|
|
Post by Hoosier X on Jan 7, 2024 14:04:55 GMT -5
That's the cover of Detective Comics #333. It's so great. The story inside is more COMIC-BOOK CRACK! Batman and Robin are at the Gotham City Zoo, rounding up some crooks who were using the zoo as a hide-out at night (which should be a story on its own), and after the zoo crooks are taken care of, they are visited by a ghostly vision, Gorla, the Queen of the Elephants! She tells them about the elephant graveyard and requests that they go to Africa to stop the sacred pachyderm cemetery from being pillaged for its ivory. (Or something.) It's not really Gorla. It's a woman named Alice, worried about her boyfriend, who seems to have fallen in with a bad crowd of ivory poachers in Africa, and Alice decided to try to trick Batman into going to Africa with her Gorla gambit. Batman and Robin go to Africa anyway because Gotham City crime has been under control lately. And they have such an adventure! Fighting elephants and poachers and whatnot. (But mostly elephants and poachers.) I love this story. But it makes me wonder about the arguments of some of the fans who praise the New Look and pan Jack Schiff. Because supposedly the New Look brought Batman back to his roots and got Batman back to handling street crime and costumed villains, and steadied the series with more realistic settings. Yes. Batman shouldn't be fighting aliens and monsters and turning into a mermaid and being a robot. The New Look puts Batman back where he belongs ... in Africa, evading an elephant stampede and trekking to the elephant graveyard and fighting ivory poachers. Sarcasm aside, this is such a great story and you can tell Infantino was really enjoying himself with the change of scenery. I can't fault the New Look for producing gems like this. |
|
|
|
Post by Hoosier X on Jan 7, 2024 14:22:56 GMT -5
And then there's Detective Comics #334.
I just adore the Grasshopper Gang! They are hilarious! I would love to bring them back and have them run into Damian Wayne. They would be wise-cracking and teasing him and acrobatting around the place and contorting into unbelievably small hiding places, and then ... Damian brings the beatdown! He has no time for these two! Ouch!
I knew about the Outsider for many years, but I only read a few of the Outsider stories when I was a kid. (They were reprinted in Batman and Detective in the early 1970s and I had acquired a couple of those reprints at used-book stores by 1976 or 1977.) I had also read about the Outsider in Michael Fleisher's Batman Encyclopedia. The Outsider storyline sounded so bad. And it is. But I have come to terms with it. And I think the turning point was this issue. Because the Grasshopper Gang is hilarious! I think I read this story for the first time when I got a Batman Showcase volume from the library about ten or twelve years ago, and it turned me around on the Outsider. Especially when I got my own copy of Detective #334 a few years later and was able to read it in color!
It was reprinted in Batman #254, but I only got my own copy of that a few months ago. And I remember how nice it was to be flipping through #254 and seeing the Grasshopper Gang and re-reading the story from Detective Comics #334 for the hundredth time! Sometimes, I groan a little bit when I get a comic and it has an old story that I've already read. But at other times, I'm happy to be unexpectedly reading a longtime favorite! And Detective #334 is definitely in the latter category.
