Holy Right-To-Left! It's Bat-Manga!

As most of you probably know, your mild-mannered reporter is no great fan of Manga. At least not modern Manga, or American-made poseur Manga. Still, when I found the book "Bat-Manga" at the library, I was intrigued.

Back in 1966, Fox TV exported the Batman live-action TV show to Japan. Someone at the publishers of the Manga anthologies Shonen King and Shonen Gaho thought it would be a good idea if they had a Batman comic to tie in with it.

Now, the exporting of American comics is nothing new or special. We've been shipping the rights and artwork for our comics all over the world for 70+ years. Ususally, however, an American publisher, such as DC would send some Batman comics to another country, say Japan, they would be translated, re-typeset and published by the local publisher. In this case, the publisher decided it would be easier or better to simply hire Jiro Kuwata (former child prodigy and co-creator of 8-Man) to write and draw original Batman stories that were more "Japanese".

Kuwata had originally intended to take some time and teach himself to draw Batman in the style of the American comics. Publication scheduling did not allow for that, however, and Kuwata simply forged ahead drawing Batman in his own, personal style.

These comics are fascinating. They feel like you just picked up a Batman comic from another planet or another dimension. They are familiar and yet, alien.

Still recognizable are Batman and Robin:




and Clayface:

who is a pretty good fit for Japanese comics.

One of my favorite villains in these comics is "Lord Death Man" who keeps staging his own death. That storyline had a nice, eerie feeling that foreshadows the US Gothic Batmans of the 1970's.



Of course, no incarnation of Batman is complete without a few panels of *ahem* unfortunate dialogue:


And likewise, no Japanese comic is complete without a monster like this:


Seriously though, this book is really an interesting glimpse of a Silver Age Batman that was never seen outside of Japan.

If It Sells, Keep Sellin' It!

To say that Batman and Robin were a huge commercial success would be a vast understatement. True, Batman sold well for the eleven months he existed prior to adding his now-famous sidekick, but nothing like the household name he would become simply by adding a spunky kid to the team.

The combo was so successful, that every comics company rushed to imitate it, adding junior partners to their established heroes (often just a miniature version of the adult hero, such as the Human Torch's buddy, Toro) even DC itself. Few of these duos were very dynamic. Still, it had worked once, it would work again.

Not only did DC slap sidekicks on many of their existing heroes ( and by the Silver Age there were enough of these scamps to form their own team-the Teen Titans) and create heroic duos from whole cloth (Green Arrow and Speedy, for example) they also gave us an endless string of Batman and Robin wanna-be's.

Let me elaborate on that. I don't mean just pale imitations of Batman and Robin, I mean that, within the context of the Batman and Robin comics, the Dynamic duo encounter myriad crime-fighters who have based their careers on those of Batman and Robin. The Knight and Squire may be the most famous.


My personal favorite are B&R's Native American counterparts from the Southwest- Chief Man-of the Bats and Little Raven!



But, as mentioned, this formula for success was not limited to the pages of Batman. DC felt that what was good for the goose was good for the gander. Therefore, what had been good for Batman would have to be super for Superman. Enter Nightwing and Flamebird:



Not content to simply go around fixing all of Earth's problems, Superman decides he needs to also fight crime in the bottled city of Kandor.

For those who don't know, Kandor is a city that was shrunken, placed in a bottle and stolen by Brainiac all before Krypton exploded. Kandor currently resides on a table in Superman's Fortress of Solitude, where it sits under a red sun lamp (can't have a whole city of Supermen running around, can we?). Whenever Superman uses his shrink ray and stops by for a visit, he has no superpowers.

So, how will Superman fight crime in Kandor if he's not... super? He'll do it Batman-style. And he takes that lovable doofus, Jimmy Olsen along with him to play Robin.

Superman names himself Nightwing and Jimmy Flamebird, after two Kryptonian birds. He fashions costumes based vaguely on the birds' plumage. Pretty soon, they have a Nightcave, Nightmobile and even a Nighthound. Of course, Nightwing and Flamebird are a little spoiled by being Superman and Superman's Pal, so they wear jetbelts that allow them to fly.


"Er- ahem, that's NightWING, Jimmy!"



