpose, even though a new dynamic was made clear: Superman follows the rules, Batman skirts them. And with that issue, the conflict between the World’s Greatest Superheroes ended.

However, the idea of DC Comics’ two most renowned heroes having a more adversarial relationship would be an idea DC Comics would return to. Indeed, it would soon come to define the characters for a new generation.

World’s Finest #302 (Apr. 1984) was a reprint of a much earlier story known as “The Superman-Batman Split” from issue #176 (June 1968), but with a brief new scene in which Superman and Batman stop for drinks and get into a fight with some local tough guys. It may be significant that the reprinted story sees each hero team up with the other’s distaff counterpart (Supergirl and Batgirl) against a pair of aliens who have managed to turn Superman and Batman against each other.

Following that, the series went back to its formula of shock covers and magic threats, occasionally introducing new heroes in the process.

Null and Void return in World’s Finest #304 (June 1984), which presents their origin as two escaped American POWs in the Caribbean during World War II. They gained their powers after touching their palm tattoos together as they were about to be killed by natives after their plane went down. The beginning of the issue shows an ineffective Superman and Batman at the trial of Void, whose lawyer manages to get both heroes’ testimonies stricken because their true identities are concealed. The issue ends with Batman and the two villains battling, while Superman finds a man and a woman wearing pirate garb who have been encased in suspended animation.

After the spectacular battle that was World’s Finest called the Executrix—to proclaim that the weakness #305 (July 1984), which introduces the main villain Superman and Batman share is their “compassion.” of this saga, X’ult (a former pirate imbued with vast The Monitor appeared in numerous comic books powers much the same way as Null and Void), in throughout the line to promote the saga that would World’s Finest #306 (Aug. 1984), the couple Superman forever change DC Comics: Crisis on Infinite Earths, a rescued was revealed as Swordfish and Barracuda, two crossover that would put an end to many titles, to swashbuckling heroes from old England who gained such heroes as Supergirl and the Flash, and to the DC their powers when they touched the tattoos on each multiverse as readers knew it. others’ palms (again, like Null and Void). Swordfish World’s Finest #315–317 puts the two heroes in the and Barracuda would not be seen again, as Superman middle of a war between a crime family and a smallsent them back to the past. time villain known as Cheapjack.

This issue also marked the beginning of Sonik returns in World’s Finest #318 Janice Race’s term as editor. Race served as (Aug. 1985). This time, Batman catches editor until the book finished publication. wind that a disease-stricken boy living in a Issue #308 (Oct. 1984) starts with an hospital is the target of an assassination exploration of the differences between plot. Meanwhile, Sonik and Superman typical adventures of Batman and play bodyguard for a pop star by Superman, with Batman laying out a the name of Marlon Monroe. street punk and Superman flying This issue also saw the World’s into work only to be interrupted by Finest debut of José Delbo, who a request to aid S.T.A.R. Labs. Kurt would serve as penciler for the duration Busiek, who describes himself as a of the series, except for the penultimate “rank beginner” when he wrote this story, says, “I just figured it was a good way to approach the series—play up josé delbo the contrasts, make them more distincCourtesy of tive. Show how different they are in public and how collegial they are in Cincinnati Comic-Con. private.” Busiek would write another issue, pitting our heroes against a villain named Quantum, before the series ended up in the hands of scribe Joey Cavalieri.

Following the recent tradition of introducing new characters into World’s Finest, issue #310 (Dec. 1984) debuts Sonik, an inventor named William Parker, who’s disappointed to see that local inner-city kids have little respect for the likes of Superman and Batman, instead being in awe of a sharp-dressed drug dealer. Parker creates some sound-based weapons and a crude costume to fight crime, but accidentally louses up a fight between Batman and a small gang of criminals.

At the end of the issue, Bruce Wayne offers William a job running a Boys Club.

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END OF DAYS World’s Finest #311 (Jan. 1985) is a routine yarn about Superman and Batman battling robots and creatures “liberated” from the Fortress of Solitude. But the issue begins and ends with an ominous figure, seen only from behind, observing Superman and Batman on a screen, discussing their faults with a woman named Lyla.

He complains that the two heroes are too inaccessible, being “islands unto themselves.”

This ominous figure is the Monitor.

In World’s Finest #312 and 313, Superman and Batman take on a group of superpowered criminal teenagers known as the Network, who attack RTV Studios, an MTV-like music video station.

The Monitor returns in #314 (Apr. 1985)—an otherwise forgettable issue featuring a female assassin

Final Issue Batman in action, on this original page by Jose Delbo (with Alfredo Alcala inks) from the final issue of World’s Finest Comics, #323.

Courtesy of Heritage.

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Batman vs.

Superman (right) Detail from Frank Miller’s cover to Dark Knight #4 (1986). Colors by Lynn Varley. (below) Miller cover to WFC #285.

TM & © DC Comics.

TM & © DC Comics.

issue. “I believe at the time, I was working on Wonder Woman and they decided to give me male superheroes for a change,” Delbo says.

World’s Finest #319 (Sept. 1985) begins with Superman flying into the Daily Planet, only to find that nobody wants to talk to him. Military officials inform him that people now consider him a menace. This turns out to be a dream that Superman was describing to Batman, but it broached a theme that would be common in the years to come: Superman being distrusted for being an alien. Superman’s dreams are being manipulated by a villain named REM, but Batman manages to cancel REM’s control by sending Superman into the Phantom Zone. The Atom’s old enemy Chronos is revealed to be the actual menace, and a showdown ensues in the next two issues. A Keith Giffen-penciled fill-in appears in #322.

Superman and Batman officially break off their partnership in World’s Finest Comics #323 (Jan. 1986),

by Joey Cavalieri, Jose Delbo, and Alfredo Alcala.

The issue begins with Superman launching into an attack against a magic-based villain known as Nightwolf. After Batman manages to save the Man of Steel, he lectures him: “The world almost lost Superman … because of his foolish impetuosity.“ Where Batman had once been enraged by Superman’s pragmatism over breaking international law by aiding in the mission to help save Lucius Fox, the Dark Knight now faulted Superman for his lack of caution. Also ironic: Batman rejoined the Justice League in Justice League of America #250 (May 1986), a team now consisting of mostly lesser-known superheroes.

It hardly seemed to matter, however, as not only would World’s Finest come to an end with this 323rd issue, but soon many events in the series’ history would be jettisoned from the DC canon in the maxiseries Crisis on Infinite Earths and its many crossover tales in other titles.