|
|
|
|
Post by Prince Hal on Jan 7, 2024 15:09:50 GMT -5
And then there's Detective Comics #334. I just adore the Grasshopper Gang! They are hilarious! I would love to bring them back and have them run into Damian Wayne. They would be wise-cracking and teasing him and acrobatting around the place and contorting into unbelievably small hiding places, and then ... Damian brings the beatdown! He has no time for these two! Ouch! I knew about the Outsider for many years, but I only read a few of the Outsider stories when I was a kid. (They were reprinted in Batman and Detective in the early 1970s and I had acquired a couple of those reprints at used-book stores by 1976 or 1977.) I had also read about the Outsider in Michael Fleisher's Batman Encyclopedia. The Outsider storyline sounded so bad. And it is. But I have come to terms with it. And I think the turning point was this issue. Because the Grasshopper Gang is hilarious! I think I read this story for the first time when I got a Batman Showcase volume from the library about ten or twelve years ago, and it turned me around on the Outsider. Especially when I got my own copy of Detective #334 a few years earlier and was able to read it in color! It was reprinted in Batman #254, but I only got my own copy of that a few months ago. And I remember how nice it was to be flipping through #254 and seeing the Grasshopper Gang and re-reading the story from Detective Comics #334 for the hundredth time! Sometimes, I groan a little bit when I get a comic and it has an old story that I've already read. But at other times, I'm happy to be unexpectedly reading a longtime favorite! And Detective #334 is definitely in the latter category. Love the body language from the whole group when the Grasshoppers strike!  Just a tad more limber than John Forte's Legionnaires.  |
|
|
|
Post by Hoosier X on Jan 7, 2024 15:15:18 GMT -5
And then there's Detective Comics #334. I just adore the Grasshopper Gang! They are hilarious! I would love to bring them back and have them run into Damian Wayne. They would be wise-cracking and teasing him and acrobatting around the place and contorting into unbelievably small hiding places, and then ... Damian brings the beatdown! He has no time for these two! Ouch! I knew about the Outsider for many years, but I only read a few of the Outsider stories when I was a kid. (They were reprinted in Batman and Detective in the early 1970s and I had acquired a couple of those reprints at used-book stores by 1976 or 1977.) I had also read about the Outsider in Michael Fleisher's Batman Encyclopedia. The Outsider storyline sounded so bad. And it is. But I have come to terms with it. And I think the turning point was this issue. Because the Grasshopper Gang is hilarious! I think I read this story for the first time when I got a Batman Showcase volume from the library about ten or twelve years ago, and it turned me around on the Outsider. Especially when I got my own copy of Detective #334 a few years earlier and was able to read it in color! It was reprinted in Batman #254, but I only got my own copy of that a few months ago. And I remember how nice it was to be flipping through #254 and seeing the Grasshopper Gang and re-reading the story from Detective Comics #334 for the hundredth time! Sometimes, I groan a little bit when I get a comic and it has an old story that I've already read. But at other times, I'm happy to be unexpectedly reading a longtime favorite! And Detective #334 is definitely in the latter category. Love the body language from the whole group when the Grasshoppers strike! Just a tad more limber than John Forte's Legionnaires. John Forte is another 1960s artist that I love. |
|
|
|
Post by Prince Hal on Jan 7, 2024 15:18:52 GMT -5
Hoosier X, he's way up there in my estimation. Like the Ed Wood of comic book artists.
|
|
|
|
Post by Hoosier X on Jan 8, 2024 22:44:46 GMT -5
I purchased Batman #256, #308 and #324 today. When they come in the mail, I’ll have every issue of Batman from #251 to #400.
|
|
|
|
Post by Rob Allen on Jan 9, 2024 14:18:52 GMT -5
It’s also the second appearance of Aunt Harriet. She’s in about two panels, complaining about how Bruce and Dick never seem to eat the breakfast that she fixes. I wondered how many times and with what frequency she had appeared in the Batman comics. So I used Mike’s Amazing World to count the issues she was in. She shows up 17 times between 1964 and 1968, and this includes one appearance in World’s Finest and one in Jimmy Olsen. A GCD search shows 9 appearances in Detective, 5 in Batman, 2 in World's Finest, one in Jimmy Olsen, one in Lois Lane (cover date Jan. 1969), and one in a free mini-comic included in boxes of Kellogg's Pop-Tarts. Plus a Mad magazine parody of the TV show. |
