shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Oct 5, 2022 6:38:26 GMT -5
I love the Gotham Gazette. They sponsored the contest where ordinary citizens got to be Batman for a day in Detective Comics #225. I’ve always found it interesting that Vicki Vale never works for the Gotham Gazette. She works for Picture Magazine or Vue Magazine. Does the Gotham Gazette have no need for lady photographers? I’ve also noticed that neither Picture nor Vue is ever mentioned unless Vicki is in the story. Interesting that they can't keep straight which publication one of the few ongoing characters in this era of Batman actually works for, but they're crystal clear on The Gotham Gazette, which directly affects no one. |
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Post by Hoosier X on Oct 5, 2022 9:46:03 GMT -5
I love the Gotham Gazette. They sponsored the contest where ordinary citizens got to be Batman for a day in Detective Comics #225. I’ve always found it interesting that Vicki Vale never works for the Gotham Gazette. She works for Picture Magazine or Vue Magazine. Does the Gotham Gazette have no need for lady photographers? I’ve also noticed that neither Picture nor Vue is ever mentioned unless Vicki is in the story. Interesting that they can't keep straight which publication one of the few ongoing characters in this era of Batman actually works for, but they're crystal clear on The Gotham Gazette, which directly affects no one. According to the Batman Encyclopedia, Vicki Vale’s employer changes from Picture to Vue (sometimes called View) in 1953. So maybe she changed jobs or the magazine changed its name. And there’s one anomaly in 1958 where she’s working for Gotham News. It was a special assignment, I guess. |
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Post by Hoosier X on Oct 5, 2022 10:59:53 GMT -5
An ongoing list of people who helped to train Batman (as of Detective Comics #227, January 1956) I did something like this for my Post-Crisis Batman reviews once it became obvious that Denny O'Neil was placing a heavy emphasis on exploring Bruce's early training. Now that we are presumably seeing Jack Schiff do the same thing three decades earlier, it seems appropriate to try the same thing here. So here's the list of Batman trainers that we know thus far: Harvey Harris: Briefly mentored Bruce in detective work while he was still a young teen ( Detective Comics #226). Gotham College: Bruce "trained his body to muscular perfection on athletic teams" and took one criminology course ( Batman #96). Mr. Kean: Taught Batman the art of disguise at the beginning of his career ( Detective Comics #227). Note: While Batman #47 establishes that Bruce "mastered scientific criminal investigation" and "trained his body to such physical and athletic perfection that he could perform any daredevil feat," it does not specify when/how he gained these skills, allowing ensuing stories to fill in the blanks. I’ve been flipping through the Batman Encyclopedia, trying to find if anybody specific was ever mentioned as mentoring Batman before the Harvey Harris appearance in Detective #226. So far I haven’t found anything. The Batman entry has a section about all of Batman’s abilities, and the paragraph on make-up mentions Mr. Kean. And though Harvey Harris has his own separate entry in the encyclopedia, he is not mentioned in the section about Batman’s abilities. I had a copy of the Batman Encyclopedia in the 1970s when it first came out, and it was my bible. I read it almost every day. But that was a long time ago. I’m under the impression that there were a few more stories about how Batman got his abilities, but I don’t remember if there were any that were earlier than the stories we are looking at now. |
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Post by Prince Hal on Oct 5, 2022 11:25:47 GMT -5
I love the Gotham Gazette. They sponsored the contest where ordinary citizens got to be Batman for a day in Detective Comics #225. I’ve always found it interesting that Vicki Vale never works for the Gotham Gazette. She works for Picture Magazine or Vue Magazine. Does the Gotham Gazette have no need for lady photographers? I’ve also noticed that neither Picture nor Vue is ever mentioned unless Vicki is in the story. Interesting that they can't keep straight which publication one of the few ongoing characters in this era of Batman actually works for, but they're crystal clear on The Gotham Gazette, which directly affects no one. Maybe the Gazette, Vue /View and Picture were owned by the same publisher |
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Post by zaku on Oct 5, 2022 11:33:59 GMT -5