Soon the DC Universe was reenergized through a series of reboots that witnessed sweeping revisions to Superman’s legend and dramatic stylistic changes to Batman’s: the “possible future” of Frank Miller’s fourissue Batman: The Dark Knight (1986), Miller and David Mazzucchelli’s reimagining of the Caped Crusader’s roots in Batman: Year One, and John Byrne’s new take on Superman in The Man of Steel characterized Batman and Superman as crimefighters whose methods were as different as … night and day. They found themselves in combat in the last issue of Miller’s Dark Knight. Byrne’s

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Man of Steel #3 (Nov. 1986) redefined Superman and Batman’s relationship for a new generation, drawing a sharp contrast to their first official team-up all those years ago in 1951. In this version, Superman objects to Batman’s violent tactics, while Batman considers Superman naïve and incapable of understanding street crime. After defeating a rather lackluster villainess named Magpie, the two came to an understanding: “Who knows … perhaps in a different reality, we might have been friends,” thought Batman at the end of their first encounter.

Despite their ideological differences in DC’s revised continuity, Batman and Superman were inseparable.

In the ’90s, Superman story arcs like “The Dark Knight Over Metropolis” and the miniseries World’s Finest paired the two together with their new dynamic at the forefront. In 2003, a new ongoing series, Superman/Batman, began a long run. In June 2013, DC Comics launched a new ongoing series titled Batman/Superman, dealing with the early years of the two characters in the “New 52” DC continuity. And at San Diego Comic-Con 2013, it was revealed that the sequel to director Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel film would be Batman vs. Superman, with the subsequent announcement of the controversial casting of Ben Affleck as Batman creating an Internet furor. Details about the film are trickling in as of this writing, but one thing seems certain: Batman vs. Superman will likely eschew the concept of the World’s Finest Heroes as “best friends.”

Many fans credit Miller’s Dark Knight for the modernday “Superman/Batman split,” but as this edition of BACK ISSUE has shown, those differences were forged in Mike W. Barr’s Batman and the Outsiders, followed by the final issues of World’s Finest Comics.

FRANKIE ADDIEGO is a staff writer for the Ohlane College Monitor.

Jonathan Brown

THE FALLEN HERO

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by

Comics readers learned in 1986 that it takes a real woman to be Robin. This was year that Frank Miller’s megahit Batman: The Dark Knight saw publication, and with it, the world was introduced to Carrie Kelley.

While other women had donned the Robin costume for various ruses (see next page) Carrie was the first female to actually take on the role of Robin.

Throughout the book we, the readers, see how Carrie Kelley grows in her role and her support of Batman. It becomes clear throughout the work that Batman needs a Robin just as much Robin needs Batman. As Bruce Wayne and Carrie Kelley work together, we see how the Dynamic Duo develop into a team that is similar to a single parent/single child household. Miller’s Robin also allows us to see how twisted and dark the idea of a child sidekick can be, as she is placed in constant danger.

With her placed in the story, we see that the fantasy of Batman might be interpreted as sick and disturbed.

Before Carrie Kelley is introduced in Frank Miller’s series, we find ourselves in a world without Batman. We see that Bruce Wayne has grown older. He is mustached and reckless, and has given up the life of a costumed vigilante. It is clear that our protagonist has grown even more haunted by the past as he tries to move forward without being Batman. As Bruce relives the discovery of the Batcave, he awakens to find himself there. The oncevibrant crimefighting center is now obsolete and neglected. The computers and trophies are all covered, except for one. We find this on page 19 of the first issue.

Yet a Robin uniform has remained exposed. It stands alone and under a spotlight.

Bruce thinks, “I was only six years old when that happened when I found the cave. Huge, empty, silent as a church, waiting, as the bat was waiting. And now the cobwebs grow and the dust thickens in here as it does in me. And he laughs at me, curses me. Calls me a fool. He fills my sleep, He tricks me. He brings me here when the night is long and my will is weak. He struggles relentlessly hatefully to be free … I will not let him.

I gave my word. For Jason. Never. Never again.”

The words and images combine to let us see that some traumatic event has forced Bruce away from his crusade on crime. It is also clear that that something had happened to Jason Todd, the then-current Robin in DC Comics’ regular Batman titles.

We then turn the page: Wayne’s meditation is broken by the intrusion of Alfred Pennyworth. The butler has been awakened by the alarm tripped by Bruce as he entered the cave. After a short time reminiscing, the pair adjourn upstairs. It is important to note that the discussion is interrupted by a single panel that focuses on the empty Robin uniform. This reinforces that fact that Robin’s absence is deeply felt and a part of why Bruce Wayne has tried to leave this part of his life behind. It is a battle he is losing: Alfred points out that his master’s mustache is gone, and by the look we see on Bruce’s face, this is an act of the subconscious crimefighter who is fighting to the surface of Bruce Wayne’s psyche. Batman will return … but for him to be complete, it is clear he will need a Robin.

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What a Way to Go-Go (top left) Julie Madison donned a Robin costume to trick Clayface in “Clayface Walks Again!” in Detective Comics #49 (Mar. 1941). (top right) Holy Halloween! Jill St. John, playing the Riddler’s gun moll, has infiltrated the Batcave in a Robin disguise! From the conclusion of the two-part Batman TV pilot, originally aired on January 13, 1966.

If you know of any other pre-Carrie Kelley female Robins, contact the editor at euryman@gmail.com and we’ll share them in a future issue. (bottom) Carrie learns of her predecessor’s legacy.

TM & © DC Comics.

TV Batman © Greenway Productions/ DC Comics/20th Century Fox.

THE GIRL WONDER We meet Carrie Kelley on page 30 in the first issue of the four-issue miniseries. Like a lot of women in superhero comics, she is at first the damsel in distress.

She and her friend Michelle are walking home through an arcade on a stormy night. Our early impression of the young woman is that she is bold and unafraid of the dangers the city possesses. Michelle tries to convince her that the path they are on is dangerous, as the arcade is considered Mutant territory. The Mutants are a gang that has risen to power in the vacuum left by the Batman’s absence. They also serve as one of the series’ three main antagonists. Most of Gotham is terrified by this menace, but Carrie is not.

She believes the storm has driven them away and that she and her companion can travel through their territory without fear of reprisal. She is wrong. The lights go out in the arcade, and our young characters find themselves surrounded and taunted by the gang. Batman enters and comes to their aid. In this exchange Batman says nothing and simply stalks and attacks the gang. This removes Carrie and her friend from harm’s way.

The scene closes and we do not see an immediate reaction from anyone involved. Batman has returned.

As we watch the Batman’s return to his war, we once again find our young, future sidekick at home on page 45. The reader is treated to insights into Carrie’s homelife. We never see her parents; we just read their words as Carrie looks out longingly at a Gotham covered by the night. Her parents’ conversation suggests they are former hippies who had been involved in protesting the government. They are clearly not fans of Batman, as they describe him as a “fascist.” It never is stated explicitly, but drugs also seem to be involved in the situation, and the reader is left to see that

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Carrie’s world is filled with child neglect. This darkness is then shattered as the Bat-Signal appears. Carrie lights up, as the sky does. This closes Carrie’s role in the first issue of Frank Miller’s Dark Knight. It is clear that this young woman has not just been rescued by Batman … but inspired.

