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Post by Hoosier X on Apr 25, 2018 0:13:05 GMT -5
Something I'm looking forward to: The return of Paul Sloane in Detective Comics #580 and #581.
Something I'm NOT looking forward to: MAGPIE!
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Post by Hoosier X on Apr 26, 2018 14:27:03 GMT -5
Something I'm looking forward to: The first appearance of the Ventriloquist and Scarface.
Something I'm not looking forward to: The Black Canary's new costume.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 26, 2018 17:38:11 GMT -5
Something I'm looking forward to: The first appearance of the Ventriloquist and Scarface. Something I'm not looking forward to: The Black Canary's new costume. I know what you mean by Black Canary's costume! ... It's horrible beyond belief! |
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Post by Hoosier X on Apr 26, 2018 19:04:56 GMT -5
Something I'm looking forward to: The first appearance of the Ventriloquist and Scarface. Something I'm not looking forward to: The Black Canary's new costume. I know what you mean by Black Canary's costume! ... It's horrible beyond belief! Exhibit A: |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 26, 2018 20:02:55 GMT -5
I know what you mean by Black Canary's costume! ... It's horrible beyond belief! Exhibit A: Point Taken Sir! ... Grossly injustice I've may add here. |
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Post by chadwilliam on Apr 26, 2018 21:37:55 GMT -5
I thought this comic was SO COOL! It's probably the first comic book I ever read where I liked Green Lantern. That Two-Face Secret origin is pretty strange. I'm not familiar enough with the title to know whether or not it attempted to play up the 'secret' aspect of these character's origins - that is, reveal something which hitherto had been unknown - but this issue revealed that Harvey Dent was not who Boss Maroni hurled that vial of acid at that fateful day. Instead, it was arresting officer David Davis (and Humphrey Bogart lookalike) who Maroni tossed that acid at while shouting "I'll get you, Pretty Boy!" Apparently, Maroni just had really bad aim and a poor attention span since Dent had just produced the silver dollar sealing his fate shut which you'd think would have earned him Maroni's undivided attention. Guess not. Oddly, Who's Who 24 (Feb, 1987) supported this revision in its entry on Two-Face so for about 10 years, this was the new origin of Two-Face. I doubt it was mentioned more than twice though. |
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Post by Hoosier X on Apr 27, 2018 1:30:17 GMT -5
I thought this comic was SO COOL! It's probably the first comic book I ever read where I liked Green Lantern. That Two-Face Secret origin is pretty strange. I'm not familiar enough with the title to know whether or not it attempted to play up the 'secret' aspect of these character's origins - that is, reveal something which hitherto had been unknown - but this issue revealed that Harvey Dent was not who Boss Maroni hurled that vial of acid at that fateful day. Instead, it was arresting officer David Davis (and Humphrey Bogart lookalike) who Maroni tossed that acid at while shouting "I'll get you, Pretty Boy!" Apparently, Maroni just had really bad aim and a poor attention span since Dent had just produced the silver dollar sealing his fate shut which you'd think would have earned him Maroni's undivided attention. Guess not. Oddly, Who's Who 24 (Feb, 1987) supported this revision in its entry on Two-Face so for about 10 years, this was the new origin of Two-Face. I doubt it was mentioned more than twice though. I still have the copy of this I bought brand new off a spinner rack. I pulled it out today to read before I got to bed. I haven't looked at it in a long time, decades maybe. |
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Post by Hoosier X on Apr 27, 2018 17:15:01 GMT -5
The "Two-Face Renaissance" of the Bronze Age So that brings us to Two-Face in the Bronze Age. Very early in the Bronze Age, Two-Face returned - after a 17 year hiatus - in a 1971 titled "Half an Evil" in Batman #234, written by Denny O'Neil and drawn by Neal Adams (inked by Dick Giordano). It's been a while since I read it, but it's mostly a pretty standard Two-Face crime spree based on the number two, with a little novelty thrown in because much of the story is based around a port and the theft (or maybe it's a hide-out) of a two-masted schooner. Very nice art! And Two-Face started appearing again and again over the next few years, often against Batman in the regular Batman comic book, but many writers were now using him with other characters, sometimes teamed with Batman against Two-Face, but somehow and somewhere, Two-Face has acquired some clout and isn't attached to Batman all the time. He has some pretty good appearances in JLA and Teen Titans. And in The Brave and the Bold, he's finding himself in conflict with Green Arrow and the Atom, in addition to the Batman. Two-Face is also finding