GOOD EVENING CLASS. TODAY WE’LL BE FOCASING ON TWO VERY INFLUENTIAL TIMES FOR NATIONAL PUBLICATION AKA DC COMICS. SO GET OUT THE NUMBER TWO PENCILS AND YOUR SPIRAL NOTEBOOKS AS WE TAKE A LOOK BACK …
BATMAN #244 FACSIMILE EDITION DC COMICS
After the 1966 Batman television show ended, DC made some big changes with Batman. Wayne Manor was locked up. Robin, the Boy Wonder became Robin, the Teen Wonder and went off to college to have his own solo adventures. The character of Bruce Wayne was becoming more important. Bruce and Alfred moved to the penthouse apartment at the top of the Wayne Building. But more importantly, with Bruce Wayne becoming a more vital part of the on-going story, Batman was no longer stuck in Gotham City (or the United States for that matter). With the awe-inspiring art of Neal Adams, writers such as Denny O’Neil took Bruce/Batman around the world. Having him gather secondary characters to help him in his battle against evil. (Anybody else remember the Bat Squad from Brave and the Bold #92?) And since the mission was to return Batman to his detective roots, he was given his own Moriarty in the form of Ra’s Al Ghul. And like any good detective novel, the daughter of his nemesis became a major love interest. And since, this was the 1970’s, Batman/Bruce had a tendency to be shirtless as demonstraighted in this issue. Going from a Chalet in the Swiss Alps to an unnamed desert for the final showdown. And with his assistants Ling and Molly Post injured early on, it’s up to Batman. Some classic noir storytelling illustrated by the amazing Neil Adams and Dick Giordano. This era is by far one of the most successful attempts to take such a well known character in a new direction. A real example to current writers on how to do it. 10 out of 10 Grahams.
CRITTER #12 ANTARCTIC PRESS
A current creative team that understands the importance of world building. The character of Critter has been around since 2010. Hard to believe that 16 years have past and character is still growing strong. Not bad for a ‘little’ indy comic. And most of it comes from the creative team of Tom Hutchison, Fico Ossio, and Kel Nuttall. With a final battle happening in a demonic theatre, the gang fights to close the Book of the Dead once and for all. And with the villain spouting such lines as ‘Now you painted jezebel, Give me the book!” How can you not love it. But victory comes with a cost and team members are lost. Again, the world building skills here are amazing. 9 out of 10 Grahams.
DC FINEST SGT. ROCK THE ROCK OF EASY CO. TPB
Like many genres of storytelling, fades come and go. But it is interesting to see how long some of them last. As a younger man, I really didn’t have an appreciation of war comics. Our Fighting Forces, Our Army At War, All-American Men of War, G.I. Combat, and Star-Spangled War Stories were know as the “Big 5”. In the 1950’s young boys were playing with their GI Joe action figures and plastic army men. So it was only natural that comics would follow the trend. But much like Love comics that also lasted into the 1980’s, who would have guessed that War comics would last for over three decades. And after the first prototype story made by creator Robert Kanigher, the soldier know as the Rock (in GI Combat #68) was expanded on by Bob Haney (in Our Army At War #81) three months later. With a little more playing, he became Sgt. Rock by name an issue later and then in issue #83, we get the official 1st appearance. And as Sgt. Frank Rock took shape and became more and more popular (even taking over the series title that he starred in after issue #302). And having Joe Kubert on art duty did make these tales all the better. The character alos provides us with a wonderful rabbit hole involving Frank Rock’s family line but that is something for another time. And like any good long-lived title it was the characters that kept it alive. And so getting to jump into a huge collection of Rock’s early and hard to find stories is a real treat. A treat that the folks at DC Finest TPB are very good at. 10 out of 10 Grahams.