5. Bruce Wayne and Silver St. Cloud

Among the many special, unique, often unprecedented changes Engelhart brought to his and Marshall Rogers’ run of gold amidst the dross of late 70s Detective Comics was the creation of the charming, stylish, perceptive, witty Silver St. Cloud, a woman who was a match for both Bruce Wayne and The Batman.

Which all of us who have chosen this couple know.



The problem, and it was one all of us faithful readers who were energized by the Engelhart-Rogers issues realized almost from the get-go, was that unless this series was going to be the truly New Look for Batman, the relationship could not last. Silver as too strong a person to have tolerated sharing Bruce with Batman. And Bruce? Bruce looks at what he sees in the rear-view mirror of the Batmobile and says, “I wish I knew how to quit you.”


However apt an artistic turn it would have been for Engelhart to have Bruce give up everything for Silver, it would have meant the end of the eternally youthful, adventuring Batman, a business decision DC could never have countenanced.

Which is why we all knew the love affair was doomed from the start.

Random thoughts on Day Eight, in which I try to remember who we've seen before (and since).  

Popeye and Olive Oyl - Have we seen them yet?  I don't remember.  I'm old and there are wolves.  I gave them serious consideration and am glad to see them.  

Batman and Talia - 20-30 years ago these two would have been on my list, unquestionably.  So, I'm happy to see them even if I'm not as enamored as I once was. 

Steve Rogers (Captain America) and Bernie Rosenthal - I did think of these two and gave them some reasonable considerations, so I'm glad they're here.  Bernie seemed a nice bit of normalcy in Steve's life for a short period of time. 

Opus and Lola Granola - You can see that my mind really didn't go to comic strips by my not even considering these two (or Cutter John and Bobbi Harlow, for that matter).  Nice.  

Bouncing Boy and Duo Damsel - Another success for the Legion dating app. 

Cutter and Leetah - I know I discussed Elfquest in general before.  

Aleta and Valiant - Prince Valiant is one of my major blind spots.  I've read less than a handful of the strips over the years.  

John Carter and Dejah Thoris - I love the John Carter books.  Particularly the first three.  But Carter and Dejah Thoris are, in my opinion, the least interesting characters in them.  Maybe they're better in the funnybooks.  But I don't remember it that way.  

Tom and Dhalua Strong - It's good to see Tom and Dhalua here.  Been way too long since I've done a re-read of Tom Strong. 

Rex Mason and Sapphire Stagg - Rex and Sapphire were, I think, the very last to fall off my list.  Such an up and down relationship and one that was a bit too one-sided with Rex giving way too much.  

Tang Shen, Hamato Yoshi and Oroku Saki - I got nothin'.  Even context is kind of only indicating maybe it has something to do with the Deaf-Mute Idiot Turtles.  

Tom & Lili - I still got nothin'.  But this definitely seems like the kind of book I'd hate. 

Captain America and Diamondback - Huh.  Well apparently that happened. 

Flash (Wally West) and Tina Mcgee - I read those early issues of Flash.  I remember precisely zero about them. 

Conan and Belit - Been way too long since I've read this era of Conan.  I did consider them though. 

Jennifer Mays and Gabe Webb - I gave this serious consideration.  They may have lost out due to recency bias since it's been eons since I've read The Maze Agency. 

Destiny & Mystique - I think I vaguely knew this had become a thing. 

#5 Princess Projectra and Karate Kid    1960s

As I have mentioned many many many times, I was an avid Legion fan back when they headlined Adventure Comics. Since PP and KK were Shooter creations they appeared a lot, but I didn't mind: they were just so damned cute together!  

from Adventure #378



I've also mentioned here at CCF and elsewhere that one of my all-time favorite Legion stories was in Adventure #378, when 5 Legionnaires including PP and KK  were poisoned and had to face their impending deaths.  PP and KK love each other and they take pains not to intrude upon the other's final hours...even though it breaks their hearts to be apart.




I know later on their relationship ended in tragedy; and with all the LSH reboots they've had other partners. I choose to remember them and their sweet romance as they were in Adventure Comics.