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Post by zaku on Jun 22, 2021 11:14:47 GMT -5
somehow, Robin is still leading the New Teen Titans within the larger DC Universe while also attending college and being Batman's partner again. Wow! Robin is the Wolverine of the early 80s!  |
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Jun 22, 2021 11:32:19 GMT -5
somehow, Robin is still leading the New Teen Titans within the larger DC Universe while also attending college and being Batman's partner again. Wow! Robin is the Wolverine of the early 80s! I always suspected Wolverine actually had Multiple Man's powers. Arm shot off? Just bring in another multiple and chalk it up to some mythical "healing factor". |
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Post by Hoosier X on Jun 28, 2021 10:54:08 GMT -5
Batman Family #5 (June 1976)  "The Princess and the Vagabond!" Script: Elliot S! Maggin; Cary Bates Pencils: Curt Swan Inks: Vince Colletta Colors: ? Letters: ? grade: D+ Fans looking for a Batgirl and Robin team-up have now bought four double-sized issues of Batman Family, yet received only two such team-ups, both containing forgettable plots and only one truly memorable moment each. But this cover boldly promises another long-awaited team-up, choc full of chemistry. Heck, even the title page boldly promises what we've all been waiting for:  (Did they just kick through a concrete exterior wall?)...and yet the story within tells two separate stories in parallel, our new dymanic duo teaming up for exactly two pages at the end:  during which they pretty much reenact the cover we already saw before having paid the 50 cents, only with less gusto. And there will be no kiss, nor mutual discovery of secret identities in the final panels this time around. Instead, in this outing's obligatory will-they/won't-they moment, Maggin seeks to charm us and make our hearts skip a beat by giving us...pervy Robin:  The conflict is over, so what could he possibly mean by, "kinda gets you ready for some real action, yes--?" Yikes. Enigmatically, Bob Rozakis later weighs in again on DC's concerns over a 25 year old and a teenager experiencing mutual romantic attraction:  I'm starting to suspect from what we saw above that they'll have Dick crushing on Babs, and Babs keeping him at arm's length. We won't find out for another two issues though, as Rozakis also promises we will only be getting these team-ups every other issue from here on out:  Were I buying this title in 1976, shelling out 50 cents an issue, I definitely would have dumped this title at this point. Too little pay-off for that much investment. And having Curt Swan on the book is an..."interesting" choice this time around. When Swan wants to, he can churn out some pretty modern looking material, but there is a stilted, throwback feel to much of this issue  ...except when Swan is trying to give us cheesecake panels  which are becoming shockingly frequent in this title. And, perhaps because of Swan's involvement, we have Clark Kent intermittently narrating this story for reasons I don't understand:  He doesn't actually tell us anything we need to know, nor does he contribute to the story in any meaningful way. He just sort of takes up space. Minor Details:- The book drops from 68 pages to 52 pages with this issue. - Robin's lassoing skills continue to shatter the suspension of disbelief that otherwise works throughout these stories:  Dude just threw a lasso around an entire tower. Still more believable than the Washington monument. - Whereas last issue's solo Robin story had him reunited with his old supporting cast, this one makes clear efforts to give him a new/different friend we haven't seen before:  I'm curious whether he'll be with Jack or Lori in next issue's solo story. Plot synopsis: Dick and his friend are giving a Russian (though the country is never outright said) dissident writer a tour of New York and then DC, Babs is giving an Eastern European princess a tour of DC at the same time, and a covert agency named Maze is trying to take them both down. Cue Robin and Batgirl to save the day. Backup reprint features for this issue include the following: - "Ace, the Bat-Hound"!(from Batman #92) - "The Signs of the Signalman" (from Batman #124) I got this digitally from Comixology for the reprints. Ace the Bat-Hound is awesome but I haven’t read the Signalman story yet. Since I have it, I just read the Robin/Batgirl story ... what did I just read? It’s the kind of story that reminds me why I read so few DC Comics in the mid-1970s. Nowadays, they’re kinda fun in a stupid way, but not the kind of thing my allowance would have accommodated in 1976! Not at all! |
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Post by Hoosier X on Jun 28, 2021 11:06:52 GMT -5
Just for fun, I went to Mikes Amazing World of Comics to see what else was on the spinner rack at the same time as Batman Family #5.
