|
|
Post by Hoosier X on May 2, 2018 0:42:18 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. 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. 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. I was looking at the cover dates and remembering what I was doing in 1982 and 1983 when these were coming out, and it reminded me of a bunch of stuff I hadn't thought about in years. I've mentioned before that I was a rather sporadic reader of Batman and Detective during the Gerry Conway era and the early part of the Moench issues. But I didn't do too bad the first year. From Detective Comics #512 to #523, I only missed two issues (#514 and #515) and I didn't miss any issues of Batman from #345 to #356. But this is where I hit a bad patch. I only bought four of the next ten issues of Detective (#524 to #533) and four of the next ten issues of Batman (#357 to #366). I was a freshman in college at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. I lived in a dorm and I didn't have a car. The nearest place to get comics was a supermarket that was two miles (maybe more) from campus. (I seem to remember that later on, a comic book store opened just a few blocks from campus. But that was when I was a sophomore or a junior.) Ball State is known as a suitcase college, where everybody goes away for the weekend a lot of the time. I liked having the campus to myself. Sometimes it seemed like it was just me and two or three other guys staying for the weekend in my wing of the dorm. The campus was practically deserted, the library was quiet, you could study and it was definitely very nice to get an occasional break from all the yahoos who had seen Animal House too many times. And every two or three weeks, I would brave the elements and walk to the supermarket and get caught up on my regular comics. I had started reading Legion of Super-Heroes, Green Lantern and All-Star Squadron about a year previously, and I stuck with those comics for several years. And I was still reading quite a few of the major Marvel Comics - Hulk, Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, The Avengers, Captain America, Daredevil, Thor, maybe one or two others. I didn't have any trouble accumulating any of these comics using this method of going to the supermarket every two or three weeks. I probably missed an issue here or there, but I would invariably pick them up within a few months at a comic book store (there was one on the bypass that I got to every so often). So I wasn't missing Batman and Detective because my sporadic trips caused me to miss issues. I was passing them up by choice. I was buying A LOT of comics when I went to the supermarket. And I just wasn't always committed to buying Batman twice a month. I bought the big Anniversary issue (#526) and there's a couple of cool Joker covers that I couldn't pass up. Also, I got the ones with good Killer Croc covers. And that great Nocturna cover on Detective Comics #530! I had to get that! (I filled in all the holes five or six year ago, which is when I got serious about putting together a Detective Comics collection.) What really got me back to buying both Batman books a lot more regularly was ... Jason Todd appearing as Robin! I love the cover to Batman #368! But I'm getting ahead of myself. I read Detective Comics #524 last night but I couldn't quite bring myself to finish it because I didn't want to read the Green Arrow story. I'll just have to bite the bullet and read it. The things I do for this forum! |
|
|
|
Post by Hoosier X on May 3, 2018 2:00:04 GMT -5
I read Batman #358 last night and I had to comment on the guest artist - Curt Swan! That's a pretty weird-looking Killer Croc! But the readers didn't know he was weird-looking because Croc had been sticking to the shadows and wearing a trench coat and a hat so that nobody would know had a skin condition. |
|
|
|
Post by Hoosier X on May 3, 2018 2:25:11 GMT -5
