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Post by tingramretro on Nov 2, 2019 12:46:50 GMT -5
The Doug Moench run in the early eighties remains my favourite Batman era ever. That whole period had so much great stuff going on; Nocturna and the Night Thief, Doctor Fang, the gradual development of Harvey Bullock, Julia Pennyworth...and the art was gorgeous, too...
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Post by Graphic Autist on Nov 2, 2019 12:47:23 GMT -5
Having grown up in the 80s, I read a lot of Batman comics, so am going to be clouded a little by nostalgia. That said, my favourite era of Batman is actually the 1970s. In the late 80s, UK licensees reprinted a lot of 70s Batman stuff, so I'm actually more nostalgic for an era from before I was born. Plus, I think most UK Batman annuals of the 80s reprinted 1970s stuff. I agree. 70s Batman was MY Batman. While I really enjoyed DKR, it ultimately ruined the character for me. Bats is cooler than Supes, but I’m not buying for a second Bats could ever beat Superman. |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 2, 2019 13:07:21 GMT -5
Yes, 70s Batman is my Batman because so many 80s comics/UK annuals chose to reprint 70s stuff.
In 1988, London Editions Magazines released a monthly Batman title here in Britain (2 US reprints per issue). It started off with reprints of "The Untold Legend of the Batman", but after that, began reprinting 70s tales. For its first 20 or so issues, it reprinted those arcs. With its 21st issue, it began reprinting "Blind Justice".
A 1986 annual over here reprinted "The Joker's Five-Way Revenge" (Batman #251), "A Vow From the Grave" (Detective Comics #410), and "Fugitive From Two Worlds" (The Brave and the Bold #155). All of those were 70s tales. For whatever reason, 80s UK reprints "plundered the archives" of 70s tales, so that is pretty much what I knew. In fact, for my entire childhood, I'd wager I read nothing but 70s Batman issues until the reprints began focusing on 80s tales.
So, weirdly, born in 1980, but 70s Batman is "my" Batman. Work that anomaly out.
In fact, it doesn't just apply to Bats. As a kid, the majority of Hulk tales I read were 60s/70s reprints. The majority of Spidey stories I read were 70s reprints. We were always lucky in the UK to have Marvel UK for the Marvel stuff and various licensees for the DC stuff.
We had a comic which ran from 1992 to 1995 called The Exploits of Spider-Man (it began as The Complete Spider-Man). It initially reprinted the contemporary four Spidey titles, but later on, it became a 100-page comic which reprinted modern stuff, Lee/Ditko tales, and Spider-Man 2099.
It'd be a good topic to do one day, because I think while nostalgia means we can have a fondness for the decades in which we were born, it isn't always that simple. One would think "my" Bond would be Dalton/Brosnan, given the era I grew up in, but I actually was raised on a "diet" of Roger Moore!
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Post by chaykinstevens on Nov 2, 2019 15:18:37 GMT -5
Regarding "The Untold Legend of the Batman", it was revealed that Thomas Wayne was the first Batman. Did that retcon survive post-Crisis? ULOTB was just recapping Detective Comics #235 by Bill Finger and Sheldon Moldoff.  According to Wikipedia, the post-Crisis Thomas Wayne was retconned to have attended the masquerade party dressed as Zorro, but this was again retconned in Superman/Batman, where Superman, hoping to reverse some universe-altering change in the time streams, lands in a version of Gotham City in which Thomas never died, finding him giving out Halloween candy in the original Batman costume. |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 2, 2019 15:23:47 GMT -5
I was vaguely aware of that cover, but didn't know the full details. Thought it might be an "imaginary tale".
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Post by tarkintino on Nov 2, 2019 17:30:26 GMT -5
Dude, After the Keaton movie, you couldn't walk the streets without seeing a Batman tee shirt with the shield in front. It was like that in the late 1960s, as well. Even into the early 70s, there was a wealth of licensed and unofficial Bat-symbols on everything from clothing to oversized lollipops. The Bat-effect on general culture was never going to fade away after that 60s explosion. |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 2, 2019 17:36:26 GMT -5
Just to think, the 60s would have been the era of anything beginning with "B" being successful: Beatles, Batman, Bond.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 2, 2019 17:45:27 GMT -5
Dude, After the Keaton movie, you couldn't walk the streets without seeing a Batman tee shirt with the shield in front. It was like that in the late 1960s, as well. Even into the early 70s, there was a wealth of licensed and unofficial Bat-symbols on everything from clothing to oversized lollipops. The Bat-effect on general culture was never going to fade away after that 60s explosion. I've met Adam West 5 times in my life and as soon his television series he got more calls to do general appearances and did several comic cons and people just wanted to meet him. He and Van (Green Hornet) Williams were quite busy and was signing autographs continually ... he told me that in Retirement from acting that his fans was constantly enjoying his tales playing Batman. And, getting paid to do so. It was a tidal (for him) wave and he continues do this until around 2015 until he died in 2017. My last visit was 1999 in his hometown, Walla Walla Washington. We had coffee together and talked Batman for 40 minutes and he had to leave to attend a function and I went to Spokane to visit my club that I ran that time. |
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Post by codystarbuck on Nov 2, 2019 18:13:20 GMT -5
I'm down for the 70s: O'Neil/Adams,Novick stuff, especially Ra's al Ghul; Englehart & Rogers, Frank Robbins stories in Detective, Don Newton material, Len Wein and some of the other young guys, globe trotting Batman, Mike Grell stories, early Walt Simonson, Who Killed Batman?, Death of Batwoman, on and on. So much good stuff.