Carrie Kelley returns on the second page of the second issue, entitled The Dark Knight Triumphant.

We do not see her face in this introduction. We find her suiting up in a Robin costume. It appears this costume is something akin to a store-bought costume for Halloween. It is a bit too large for her as she stands in front of mirror. In this sequence, the reader sees the young woman’s excitement, and is treated a sense of nostalgia if they are a longtime Batman fan. The sequence is reminiscent of any child who has donned a Robin costume on Halloween. The excitement of the idea that one can be alongside Batman if they are in this costume is expressed in this opening scene. It is clear from this point on, Carrie Kelley will be our entry point into the world of the Dark Knight.

Carrie Kelley quickly learns it takes more than putting on the costume to become Robin. As she ventures out in her new garb, she quickly comes face to face with her own mortality. As she explores the Gotham skyline in the green fairy boots, she wraps herself on to a rainspout to maneuver around a corner. The pipe gives and Carrie plummets. She is able to catch herself on a fire escape so she manages to avoid death this one time, but it is clear she is going to need practice if she is to take on the role of Robin.

The second issue then follows two plot points: The reader sees Batman’s return and the escalating war on crime. His primary target is the Mutants. As this war rages, Miller cuts away to show that Carrie is improving. The next time we find her, she is now

jumping from rooftops and moving with the agility THE NEW DYNAMIC DUO of a circus acrobat. She even notes her own progress Batman’s first encounter with this new Robin is anything as she says, “Didn’t suck.” Carrie states her next but glamorous: Batman is being thoroughly beaten step in her self-training: “Next up, fighting crimes.” by the leader of the Mutant gang. On page 22, the As we move along with Bruce, we once again Mutant leader stands victorious over a beaten and sidetrack to see how Carrie is coming along. The first bloody Batman. Before he can deliver the final blow, crime we see her try and thwart is a Three-card Carrie flings herself upon his back and begins to rake Monte dealer. She stops her perp by secretly placing his eyes. While this stops him from destroying Batman, lit firecrackers in his back pocket. Here she it now puts Robin’s life in immediate danger. manages to interrupt the game and Luckily, Batman is able to muster the continue on her merry way. This leads strength to use smoke bombs to stun her to a pack of Mutants. It is here his enemy. Batman is at the end of she finds out that the Batman’s war his rope, and before he completely with the group is coming to a head. loses consciousness he utters one The group is rallying to back its word: “Dick” (as in Grayson, the first leader as he takes on the Bat in Robin). In this small way, Batman is combat. Upon hearing this news, acknowledging the missing piece in our newly minted Robin decides to his puzzle. The Mutant leader is down, follow the unsuspecting gangand this allows Robin to get Batman bangers to this fight. It is here that our two plot lines will merge, and Batman will meet a new Robin for frank miller a new Gotham.

As many have noted, Frank Miller’s work breaks down and critiques the fantasy of the Batman mythology. Carrie Kelley serves as an excellent tool in that endeavor. Carrie’s early doings are fraught with danger. She shows that to put on a costume and join Batman is not a glamorous job, but one that requires hard and dangerous training. To achieve the fantasy, one must do more than put on a costume.

A Robin’s life is in danger as soon as they take a step into the nighttime world. Carrie is almost killed the second she begins to enact her fantasy.

The Dark Knight shows a child placed into a sick, depraved world that wants nothing more than the child’s destruction.

Batman’s Partners Issue

Big Girls Don’t Cry (left) DK #3 cover, featuring Robin. (right) Early in Dark Knight, Carrie begins to discover the perils of crimefighting. By Miller/Janson/Varley.

TM & © DC Comics.

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The Beat Goes On From statuettes to action figures to this 2013 return to comics in the New 52, Carrie Kelley keeps on coming!

Cover to Batman and Red Robin #19 (June 2013), by Patrick Gleason.

TM & © DC Comics.

to the tank-like Batmobile, which acts as an automated ambulance.

Batman is able to regain consciousness and activate the car’s autopilot to return to the Batcave. It is clear in their exchange that Batman is impressed with the young woman’s guts. The Dark Knight makes himself vulnerable to Carrie by revealing his true name of Bruce.

From this point on, Carrie is now a part of Batman’s war on crime, and this is his new Robin.

In this sequence, the notion that Batman needs Robin and vice versa comes into view. Batman would have died if Robin had not come to his aid. If no one fantasizes about being alongside the hero, then the hero will die. If the hero dies, what fantasy can exist?

Alfred Pennyworth acts as a voice of reason as Batman and Robin return home. He criticizes Bruce for bringing a bright child into his dark world. The butler also notes that Jason Todd met his demise.

Bruce retorts, “I will never forget Jason. He was a good soldier.

He honored me. But the war goes on.” Batman has to take someone along on this journey. The Dark Knight shows us that to fantasize about being alongside Batman is to dream about being in a dirty and grim war. Carrie Kelley’s presence allows readers to see that Batman needs someone to fantasize about being alongside him, but in reality that is a sick fantasy.

THE DARK KNIGHT STRIKES BACK In 2001, Frank Miller returned to the world of The Dark Knight Returns with its sequel, The Dark Knight Strikes Again. This time Miller focused on a bigger picture as he addressed a bleak future for not just Batman but for the entirety of the DC Universe. In this world, the heroes have been pushed out of the picture, and we have a world ruled by villains.

At the end of the original Dark Knight, Bruce Wayne moves into the capacity of instructor as he leads a new generation of crimefighters from the underground. At the forefront of this movement is Carrie Kelley as Robin. Before long in the sequel it is clear that Bruce will need to don the cowl once more in this war, but this time he will be accompanied by Carrie Kelley, who has outgrown the role of Robin.

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In the beginning of The Dark Knight Strikes Again we are once again introduced to Carrie, now a young adult. She no longer goes by the childish Carrie, but now tells the Atom (and the reader) that her full name Caroline Keene Kelley. She has been sent by Batman to rescue the size-shifting hero, who was marooned in a petri dish. It is important to note that she is not by Batman’s side and has matured into the role of full-fledged superhero. Another change is also quite clear. She no longer wears the colors and cape of Robin: She is now the Catgirl.

Caroline Kelley is not the only former Robin who appears in this sequel. Dick Grayson also makes his return as a bio-engineered supersoldier hell-bent on destroying Batman. He does this as the new Joker.

Frank Miller interjects an interesting note here in the sequel, as those who once rode alongside Batman do not take on his mantle, but assume identities of those who have tormented Batman through the years. Caroline takes on the persona that tormented his heart, and Dick transforms himself into the man who attacked Batman’s soul.

What does this tell us about Miller’s critique of the sidekick fantasy?

One might see it from the reader’s view—as we grow older and hold onto fantasy, we move past that of the hero’s companion. The fantasy is what keeps Batman’s story going. So, like a Robin, Batman needs a reader. However, as the reader continues in the fantasy, Batman must be challenged, thus taking the fantasizer into the role of tormenter.

