Post by thwhtguardian on Aug 23, 2014 11:32:09 GMT -5
It was about five years ago this month that I first joined CBR. Now, I had been lurking for some time, making a post here or there but had decided to really join the community in earnest after coming upon a thread titled," Batman: X Years Ago This Month!" which was put up the moderator of the batman board Captain Jim in which each month he explored an issue from the past. What drew me to the thread was it's sense of history, Jim gave us insight not only to the plot of the book but also about his experiences reading them as a child and the history around the issues in question. In those early months alone I learned more about Batman and his history than I had in all the previous years I had been reading comics and truth be told even in the five years since he started that thread. It was an incredible article, and the discussion it generated was a blast.
What was truly great about the thread though was that just like the books it chronicled, it came out every month! Each month Jim would pick a new issue from a new year and the process would begin again. I can't tell you how many comics the thread inspired me to buy as it opened my eyes to the Batman of years go by, which was yet another fun feature as he'd track down where the issue was collected so you could check it out if you were interested. And it went on like that for month after month, to the point where it felt it would be permanent fixture but with the rise in traffic surrounding the upcoming release of the Dark Knight Rises moderator duties became more pressing for Jim which sadly meant less time for posting and so the thread was put on hiatus.
In the years following the hiatus I would continually bug Jim about when he was going to stat up the topic again, and the answer was always, "Maybe in the fall when the traffic dies down a bit". But that fall never seemed to come, and so the hiatus remained. Last spring though, we went further than vague future due dates as I told him I'd partner up with him to make it a reality. Sadly, as you may know, Captain Jim passed away, and so the planned collaboration will never happen. In the days following his passing though I decided that bringing the thread back myself would be a fitting honor for the man I came to know and respect. Now, I'm only 28 so obviously I don't have the experiences Jim had, and although I still intend to dig deep and explore some classic issues in many cases I'll only be able to bring forward my current experience in reading the issue for the first time in the present day so I'll be missing that nostalgic portion that I used to love about Jim's reviews. But if you remember buying these issues as a kid I'd truly love to hear your experiences, as well as any and all comments.
And so, with out any further ado:
What was truly great about the thread though was that just like the books it chronicled, it came out every month! Each month Jim would pick a new issue from a new year and the process would begin again. I can't tell you how many comics the thread inspired me to buy as it opened my eyes to the Batman of years go by, which was yet another fun feature as he'd track down where the issue was collected so you could check it out if you were interested. And it went on like that for month after month, to the point where it felt it would be permanent fixture but with the rise in traffic surrounding the upcoming release of the Dark Knight Rises moderator duties became more pressing for Jim which sadly meant less time for posting and so the thread was put on hiatus.
In the years following the hiatus I would continually bug Jim about when he was going to stat up the topic again, and the answer was always, "Maybe in the fall when the traffic dies down a bit". But that fall never seemed to come, and so the hiatus remained. Last spring though, we went further than vague future due dates as I told him I'd partner up with him to make it a reality. Sadly, as you may know, Captain Jim passed away, and so the planned collaboration will never happen. In the days following his passing though I decided that bringing the thread back myself would be a fitting honor for the man I came to know and respect. Now, I'm only 28 so obviously I don't have the experiences Jim had, and although I still intend to dig deep and explore some classic issues in many cases I'll only be able to bring forward my current experience in reading the issue for the first time in the present day so I'll be missing that nostalgic portion that I used to love about Jim's reviews. But if you remember buying these issues as a kid I'd truly love to hear your experiences, as well as any and all comments.
And so, with out any further ado:
Batman: 64 Years Ago This Month!
Detective Comics #164
Published August 1950 (cover dated October 1950)
Writer: Edmond Hamilton
Penciler: Lew Sayre Schwartz
Inker: Charles Paris
Editor: Jack Schiff
Cover: J. Winslow Mortimer; George Roussos
Published August 1950 (cover dated October 1950)
Writer: Edmond Hamilton
Penciler: Lew Sayre Schwartz
Inker: Charles Paris
Editor: Jack Schiff
Cover: J. Winslow Mortimer; George Roussos
Since this inaugural edition is dedicated to the memory of Captain Jim I thought it would be fitting to find an issue from the year of his birth(1950) and so after a bit of research and an epic search I got a hold of Detective Comics #164 which hit the stands in August of that year. Now, upon first reading this issue my initial response was, "How had I not heard of this before?". It's a little known dirty secret about me, though I detest modern comics that go out of their way to explain unnecessary continuity issues or minute details or characters I absolutely love classic comics that do the same thing. Although they were told with the same earnestness of their modern counterparts I just love how goofy stories like the Origin of the Bat-Cave! and the Strange Costumes of Batman are and this story is in that same vain as it details the creation of the Bat-Signal.
As is the case with most of these types of stories, the plot is fairly thin. It's the eleventh hour and city editor Melton is in a jam as he desperately needs to come up with a new feature article and as he pauses by his office window lost in thought he sees a bright light piercing the night sky as if in answer to his silent prayers for inspiration: he sees the bat-signal! Knowing that Vikki Vale always seems to have the inside track where all things Batman are concerned Melton interviews her in search of answers as to the origin of the creation of that famous signal. Vikki goes onto describe a series of events that lead to the original Bat-Signal that Batman gave Gordon either being stolen or destroyed by sniper fire(which Batman says is but a "petty annoyance"!) which ultimately caused Batman to create a new, better light which we get a view of through a fairly complex disassembled cross section diagram.
So, yes it's a story that was created just so Schwartz could draw a diagram of how the Bat-Signal works and in no way is it really important enough to warrant getting a full story but I found it enjoyable none the less. I love the square-jawed, broad chested Batman and his casual but very paternal tone of voice and the absurdity of the framing narrative just made me smile. Does that make it a must read? Unless you're like me and have a soft spot for these kinds of hokey origin stories, probably not, but if you are like me or you enjoy a silly Batman story I think you'd be happy with acquiring this issue especially as the Pow-Wow Smith story is pretty great as well. And if you're not interested in the back ups included in the issue as originally printed you can also pick up Untold Tales of the Bat-Signal in either Batman Annual #1(1960) or in Batman Archives #8.
Like I said above, if any of you guys got this story as a kid I'd love to hear about it, or anything else reading about this issue brings to mind for that matter. But in the mean time, I'll see you here next month, same bat-time, same bat-channel!