An ongoing list of people who helped to train Batman (as of Detective Comics #227, January 1956) I did something like this for my Post-Crisis Batman reviews once it became obvious that Denny O'Neil was placing a heavy emphasis on exploring Bruce's early training. Now that we are presumably seeing Jack Schiff do the same thing three decades earlier, it seems appropriate to try the same thing here. So here's the list of Batman trainers that we know thus far: Harvey Harris: Briefly mentored Bruce in detective work while he was still a young teen ( Detective Comics #226). Gotham College: Bruce "trained his body to muscular perfection on athletic teams" and took one criminology course ( Batman #96). Mr. Kean: Taught Batman the art of disguise at the beginning of his career ( Detective Comics #227). Note: While Batman #47 establishes that Bruce "mastered scientific criminal investigation" and "trained his body to such physical and athletic perfection that he could perform any daredevil feat," it does not specify when/how he gained these skills, allowing ensuing stories to fill in the blanks. I’ve been flipping through the Batman Encyclopedia, trying to find if anybody specific was ever mentioned as mentoring Batman before the Harvey Harris appearance in Detective #226. So far I haven’t found anything. The Batman entry has a section about all of Batman’s abilities, and the paragraph on make-up mentions Mr. Kean. And though Harvey Harris has his own separate entry in the encyclopedia, he is not mentioned in the section about Batman’s abilities. I had a copy of the Batman Encyclopedia in the 1970s when it first came out, and it was my bible. I read it almost every day. But that was a long time ago. I’m under the impression that there were a few more stories about how Batman got his abilities, but I don’t remember if there were any that were earlier than the stories we are looking at now. Even in the Untold Legend, which should be the definitive recap of Batman's origin, only Harris is named. In some way Bruce became a master of every martial arts between college and his debut as Batman. |
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shaxper
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Posts: 22,871
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Post by shaxper on Oct 5, 2022 11:43:47 GMT -5
An ongoing list of people who helped to train Batman (as of Detective Comics #227, January 1956) I did something like this for my Post-Crisis Batman reviews once it became obvious that Denny O'Neil was placing a heavy emphasis on exploring Bruce's early training. Now that we are presumably seeing Jack Schiff do the same thing three decades earlier, it seems appropriate to try the same thing here. So here's the list of Batman trainers that we know thus far: Harvey Harris: Briefly mentored Bruce in detective work while he was still a young teen ( Detective Comics #226). Gotham College: Bruce "trained his body to muscular perfection on athletic teams" and took one criminology course ( Batman #96). Mr. Kean: Taught Batman the art of disguise at the beginning of his career ( Detective Comics #227). Note: While Batman #47 establishes that Bruce "mastered scientific criminal investigation" and "trained his body to such physical and athletic perfection that he could perform any daredevil feat," it does not specify when/how he gained these skills, allowing ensuing stories to fill in the blanks. I’ve been flipping through the Batman Encyclopedia, trying to find if anybody specific was ever mentioned as mentoring Batman before the Harvey Harris appearance in Detective #226. So far I haven’t found anything. The Batman entry has a section about all of Batman’s abilities, and the paragraph on make-up mentions Mr. Kean. And though Harvey Harris has his own separate entry in the encyclopedia, he is not mentioned in the section about Batman’s abilities. I had a copy of the Batman Encyclopedia in the 1970s when it first came out, and it was my bible. I read it almost every day. But that was a long time ago. I’m under the impression that there were a few more stories about how Batman got his abilities, but I don’t remember if there were any that were earlier than the stories we are looking at now. I know we're going to learn who taught Batman to throw batarangs somewhere around Detective #240, but that's all I know for sure in this era. |
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Post by Hoosier X on Oct 5, 2022 13:20:38 GMT -5
I’ve been flipping through the Batman Encyclopedia, trying to find if anybody specific was ever mentioned as mentoring Batman before the Harvey Harris appearance in Detective #226. So far I haven’t found anything. The Batman entry has a section about all of Batman’s abilities, and the paragraph on make-up mentions Mr. Kean. And though Harvey Harris has his own separate entry in the encyclopedia, he is not mentioned in the section about Batman’s abilities. I had a copy of the Batman Encyclopedia in the 1970s when it first came out, and it was my bible. I read it almost every day. But that was a long time ago. I’m under the impression that there were a few more stories about how Batman got his abilities, but I don’t remember if there were any that were earlier than the stories we are looking at now. I know we're going to learn who taught Batman to throw batarangs somewhere around Detective #240, but that's all I know for sure in this era. “The 100 Batarangs of Batman!” Detective Comics #244! I love this story so much. BATARANG X!! It’s in one of the reprint collections that I’ve had for a long time, but it never struck me as being particularly special until I read it a few weeks ago online. I’ve been haunting eBay lately trying to find a copy of this somewhere between a really beat-up, trashed copy for $40 and some very nice copies in the $400 (or more) range. |