Carrie Kelley plays an intriguing role in Frank Miller’s Dark Knight world. She is a strong female lead who shows how complex a simple child’s dream can be. She not only serves to critique the world of Batman, but also the reader’s fantasy. She keeps Batman going, and in doing so shows us the price of our dreams.

JONATHAN BROWN attended Young Harris College and Brevard College for his undergrad. He completed his B.A.in 2007. He finished his Master of Arts in Religion with an emphasis on New Testament and a minor in Religion in Literature at the University of Georgia. He has published work in The Jack Kirby Collector and International Journal of Comic Art.

In issue #60 of BACK ISSUE, I interviewed Tim Sale and Gregory Wright as part of the team behind the Batman: The Long Halloween (TLH) limited series. At that time writer Jeph Loeb was unavailable but has since made time to answer a few remaining questions about the famous maxiseries.

– Randall C. Wiggins RANDALL C. WIGGINS: I’ll start by saying thank you, Jeph, for speaking with me. In 1996, you, along with Tim Sale and Gregory Wright, brought to life the characters of the Batman mythos in one of the most loved Batman projects of the last 20 years. How did you came up with the plot for The Long Halloween? How did the three of you come together to make this series a reality?

JEPH LOEB: It was all Archie’s [Goodwin, editor] fault!

He was the most decent, funny, charming man I will ever know, and probably the best writer who worked in this medium. He had taken a huge chance by letting me write Legends of the Dark Knight: The Batman Halloween Special #1—which wins the award for the longest title— but is now simply known as Fears and has been collected with Madness and Ghosts in Haunted Knight. Tim and I had done those three stories, and to be honest, I thought that was it. I had a very good run. I loved working with Tim and Archie—but I had to get back to my “real” job writing movies and television!

We all met for breakfast at San Diego Comic-Con, and Archie—being very sly—said something like, “I really like what you do with gangsters. Maybe you should do something with Batman and gangsters. Something very noir—Tim would draw that well.” And for the life of me, I don’t think we’d done anything with gangsters, but Archie saw something that we hadn’t invented yet. It was going to be called The Long Halloween.

To give credit where credit’s due, it was Mike Friedrich, who was Tim’s agent at the time, who came up with the idea of doing two 48-page bookends and 11 22–24-page stories in the middle—which in hindsight was insane, but somehow Tim and I and Greg and [letterer] Richard Starkings (another unsung hero of jeph loeb the book) finished this 400-page opus on time. Madness!

Somewhere in the process, I was working on the plot and it was missing something. It was a big gangster murder mystery, but there wasn’t a hook inside of it.

That’s when I, by chance, had a conversation with Mark Waid, who said, “You’re doing something with Batman: Year One?” And I nodded, not quite sure what to tell him. He then said, “You’re going to tell Harvey Dent’s story, right? Because no one really has done that.”

And all of sudden The Long Halloween came together.

The universe works in very odd ways, because Elliot S. Maggin tells a story where Waid expresses his gratitude for Elliot’s fine story “Must There Be a

Archie’s Pals

by

Randall C. Wiggins

conducted via email on September 30, 2012

The late, great Archie Goodwin was the editor who first put the dynamic duo of Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale together on adventures starring the Dark Knight.

TM & © DC Comics.

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A Murder a Month (below) Tim Sale Batman: The Long Halloween original art produced in 1997 for Wizard magazine.

Courtesy of Heritage Coimcs Auctions (www.ha.com). (right) Cover to Batman: Dark Victory #1 (Dec. 1999).

TM & © DC Comics.

74 • BACK ISSUE • Batman’s Partners Issue

Superman?” as an inspiration for Kingdom Come. Elliot was, in turn, inspired by a 12-year-old me who wrote my first script called “Why Must There Be A Superman?,” which I had sent to Elliot, who was and is one my heroes. So, in a way, Waid and I helped each other out on two big projects!

Another big inspiration was, oddly enough, a documentary that I saw on The Beatles. It was fascinating to me that these four men were so close and had revolutionized music as we know it, and then, BOOM!—along comes Yoko Ono (according to some), [who] literally breaks up the band. I kept thinking about Batman, Bruce Wayne (yes, as a separate character), Jim Gordon, and Harvey Dent, and how Two-Face destroyed their friendship and all the work they set out to do.

WIGGINS: I would like to get your thoughts on the success of The Long Halloween. In reading the series again in preparation for my article in BI #60, I noted a number of similarities in plot and structure to the recent Batman film trilogy directed by Chris Nolan.

Did you have anything to do with the writing of the screenplays for the films?

LOEB: [laughs] I wish I had! Chris and [screenwriter] David Goyer have been very generous talking about how both The Long Halloween and Dark Victory were very influential in the creation of the Dark Knight trilogy. They even wrote the forward to the Absolute Batman: The Long Halloween edition and said as much, which just floored me. Goyer wrote about it again in the forward to the Absolute Dark Victory edition as well. I mean, here are these incredibly talented men who redefined Batman in cinema, and they

were thanking me and Tim. That’s so rare in Hollywood and speaks volumes about their character. Just amazing.

I had also heard that Christian Bale kept a copy of Dark Victory in his trailer during the filming of the movies, as it helped define Bruce for him. I have no idea if that’s true, but it’s a story that makes me smile. [laughs] WIGGINS: What do you think of the Batman films of Chris Nolan?

LOEB: Great stuff. He’s a brilliant filmmaker—not just with Batman but with everything he touches. Awesome!

WIGGINS: Your story for TLH flows fluidly from the Batman: Year One series by Frank Miller. Was this something that DC Comics requested, or did that miniseries inspire you in writing The Long Halloween and Dark Victory?

LOEB: Again, it was Archie. He suggested we used the Falcone family, who appear briefly in Year One. He didn’t think Frank was going to use those characters, but I wanted to make sure. According to Archie, he talked to Frank about it, who gave it his blessing. We were off to the races, because I so love those four issues that make up Year One—they are beautifully drawn by David Mazzucchelli and brilliantly written by Frank. They are easily some of my favorite Batman stories of all time.

WIGGINS: A BACK ISSUE reader asked in an email recently if you could answer this question for him: At the end of issue #8, the letters page stated you were working on a sequel or regular series. What happened to it? It left a lot of questions unanswered.

LOEB: I hope I’m understanding the question. We did Dark Victory and also Catwoman: When in Rome. If the question is, “Will there be a Long Halloween 3?” I have a story [in mind]—so it’s really about Tim and his schedule. I would never do it without Tim. WIGGINS: How long did it take you to write TLH and DV? LOEB: Forever! [laughs] Years. That’s what I remember.

