Detective Comics #627

From 1991, this deluxe sized issue commemorates the 600th appearance of the Dark Knight in Detective Comics. The idea of this issue is pretty novel. To begin, it reprints the very first story of which Batman appeared in Detective Comics #27. In a story titled 'The Case of the Chemical Syndicate', Bruce Wayne is alerted to the death of a pair of businessmen while accompanying Commissioner Gordon on a case. In the guise of the Bat-Man, the vigilante hero determines who the killer is, ushering forth a gritty sense of justice with dark undertones unparalleled in comicdom. 

Readers then are gifted with a reprint of a story from Batman's 30th anniversary appearance in Detective Comics (#387), circa 1968. Editor Julius Schwartz commissioned Mike Friedrich, Bob Brown and Joe Giella to retool that first appearance to reflect the more modern time period. This reboot includes Robin the Boy Wonder in a story that focuses on the generation gap, which was a subject that DC Comics seemed to have very little knowledge in. It's an odd tale in which Robin is sure that the son of one of the deceased is the killer' to the point that it's Batman who keeps a level head while the teen sidekick literally says 'Kids these days...'

There are 2 more stories in this anniversary issue. Both of which retell 'The Case of the Chemical Syndicate' to reflect the early 90s. The first story introduces a new character called Pesticyde. Unfortunately, it's the character's only appearance. But it was a darn good one! Written by Marv Wolfman, with art by Jim Aparo, it blows that 60s reboot out of the water!

90s retool #2 is a bit more complex. Half of the story focuses on Batman trying to solve the murders of those businessmen; half focuses on a drunken homeless man claiming that his buddies have been killed. You might think that the two plots have nothing to do with each other. Yet, Alan Grant does a masterful job stringing both story lines together. This story has some great art by Norm Breyfogle, who along with letterer Todd Klein, sneaks in the names of dozens of past Batman artists and writers. The cool thing about all this is how each matches the art style or signature of the creators. 

I'm co-leading a comic book club this school year. Our first assignment is to read a Batman comic book. Any Batman work is allowed. I was going to read an issue of Detective from 1970 that reprinted several of Batman and Robin's most unusual cases. Unfortunately the book was coming apart at the seams. At first I thought I had bought the book without a back cover. Then I saw that the missing section was still inside the bag. I then began seeing how the front cover and other back pages were beginning to peel as well. As much as I really wanted to read that book, I didn't want to bring it to school and let it get further damaged. Hopefully I'll read it sometime in the future. 

Detective #627 was an interesting experiment. It started in the 60s and continued 30 years later. I wonder if this test was ever continued in another anniversary issue? If yes, I'd be really interested in getting those issues if DC ever did. And if they haven't, maybe it's time to do it again! I'd buy it!

As much as I wanted to show my students an old comic book, I'll have to do with this book. Though if you were to ask those guys, they'd probably comment that 32 years of age is old. 

Sheesh...

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Batman Arkham: The Riddler

It only took 2 issues for the Riddler to return after his debut in 1948. Yet, it was almost 20 years before the man born as Edward Nigma would return to perplex Batman and Robin. Just in time for being the first villain to appear on the live-action Batman series from 1966!

This is a fantastic collection of Riddler stories. Many of which I've never read before. A lot of folks think that The Joker is the best Batman villain. And while the Clown Prince of Crime is his most deadliest rival, I think that it's the Riddler who is Batman's most cunning, most cerebral and most infuriating. 

I think that Batman looks at Joker as a side project. Someone to try and cure. I feel that it's Riddler who really gets up in Batman's crawl because the two are just so much alike. Both are detectives. Batman uses his brains to solve the crimes. It's Riddler who uses his intellect to craft those crimes. And for a very brief, but fun time, Riddler was also a real deal detective, playing private investigator for cash and glory.

There's two amazing stories in which Batman and Riddler are forced to team-up. While I thought that ending to both stories was contrived, the build-up was this awesome buddy-cop thing that had some great one-liners. (It's here where you really see E.Nigma rubbing the Dark Knight the wrong way, like a wedgie from Hell.)

