Batman Family #9 (February 1977)



Script: Bob Rozakis
Pencils: Irv Novick
Inks: Vince Colletta
Colors: ?
Letters: ?

grade: B-

There are maybe ten villains in all of comicdom that I could tolerate for three seemingly unrelated adventures in a row. For Rozakis to continually throw The Joker's Daughter at us like this is...too much. It's not even a question of whether or not you like the character; it's just over-exposure. I mean, her recurring appearances could have been handled differently. Robin and the security chief for Hudson U could be sitting down at the beginning of this issue, discussing how The Joker's Daughter keeps committing crimes in the college town. They've now brought in the police, and all of them together are devoting their time and energy to tracking her down.

But that's not what happens at all.

Instead, they go about their normal business like she isn't still at large, even having a congressperson come to town like it's totally safe, and Rozakis throws it at us like it's some big surprise that The Joker's Daugher has struck AGAIN for the third issue in a row. Sure, Robin is all concerned and drops everything to suit up when a plaque goes missing, but The Joker's Daughter still at large? Ooooooh, who saw that one coming!

So it's extremely old at this point. And these unmaskings are getting more and more ridiculous:





Fortunately, Irv Novick's pencils have suddenly come alive this issue, making all of this more tolerable. For those of you who have been defending him all along, I can finally see it here. But compare (for example) the kind of action sequences he was drawing last issue



with what he does here:



It's a completely different approach to depicting action and the progression of time. Feels like a totally different artist.


Anyway, Rozakis is far from done thrusting The Joker's Daughter on us. Once we find out her true identity (which Robin somehow deciphered through a logic that he never bothers to explain), and once we somehow accept how magically her jawline transforms when she isn't in costume:



we get this little sequence that comes out of nowhere:



I mean...it sort of makes sense? She never did gain from her crimes, and we never did know why she seemed so obsessed with getting Robin's attention until now, but she sure did induce mass panic in this issue and has broken numerous laws in the process. And why make her primary identity The Joker's Daughter? And, why get Robin's attention as a criminal instead of a fellow hero? Why not use her cleverness to create crimes that she could then "help" Robin to solve, thus proving her worth as a Titan? And HEY, didn't she start these shenanigans before the Titans had reactivated?

But Rozakis isn't all that interested in logical explanations. Instead, he has control of a second title now and sees an opportunity for his new pet invention to further hold the spotlight there. Ugh.


To be fair, I do give Duella Dent credit for how logically she deduced Robin's secret identity:



and his reaction to having learned this was priceless:

.


In the end, there's nothing truly wrong with Duella Dent. Instead, what's obnoxious is how thoroughly she has usurped this title for three issues now (Batgirl and Robin aren't even having their will-they/won't they moments anymore), and now she's about to do the same in the pages of the newly relaunched Teen Titans. It's frankly obnoxious.


Important Details:

- The Joker's Daughter is revealed to be Duella Dent. Robin learns her identity and she learns his. Requests to join The Teen Titans.

- First real acknowledgement in this book (beyond a passing comment in issue #3) that Robin is an active member of the Teen Titans.

- While Robin's solo stories were previously written in a separate universe from his Batgirl team-up stories, with a different supporting cast that never appeared in the team-up stories, Rozakis knocks down that divider in this issue:



Robin's supporting cast doesn't end up playing any kind of meaningful role in this story, but they still appear in a Batgirl and Robin team-up story for the first time.



Minor Details:

- First borderless cover for the title.






Backup stories that appear in this issue:

Alfred: Recipe for Revenge (from Batman #26)
The Blockbuster Breaks Loose! (from Detective Comics #349)

What, pray tell, is a "dominoed daredoll"? I thought a domino mask was the sort that Robin wears which covers the eyes but not the forehead or hair. And "daredoll" is... um... yeah.

She's a really enthusiastic dominoes player.  People have been known to be hurt when playing opposite her.

That's correct!

She was called the dominoed daredoll starting with her very first appearance in the comics, her debut story in Detective #359, on sale in late November 1966.  As Infantino (and others) have related, she'd been created in the comics at the request of the TV show producers, to pave the way for her eventual addition to the TV show (she showed up in the TV series several months after her comics debut, in September 1967, the series' final season).

But when  I was a kid reading Detective #359 and subsequent comics she appeared in, I had absolutely no idea what the word "dominoed" meant or what it was supposed to convey about her.  To me dominoes were a game! 

Batman Family #10 (April 1977)



"Those Were the Bad Old Days!"

Script: Bob Rozakis
Pencils: Bob Brown
Inks: Vince Colletta
Colors: ?
Letters: ?

grade: B

If I had to sum up Bob Rozakis' priorities at this point, they would be:

1. Keep resurrecting old forgotten D-list characters from the Atom and Silver Ages
2. Strive for a more Silver Age feel
3. ...but deliver Marvel-like continuity (and sometimes relationships)
4. Keep Batgirl and Robin romantically separated

And, with the Joker's Daughter now out of the center ring, this may be the story where Rozakis proves the most successful yet in accomplishing each of these goals.


1. Keep resurrecting old forgotten D-list characters from the Atom and Silver Ages

Not only do we get Killer Moth and The Cavalier as enemies, but even I'll admit excitement at seeing Batwoman leap out of retirement in this story:



Rozakis won't be keeping her around (seriously, too bad!), but he sure allows Babs and Kathy to bond in a very real and convincing way. How they discover each other's identities is positively adorable



and might even be intended to remind us of Batman and Superman doing the same at sea way back in Superman #76:



And yet, while Rozakis tries to end this friendship with a powerful moment, it leaves us with one big question:



If there's only one Batwoman, what about the other Batgirl? Fortunately, Rozakis is going to answer that one soon in the pages of the Teen Titans.

As much as I may not like the Batgirl/Robin romance being broken up by Rozakis, this bond that grows in its place between two female characters is both believable and extremely progressive for a mainstream comic book of 1977...or even 1997.




2. Strive for a more Silver Age feel

Wow is it working this time. Rozakis makes it abundantly clear at the close that he isn't interested in exploring villain motivations; he just wants to have fun. And new artist Bob Brown seems ready to take that journey with him. Whereas Novick's pencils often felt awkward in these pages, Brown really gets Rozakis better than most and shows us, for the first time, just how FUN these campy throwback stories of his are supposed to be:



Over in ye old Teen Titans thread, codystarbuck summarized Rozakis' approach to storytelling as "trying to Marvelize the stories, while editorially aiming for young kids who are perceived to have simplistic tastes". Well, for once, it's working. Having the right artist sure seems to help.


3. ...but deliver Marvel-like continuity (and sometimes relationships)

We already discussed the close friendship between Babs and Kathy Kane that really works in this story. In terms of continuity, we have a nod back to the Isle of 1,000 Thrills from Batman Family #3, as well as a reminder that Batgirl and Killer Moth last met in her very first appearance.


4. Keep Batgirl and Robin romantically separated

Yeah, Rozakis isn't done killing our hopes there, and it really and truly hurts.



That was pretty much the only thing I was looking forward to each issue. Ah well.


Important Details:

- 1st appearance of Kathy Kane Batwoman in the Bronze Age. She and Batgirl (Babs Gordon) meet and learn each other's secret identities.

- The letter column announces that the title is abandoning reprints and going to all original content with the next issue



Minor Details:

- 1st DC Bullet cover

- Rozakis is still going out of his way to have characters remind us each issue that, in his universe, folks call Gotham City "The Big Apple." I mean, why?



Backup reprints featured in this issue:

"Bruce Wayne Loses the Guardianship of Dick Grayson!" from Batman #20

"The Second Boy Wonder!" from Batman #105