I mean, think about it. They are each about 400 pages long, and Tim was really good at doing about 20 pages a month. I write very detailed scripts—panel by panel— and rewrite the dialogue and narration after the artwork is in. We were much younger men. [laughs] WIGGINS: You and Tim have built a solid body of work together; a full list was included as a sidebar to the BI #60 article. How did the two of you fine tune your working relationship? It is obvious from the quantity and quality of work the two of you have done that you work well together. Why hasn’t there been anything new from you two since the Captain America miniseries?

LOEB: We were and remain very different people who have a passion for storytelling that clicks. I’ve often referred to it as a magic act. You don’t really ever want to know the secret, or there’s no magic. You’re just left with a rabbit and a hat with a false bottom. I’ve been very lucky to know him both as a friend and as a storyteller. We always take the credit “storytellers”—it is the best expression of our collaboration.

WIGGINS: I know you work in the television production end of Marvel now; can you tell us what you do there, and what the readers can expect from the House of Ideas that is Marvel Comics? And does this work prevent your future involvement with DC Comics and the Batman mythology?

LOEB: It’s been almost three years since I became Head of Television for Marvel, and while I still write a bit—including working on Captain America: White with Tim—I simply don’t have the time I would need to do another big project. So mostly it’s been four to six issues here and there. It’s been a grand experience and I’m very lucky to have been able to tell the stories I have.

As to coming back to DC and working with Batman?

I never say never. I tried that once, and Archie Goodwin talked me into writing The Long Halloween!

Batman’s Partners Issue

Rooftop Romp (above) Sale’s moody Batman: Dark Victory Signature Series Print, produced by DC Direct in 2002.

Courtesy of Heritage. (below) Catwoman: When in Rome #1 (Nov. 2004).

TM & © DC Comics.

TM & © DC Comics.

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Email: euryman@gmail.com (subject: BACK ISSUE) Postal mail: Michael Eury, Editor-in-Chief • BACK ISSUE 118 Edgewood Ave. NE • Concord, NC 28025

Find BACK ISSUE on

A PERNICIOUS PARTNER

TM & © DC Comics.

The Gotham Guardian and the Clown Prince of Crime—fierce foes since 1940’s Batman #1—have joined forces on a few occasions (my personal favorite being 1974’s The Brave and the Bold #111), with Batman always keeping a cowled, close eye on the Joker.

As a nod to Batman’s most pernicious partner, here are two images featuring the Grinning Gargoyle, shared with BACK ISSUE

by Jovial Jerry Boyd: the Neal Adams-drawn cover to the Batman: Stacked Cards Power Records comic/record set from 1975, also featuring Batman’s primo partner, Robin; and an illo of the Joker done in 1989 by Dick Giordano for DC’s special projects department.

A WORTHY COMPANION Excellent job on the allLegion issue of BACK ISSUE! It’s a worthy companion to The Legion Companion and The Best of The Legion Outpost, and it’s where I’ll be storing my copy. I hope your regular readers know how lucky they are to have BI hijacked occasionally by the LSH. Some fast thoughts and a few corrections: 1) The lizard on the cover was based on one of Dave Cockrum’s many pets. Ever since I’ve learned that fact, I always imagine the Legion as having been shrunk down to face a normal-sized lizard.

2) The Legion Outpost cover on page 10 came about because TLO editor Harry Broertjes thought it would be neat, so he wrote Curt Swan a letter describing what he wanted, included a check for what he guessed was his cover rate, and dropped it in the mailbox. It says a lot about Curt Swan that he didn’t just send the check back.

76 • BACK ISSUE • Batman’s Partners Issue

Thanks for those bits of Legionnaire business, Glen!

For the non-LSH readers among us, Mr. Cadigan produced The Legion Companion and The Best of The Legion Outpost for TwoMorrows, so his compliments carry Star Boy-induced weight.

GIRL TALK I’m writing to gently “jape” you re: a boo-boo that “Editor Boy” should’ve caught in your Legion issue [BI #68]: On pg. 33, the blurb you (I assume?) wrote to accompany the “Adult Legion” cover mentioned “Shadow … GIRL?????????????” You and I both know that that should’ve been Shadow LASS, natch!

Went thru most of the issue so far … brings back a lotta them old collectin’-Legion mem’ries … mem’ries that, frankly, make those stories of the Shooter/Swan/Bates/ Cockrum/Giffen era much more pleasurable than the recent run that Levitz just finished. Sorry, but I found the last issue one of the most DEPRESSING stories I’ve read since the last issue of Image’s Number of the Beast series, (in which the whole friggin’ world blew up!). I’m afraid ol’ Paul fell into what I call the “Claremont trap”—that is, going to the ol’ well once too often. (I kinda wonder if that’s why Giffen walked away so quickly…?)

Oh, well….

– Darrell McNeil Shadow “Girl”??!! That WAS a big boo-boo made by Editor Boy! As the one-time editor of Legion of Super-Heroes and Who’s Who, I know better. Shadow Lass! LASS!!

That line (about her pigmentation) was added into the caption by yours truly during an 11th hour round of corrections when my attention to detail was obviously clouded (by shadows?). Thanks for pointing that out, Darrell, and to all LSH fans, please forgive the error. I’m not blue-skinned, but I’m certainly red-faced with embarrassment over it. To make up for my goof, here’s a Steve Lightle-drawn Shadow Lass cover appearance that some fans might’ve missed…

TM & © DC Comics.

Send your comments to:

3) In the “Honored Dead” article, Chemical King is listed as being created by Jim Shooter. Nearly all disposable Legion characters— Subs, rejects, and future dead Legionnaires—were culled from fan suggestions, and that includes Chemical King, who (along with Shadow Lass) was created by George Vincent and Mike Rickford.

George even wrote about it in the first issue of The Legion Outpost (reprinted in TBOTLO, pg. 12). In fact, the only characters on that Adult Legion cover not created by fans are Superman and Ferro Lad. 4) On page 52, in the “Legion in the ’80s” article, the Dark Man is said to have been Brainiac 5. He was actually a clone of the human half of Tharok.

5) On page 68, I am credited as being the interviewer of Mark Waid in The Legion Companion. That interview was actually done by Chris Companik, a longtime Interlac-er who passed away in 2012.

LLL! – Glen Cadigan

THE TYROC “MYTH” The quotes from Mike Grell about Tyroc in issue #68 seem to perpetuate a myth. The introduction of Tyroc that Grell drew had him come from an island. But the idea that the island moves into another dimension came from the story where he leaves, not the story where he is introduced, and was not part of his introduction—Grell could not possibly have been reacting to it, no matter what his memory tells him. And neither story claimed that black people hadn’t been seen before because they were all on the island.

Furthermore, if you read the story where it’s revealed that Tyroc’s island moves into another dimension, it was obviously (without explicitly saying so) an attempt to “fix” the problems with the original story—they were isolationists because being in another dimension, they had to be, and they saw racism everywhere because they were descended from escaped slaves.

This fix did have its own problems (some specific lines in the first story don’t make sense with it), but let’s remember it for what it was.