Before I read Batman #358, I finally got to the Green Arrow backup in Detective Comics #524. And I didn't recognized the story. I don't think I ever read it before. Oh, I recognized the characters - Machiavelli and the Executrix - but nothing that happened looked at all familiar. Detective Comics #524 is NOT one of the issues I bought in early 1982 or late 1983. Just look at the cover! It looks like Batman has been defeated by a person who lets Ernie Bushmiller design his clothes. (It's the Squid, by the way, and he is murdered by Killer Croc before the end of the comic. The Squid doesn't look like he was designed by Bushmiller. Just the clothes. If Bushmiller had designed the character, he would be mostly bald with a Hitler moustache. And a cigar. And a deformed hat. I think I might have skipped this issue back in 1983 because I didn't like the idea of Batman being beaten by someone wearing those pants. I got this one as a back issue just five or six years ago. And I don't think I read the Green Arrow story. I bet I didn't read very many of the Green Arrow stories when I was filling in the holes in my 1980s Batman collection. It's very rare for me to skip any stories when I read comics. I read everything as soon as I get it. But I do occasionally come across stories that I absolutely don't remember, usually in anthology comics. (I bought Adventure Comics #461 to #466 for the JSA stories. A couple of years ago, I re-read the JSA stories and decided to skim through the other stories (this was in the Dollar Comics era) and didn't recognize any of the non-JSA stories! So it does happen.) I read the Green Arrow stories in the 1980s, and I usually found them unsatisfying. (Which is putting it mildly.) So I think it's very likely that when I got the issues that I missed 30 years previously, I probably didn't read the Green Arrow stories. Which means I'm going to be reading a lot of these Green Arrow stories for the first time! For some reason, I find that kind of exciting, even though I don't really like the series very much. Some stories in 1980s issues of Detective Comics that I've never read! That's pretty cool! (Even if they are kinda sucky.) |
|
|
|
Post by Hoosier X on May 3, 2018 15:02:18 GMT -5
I went to Mike's Amazing World and looked at the comics that were on sale with a cover date of March 1983 (that's the date on two Batman issues I missed, Batman #357 and Detective #524) and I'm very surprised to find close to 20 comics that I know I bought that month and two or three others that I think I probably got. In addition to the handful of DC comics and the major Marvel comics that I've mentioned, I also got The Defenders, Ka-Zar, Master of Kung Fu, Moon Knight, Peter Parker the Spectacular Spider-Man and X-Men.
Cerebus #48 is listed for this month and I had #39, #41 and every issue from #43 to #53, so I must have been getting to the comic book store on the bypass pretty regularly.
I also recognize the cover to Arak #19, and I remember getting that for a few months.
And I picked up New Mutants #1, but I didn't read that series very long.
Also, Camelot 3000 #4! I'm pretty sure I didn't buy this ... I remember reading Camelot 3000 a few years later at a friend's house. I'm not sure I ever read all of Camelot 3000.
|
|
|
|
Post by Hoosier X on May 3, 2018 15:27:59 GMT -5
Detective Comics #295 came in the mail a few days ago, and I have to comment on it because it's a bit of a milestone - a very minor milestone, I admit - because it's the first comic I've ever owned with a Carter Nichols story! (Except for a few reprints.) "Who's Carter Nichols?" I hear you mutter. Well, Carter Nichols is a Gotham City scientist who can send you back in time by hypnotizing you. Somehow. And for almost 20 years - 1944 to 1963, Professor Nichols would occasionally hypnotize Batman and Robin (and Superman on a number of occasions in World's Finest) and send them back in time for weird adventures in 17th century France or around the Gotham City area in the 1700s or whatever. One time they met the original inspiration for the Frankenstein monster! I read about Professor Nichols in the Batman Encyclopedia in the 1970s, but I didn't see any of the Dr. Nichols stories for a long time. They don't seem to have been a popular source for stories to reprint in the 80-Page Giants or the 100-Page Super-Spectaculars. One exception is the story where Batman goes back in time and finds that the Bat-Cave was used as a headquarters by a guy who dressed as an Indian to infiltrate the local tribes and spy on them during the American Revolution. This is titled "The Origin of the Bat-Cave" and appeared in Detective Comics #205 in 1954. Because it's a Batman "Origins" tale, it has been reprinted a few times, including Batman Annual #1 (1961), which itself was reprinted as a replica edition in 1999 (which is where I saw it). SO I heard about Carter Nichols in the late 1970s and didn't see my first Carter Nichols story until 1999. I still haven't read very many of them. I saw a few in a World's Finest Archives volume I got from the library close to ten years ago. And then last year, I heard about the one where they meet Frankenstein and I found it online. In Detective Comics #295, Batman and Robin go back to ancient Egypt to investigate some bizarre artwork found in a pyramid that shows a figure that looks like Batman fighting some weird giant random monsters. And since it's a 1961 issue of Detective Comics ... IT'S ALIENS! I'm surprised Professor Nichols didn't just resign from the Batman comics in disgust, proclaiming, "I didn't sign on so my time-travel technique could be used for more of these random Jack Schiff aliens!" |