I loved this collection of stories that feature art and stories from a fantastic line-up of talent including Bill Finger, Dick Sprang, Gardner Fox, Jim Aparo, Paul Dini and Scott Snyder. Featuring stories from every era of Batman comics, you get a perfect, yet incomplete glimpse into the psyche of one of the greatest Batman foes of all-time.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

The Brave and The Bold #184

In this pre-Crisis holiday issue, the Huntress is grieving the deaths of her parents, Bruce and Selina Wayne. So the heroine travels from Earth-2 to Earth-1 to spend Christmas with that world's Batman. But when a crook threatens to reveal the previous alleged misdeeds of Thomas Wayne, Bruce Wayne suffers a crisis of conscience. Will this be the Dark Knight's final Yuletide? 

I was expecting this issue to be a downer. I'm not so very familiar with the Earth-2 Huntress. The one I know is from post-Crisis DC in which Batman isn't very fond of the Huntress' superheroing efforts. Here, the Caped Crusader is 'Uncle Bruce' and there's a very loving relationship between the two crime-fighters. Not what I expected at all.  

This was a very good story from Mike W. Barr with excellent art from Jim Aparo. As I said earlier, this issue was a warmer (and pleasant) surprise full of holiday cheer. If you like those Gothic Christmas tales like A Christmas Carol or The Nightmare Before Christmas you will enjoy this deceptively light tale. 

There's also a back-up story for a character called Nemesis. He's a sort of knock-off of the Human Target in my opinion. The story was okay but I didn't feel much a connection with this character who was completely new to me. 

A very well done holiday offering from 1981. A purchase of less than $2 for me, it was a freakin' steal!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

The Brave and the Bold #148

If it wasn't for finding nearly a complete run of the issues missing for my Brave and the Bold collection thanks to Ssalefish Comics, I wouldn't even be getting to review this holiday treat from 1979. 

Batman is on the trail of a gang of buttleggers. No, this isn't some odd combination of Uggs and Yoga pants. Apparently, that is the correct term for those who illegally steal and smuggle cigarettes for sale. Commissioner Gordon is stymied by the thefts and the Caped Crusader is oddly giving his friend a hard time about it. 

Also having a hard time is Plastic Man. In this story, Plas has just established himself as a hero, having renounced his wicked ways after gaining his powers of elasticity. But walking the straight and narrow doesn't pay the bills like being a gangster does. So Plastic Man has to take a job being a bell-ringing Santa in a fancy holiday display at a Gotham City department store. 

On Christmas Eve morning, somebody steals the display. Also missing is Plastic Man who manages to leave a clue before his disappearance. Now Batman must save Gotham's Christmas by hightailing it down south to sunny Florida before time runs out!

A very unusual contrast of Christmas scenery in this story. The first half is perfect- snow, cold and ice. The second half is tropical, sunny and hot. And why I don't want to ever live in Florida if I can ever help it. Christmas is meant to be enjoyed when it's cold. 

I absolutely love the cover and interior art by Jim Aparo and Joe Staton. Aparo is my second favorite Batman artist of all-time behind Neal Adams. And Staton was such a master illustrator. But man, did this story have some really odd parts to it. 

For instance, when the decorations are stolen, the Mayor of Gotham City declares a state of emergency. I've read hundreds of Batman comics where the Joker is threatening to destroy Gotham with his gas. Or Bain wants to blow up the City. Or Mister Freeze is going to create a permanent winter. Yet in each of those instances, never once has the Mayor made such a proclamation. But he's willing to send out the National Guard when someone steals the town's nativity scene?

Then there's Batman's whirly-bat. I love the little helicopter. But are you telling me that Batman's corvette style Batmobile could really fit that thing in the trunk? No Way!

Bob Haney penned this Christmas themed story and he's usually very good at writing the Brave and the Bold stories. But this time around it was just a little bit inconceivable!
Still a fun read, but riddled with plot holes.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

DC Showcase Presents: The Spectre, Volume 1

This was a beautiful collection of stories starring one of the most mysterious and most powerful characters in the DC Universe. Originally a creation of Superman co-creator Jerry Seigel, the Spectre is the living embodiment of God's Angel of Vengeance. When police detective Jim Corrigan was brutally murdered, God has mercy on him, and gives Corrigan another chance as long as he willingly becomes the vessel for the Spectre to dwell.