– Ken Arromdee

Michal, John Watson’s fantasy Legion covers were a crowdpleaser! The talented Mr. Watson is welcome to return to BI when he’s able….

And 2015 will bring a “Giants and Reprints”-themed issue, featuring an extensive look at DC’s 100-Page Super Spectaculars.

Until then, here’s a teaser…

TM & © DC Comics.

A “LEGIONDARY” ISSUE BACK ISSUE #68 was Legion … wait for it … dary! I’ve been a fan of the LSH since their beginnings in Adventure and Action, as well as their resurgence in Superboy. Your coverage of all eras was, as usual, massive. The Legion always had a vision of the future as bright and high-tech, so I was disappointed in the darker tones the series took in the ’80s, but I still enjoyed your articles on that time, too.

I would have appreciated a look into their Silver Age stuff, too, but I can respect your gentleman’s agreement with Roy Thomas. If he hasn’t done so already, perhaps he could explore this era in Alter Ego. John Watson’s fantasy covers were fantastic! Please lure this man to your offices with a trail of breadcrumbs and chain him to a drawing board, where you can force him to deliver more material like this. (Okay, maybe if you just asked nicely…)

It was interesting to see how writers reconciled bits of Silver Age business decades later. It appears that the cover of Adventure #354 caused more retrofits than any other in Legion history.

(How about a cover homage to that one, Mr. Watson? You could use the Avengers or the Titans in place of the Legion, maybe? Just sayin’…)

I was amused to see the frenzy that erupted over DC’s decision to erase Superboy from existence. There was so much hand-wringing over how to reconcile this toppling line of dominoes. I guess it never occurred to anyone to just reboot the series and start brand new, as is done so much now. But that’s not how we did things back then, young feller.

The Time Trapper and Cosmic Boy articles demonstrated how convoluted the stories of that era got. It gave me a headache trying to read them. Ay, carumba!

One of my favorite parts of BI is always the letters column. I wholeheartedly second Jeff Small’s terrific idea of a 100-Page Super Spectacular coverage issue. Personally, I’d like to see extensive coverage of 80-page Giants, too, but there’s that darn Silver Age gentleman’s agreement again. Mr. Thomas...?

Finally, being a sucker for anniversary issues, I’m looking forward to your Tenth Anniversary issue with all of its coverage on those celebratory books. Great work. Keep on doing what you’re doing!

– Michal Jacot

PC LSH? Loved the cover-to-cover focus on the Legion of Super-Heroes.

I always loved reading Legion of Super-Heroes as a kid. I always considered them a futuristic Justice League of America. My favorite character was Star Boy, especially when he grew a beard in the 1980s, becoming one of the few Legionaires with any kind of facial hair. That change in appearance showed how much the Legion turned into adults.

However, I did NOT care for the recasting of Star Boy’s race from white to black by writer Mark Waid. That was so totally unnecessary. I guess DC was just trying to fill a racial quota to show how diverse the Legion was, but the Legion was already diverse enough as all the members were from different planets.

Clearly this change was done to make the Legion more PC. That type of thing angers me so much, because I am an unemployed veteran and despite all my education, skills, talent, and past work history, the only thing I am asked about is what my race and gender, and then I don’t get the job when I tell them I’m a white male. Does this type of Reverse Discrimination have to be in comics as well? I always thought that comics were non-political.

I’m sure Mark Waid would care if he was turned down for a job because he wasn’t a minority.

Well, anyway, keep up the good work!

– Christopher Krieg Christopher, you’re right that the Legion is comics’ most diverse group, so far as planets of origin are concerned. When most of the Legionnaires were created, however, in the early 1960s, superhero comics were almost exclusively the domain of white characters. Star Boy and other similar changes were attempts to be more reflective of the world in which the comics are published.

Thanks for the feedback. Glad you liked the Legion issue!

Batman’s Partners Issue

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BATMAN BONUS Frank Balkin sent in this Batman sketch by Rich Buckler, and while it didn’t fit any of our articles in this issue, we still wanted to share it.

Thanks, Frank!

It’s almost too much for my heart to take.

Ahem. Anyway, for future issues, have you considered doing an issue devoted to Christmas or Holiday stories, which might be worth some renewed interest? Nostalgia is a big part of everything these days, and there might be some excellent seasonal stories that haven’t been reprinted, or heard from in a long time. And some that might have escaped a comicbook fan’s attention.

– James Smith II James, although the men and women responsible for creating your favorite comics from your childhood may have produced fables about larger-than-life figures, at home—or in their offices or studios—they shared the same real-life concerns that you and I deal with each day. It’s to their credit that the stories they told so shaped our youth and still resonate with us decades later.

I have considered a Christmas-themed issue—with the exception of Halloween, I doubt there’s a holiday that has been the subject of or setting for comics stories more so than “the most wonderful time of the year.” Plus, I’d love to feature Santa Claus on a cover.

What do the rest of you think? Should we go-go-go with a ho-ho-ho issue?

Batman TM & © DC Comics.

FROM ONE LEGION EDITOR TO ANOTHER…

BITTERSWEET BOY I really enjoyed your recent BACK ISSUE that focused on the Legion of SuperHeroes. It was great reading about the behind-the-scenes history of one of my favorite comics from my childhood.

But… I have to confess it was somewhat saddening. When I was a child, I thought comic books were written by gentlemen who had been given visions by Heavenly Muses with which to excite and entertain the readers.

These precious individuals—these writers, these artists, and all those who created comics—were not just human beings, nor simple mortals, either, but brought forth adventure from that mythical city of New York, where no Midwesterner dare go.

Now, I find out that some decisions were done because some writers didn’t like a character (such as one writer’s feelings toward Karate Kid) or why a storyline came to a close (a writer leaving to go to Europe).

Even worse, these individuals didn’t work on comic books because they were expressing their God-given talents to raise humanity up from the dreck of mediocrity.

No, they did it to make money.

Fantastic Four and Dr. Doom TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. BACK ISSUE TM & © TwoMorrows.

78 • BACK ISSUE • Batman’s Partners Issue

The Paul Levitz Legion of Super-Heroes interview in BI #68 brought back many memories, the vast majority of them good, a few a little … blurry.

Some regarded Roy Thomas as not a natural fit for LSH—though I thought he did fine—but he took the job seriously, buying every Legion back issue before beginning the gig.

My recollection of how Paul returned to write LSH when I was editor is that he approached me, saying he’d like another chance at the job. I asked him for a list of his best Legion stories, then read all the others, and decided he would be a swell choice.

He knew the characters, the backstories, and obviously had plans for them all. And I liked the fact that the physically unprepossessing Levitz had made the faith of the most physically impressive Legionnaire—Colossal Boy—his own. That showed a level of identification you (well, at least, I) want in a writer. And if he needed any help in plotting, that’s why I was there. But he didn’t need much.

As I’ve written elsewhere, I had the most fun as a staff editor with The Flash, but it’s obvious that the most important thing I did was playing a part in restoring LSH to its place as a toptier DC title.