|
|
|
Post by Hoosier X on May 4, 2018 0:43:57 GMT -5
From the letters page in Detective Comics #525, responding to Detective #521: There's quite a bit more. The letter is from John Wells, not a regular letter writer that I recognize. As much as I like this storyline, I have to agree with Mr. Wells in thinking that Selina Kyle should be a little more able to handle seeing her old boyfriend with another woman ... even if the other woman is Vicki Vale! But what I really wanted to talk about was that crack about The Brave and the Bold #131. I bought most of the issues of The Brave and the Bold from #119 to #130 when they were brand new (or almost brand new; I remember getting some of them at a used-book store, two for a quarter). And then I stopped getting it for several years. So I didn't read #131 until just a few years ago. It's great! It's the Haneyverse! Wondrously silly and hilarious! Everybody is a little off-model, especially Catwoman. My own theory about what's going on in The Brave and the Bold is that it's NOT a separate DC Universe; it's dozens of separate DC universes! I'm not even sure the two Sgt. Rock team-ups took place in a single universe. But I also have a theory about The Brave and the Bold #131 that's specific to that issue and is an attempt to mesh the story with the regular Bronze Age DC Universe. There's another Catwoman running around! She bears a resemblance to Selina Kyle, but because she operates internationally, she doesn't often run into people who know Selina Kyle well enough to know it's not her. She masquerades as Catwoman because she likes the notoriety, perhaps, and she likes being the Catwoman of the Eastern hemisphere, but she manages to protect her own secret identity by masquerading as Catwoman and even as Selina Kyle. There's a couple of other Catwoman stories where I think she's acting weird and is way out of her usual stomping grounds (that two-parter from the mod era of Wonder Woman comes to mind). So whenever you see a Catwoman story you don't like, it's the imposter! I'm just mentioning this because it was kind of fun to see someone in the letters page agreeing with me that Catwoman in The Brave and the Bold #131 was a little off. |
|
|
|
Post by Hoosier X on May 5, 2018 18:55:27 GMT -5
I'm up to Batman #362. I haven't read it yet. I'm really looking forward to it. This is one of the issues I missed in the 1980s, so I have only read it a couple of times since I got a copy six or seven years ago. As I remember it, it's more like a parody of a Riddler story than a real Riddler story. The riddles are over-the-top and ridiculous, yet Batman and Gordon have no trouble coming up with the answers through random association and they are always right. I remember finding it hilarious. I have never made a list of my favorite Riddler stories, but this might make the Top Five. (My favorite is the three-parter from the Chuck Dixon era in Detective Comics #705 to #707, but I also love his first two appearances and several of his Silver Age appearances quite a bit.) |
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on May 5, 2018 20:40:51 GMT -5
From the letters page in Detective Comics #525, responding to Detective #521: There's quite a bit more. The letter is from John Wells, not a regular letter writer that I recognize. As much as I like this storyline, I have to agree with Mr. Wells in thinking that Selina Kyle should be a little more able to handle seeing her old boyfriend with another woman ... even if the other woman is Vicki Vale! But what I really wanted to talk about was that crack about The Brave and the Bold #131. I bought most of the issues of The Brave and the Bold from #119 to #130 when they were brand new (or almost brand new; I remember getting some of them at a used-book store, two for a quarter). And then I stopped getting it for several years. So I didn't read #131 until just a few years ago. It's great! It's the Haneyverse! Wondrously silly and hilarious! Everybody is a little off-model, especially Catwoman. My own theory about what's going on in The Brave and the Bold is that it's NOT a separate DC Universe; it's dozens of separate DC universes! I'm