What's really remarkable, is that this concept didn't just yield a couple of memorable stories and vanish. In fact, Nightwing and Flamebird were one of the back-up features in Superman Family well into the 1970's- although at that point, Nightwing was Superman's cousin Van-Zee and Flamebird was Van-Zee's lab assistant, Ak-Var. (if you'd like to read one of those nifty stories, check out Diversions of the Groovy Kind)

Nowadays, if you mention Nightwing, people think of Dick Grayson after he quit being Robin. And Flamebird was also used again in Teen Titans, this time as a new name for the original Batgirl, Bette Kane.

The names have since been recycled several times.

Still, even though it was a throw-away idea that really broke no new ground, Nightwing and Flamebird's adventures were tremendously fun.

Who is YOUR Favorite Silver Age Batman?

It's kind of a funny thing about Batman. There are really two different takes on Batman during the Silver Age. See, when the Silver Age starts, around 1954, Batman is a different comic than it was in the 1940's, but not as different as it will become in 1964.

When DC's Silver Age gets rolling, it's due to the introduction of completely new versions of some of their Golden Age heroes, i.e.: The Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman, The Atom...

But things were different for the heroes who never went away. Changes were happening, but they were usually subtle. Aquaman got a new origin in 1959. Which was fine, since most of his readers were too young to remember his 1941 origin. Superman's powers had slowly been expanded and now derived from the radiation of Earth's yellow sun. Wonder Woman was still in the Air Force, but was far less about bondage.

And then there's Batman. Batman carried on with his same, cartoony self. Elaborate stories highlighted his need to protect his secret identity, his latest innovations in Bat-themed equipment, his struggles with his bizzarre villains

and showed off his ever-increasing supporting cast which included a Batwoman,


Batgirl,



Bat-Hound and even Bat-Mite.



Batman in the late 50's was a rare treat of bizarre storytelling. Alien worlds, time travel, and an endless string of other hero teams who base their careers on Batman and Robin are common plot ideas. Batman goes through bizarre transformation after bizarre transformation. He is turned into an alien, a macro cephalic genius from the future, and even a baby!


Still, amongst all this brilliant, imaginative fun, nothing could have compared to the weird transformation he was about to undertake.

In 1964, editor Julis Schwartz introduced Batman's "New Look". Carmine Infantino was brought in to make the Caped Crusader look more realistic. Detective Comics regular Shelly Moldoff was told to curb his cartoony enthusiasm and draw a more life-like Batman. To help standardize the look, Inker Joe Giella was brought on to ink both titles . Schwartz fired Batwoman, Batgirl, Bat-Hound and even Bat-Mite. A new Batgirl was introduced and no reference to the previous Batgirl was ever mentioned.

The stories became less fanciful. Batman now fit in better with his Justice League peers- The Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman and The Atom. The Batmobile was made over as an open-top two-seater.

In 1966, Batman was broadcast to the world as a new comedy TV series.
Ironically, it was the weirdness of the earlier Batman that had inspired the show's highly stylized, campy take on the character. The TV show boosted sales of the comic, but the comic was much more staid that the TV show.

Personally, I prefer the pre-New Look Batman. No offense to the brilliant Carmine Infantino, but I prefer the more stylized, moody, noir look of the previous Batman. I really dig the Batmans of Shelly Moldoff, Dick Sprang,

Charles Paris... And more than that, I miss those weird stories and the never-ending string of supporting characters.

Which Batman do you prefer?

Why doesn't anyone write comics like THIS anymore?

My scanner is offline this morning, and I'm a little short on time, so here's a classic post from last year.




Wow. I could write an entire blog on DC's World's Finest Comics alone. This particular issue, however is one of the finest examples of what would become a recurring theme in the Batman/Superman team-up title: Messing with Lois Lane's mind. See, Lois Lane, being the ace reporter she is, actually stumbles across Clark Kent changing into his Superman costume. Always ready to help a buddy out, Batman (and Robin-poor kid never gets any credit)decide to help Supes cloud the issue by making Lois question her own sanity. Highlights include trying to make her think Bruce Wayne may be Superman (Bruce takes her on a date and punches some lions in the face)