I bought 15 comic books that month. That’s more than usual, but I had picked up Power Man that month for some reason. I also got both issues of the Dracula/Dr Strange cross-over even though I didn’t buy either comic on a regular basis.
I only bought one DC comic that month! Joker #7, with guest villain Lex Luthor! I love the Joker’s 1970s series!
The first issue of The Secret Society of Super-Villains was on sale that month, but I didn’t see it. I started buying it with #2 and found the first issue at a used-book store some months later
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Post by Hoosier X on Jun 28, 2021 11:19:06 GMT -5
Full disclosure - despite not caring much about Robin and Batgirl in 1976, I bought Batman Family #6 because I was intrigued by the Joker’s Daughter. I didn’t get any of her other Batman Family appearances, but I did get that issue of Teen Titans where that whole storyline was resolved. It was the only issue of the original Teen Titans I ever bought.
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Jun 28, 2021 15:56:25 GMT -5
Full disclosure - despite not caring much about Robin and Batgirl in 1976, I bought Batman Family #6 because I was intrigued by the Joker’s Daughter. I didn’t get any of her other Batman Family appearances, but I did get that issue of Teen Titans where that whole storyline was resolved. It was the only issue of the original Teen Titans I ever bought. BOY do I have opinions about that character. Just keep reading this thread and, eventually, the sister Teen Titans review thread if you're ready to see me complain endlessly about her being the centerpiece of every damn Rozakis story. |
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Post by Hoosier X on Jun 28, 2021 16:08:06 GMT -5
Full disclosure - despite not caring much about Robin and Batgirl in 1976, I bought Batman Family #6 because I was intrigued by the Joker’s Daughter. I didn’t get any of her other Batman Family appearances, but I did get that issue of Teen Titans where that whole storyline was resolved. It was the only issue of the original Teen Titans I ever bought. BOY do I have opinions about that character. Just keep reading this thread and, eventually, the sister Teen Titans review thread if you're ready to see me complain endlessly about her being the centerpiece of every damn Rozakis story. I’ve read your posts. They are hilarious! And it helped me fill in the blanks with the character as I only saw two of the comics she was in. They really ran that one into the ground! |
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Post by shaxper on Oct 12, 2021 10:22:04 GMT -5
New Teen Titans #18 (April 1982)  "A Pretty Girl Is Like a-- Maladi!" Script: Marv Wolfman Pencils: George Pérez (breakdowns); Romeo Tanghal (finished art) Inks: Romeo Tanghal Colors: Adrienne Roy Letters: John Costanza Grade: n/a (only looking at Robin's depiction in this story; if you want my full review of this issue, you can find it here) For four months now, the Batman titles have been testing various depictions of Robin in an attempt to elicit fan reactions. We've gotten the throwback, eager-eyed (slightly older) boy sidekick, the equal partner, the solo act largely spending his time at Gotham University and getting in over his head, and the angsty teen who gets frustrated that he just isn't as good as Batman. Marv Wolfman hasn't had a say in this since he was abruptly removed from the Batman titles a year earlier, and his depiction of Dick Grayson in the pages of the New Teen Titans has totally avoided exploring his relationship with Batman in that time. There's clearly been some kind of edict in place in the time since Wolfman's removal in which the Batman titles never acknowledge the new Teen Titans, and the New Teen Titans no longer make more than a passing reference to Batman. Still, in this issue, Wolfman finds a way to cast his own vote for how Robin should be characterized in relationship to Batman. It's a minor moment; one, in fact, that feels intrusive and unnecessary to the story at hand, in which Robin and Wonder Girl meet with King Farada (last seen during The Lazarus Affair_.  