himself paired with the Joker quite a bit, sometimes as reluctant allies (The Brave and the Bold #129 and #130), sometimes as foes (The Joker #1), and sometimes as a couple of colorful Gotham rogues caught up in a massive bat-conspiracy (Batman #294). I haven't read all of the Two-Face appearances from this period. There's a bunch! But I've read the Teen Titans storyline and I read the first issue of the JLA two-parter (the coin came up with the unscarred side, so he's working with the JLA) and I read all the Brave and Bold issues, as well as The Joker #1. So my interpretation of the Two-Face might be a little skewed since I haven't read Batman #258, #313, #314, #327, #328 and #329. (I don't have nearly as many issues of Batman as I do of Detective.) It looks like somebody took a good hard look at Two-Face's obsession with "two" and realized he was not going to get very far with that gimmick. Now, if you toss in a few more characters and opennit up that way, maybe you got something. So he ends up teaming up with the Joker to fight Batman, the Atom and Green Arrow. Then you remember he was married ... and you have a whole family who can get sucked into the Two-Face tragedy! This is where Duela Dent and the Teen Titans come in. And then there's that double-headed coin. His obsession with the coin is predictable ... but it actually makes Harvey himself rather unpredictable. He has a little more control over the gimmick because he's the one who comes up with choices he gets to flip the coin for. But it often puts him on the side of good ... for few pages anyway. My only quibble is the way he's accepted as a major player so quickly by everyone involved. It's not really a quibble, just something that struck me after reading a few of these stories, armed with the knowledge that Harvey Dent only appeared as Two-Face four times in the Golden Age and then disappered for 17 years. It's a necessary device for the stories to work. But he pops up out of nowhere after being gone for so long. And Flash or Wonder Girl or the Atom or the Joker says "It's Two-Face!" when it might make more sense to say "Who are you?" (The most egregious example is JLA #125. I think the heroes that aren't from Gotham City might have a little trouble placing Two-Face. Instead, they're all impressed that two-Face is in their midst, helping them because the coin came up the unscarred face. (Except Flash, who shows up a the satellite a full attack speed. "Don't you know? It's Two-Face! He must be stopped before he robs another two-storied department store and escapes in a two-man bobsled!") |
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Post by Hoosier X on Apr 27, 2018 17:27:11 GMT -5
I read this (just the Two-Face story) last night for the first time in many years. A few things struck me. A character based on Humphrey Bogart is nicknamed "Pretty Boy." And his name is David Davis (which is why Two-Face likes him). Thinking about this comic for a couple of days before I pulled it out of the box, I realized that I could only remember one of the artists. Jack Abel inked the Dr. Light story. I couldn't remember any other artist from this comic. Rich Buckler and Bob Layton on the Grodd story. Joe Rubinstein inked the Two-Face story. And Abel was inking Dick Ayers on the Dr. Light story. And all I could remember was Jack Abel. |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 27, 2018 17:37:05 GMT -5
That Justice League of America Story (#125) is one of the nuttiest story that I've ever read and it's has some of that Silver Age Silliness of letting him to be a part of the JLA group. I had that Comic Book until I gave it up to a dear friend who wanted it so bad to complete is run of 300 JLA Comic Books. At that time, he had 329 books in order and now it's over 400 plus. I find Two-Face an interesting character -- it would land in the top 100 villains if I ever made an avatar listing them. That Batman book -- after a 17 years hiatus is one of my favorite O'Neal stories and thanks for reminding me Hoosier X and the art by Adams and the inks done by Giordano was done just nicely put. I just flabbergasted to learned from you that I didn't accept the fact that Two Face being gone for 17 years ... and rightfully dumbfounded to learn that from you today. It's a disgrace to this popular Batman's Villain alone. This is total shocking to me. |
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Post by Hoosier X on Apr 30, 2018 13:28:43 GMT -5