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shaxper
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Posts: 22,871
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Post by shaxper on Oct 5, 2022 17:59:29 GMT -5
Big Changes in 1956As I argued here, the implementation of The Comics Code at the end of 1954 left Jack Schiff's Batman office highly constrained, no longer being able to depict violence and guns/knives, and also being required to show evil being punished every time and never being glamorized. Thus, Batman stories in 1955 had to be exceptionally creative AND exceptionally dry in avoiding all of this. Perhaps the worst casualty of this change was the absence of costumed villains who ran the risk of glamorizing crime, plus their frequent returns would mean that evil wasn't truly punished. Well, after a year of telling stories like this, we can see a clear shake-up. As no change was made to The Comics Code at this point (in fact, some familiar with the history of EC might argue its enforcement got more oppressive in 1956), it seems likely that what happened next was a reflection of the Batman titles hemmoraging sales under these new constraints. Suddenly, after a year of antagonist austerity, Schiff's writers take some bold risks with the return of The Joker in February 1956, followed by The Penguin in April. Neither appear on the cover (even though their returns would have been a huge deal), and both are very clearly shown going to jail in the final panels of both stories. The Mad Hatter then makes his first appearance in April, but the costumed villains end there, seemingly as Schiff waits to see if they got away with it or if that was enough risk-taking to get sales back in the black. There were fourteen costumed villain Batman stories in 1954, zero in 1955, and now only three in 1956. So Schiff finds other ways to bolster sales with colorful costumed folks. Ace The Bat-Hound, a seemingly one-shot character introduced in June 1955, returns in February 1956 (landing the cover spot) and continues to appear semi-regularly after that. Batwoman will then make her first appearance in July (also getting the cover spot) and appear semi-regularly after that as well. All of these efforts result in regular appearances of costumed characters once again, even if it's a delicate dance done under the ever-watchful eye of The Code. The villains will be back in a big way in 1957, but, for 1956, three villains and a whole lot of Ace and Kathy Kane were still much better than nothing.
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shaxper
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Posts: 22,871
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Post by shaxper on Oct 8, 2022 9:45:43 GMT -5
After JUST having gotten out of arguably Batman's driest year of comics ever, Hoosier X has pointed out that I somehow missed Detective #223, so expect that review sometime this weekend!
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Post by Hoosier X on Oct 8, 2022 15:21:52 GMT -5
After JUST having gotten out of arguably Batman's driest year of comics ever, Hoosier X has pointed out that I somehow missed Detective #223, so expect that review sometime this weekend! HOO-RAY! |
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Post by Hoosier X on Oct 8, 2022 21:54:56 GMT -5
I pulled out my copy of Detective Comics #223. I’ve only had it a few months. I’ve only read it once. I’m really looking forward to shaxper’s review.
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Oct 8, 2022 21:57:40 GMT -5
I pulled out my copy of Detective Comics #223. I’ve only had it a few months. I’ve only read it once. I’m really looking forward to shaxper’s review. You can certainly lead off with your own! |
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Post by Hoosier X on Oct 8, 2022 22:07:43 GMT -5
I pulled out my copy of Detective Comics #223. I’ve only had it a few months. I’ve only read it once. I’m really looking forward to shaxper’s review. You can certainly lead off with your own! OK! I’ll take some notes and try to find some time tomorrow to write a few paragraphs. And I’ll certainly try to say a few words about Roy Raymond and Captain Compass! In the 1950s, Detective Comics was a happening! |
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Oct 8, 2022 23:12:37 GMT -5
In the 1950s, Detective Comics was a happening! Even without Go-Go Chex? |
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Post by Hoosier X on Oct 9, 2022 11:36:38 GMT -5
OK. Detective Comics #223. Cover date: September 1955
“The Batman Dime-Museum!”
Mike’s Amazing World doesn’t list a writer. The art is attributed to Sheldon Moldoff and Stan Kaye.
That hyphen in “dime-museum” is throwing me off. It looks completely unnecessary to me. The only purpose I can see is to make sure it won’t be confused with a Batman-Dime Museum, a museum dedicated to 10-cent pieces with Batman-related characters on it.
Maybe in the 1950s, a museum that cost a dime was such a common phenomenon that it had its own noun and “dime-museum” (with the hyphen) was the accepted style.