Faraday comes to Robin with a high priority secret mission from the U.S. Government, and it isn't a mission for the Titans. Faraday makes it clear that he neither knows nor care who Wonder Girl is. Similarly, he never mentions Batman nor asks where he is. He came for Robin, meaning the government itself considers Robin capable enough to pull off this assignment. Robin's sarcastic demeanor with Faraday further implies that Robin has earned himself some level of status here. He does not need to be on his best manners for this guy. And so, even without mentioning Batman once, Wolfman strongly implies that Robin has been a solo act in his time outside of the Titans, and that the government considers him at least as capable as Batman, if not better. Of course, readership for the Batman titles had been way down for a long while by this point, while the New Teen Titans were quickly becoming DC's strongest seller, so Wolfman's depiction here ultimately becomes the one that gets solidified in the minds of most comic readers. Perhaps this very moment is why Dick will ultimately be released to the pages of the New Teen Titans and replaced with a second Robin. However, until that occurs a full year from now, we've still got more conflicting depictions of Dick Grayson being explored in the Batman titles. |
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Post by shaxper on Oct 12, 2021 11:10:27 GMT -5
Detective Comics #514 (May 1982)  Batman: "Haven!" Script: Len Wein Pencils: Don Newton Inks: Frank Chiaramonte Colors: Adrienne Roy Letters: John Costanza Grade: n/a (only looking at Robin's depiction in this story) Len Wein gets called in to do a fill-in story and, having written Batman exclusively during his darker solo days only two years earlier, Wein sidelines Robin without a second thought:  It's actually a really good story, but Dick has no role in it. Batgirl: "Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth!" Script: Cary Burkett Pencils: José Delbo Inks: Joe Giella Colors: Tom Ziuko Letters: Phil Felix Grade: D- If you had any hope that Burkett's final Batgirl story, which is also the only four-parter he's ever written for her, would be something special, I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news. This might actually be the dumbest Burkett script yet, introducing a new villain who goes from posing as a half-snake/half-woman in a traveling circus to actually becoming a half-snake/half-woman with all sorts of snake powers without any kind of an explanation:  Was it magic? Is it a trick? Are we ever going to find out??...and ends up having the motives of a generic 1960s Batman TV show villain:  You might think Burkett would at least slip some deep characterization for Babs into this otherwise insultingly bad story, but no, Babs uses her only moment of internal reflection to worry about what's happening with her dad in the Batman stories:  but at least she sees nothing awkward and weird about checking out a colleague's private mail and reading it to him before he grabs it for himself:  I'm guessing that's a Delbo error, and the speech balloon should have been attributed to the secretary. Speaking of art, Giella and Ziuko at least come alive on the inks and colors, giving us several really breath-taking visuals in this otherwise painful adventure:  but all the inking and coloring in the world still can't make up for rushed Jose Delbo pencils. What in the world is Batgirl's cable attached to here?  All told, this is by far the worst Batgirl solo story I've yet read, and that's saying something. I almost hope the remaining chapters in this four part epic get even worse so as to at least be laugh-worthy, because that at least seems more realistic than wishing they'll getting better. Sales/Circulation DataThis issue contains a statement of ownership with some alarming figures. The average number of copies printed over the past year is 237,811 (very low for the pre-direct market era!), the most recent issue's numbers are only 229,307 (suggesting a downward trend), and the number of copies returned of the most recent issue is 142,128. Only 87,129 copies of the most recent issue of 'Tec were sold. Add to that the question of how many of those customers actually cared to read the Batgirl b-stories? It would seem that Burkett and Delbo are right not to care about what they are pumping out each month, as they are playing to an empty audience anyway. |
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Post by shaxper on Oct 12, 2021 12:07:09 GMT -5