not even sure the two Sgt. Rock team-ups took place in a single universe. But I also have a theory about The Brave and the Bold #131 that's specific to that issue and is an attempt to mesh the story with the regular Bronze Age DC Universe. There's another Catwoman running around! She bears a resemblance to Selina Kyle, but because she operates internationally, she doesn't often run into people who know Selina Kyle well enough to know it's not her. She masquerades as Catwoman because she likes the notoriety, perhaps, and she likes being the Catwoman of the Eastern hemisphere, but she manages to protect her own secret identity by masquerading as Catwoman and even as Selina Kyle. There's a couple of other Catwoman stories where I think she's acting weird and is way out of her usual stomping grounds (that two-parter from the mod era of Wonder Woman comes to mind). So whenever you see a Catwoman story you don't like, it's the imposter! I'm just mentioning this because it was kind of fun to see someone in the letters page agreeing with me that Catwoman in The Brave and the Bold #131 was a little off. I have never, ever seen the Catwoman in that Comic Book in my life --- I had to do a double-take on it and she looks so much different than the Catwoman that I known in my readings of Batman. |
|
|
|
Post by Hoosier X on May 6, 2018 11:34:30 GMT -5
I'm up to Detective #529 and Batman #363, the first two issues in the Nocturna/Night Thief storyline, and it seems like a good place to take a breather and do some catching up. The squid returns, just long enough to capture Batman and feed him to his squid Gertrude. Then he is shot and killed by Killer Croc. And the next few issues - Detective #525 and #526 and Batman #358 and #359 - are Gerry Conway's last issues, and he brings the Croc storyline to an exciting conclusion. Croc is planning on taking over Gotham's criminal underworld after the former Gotham crime boss has been imprisoned. There are some very nice covers in this period, which may be why I bought all of Gerry Conway's last four Croc issues (and then didn't buy any Batman comics for three months). I think this one - Batman #359 - is my favorite: One of Croc's criminal enterprises is his protection racket. The circus where the Flying Todds perform is one of Croc's targets, and the Todds get involved when Robin asks them to help him keep track of the extortionists. In the course of these issues, Trina Todd - Jason's mom - discovers that Bruce Wayne is Batman! But she acts like its no big deal. She doesn't know that she is now marked for DEATH! (Conway does a pretty good job of giving Trina a personality in her few appearances. I felt sad while reading her scenes, knowing that she had only a few issues to live.) The Todds see one of Croc's thugs at the circus and exceed their instructions from Robin by following him. This turns out to be a fatal mistake. They are next seen in the alligator pit at the reptile house at the Gotham Zoo as the cops are trying to drive the gators away from what's left of the bodies. Meanwhile, Jason discovers the Bat-Cave and hides in the trunk of the Bat-Mobile. It's been a few years since I've read this and I'd forgotten about the magical mix of fun and tragedy. (A lot of it pretty silly, but it's never bothered me much.) And then ... all the villains get together with a vague plan to GET THE BATMAN! And Batgirl also shows up to help batman and Robin with this latest threat to Gotham. This story is so great! Conway finishes off his run with style and flash and 56 pages! And after that, I missed a few issues. My next Batman is #363 and my next Detective is #530. That's right. I missed Doug Moench's debut. These are pretty good issues, actually, but after the conclusion of the Killer Croc storyline, maybe I figured I'd had my Batman fix for a while. First up is the Savage Skull. He's killing cops! It turns out he used to be a Gotham cop but he was drummed off the force for outrageous misconduct (he shot a kid trying to get away from a fire) and he was also horribly disfigured. He is believed dead at the end of the issue and the storyline isn't resolved until Detective #528. Next, a two-part story with Man-Bat. Kirk Langstrom has been so busy with a new bat exhibit that he's forgotten to take his anti-Man-Bat serum ... so he turns to Man-Bat and kidnaps Jason Todd to get revenge on Batman! Batman #361 also heralds the return of Harvey Bullock, who had appeared once before in Detective Comics #441. (Conway and Moench were both very good at reaching back and reviving old Batman