(Like I said earlier, just a few paragraphs on hyphen usage.)
Traveling showman “Breezy” Lane and his son Johnny march into Gotham City and start looking for a unique pitch for their next project to fleece the rubes. There’s a newsboy holding up the latest edition of the Gotham Gazette with the top headline “Batman’s Latest Feat!”
That headline is also throwing me off a bit. I worked in the newspaper business for a few years, and one of the things I did was write headlines. And “Batman’s Latest Feat!” is not a headline! It’s the name of a regular feature or a column. Maybe! Everybody who reads the Gazette knows that the news will be dominated by a report on Batman, so a real headline would be more specific, hopefully with some wordplay. Based on the most recent issues in this thread, the headline might be something like “The Ascot Foiled by Robin’s Long Stories!” or “Batman Swamped by Excess Fan Mail!”
But “Batman’s Latest Feat!”? No wonder the Gazette is failing and needs the help of ringers from Metropolis. I can see why Vicki Vale is happy at Picture Magazine.
Where was I?
Oh, right! We were almost to the second panel.
So Breezy decides that, because Batman is a hot property in Gotham City, a cheesy, tourist-trap dime-museum would rake in a lot of dimes. So he rents a space, decorates it to look like a cave, fills it with papier-mâché bat-tchotchkes, dresses himself and his son as Batman and Robin, and starts charging a dime for admittance.
Bruce and Dick are walking down the street and think “Aww! Cute!” and pay their dimes to take a look.
Commissioner Gordon is there too. He is outraged! He vows to find a way to shut down the Batman Dime-Museum. Bruce tells Breezy that he’ll try to calm Gordon down.
Bruce and Dick go home to Wayne Manor where they find a real-estate agent waiting outside. He has a client who wants to buy the estate for $50,000. Bruce turns it down. The agent offers him $100,000, which is apparently twice what the estate is worth. Bruce turns him down again.
Bruce and Dick decide that was weird. So they start investigating and they find out that the prospective buyer is “Big Jim” Jarrel, a generic Gotham City gangster. They suspect him of being the brains behind the theft of an armored car that was whisked away in a gigantic red van that seems to have completely disappeared, but they have no proof.
It seems that Big Jim knows that there’s a cavern under Wayne Manor, and he wants to use it as a hide-out. Jarrel has found out that a criminal named Whitey Weir used the cavern thirty years ago. But Weir has been in prison and hasn’t used it for many years. Weir also says that, in the meantime, an estate has been built on the property above the cavern.
Which means that Wayne Manor is only thirty years old, at most. And that Wayne Manor is not a long-time abode of the Wayne family. It’s barely older than Bruce Wayne himself.
Batman and Robin discover that Big Jim has bought an adjacent property and is trying to tunnel into the cavern. If they try to stop him, he might suspect that he’s tunneling into the Bat-Cave, and that will give away their secret identities.
So ... they buy the Batman Dime-Museum. Breezy and Johnny go to South America, which is apparently just one large country in the 1950s DC Universe. Batman and Robin get rid of the junk and move everything from the Bat-Cave to the Batman-Dime Museum.
And I mean everything! There’s a panel with Robin taking apart the Tyrannosaurus Rex robot! So that’s how they move it around!
And they continue to sell tickets to the museum! Robin acts as a tour guide while Batman is at a table working on the case. Someone muses that it’s great showmanship to ignore the crowd as you’re pretending to really be Batman while you’re looking at soil samples.
And then some ornery kids climb into the cockpit of the Batplane and somehow start the engine! Seconds away from an awful lawsuit, Robin gets the kids out of the Batplane and tells the worried mother that it’s just some sound effects.
Do I have to tell you that I love this story!?
Batman and Robin realize that if Big Jim finds the cavern, the word will be out, and even if they stop him, other criminals might start wanting to use it. And people will know there’s a cavern under Wayne Manor. It might not be useful as the Bat-Cave anymore!
So they flood the Bat-Cave! They block the underground stream so the cavern fills with water! Big Jim reaches the cavern and thinks it is useless for his purposes, so he gives up the project.
(I love the idea that one of Bruce Wayne’s neighbors has a tunnel that goes almost all the way to the Bat-Cave! Just waiting to be found!)
Then, in about four panels, they find the evidence they need to put Big Jim away, they unblock the underground stream, and they move everything from the Batman Dime-Museum back into the Bat-Cave.
Hilarious!
A+
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