|
|
|
Post by Prince Hal on Jan 9, 2024 14:24:00 GMT -5
It’s also the second appearance of Aunt Harriet. She’s in about two panels, complaining about how Bruce and Dick never seem to eat the breakfast that she fixes. I wondered how many times and with what frequency she had appeared in the Batman comics. So I used Mike’s Amazing World to count the issues she was in. She shows up 17 times between 1964 and 1968, and this includes one appearance in World’s Finest and one in Jimmy Olsen. A GCD search shows 9 appearances in Detective, 5 in Batman, 2 in World's Finest, one in Jimmy Olsen, one in Lois Lane (cover date Jan. 1969), and one in a free mini-comic included in boxes of Kellogg's Pop-Tarts. Plus a Mad magazine parody of the TV show. Sounds like she's due for a retcon. |
|
|
|
Post by Hoosier X on Jan 9, 2024 14:31:02 GMT -5
It’s also the second appearance of Aunt Harriet. She’s in about two panels, complaining about how Bruce and Dick never seem to eat the breakfast that she fixes. I wondered how many times and with what frequency she had appeared in the Batman comics. So I used Mike’s Amazing World to count the issues she was in. She shows up 17 times between 1964 and 1968, and this includes one appearance in World’s Finest and one in Jimmy Olsen. A GCD search shows 9 appearances in Detective, 5 in Batman, 2 in World's Finest, one in Jimmy Olsen, one in Lois Lane (cover date Jan. 1969), and one in a free mini-comic included in boxes of Kellogg's Pop-Tarts. Plus a Mad magazine parody of the TV show. I missed the Pop-Tarts mini-comic. I’ll have to put that on the list. |
|
|
|
Post by Prince Hal on Jan 9, 2024 14:31:41 GMT -5
Make sure the Pop-Tart is slabbed.
|
|
|
|
Post by Hoosier X on Jan 9, 2024 14:36:07 GMT -5
Make sure the Pop-Tart is slabbed. I would have to crack it open and eat the pop-tart. |
|
|
|
Post by Hoosier X on Jan 9, 2024 23:25:46 GMT -5
I’m just about to read Detective Comics #339. This is the one where a super-intelligent gorilla straps a bomb across his chest and threatens to blow up the city and Batman has to hold him off the ground to save the day. I really love this story. I first saw it in the 1970s when it was reprinted in a DC Special with super-heroes battling super-gorillas through the whole issue. I wrote about it on my blog many years ago and I don’t see any reason not to just link to that. mushtown.blogspot.com/2012/04/batman-friday_27.html?m=1 |
|
|
|
Post by Prince Hal on Jan 10, 2024 11:22:18 GMT -5
I’m just about to read Detective Comics #339. T his is the one where a super-intelligent gorilla straps a bomb across his chest and threatens to blow up the city and Batman has to hold him off the ground to save the day. I really love this story. I first saw it in the 1970s when it was reprinted in a DC Special with super-heroes battling super-gorillas through the whole issue. I wrote about it on my blog many years ago and I don’t see any reason not to just link to that. mushtown.blogspot.com/2012/04/batman-friday_27.html?m=1That could be any one of a hundred DC stories.  |
|
|
|
Post by Hoosier X on Jan 10, 2024 11:34:12 GMT -5
I’m just about to read Detective Comics #339. T his is the one where a super-intelligent gorilla straps a bomb across his chest and threatens to blow up the city and Batman has to hold him off the ground to save the day. I really love this story. I first saw it in the 1970s when it was reprinted in a DC Special with super-heroes battling super-gorillas through the whole issue. I wrote about it on my blog many years ago and I don’t see any reason not to just link to that. mushtown.blogspot.com/2012/04/batman-friday_27.html?m=1That could be any one of a hundred DC stories. This is the one with Batman. Or maybe I should say, the one in the 1960s with Batman. |
|
|
|
Post by zaku on Jan 11, 2024 2:00:37 GMT -5
A GCD search shows 9 appearances in Detective, 5 in Batman, 2 in World's Finest, one in Jimmy Olsen, one in Lois Lane (cover date Jan. 1969), and one in a free mini-comic included in boxes of Kellogg's Pop-Tarts. Plus a Mad magazine parody of the TV show. Sounds like she's due for a retcon. A modern version already exists 🙂 dc.fandom.com/wiki/Harriet_Cooper_(Prime_Earth) |
|