Wonder Woman #291 (May 1982)  "Judgment in Infinity! Chapter 1: Comes the Adjudicator!" Script: Paul Levitz (plot); Roy Thomas (script) Pencils: Gene Colan Inks: Frank McLaughlin Colors: Carl Gafford Letters: John Costanza Grade: n/a (only looking at Batgirl's lack of depiction in this story) I worry that I sound insane in these reviews at times, arguing that there was a secret edict to downgrade Batgirl's importance in the Bat titles, that Wolfman was quietly let go from the Batman titles for taking Robin in a direction that the higher-ups didn't like, and that there was a secret edict in place that neither the New Teen Titans nor the Batman titles could acknowledge one another. Each of these "conspiracies" would have stemmed (first) from editor Paul Levitz and his belief that Batgirl and Robin should never outshine Batman, and subsequently editor Dick Giordano, who continued Levitz's vision and worked to bring the Batman franchise back to its pre-1970 status quo. I think I've argued my points well, but even I'm a little surprised by how far the effort to downgrade Batgirl's importance would seem to extend with this particular story. Judgment in Infinity was an ambitious effort to sell new readers both on Wonder Woman and on the other women of the DCU. It was played up as a multi-part story arc (even The Lazarus Affair from a year earlier didn't really advertise that it was a multi-part story arc on the covers), Roy Thomas is scripting (presumably in an effort to get Marvel fans reading?) and Gene Colan is serving up some mind-bending art, while Wonder Woman encounters a threat that will require her to get the aid of every prominent female character in the DCU ...except Batgirl. More suspicious yet, Batgirl appears on the title page of this first issue:  quite prominently, no less, even though she never appears anywhere else across three issues! It sure seems like she was slated to play a large role somewhere in this story and was then cut from it entirely. It's entirely possible this was Roy Thomas' call, I suppose, but considering both that every other major female DCU hero appears AND that she is so prominently featured on that first page, it sure seems like someone asked Thomas to remove her from the story. Or maybe I really am just crazy. |
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Post by MDG on Oct 12, 2021 14:49:44 GMT -5
Wonder Woman #291 (May 1982) There has to be a reason this splash only looks about 20% as good as it should, given the artists and the subject matter. |
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Post by shaxper on Oct 12, 2021 15:39:45 GMT -5
Wonder Woman #291 (May 1982) There has to be a reason this splash only looks about 20% as good as it should, given the artists and the subject matter. A last minute change in scope is my guess. Wonder Girl and Thorn were almost certainly added after the fact, and the floating heads probably were too. Maybe even Supergirl and Black Canary. |
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Post by chaykinstevens on Oct 12, 2021 16:24:48 GMT -5
A last minute change in scope is my guess. Wonder Girl and Thorn were almost certainly added after the fact, and the floating heads probably were too. Which one is Thorn? I thought that was supposed to be Mera at the back. |
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Post by shaxper on Oct 12, 2021 16:42:58 GMT -5
A last minute change in scope is my guess. Wonder Girl and Thorn were almost certainly added after the fact, and the floating heads probably were too. Which one is Thorn? I thought that was supposed to be Mera at the back. GCD says you are correct. I missed the crown. |
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Post by chaykinstevens on Oct 12, 2021 17:18:32 GMT -5
This issue contains a statement of ownership with some alarming figures. The average number of copies printed over the past year is 237,811 (very low for the pre-direct market era!), the most recent issue's numbers are only 229,307 (suggesting a downward trend), and the number of copies returned of the most recent issue is 142,128. Only 87,129 copies of the most recent issue of 'Tec were sold. Add to that the question of how many of those customers actually cared to read the Batgirl b-stories? It would seem that Burkett and Delbo are right not to care about what they are pumping out each month, as they are playing to an empty audience anyway. The statement of ownership says the latest issue had a paid circulation of 85,567. 127 copies were distributed free and 1,485 copies were not distributed. |
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