and an especially elaborate plot wherein Lois spends the day with Clark while Superman is supposed to be moving all her furniture to her new house (note: if you think owning a pickup truck makes you everyone's bitch when it's time to move house, try being the last son of Krypton). When Lois and Clark stop by there's Superman (Bruce Wayne in Super-drag) carrying out the last of her furniture in a big stack over his head. You know, I don't care how strong you are, don't scratch my antique sideboard just to save a couple trips. Aren't you super fast anyway?? Where was I ? Oh- "Superman" loads all the furniture into a moving van. Lois calls him on it and asks why he's not flying her stuff across town (the nerve of this bitch!) "Supes" explains that he rented the truck to help out a friend with a truck rental business and that he's just about to fly the whole truck away. He then picks up the truck and flies off. We are then treated to the "reality" of the situation. The truck is made of cardboard and is filled with a weather balloon and piloted by Robin. All of Lois' furniture was cleverly removed last night while Lois slept and replaced by papier mache copies....

You know, it might have been easier to just admit you were Superman. Think of all the crime that Batman and Robin didn't stop in the time it took to pull all this off. These guys have some really weird priorities.

What I find most remarkable about all this is how ENTERTAINING comics from the late 50's thru the mid 60's are. I mean, today's comics writers are too self-conscious to even TRY to pass something like this off. Sure it's nonsense. Sure everyone works so hard to protect Superman's identity they forget what's important... but the sheer nervy creativity of this story surpasses any tale of a grim superhero dealing with a mid-life crisis.

Killer Moth... REALLY?

I'm feeling a bit lazy tonight, so I'm going to let Wikipedia do a little bit of my work for me:

"The original Killer Moth is a prisoner identified only by his prison number, 234026. While in prison, he reads a newspaper article about Batman and decides to set himself up as the "anti-Batman," hiring himself out to Gotham City's criminals to help them elude capture by police. Upon his release, he uses the hidden proceeds of his crimes to build a "Mothcave", modeled on the photos of the Batcave in the newspaper article he read.

Killer Moth also establishes a false identity, as millionaire philanthropist Cameron van Cleer. In this guise, he becomes friends with Bruce Wayne. Meanwhile, he promotes himself to Gotham's criminals using his identity as Killer Moth, giving them each an infra-red Moth-signal. In his first job, he rescues some criminals from the police and then uses his Mothmobile to defeat and capture Batman and Robin. The duo escape and lead Killer Moth to a climactic battle on Gotham Bridge, which ends when the villain plunges 1,000 feet into the river and disappears.

In his second appearance (Batman #64 March 1951) Killer Moth kidnaps Bruce Wayne and learns his secret identity. However, he is shot by other criminals and the resultant cranial injury causes amnesia. He remains a persistent enemy appearing through the Silver Age of comics. He is frequently remembered as being the first criminal Batgirl encounters in Detective Comics #359. "

So basically, this guy dresses up as a MOTH and hires himself out to crooks as an anti-Batman. A moth. You know what bats eat? Moths. You know how stupid moths are? They're so stupid they think your porch light is the sun and yearn to be near it. There are so many tougher animals, even tougher insects this guy could have been. And that costume is so... garish. It's just sad. I take back every mean thing I said about Sinestro, Black Manta and Brainiac. Killer Moth, you just suck. I hope you get eaten by Man-bat.

Superman's new friend may be rude, but Batman and Robin are a little...clingy. World's Finest Comics #94

Oddly enough, around issue 94 of World's Finest, the writers felt the need to give us an origin of the Batman/Superman team-up. There are two things wrong with this. One, this does not retell the actual story of the first Superman/Batman team-up and two, the framing device is a much better story.

Batman and Robin get wind of a revenge plot by a recently escaped Lex Luthor, so they rush to Metropolis to help their buddy, Superman. Superman shows up, but surprise! he has a new partner, Powerman.