characters. It's something I miss about old comics. Nowadays, they reboot the characters so often that you really can't bring back old characters because the old stories never really existed.) Mayor Hill wants Gordon to FAIL. So he is using Gordon's health as an excuse to give Gordon an assistant. And he assigns Bullock as assistant commissioner. So Bullock is now rummaging around and making a mess of things at every opportunity. And when the Savage Skull storyline is concluded, Bullock plays a major part because he was buddies with the Savage Skull when they were both cops. I read Batman #362 (with the Riddler) yesterday, and it's just as awesome as I remember. There's one sequence in particular where Gordon and Batman are figuring out the Riddler's clues that makes just about no sense at all. It has to be a parody of a scene from a Riddler episode of the old Batman TV show. Also, watching Bullock trying to follow their reasoning as they come up with the scene of the Riddler's next crime is very amusing. You don't have to be ashamed that you were confused by THAT, Harvey! |
|
|
|
Post by Hoosier X on May 6, 2018 11:43:55 GMT -5
I have never, ever seen the Catwoman in that Comic Book in my life --- I had to do a double-take on it and she looks so much different than the Catwoman that I known in my readings of Batman. I'm going from memory here, but I think this is the outfit she wore a few times in very late Silver Age Batman comics and very early Bronze Age comics. (I'm pretty sure she never wore this costume in any issue of Detective Comics.) She also wore it in a couple of very weird issues of Wonder Woman with mod Diana Prince. And also in Batman #256: |
|
|
|
Post by sabongero on May 6, 2018 11:51:19 GMT -5
Is there a time or an issue in either Detective Comics or Batman, where the Joke & Catwoman teamed up to go against Batman?
|
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on May 6, 2018 15:14:54 GMT -5
I have never, ever seen the Catwoman in that Comic Book in my life --- I had to do a double-take on it and she looks so much different than the Catwoman that I known in my readings of Batman. I'm going from memory here, but I think this is the outfit she wore a few times in very late Silver Age Batman comics and very early Bronze Age comics. (I'm pretty sure she never wore this costume in any issue of Detective Comics.) She also wore it in a couple of very weird issues of Wonder Woman with mod Diana Prince. And also in Batman #256: Thanks Hoosier for showing me another cover ... I learned something new from you today! |
|
|
|
Post by Hoosier X on May 6, 2018 18:55:49 GMT -5
Is there a time or an issue in either Detective Comics or Batman, where the Joke & Catwoman teamed up to go against Batman? As early as Batman #2 (1940), the Joker and Catwoman are in the same story, but they don't team up against Batman. As I recall, they are actually in competition, frequently wreaking havoc in Gotham going after the same loot. And then, in Batman #201, "Gotham's Gangland Guardians," the Joker and Catwoman belong to a sort of organized Gotham gang round table made up of such other larcenous alumni as Clue-Master, the Getaway Genius, the Mad Hatter, the Penguin and ... Johnny Witts! But they aren't conspiring to get Batman! They are conspiring to HELP Batman! The eccentric gangsters of Gotham have teamed up to keep regular organized crime (the Mafia, I guess) out of Gotham! (I think this idea totally makes sense, and it's why I don't really like it when regular crime families are depicted as ruling Gotham's underworld. Gotham has its own bunch of weirdos fully capable of running the rackets in the city, thank you! If I was writing Batman, I would bring back the Gorilla Boss so fast! The Gorilla Boss would make mincemeat of the Falcones!) There's a rumor that organized crime is sending a special hitman to get rid of Batman, so the Gotham gang bosses (including Catwoman and Joker) team up to stop the Mafia assassin! Great story. And it cracks me up to see the Getaway Genius and Johnny Witts sitting as equals at the table with the Joker, the Penguin and Catwoman. |
|
|
|
Post by Hoosier X on May 7, 2018 15:56:17 GMT -5
If I was writing Batman: I would bring back this guy SO FAST! And also ... Ginny Jenkins! |
|
|
|
Post by Prince Hal on May 7, 2018 16:17:32 GMT -5
If I was writing Batman: I would bring back this guy SO FAST! And also ... Ginny Jenkins! Gorilla Boss is better than Gorilla Grodd. Meaner, tougher, cruder. Maybe he was descended from King Colosso and the Gorilla Ranger. James Robinson, where are you?    |
|