I read Detective Comics #523 (Solomon Grundy! With lovely art by Colan and DeZuniga!) last night, which means I'm getting way ahead of myself because I wanted to say a few words about the Two-Face story in Batman #346 and Detective Comics #513. It starts at Arkham Asylum as a couple of guards are taunting Two-Face as he sulks in his cell. He flips a coin ... and disappears! It turns out that the coin hypnotized the guards and Two-Face was (somehow) able to just walk out while they were in a trance, staring at an empty cell. The guards were taunting him because Two-Face was trying to prove that he had reformed and he had petitioned to be allowed to move into a halfway house for paroled convicts trying to give up crime and become respectable citizens. But the judge had turned him down. (Get it? A halfway house? Because the parolees are trying to make the transition between TWO worlds?) (Not to mention the Batgirl and Catwoman backups in these issues! These comics are very very busy! It's pretty awesome, really.) And Bruce has picked up where he left off with Vicki Vale. They're wandering around downtown Gotham and looking in shop windows and Vicki is talking about how glad she is to be back in Gotham and back with Bruce. And she says the word "halfway," which reminds Bruce about Two-Face wanting to get into the halfway house! So ... maybe Two-Face is at the halfway house! So he hustles Vicki into a cab with some excuse about an urgent appointment with his shirt-maker, and he changes into Batman and goes to investigate the halfway house. Which is just what Two-Face was expecting. Two-Face has remodeled the place so that half of it is grubby and dirty and the other half is very swanky and nice. His gang is made up of dirty smelly low-class thugs teamed with well-dressed swanky racketeers. And of course, Two-Face is dressed in clothes that are one-half grubby and one-half Park Avenue. But it's a trap! After mixing it up with Two-Face and his thugs (and his girl Friday named Margo), Batman is beaten and put in an escape-proof cell! So several days have passed and everybody is wondering where Batman is! We bounce around among the cast members to see how everybody is reacting - Alfred, Dick, Vicki, Rupert Thorne, Gordon. But only Two-Face and his lackeys know for sure. Every so often, Two-Face flips the double-headed coin to decided if he should kill Batman, but the good side always comes up. And now it's finally time to make use of the gang he's assembled at the halfway house. So it's off we go on another two-themed caper as they kidnap the twins who are the heirs to the throne of the small European monarchy of Zweibergen (which means "two mountains" in German), after which they escape on a two-humped camel and go to the Gotham Zoo where they steal a rare two-headed tiger and then they are on their way to the Roman wing of the Gotham Museum to get the statue of Janus, the two-faced god. No. Not really. They go rob the Duo Records building. While they are gone, Margo gives Batman his dinner on a green plastic tray. When Two-Face returns, Batman is sprayed in the face by a gust of hot water from an old pipe and he turns to Two-Face ... and he has been transformed into Batman Two-Face! Harvey is delighted! He lets Batman out of the cage, happy to have a friend with two faces, someone who understands! But before Two-Face can have second thoughts (ahem), Batman double crosses him (sorry) and takes Harvey out with the ol' one-two (oops, sorry again). Two-Face doubles up (ouch) and is ready for the cops and his trip outside Arkham Asylum needed a two-way ticket (that's the last one!). Batman had used the green plastic tray to make a Two-Face mask and had staged the incident with the old pipe. At the end of the Batman story, Bruce tells Alfred and Dick that it's time to return to Wayne Manor after a twelve-year absence. In the Batgirl story, Barbara is harassed by a motorcycle gang. Nice art by Jose Delbo and Joe Giella! So this is the first Two-Face story that I read that was a regular battle of wits between Batman and Two-Face. I don't think I was that impressed with it at the time (I missed the next two issues of Detective Comics) but I like it a lot more as the years have gone by and I've read it a few times. Now I can appreciate how writer Conway was sticking to the crimes themed around the numeral two but not shoving it down the readers' throats like in the Golden Age. And I love the part with the Batman Two-Face! Batman shows a good grasp of psychology and he took a chance on how Two-Face would react ... and he was right! |
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Post by Hoosier X on May 1, 2018 1:36:28 GMT -5
Here's what I wrote on my blog several years ago about the issue where Batman moves his operation back to Wayne Manor and the REAL Bat-Cave: Batman #348 |
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Post by Hoosier X on May 1, 2018 2:24:58 GMT -5