Batman and Robin get their feelings hurt by the brusque manner in which Superman and his new friend blow them off. They even take potshots at Powerman, as if they're so insecure they have to tear him down behind Superman's back. My favorite slight is "Whoever he is, Superman had to carry him, he can't fly, so he hasn't superpowers." First of all, you guys don't have superpowers either. Secondly, the lack of flying ability does not logically eliminate the presence of superpowers. Aquaman can't fly, the Flash can't fly. Clearly jealousy has impaired their logic. To be fair, Powerman's only obvious power is his superhuman obnoxiousness:

Just so all you gentle readers won't worry too much for the fragile egos of the Dynamic Duo, I'll let you in on a little secret: Powerman is one of Superman's robots in disguise. Superman dressed him up so he could help if Luthor used Kryptonite without Batman and Robin being endangered by the evil genius' death ray device. I would like to point out that Superman's robots, in every other appearance, can fly. Also, I have no idea why Superman makes Powerman speak with a "remote control tape recorder device" when he could have just used his Super Ventriloquism.

Even more puzzling is why Superman seems to have such a low opinion of Batman and Robin's abilities to defend themselves against Lex Luthor.

Catwoman- Running through the jungle in a gown and heels. Detective Comics #211

Even for 1954, this is a weird Batman story. Catwoman uses a live panther to rob a jewel shipment and then flies away in her cat-shaped plane. When Batman and Robin arrive at the airport, Batman finds some volcanic mud left by Catwoman's tire treads and deduces that she is using a volcanic island as her hideout. Somehow, the Dynamic Duo manages to find Catwoman and her plane before she can land. Catwoman uses her plane's claws to damage the Batplane and forces the Caped Crusaders to make an emergency landing on her island hideout.

Landing the Batplane near a mining operation they spotted from the air, Batman and Robin are told by the miners that they are afraid Catwoman is planning to rob their diamond mine. Batman offers to help set up some booby traps which the miners, who are really in cahoots with Catwoman, use to trap the Dynamic Duo.

The crooks are just about to off the Caped Crusaders when Catwoman stops them. She makes Batman and Robin trade their costumes for some homoerotic Tarzan get-ups (leaving them their masks) and then forces them to run through the jungle while she hunts them with the aid of her trained cat companions- a lion, a tiger, a panther and a leopard.

I won't give away the whole story, but of course the good guys win. Robin ponders at least three times how Catwoman could possibly be controlling these killer cats. Get over it! She just is! Also, there is a giant, killer gorilla involved.

Honestly, this story was kinda weak. It holds a certain weird fascination if only for the idea that Batman and Robin have to put on loincloths to play hide and seek with Catwoman. Also, the artwork by Dick Sprang is absolutely beautiful.

World's Finest Friday- a tip of the tiny, purple derby to World's Funnest

If there is anyone in the world who understands the magic of Silver Age DC comics, it has to be Evan Dorkin. In addition to his numerous other accomplishments, Mr. Dorkin authored a DC one-shot called "Superman-Batman: World's Funnest". Superman and Batman are only tangential characters in this awesome romp through the DC "Universe" as the action centers on those annoying 5th dimensional pests, Mr. Mxyzptlk and Bat-Mite. Look, making fun of something is easy, crafting a perfect parody is genius.

Mr. Dorkin starts us off with a brilliant homage to World's Finest, in which the "World's Finest Team" (Batman and Robin and Superman) have just foiled a team up by Lex Luthor and the Joker. But before the baddies can be sent off to jail (from which they will doubtless escape or be paroled), Bat-Mite shows up and decides to make things more exciting, and Mxyzptlk shows up to irritate Superman.

The two imps begin fighting and things soon get out of hand, escalating to the demise of the entire JLA and all the supporting casts of Batman and Superman (seeing Green Lantern taken out by a bunch of bananas is a riot). The beginning and ending sequences are beautifully illustrated by Dave Gibbons (of "Watchmen" fame). Once the Silver age is out of the way, Mxy and Bat-Mite take off, hopping from reality to reality, destroying everything in the DCU, including stop-overs at the Super-Friends, "The Dark Knight Returns", and "Kingdom Come". There's even a wonderful sequence in which Bat-mite expresses his dismay at how dark and violent and un-heroic all the modern DC heroes are (kudos, Mr. Dorkin!!). If you've never read this, track one down at Amazon, you won't be disappointed.

And, if you like this, please be sure to track down the anthology book "Bizarro Comics" by Evan Dorkin, et al. It's full of clever little goodies featuring your favorite DC heroes, re-interpreted by the indie-comics set.