So, many memories of editing the Legion, most of them good, the rest blurry.

But none of them bad. All life should be so simple.

– Mike W. Barr Next issue: Fantastic Four in the Bronze Age! The FF in the 1970s and 1980s, the animated FF, the FF radio show of 1975, the Human Torch goes solo, a Galactus villain history, FF Mego figures … and the Impossible Man! Exploring the work of RICH BUCKLER, JOHN BUSCEMA, JOHN BYRNE, GERRY CONWAY, STEVE ENGLEHART, GEORGE PÉREZ, KEITH POLLARD, ROY THOMAS, LEN WEIN, MARV WOLFMAN, and more! Cover by KEITH POLLARD and JOE RUBINSTEIN, revisiting the epic cover of Fantastic Four #200. Don’t ask—just BI it!

See you in thirty!

Your friendly neighborhood Euryman, Michael Eury, editor-in-chief

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NEW ISSUES:

TwoMorrows.

A New Day For Comics Fans!

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BRICKJOURNAL #30

BACK ISSUE #75

BACK ISSUE #76

BACK ISSUE #77

BACK ISSUE #78

“’80s Independents!” In-depth looks at PAUL CHADWICK’s Concrete, DAVE SIM’s Cerebus the Aardvark, and RICHARD AND WENDY PINI’s Elfquest! Plus see ‘80s independent comics go Hollywood, DAVID SCROGGY remembers Pacific Comics, TRINA ROBBINS’ California Girls, and DENIS KITCHEN’s star-studded horror/sci-fi anthology Death Rattle. Cover by PAUL CHADWICK!

“Let’s Get Small!” Marvel’s Micronauts, The Atom in the Bronze Age, JAN STRNAD and GIL KANE’s Sword of the Atom, the rocky relationship of Ant-Man the Wasp, Gold Key’s Microbots, Super Jrs., DC Digests, and Marvel Value Stamps. Featuring the work of PAT BRODERICK, JACKSON GUICE, ELLIOT S! MAGGIN, BILL MANTLO, AL MILGROM, ALEX SAVIUK, ROGER STERN, LEN WEIN, & more. Cover by PAT BRODERICK!

“When Comics Were Fun!” HEMBECK cover and gallery, Plastic Man, Blue Devil, Marvel’s Star Comics imprint, VALENTINO’s normalman, Bronze Age’s goofiest Superman stories, and the Batman/Dick Tracy team-up you didn’t see! Featuring MAX ALLAN COLLINS, PARIS CULLINS, RAMONA FRADON, ALAN KUPPERBERG, MISHKIN & COHN, STEVE SKEATES, JOE STATON, CURT SWAN, and more!

“Weird Issue!” Batman’s Weirdest TeamUps, ORLANDO’s Weird Adventure Comics, Weird War Tales, Weird Mystery Tales, DITKO’s Shade the Changing Man and Stalker, CHAYKIN’s Iron Wolf, CRUMB’s Weirdo, and STARLIN and WRIGHTSON’s The Weird! Featuring JIM APARO, LUIS DOMINGUEZ, MICHAEL FLEISHER, BOB HANEY, PAUL LEVITZ, and more. Batman and Deadman cover by ALAN CRADDOCK.

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $8.95 (Digital Edition) $3.95 • Ships August 2014

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $8.95 (Digital Edition) $3.95 • Ships Sept. 2014

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COMIC BOOK CREATOR #6 COMIC BOOK CREATOR #7 COMIC BOOK CREATOR #8

DRAW! #29

LEGO ARCHITECTURE with JONATHAN LOPES, a microscale model of Copenhagen

by ULRIK HANSEN, and a look at the LEGO MUSEUM being constructed in Denmark! Plus Minifigure Customization by JARED BURKS, step-by-step “You Can Build It” instructions by CHRISTOPHER DECK, BrickNerd DIY Fan Art by TOMMY WILLIAMSON, MINDSTORMS building with DAMIEN KEE, and more!

SWAMPMEN: MUCK-MONSTERS OF THE COMICS dredges up Swamp Thing, ManThing, Heap, and other creepy man-critters of the 1970s bayou! Features interviews with WRIGHTSON, MOORE, PLOOG, WEIN, BRUNNER, GERBER, BISSETTE, VEITCH, CONWAY, MAYERIK, ORLANDO, PASKO, MOONEY, TOTLEBEN, YEATES, BERGER, SANTOS, USLAN, KALUTA, THOMAS, and others. FRANK CHO cover!

BERNIE WRIGHTSON interview on Swamp Thing, Warren, The Studio, Frankenstein, Stephen King, and designs for movies like Heavy Metal and Ghostbusters, and a gallery of Wrightson artwork! Plus writer/editor BRUCE JONES; 20th anniversary of Bart Simpson's Treehouse of Horror with BILL MORRISON; and interview Wolff and Byrd, Counselors of the Macabre's BATTON LASH, and more!

MIKE ALLRED and BOB BURDEN cover and interviews, "Reid Fleming, World's Toughest Milkman" cartoonist DAVID BOSWELL interviewed, a chat with RICH BUCKLER, SR. about everything from Deathlok to a new career as surrealistic painter; Tales of the Zombie artist PABLO MARCOS speaks; Israeli cartoonist RUTU MODAN; plus an extensive essay on European Humor Comics!

DAVE DORMAN demonstrates his painting techniques for sci-fi, fantasy, and comic book cover, LeSEAN THOMAS (character designer and co-director of The Boondocks and Black Dynamite: The Animated Series) gives advice on today’s animation industry, new columnist JERRY ORDWAY shows his working process, plus more Comic Art Bootcamp by BRET BLEVINS and Draw! editor MIKE MANLEY! Mature readers only.

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $8.95 (Digital Edition) $3.95 • Now shipping!

(192-page paperback with COLOR) $17.95 (Digital Edition) $8.95 • Ships August 2014

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(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $8.95 (Digital Edition) $3.95 • Ships Feb. 2015

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $8.95 (Digital Edition) $3.95 • Ships Aug. 2014

ALTER EGO #126

ALTER EGO #127

ALTER EGO #128

ALTER EGO #129

KIRBY COLLECTOR #63

Second big issue on 3-D COMICS OF THE 1950s! KEN QUATTRO looks at the controversy involving JOE KUBERT, NORMAN MAURER, BILL GAINES, and AL FELDSTEIN! Plus more fabulous Captain 3-D by SIMON & KIRBY and MORT MESKIN— 3-D thrills from BOB POWELL, HOWARD NOSTRAND, JAY DISBROW and others— the career of Treasure Chest artist VEE QUINTAL, FCA, Mr. Monster, and more!