Acting as 'The Voice', the Spectre eliminated evil doers in some pretty gruesome ways. That is until the coming of the Comics Code. At that point, the Spectre continued to battle evil, but he'd mellow out eventually, allowing Corrigan to take the baddies to prison instead of sending them straight to Hell.

It's those less violent stories that starts out this awesome collection. Basically neutered, the Spectre would star in a short-lived series helmed by Neal Adams (Batman Odyssey) that only lasted 10 issues. The character would then languish in lingo only appearing in the occasional Justice League of America or Brave and the Bold adventure. The Batman team-ups are reprinted in this collection, as are some Showcase Presents team-ups with Doctor Fate. (The JLA epics can be found in assorted volumes of their Showcase Presents collections.)

As rules on horror in comics was lessened in the 1970s, DC would attempt to reboot the Spectre in the pages of Adventure Comics. Written and illustrated by Michael Fleisher and Jim Aparo, these are some of my favorite horror comics DC have ever done and they were gory! One issue has a victim cut to pieces with a giant pair of scissors and another have a baddie sliced to literal ribbons at a lumber yard. 

Based on the time period, these new Spectre stories were highly controversial and several issues never saw print until later on in a special 1988 miniseries called Wraith of the Spectre. Thankfully, that's not the end of the Spectre as he would appear in several issues of another horror title called Ghosts.

 In these stories, the skeptic hunter Doctor Thirteen would try to prove that the Spectre was a hoax! But each time Jim Corrigan or the Spectre get the best of Thirteen. I wish that storyline went longer than it did because they were some of my favorite episodes in this collection.

I have a few of these stories in other issues already- especially Wraith of the Spectre and Brave and the Bold tales. But this collection was filled with over 300 pages of material that was all-new to me- plus it was an awesome gift from my wife! I loved the whole thing. 

One little quirk- this book is listed as Volume 1. It shouldn't be listed as anything of the sort. There never was (and unless DC un-cancels the Showcase Presents line), there never will be a second volume. I guess that means I'll just have to collect the further Spectre titles from 1990-on in single issue form. I'm okay with that...

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

The Untold Legend of the Batman

   The Untold Legend of the Batman reprints the 3-issue miniseries written by Len Wein. Originally published  in 1980, it features art by John Byrne and Jim Aparo. The book is a virtual encyclopedia of the life and times of not just the Wayne family but the Batman Family as a whole and a few of the Dark Knight's Rogue's Gallery.

    When I first read this book in 1989, I thought this was one of the biggest piece's of crap I had ever read. Dr. Thomas Wayne was the first Batman? Bruce was the first Robin?? And just who the heck was Lucius Fox, Jack Edison, and Philip Wayne?

    I must admit, at age 12, my scope of knowledge about the Caped Crusader was severely limited. So, much of this book felt made-up or in complete error to me. Now with an addition 25-years of reading and watching Batman comics, books, films, cartoons, and much, much more- I must say that this book got it right. Well, they did until the 'Crisis on Infinite Earths' erased much of the history contained in this epic miniseries in 1985. No longer did Batman know who killed his parents, Thomas wasn't the original Batman, and a young Bruce now lived with Alfred at Wayne Manor after the death of his parents.

    Then a little bald man named Grant hit the scene in 2000...

    When the Scottish Wunderkind started writing Batman, Grant Morrison re-established many of the previous bat-facts that I thought were preposterous. In a way, it was Morrison's work on the various Batman titles that validated the Untold Legend of the Batman to me. It also made me want to read the book again.

   Fast-forward about 15-years. Last month, I took some books to a used bookstore in hopes of A) making more room and B) getting some new stuff. Well, as I waited for my trade credit totals to come back, I shopped around where thanks to my lovely wife, I finally found a copy of this book!

    The original copies I had were reprints that came along with cassette tapes that read the story to you. I think my mom gave them to me for Christmas or my birthday. The book my wife found was a pocket-sized paperback, reprinted around 1982 by TOR books. I have seen this book a couple of times on Facebook, but that was about it. Needless to say, this book is kinda hard to find. It may not be rare, but it is scarce. (Okay- a quick check of eBay reveals that the online bidding site had quite a few of these. But in terms of running across this at a con or comic book store at a price I liked- I've not been able to find it before.)

