Detective Comics #481 (January 1979)



In the three months since I began this review thread, I've inevitably learned that the two most popular anecdotes about this series are the Batgirl/Robin kiss in Batman Family #1, and the move to Detective Comics as part of the DC Implosion. As the story goes, 'Tec was suffering from sluggish sales and was one of many titles suddenly placed on the chopping block when the higher ups at Warner called for the ax to fall. As 'Tec was both DC's longest running title and the very comic the company was named after, there was a strong desire to save it, and Mike Gold came up with the solution of ending the successful Batman Family title instead and moving its contents over to 'Tec. Essentially, it was still Batman Family, only with the Detective Comics title above it, as well as its legacy numbering.



In terms of personnel shuffling, Len Wein (who was only four issues into his run on Detective), was moved over to the Batman title (and I have a few things to say about that incredibly important, underrated run here), David V. Reed, who had previously been writing Batman, was shown the door (which I consider no great loss), and Marshall Rogers (who was already on 'Tec with Wein prior to this issue) now teams up with Denny O'Neil with the potential to create some truly great Batman adventures together.

It's a win on just about every level.



Batman: "Ticket to Tragedy"

Script: Denny O'Neil
Pencils: Marshall Rogers
Inks: Marshall Rogers
Colors: Adrienne Roy
Letters: Mike Stevens

Grade: B+

Al Milgrom seems to truly care about art. Whereas Julie Schwartz had generally been giving the art chores for Batman Family to the older guard, Milgrom is bringing in the fresh, new masters of the medium, and here he has even shoved aside Michael Golden (inking Michael Golden) to make room for the (arguably) even more talented Marshall Rogers (inking Marshall Rogers). It's gorgeous from the very first panel



and O'Neil seems to take the gig more seriously this time around too. Whereas he played #19's script for laughs and didn't seem to put much thought into #20, this one is a half-decent homage to Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express:



Granted, the solution is rushed and far too lazy to be compared to anything Christie would have written:



but that might be due to this feature being cut down to 17 pages (from 19 last issue). If this was part of the last minute DC Implosion scramble, O'Neil may have gone in believing he had two more pages of script to work with.

The rushed and only partially coherent solution to this mystery aside, the tone and artwork were first rate.



Robin: "Does the Costume Make the Hero?"

Script: Bob Rozakis
Pencils: Don Newton
Inks: Dan Adkins
Colors: Gene D'Angelo
Letters: Shelly Leferman

Grade: C

After a done-in-one team-up, Robin and Batgirl are back to their respective solo features and story arcs, Robin pursuing a mystery I'd already forgotten about that began in Batman Family #19. He doesn't really get anywhere with that, though, because Rozakis decides to take an entirely unnecessary detour to once again give space to fans who came up with new costume designs for Robin. This time, he makes the entire story about this:



And brings back the Robin Rooters too. Oh joy.

but I have to admit to actually liking Paul Decker's design with it's proto-Nightwing domino mask, even if it features a super-practical flying jet pack that fires right between his butt and his cape. No fire hazard here!



But (of course) this was all just a tease, Robin arbitrarily deciding at the close that, because one of the costumes came sabotaged with explosives somehow (??), he's going back to his regular costume and never trying a new one again. It really doesn't make any damn sense.

Much as this story was a total waste of space, I do have to give credit to Rozakis for actually making me laugh at one point:



His corny, throwback style usually isn't my thing, but on some rare occasions, he gets it (almost) right.



Batgirl: "A Slow Death in China!"

Script: Bob Rozakis
Pencils: Don Heck
Inks: Bob Smith
Colors: Jerry Serpe
Letters: Milt Snapinn

Grade: D


Maybe it's because Robin and Batgirl's page counts have been mercilessly cut to 11 and 9 pages respectively with this issue, but it's amazing how little Rozakis accomplishes in either of these stories. In this one, Babs arrives in China, finally getting around to pursuing a lead on her brother still being alive, and the focus ends up falling largely on her new friend and travelling companion, Leslie Tauburn (who we last saw in Batman Family #16), who publicly takes down a bad guy and is therefore mistaken for Batgirl's alter ego:



Seriously, Rozakis: one of these two ladies visiting China has red hair, and the villains are going to automatically assume the OTHER one is Batgirl?? Maybe they watched the television series...

Ultimately, this is a totally unnecessary installment that does nothing to justify the nine pages it occupies in this issue.





Man-Bat: "The Whittles Snatch"

Script: Bob Rozakis
Pencils: Don Newton
Inks: Dave Hunt
Colors: Adrienne Roy
Letters: Ben Oda

Grade: D

Man-Bat becomes a private investigator working with Jason Bard, and immediately Rozakis launches into a derivative, predictable, utterly uninspired noir mystery that isn't worth discussing on any level. Even Don Newton seems bored.




Batman: "Murder in the Night!"

Script: Jim Starlin
Pencils: Jim Starlin (layouts)
Inks: P. Craig Russell (finished art)
Colors: Tatjana Wood
Letters: Karen Kish (as Karisha)

Grade: D

I was really excited for this one, but, a haunting flashback to Thomas Wayne aside



(and well before this became cliche and overdone in Batman stories), there's really nothing to this story. After eight frickin' pages (in a 16 page story!) of the bad guy prattling on about his backstory while Batman listens intently, we get to this underwhelming cliffhanger:



I mean...we don't care about the villain, and we know Batman isn't going to die, so in what possible way can this story resolve itself that will prove even remotely more interesting than what we just spent fifteen minutes wading through with this installment?

And P. Craig Russell art should be mind-blowing, but Starlin's script doesn't even give him much to draw -- just an old dude talking for eight pages. What a complete and utter waste of such immense artistic talent.




O'Neil and Rogers give me hope for the future of this title, but the rest of the features are utterly failing at this point. I'm still confused by the idea that Batman Family was a successful title at this point. What aspect of the series was making it sell so well beyond Michael Golden's art? Certainly Rozakis wasn't doing anyone any favors, and the previous two O'Neil scripts had been weak as well.

Rozakis actually had Robin joke about that repeatedly, almost too often. I suspect part of why he kept showcasing fan designed costumes might have been because he had his own objections to the look. But, of course, Warner was more interested in maintaining a consistent look for merchandising purposes.

Holy crud, I have got to stop writing reviews in the middle of the night when I have insomnia. THANK YOU

Fair enough. Most of these qualities are what attracted me to this run, as well . I just haven't had much patience for where it's gone since Ellot S! Maggin left the title. I probably would have had more patience with the waning quality as a kid, though.

As a child, I devoured these $1 comics my parents would get for me. I think they liked them as the comic kept me occupied with the longer reading time, ha! I read both Superman and Batman Family, but enjoyed the stories in Batman Family and later Detective more than Superman Family. And yes, as a child these stories were pure gold but when I read them now I see how bad some of them were. Still, I enjoy reading them as an adult--it reminds me of happy childhood times and my parents were encouraging me to read in a fun way.

Though I first got into comics in 1989, my LCS had a pretty robust back issue collection, and those later 'Tec issues were the ones I was immediately drawn to. While the masthead was gone, Batgirl and Robin were clearly front and center on those vivid covers (the best of the run, IMO), and the blurbs on the left promised tons of explosive content within. I'm not sure dumping the Batman Family masthead was such a loss in that respect.