1940s WILL EISNER/”BUSY” ARNOLD letters between the creator of The Spirit and his Quality Comics partner, art and artifacts by FINE, CRANDALL, CUIDERA, CARDY, KOTZKY, BLUM, NORDLING, and others! Plus Golden Age MLJ artist JOHN BULTHIUS, more of AMY KISTE NYBERG’s History of the Comics Code, FCA, Mr. Monster, BILL SCHELLY, cover by DANIEL JAMES COX and JASON PAULOS!

CAROL L. TILLEY on Dr. Fredric Wertham’s falsification of his research in the 1950s, featuring art by EVERETT, SHUSTER, PETER, BECK, COSTANZA, WEBB, FELDSTEIN, WILLIAMSON, WOOD, BIRO, and BOB KANE! Plus AMY KISTE NYBERG on the evolution of the Comics Code, FCA, Mr. Monster, BILL SCHELLEY, and a new cover by JASON PAULOS and DANIEL JAMES COX!

Edgar Rice Burroughs adventure heroes in comics! With art by FOSTER, HOGARTH, FRAZETTA, MANNING, KANE, KUBERT, MORROW, GRELL, THORNE, WEISS, ANDERSON, KALUTA, AMENDOLA, BUSCEMA, MARSH, and YEATES—with analysis by foremost ERB experts! Plus, the 1970s ERB comics company that nearly was, FCA, MR. MONSTER, BILL SCHELLY, and more! Cover by TOM GRINDBERG!

MARVEL UNIVERSE! Featuring MARK ALEXANDER’s pivotal Lee/Kirby essay “A Universe A’Borning,” KIRBY interview, MARK EVANIER and our other regular columnists, a look at key late-1970s events in Kirby’s life and career, STAN LEE script pages, unseen Kirby pencils and unused art from THOR, NICK FURY, HULK and FANTASTIC FOUR, plus galleries of ETERNALS, BLACK PANTHER, and more!

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $8.95 (Digital Edition) $3.95 • Ships June 2014

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $8.95 (Digital Edition) $3.95 • Ships July 2014

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $8.95 (Digital Edition) $3.95 • Ships August 2014

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $8.95 (Digital Edition) $3.95 • Ships Oct. 2014

(100-page FULL-COLOR mag) $10.95 (Digital Edition) $4.95 • Now shipping!

SAVE

15

THE BEST IN COMICS & LEGO® PUBLICATIONS!

WHE % OR N YOU ONLDER INE!

1994--2014

SUMMER 2014 AMERICAN COMIC BOOK CHRONICLES: The 1950s

BILL SCHELLY tackles comics of the Atomic Era of Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley: EC’s TALES OF THE CRYPT, MAD, CARL BARKS’ Donald Duck and Uncle Scrooge, re-tooling the FLASH in Showcase #4, return of Timely’s CAPTAIN AMERICA, HUMAN TORCH and SUB-MARINER, FREDRIC WERTHAM’s anti-comics campaign, and more!

NOW SHIPPING! (240-page FULL-COLOR HARDCOVER) $40.95 (Digital Edition) $12.95 • ISBN: 9781605490540

1965-69

JOHN WELLS covers the transformation of MARVEL COMICS into a pop phenomenon, Wally Wood’s TOWER COMICS, CHARLTON’s Action Heroes, the BATMAN TV SHOW, Roy Thomas, Neal Adams, and Denny O’Neil leading a youth wave in comics, GOLD KEY digests, the Archies and Josie & the Pussycats, and more! NOW SHIPPING!

Ambitious new series of FULLCOLOR HARDCOVERS documenting each decade of comic book history!

(288-page FULL-COLOR HARDCOVER) $41.95 (Digital Edition) $13.95 • ISBN: 9781605490557

ALSO AVAILABLE NOW:

The 1970s

JASON SACKS & KEITH DALLAS detail the emerging Bronze Age of comics: Relevance with Denny O’Neil and Neal Adams’s GREEN LANTERN, Jack Kirby’s FOURTH WORLD saga, Comics Code revisions that opens the floodgates for monsters and the supernatural, Jenette Kahn’s arrival at DC and the subsequent DC IMPLOSION, the coming of Jim Shooter and the DIRECT MARKET, and more!

1960-64: (224-pages) $39.95 • (Digital Edition) $11.95 • ISBN: 978-1-60549-045-8 1980s: (288-pages) $41.95 • (Digital Edition) $13.95 • ISBN: 978-1-60549-046-5 COMING SOON: 1930s, 1940-44, 1945-49 and 1990s

(288-page FULL-COLOR HARDCOVER) $41.95 • (Digital Edition) $13.95 • ISBN: 9781605490564 • SHIPS AUGUST 2014

DON HECK:

(192-page full-color hardcover) $39.95 (Digital Edition) $11.95

SHIPS SEPTEMBER 2014!

MATT BAKER

LOU SCHEIMER

CREATING THE FILMATION GENERATION

THE ART OF GLAMOUR

Biography of the co-founder of Filmation Studios, which for over 25 years brought the Archies, Shazam, Isis, He-Man, and others to TV and film!

Biography of the talented master of 1940s “Good Girl” art, complete with color story reprints!

(192-page hardcover with COLOR) $39.95 (Digital Edition) $11.95

(288-page trade paperback with COLOR) $29.95 (Digital Edition) $13.95

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by Jo

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All characters TM & © their respective owners.

A WORK OF ART

DON HECK remains one of the legendary names in comics, considered an “artist’s artist,” respected by peers, and beloved by fans as the co-creator of IRON MAN, HAWKEYE, and BLACK WIDOW, and key artist on THE AVENGERS. Along with STAN LEE, JACK KIRBY, and STEVE DITKO, Heck was an integral player in “The Marvel Age of Comics”, and a top-tier 1970s DC Comics artist. He finally gets his due in this heavily illustrated, full-color hardcover biography, which features meticulously researched and chronicled information on Don’s 40-year career, with personal recollections from surviving family, long-time friends, and industry legends, and rare interviews with Heck himself. It also features an unbiased analysis of sales on Don’s DC Comics titles, an extensive art gallery (including published, unpublished, and pencil artwork), a Foreword by STAN LEE, and an Afterword by BEAU SMITH. Written by JOHN COATES.

2014 SUBSCRIPTION RATES: (with FREE Digital Editions)

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JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR (4 issues)

$45

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BACK ISSUE! (8 issues)

$67

$82

$85

$104

$242

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DRAW! (4 issues)

$34

$41

$43

$52

$141

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ALTER EGO (8 issues)

$67

$82

$85

$104

$242

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COMIC BOOK CREATOR (4 issues w/Special)

$40

$50

$54

$60

$121

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BRICKJOURNAL (6 issues)

$50

$62

$68

$78

$180

$23.70

TwoMorrows. A New Day For Comics Fans!

TwoMorrows Publishing • 10407 Bedfordtown Drive • Raleigh, NC 27614 USA • 919-449-0344 • FAX: 919-449-0327 E-mail: store@twomorrows.com • Visit us on the Web at www.twomorrows.com