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Wraith of the Spectre #4

The cover says “3 All New Classics.” Now before you label this an oxy-moron, let me explain. Due to the controversial nature of the Spectre revival, the series was pulled without warning almost overnight. There were still 3 scripts lying around waiting to be penciled and inked and then put to press before the cancellation. Almost 25 years passed with these scripts lying in a vault unused. Someone came across them and decided it was time to give them a chance to see print.

 So using DC’s prestige format (which was with new ultra white paper stock, a slightly higher price but no ads, and available is comic book store only) the powers that be got original series artist, Jim Aparo to pencil these stories. The only problem is that you really need most of the dozen or so stories that were published before these tales in order to understand what’s going on. So, DC decided to reprint the entire series as a 4-part mini, with issue #4 being comprised of the never before published tales.

 While I am glad those 3 tales finally saw the light of day, I wish there was a fourth tale. See, with the series being cancelled abruptly, there was a cliffhanger that was never resolved. It involved an investigative journalist whose been following the Spectre’s exploits for quite some time. Now, he’s been wrongly convicted of the killings that the Spectre has been doing. After escaping incarceration, the journalist does what he does best- he investigates. He discovers that Jim Corrigan’s girlfriend is somehow involved in this conspiracy and then the series ends.

There was a fourth tale in this book. It was a small 8 page story from House of Mystery (or was it Secrets?), inked by Aparo. It’s a good story and I’ve seen it reprinted several times before. Still, I’d rather somebody, anybody, at DC Comics have written up a small story to tie up all the loose ends. Talk about your missed opportunities.

Worth Consuming

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

 

 

 

 

Wraith of the Spectre #3 (of 4)

Jim Corrigan finally gets his wish and becomes human once again. However, it takes a gunshot wound for the hard-boiled detective to finally figure out that the supreme bring has lifted his responsibilities of being the Spectre off his shoulders. This probably isn’t the best time for Corrigan to no longer be invulnerable as he’s attracted the attention of a deranged mob boss with a penchant for …Rubber Ducks???

I liked this issue very much; although the use of a rubber ducky to help a crime boss make his decisions is a little weird. Who does this guy think he is, Ernie from Sesame Street? The end to this series was fantastic and I won’t give away what happens. It’s that good.

Oh, and yes, you read that right- these four tales were the end of the reprints from the 1970s run of the Spectre in Adventure Comics. “But, this is issue 3 of 4- how can that be?” one might ask. Due to the controversial nature of the Spectre, especially in his sadistic methods of capital punishment, the Spectre was yanked before Michael Fleisher had the chance to wrap the series up into a neat little package.

If you ask me, the way the last story ended was sufficient to me. However, the people in the DC archive found 3 never before published scripts that were supposed to be in upcoming issues of Adventure. I look forward to reading those as I really love this series. Plus, the great Jim Aparo will be penciling them!

Ghoulish fun that’s Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Wraith of the Spectre #2 (of 4)

   I’d read the first issue a while back. I don’t think I’ve put its review up yet as I still have a massive backlog. However, for those of you who don’t know, Wraith of the Spectre was a 1988 miniseries that reprints the 1970s series that ran for about a dozen issues of Adventure Comics. This Spectre was a return to the golden age hero created by Jerry Siegel of Superman fame.

In the 1940s, the Spectre was a cop named Jim Corrigan who died and was raised from the dead. He was tasked with defeating all evil on earth and often employed some gruesome methods. By the 60s, the Spectre was more of a cosmic being and since he was like 1% away from being as powerful as the Almighty, his usage in the DC Universe was sparing.

Here writer Michael Fleisher and artist extraordinaire Jim Aparo turned the Spectre into ½ gritty cop drama and ½ EC Comics tribute. Spectre does some crazy things to bad guys, like turning them into wood and then slicing them with a buzz saw or into a giant burning Roman candle. I loved it!

For 1974 DC, the writing is superb. The art is even better. I love Jim Aparo’s work. Next to Neal Adams, I consider him the definitive Batman artist. Now, I can saw with much certainty- Aparo is the definitive Spectre artist.

I can’t wait for the next 2 issues!

Worth Consuming

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.