With the 80s, it was very hit and miss for me. Miller's body of work is rather small, Mike Barr had some good stuff, Moench; but, there were plenty of throwaway stories, as much is before if not more.
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Post by tarkintino on Nov 3, 2019 13:39:21 GMT -5
That said, my favourite era of Batman is actually the 1970s. Same here. The late 1960s was the beginning of Batman becoming one of the most important comic characters of the medium, a status he had not enjoyed since his first few years of published life. With the increasingly darker American landscape of the late 60s, that influenced Batman readers to demand their hero to all but drop the colorful villains, preschooler art by Moldoff and adopt more of the detective drama--almost pulp/noir (and occasionally gothic in nature) stories. Batman may have been a key part of the larger DC universe, but he reclaimed his own "nighttime avenger" persona first through the talents of some the last Fox and/or Friedrich scripts, then the Robbins/Novick run, and of course the eventual pairing of Adams and O'Neil, and their successors throughout the 70s. This was the true Golden Age of Batman, where all elements for success gelled: from Novick/Robbins, Dick Grayson (already an established leader of the Teen Titans) left for college in the last Batman issue of the 1960s ( Batman #217 from December of 1969), and that split matured both Batman and Robin in ways no sidekick/mentor relationship had ever experienced in mainstream superhero comics; we ended up getting great solo stories for both, and broke ground for the beginning of the running sub-plot of some tension between Wayne and Grayson as "family members" that would reach its head in the 1980s. With all of Marvel's character evolution/advancements going into the 70s (Spider-Man far above the rest, arguably followed by Captain America), "across the street," DC answered that creative challenge with historic changes, making Batman--as noted earlier--one of the medium's most important characters. He was not alone, as Green Lantern also experienced an equally unforgettable creative renaissance in the same period. So, I would say Batman's true Golden Age had an early start somewhere around 1968, but is focused on the 70s. |
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Post by berkley on Nov 4, 2019 0:12:44 GMT -5
I would add, as a sort of footnote to Cei-U!'s observations above, that I'm always mystified as to why Year One is often ranked highly as one of the best Batman stories ever, when Batman is almost like a supporting character in it. Most of the story (and character development) seems to revolve around Jim Gordon rather than Bruce/Batman. And, from memory, those are the best parts!
I think it shows that what Frank Miller really wanted to be writing all along was straight crime fiction like Sin City. And I also think it would have been better for all concerned if he'd been given the opportunity to do that right from the start, instead of having to shoehorn existing characters like Daredevil and Batman into the noir or hardboiled crime genre he obviously loved so much.
Not that I haven't enjoyed reading his work with both characters - but I agree with what Cei-U said about Batman and extend it to DD: Miller's version isn't really how I see either of them.
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Post by zaku on Nov 4, 2019 2:00:11 GMT -5
With all this talk about the "psychotic" Batman, if anyone is interested in a nice modern self-contained story, I would suggest Batman Annual #4, where he is a depicted as an intelligent and caring character (there is even a whodunit mistery!). I mean...  |
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Post by EdoBosnar on Nov 4, 2019 3:36:28 GMT -5
And, from memory, those are the best parts! Yes, precisely.
Hm, that's where we disagree; I quite thoroughly enjoyed Miller's first run on Daredevil (Born Again, not so much). However, I also think that that first run on Daredevil is Miller's best work - I've never liked anything he did later as much as much as that.
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Post by EdoBosnar on Nov 4, 2019 3:37:58 GMT -5
O.k. That's an awesome panel. |
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Post by zaku on Nov 4, 2019 4:40:20 GMT -5
O.k. That's an awesome panel. And this one?   |
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