So I'm up to Detective Comics #523, which means we've got some catching up to do! (Actually, I'm up to the next issue of Batman - #357 - but it's the first appearance of Jason Todd and the return of the Squid and basically the starting point for a whole new set of subplots, so I'm saving the discussion of #357 for my next post. It's a much better place to start than to finish.) After Batman busts up the Crime Academy and moves back to the Bat-Cave and faces Man-Bat yet again, the next grave menace involves a couple of vampires as Robin's special subplot takes center stage for a few issues. Batman is even a vampire for an issue or two! But he's saved by a priest who prescribes a full blood transfusion. This storyline - after germinating for quite some time as a subplot for Robin - is the main focus in Batman #349 (for Robin), Batman #350, Batman #351 and Detective Comics #517. Batman, Vicki Vale, Deadshot and Christopher Chance (the Human Target, hired by Alfred) all converge in a story that concludes the ongoing subplot where Vicki Vale thought she had proof - absolute proof this time! - that Bruce Wayne and Batman were one and the same. But Alfred's little scheme pays off and Vicki is convinced that Bruce can't be Batman. And then ... Colonel Blimp for a couple of issues (Batman #352 and Detective Comics #519)! The Joker shows up in a nice little one-shot in Batman #353 where he's trying to sculpt his own face on the Gotham Palisades. And we get several issues of Hugo Strange and the haunting of Rupert Thorne. Dr. Thirteen shows Thorne that there's no ghost, just a series of holograms. Thorne decides that his political tools - Pauling or Mayor Hill - must be behind it, so he attacks them with a gun in his hand and kills Pauling. This storyline goes back all the way to Steve Englehart's run in 1978, and the Rupert Thorne part of it is put to rest. But Hugo Strange also has plans for Bruce Wayne! These plans involve a duplicate of Wayne Manor, robots of Robin and Alfred, and Professor Strange's obsession with taking over the role of Batman himself! (For some reason, I keep thinking that this run doesn't really get going until Doug Moench takes over the writing (which is coming up very soon). But this time through, reading all these issues reminds me that there is a lot of great comic-book stuff in the Gerry Conway stories, and he's really owning these characters and doing a wonderful job of tying up some loose ends from a previous classic run. (And at the same time, leaving some loose ends of his own for somebody else to play around with.)) Selina Kyle returns ... and she hates Vicki Vale as much as the fans!  And then there's a bit of a format change in the backups. Catwoman is no longer the backup in the Batman comic as it goes to full-length Batman stories in every issue. And Batgirl is OUT in Detective as her spot is taken over by Green Arrow. Which is too bad. I like the Batgirl stories. The last couple of storylines have Lady Viper and the Velvet Tiger and are both pretty cool. The Green Arrow series in Detective rarely clicked with me. The first storyline (in #521 and #522) has very nice art by Trevor von Eeden, but the tale of a computer villain calling himself Hi-Tek is about as generic as it can be. The storyline that starts in #523 gets a few points for being pretty wacky with a villain calling himself Machiavelli and a villainess called the Executrix. (And I like the Irv Novick art.) But I remember the Green Arrow series as being pretty average at best. I haven't read the Green Arrow stories for a very long time because when I re-read this run, I skip poor Oliver's part of each issue. But I'll give him another chance this time through. Then the Batman story in Detective Comics #522 features the death of the son of the yeti. And Detective Comics #523 has a pretty cool Solomon Grundy tale. I think I mentioned somewhere that the Colan/DeZuniga art is lovely. All in all, a great run so far! I love these comics! And the best is yet to come! |
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Post by brutalis on May 1, 2018 7:46:44 GMT -5
Loving this Hoosier X as all of these tap into my high school years when I began collecting Batman and Detective Comics regularly and my early college years. During high school there was a new Circle-K opened near my home so with that and 2 Korean stores and then 3 more Circle-K's in walking distance of the school I was suddenly having a much greater chance of finding each monthly issues on the stand very regularly. After high school i got my driver's license and the city beckoned with comics galore. It was a truly grand time to enjoy the Darknight Detective as the stories and art are all superb and with 1-3 issue story lines nothing drags on too much and you can jump right in with nearly any issue. Wonderful mix of classic and newer villainy so you won't be bored with repetition. And IMO this is Gerry Conway writing at some of his best second only to his Spider-Man run. |
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Post by Deleted on May 1, 2018 8:35:27 GMT -5
Batman 348 was a nostalgic issue Hoosier X ... because it's brought back Batman to his roots and with Man-Bat invading in his territory and the story was so unreal and I was reading your blog and chuckling of how they managed to get that giant penny in without the help of Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and even Jonn Jonzz (he was busy at that time) and getting everything back in the Batcave. It was a fun and crazy issue and one of fun stories to read back then. I have a friend -- that has that issue and thinking of re-reading it soon -- possibly in a week or two.
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