Comin' In On a Wing and a Prayer: Batman & Captain America

Batman/Captain America (October 1996)
"Batman & Captain America"
John Byrne

Doug: It's hard to believe this, as well as many of the other latter-day wave of DC/Marvel crossovers, is 20 years old. Seems like only a few months ago I eagerly awaited this offering to reach my 30-year old paws. Even in the mid-90s, if John Byrne was involved, a project was still going to be big news. But... did this disappoint then, and what about now as seen through the eyes of a curmudgeonly middle-aged school teacher?

No, in answer to the first question, it did not disappoint then. John Byrne's one of those guys who "gets" comic book history. Well, for the most part (the Vision debacle, for which he shall never be forgiven on this space, aside). This book is one big homage, or love-in, or whatever else you want to call it with the Golden Age of these two lead characters. Right from the Batman's first appearance, we can see that Byrne is emulating the style of Dick Sprang, mostly fondly remembered for illustrating the adventures of the Dark Knight Detective in the 1950s. But here I go again, getting ahead of myself. Of course we first need to give you that nifty little plot summary called the 100-Word Review:

Toward the end of the War, Captain America and Bucky are ordered Stateside in order to investigate millionaire Bruce Wayne, believed to be secretly bankrolling sabotage of the Gotham Project (known to history as the Manhattan Project). Batman and Robin are tracking down the Joker, who has been stealing secrets of the Project. During Cap’s surveillance of Wayne, he and Batman learn one another's identities and collaborate to find the Joker. They find that the Joker and the Red Skull are themselves collaborating, but the unpredictable Joker soon turns on the Skull – and that means war of another kind!

If you've never laid eyes on this book, it's a 64-page prestige format graphic novel. And it looks great, which brings us to...

The Good: Yes, it does look great! The art is splendid throughout and the coloring (credited to Patricia Mulvihill) is phenomenal. I don't know that I'm qualified to discern or discuss coloring innovations of the 1990s, but it's fairly obvious that Mulvihill was able to employ then-modern computer coloring techniques without losing the four-color charm that many of us cling to. 

Byrne's pencils are magnificent. Some criticisms (maybe just of mine) of Byrne in this period are that his art had become flat, or scratchy, or that his figures' torsos were sometimes oddly elongated. None of that is here. In fact, if you ask me to compare eras of Byrne's career, I'd gladly put this alongside his work in the Claremont/Byrne/Austin heyday of the Uncanny X-Men or his collaboration with Dick Giordano in the Man of Steel limited series. It's that good. 

His writing is spot on as well. I mentioned at the top the homages to Dick Sprang's art. Byrne captures the spirit of the era in his writing as well. It's not over-the-top sappy or dated in any negative way. But you can just hear Cap or the Batman talking "that way" if you were watching this on film at a Sunday matinee. The inclusion of Sgt. Rock and Easy Company, when Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos would have been included, was a nice touch. Great job of further blending the universes.

There are a few twists in the story that caught me off guard when I read this the first time twenty years ago, and again a couple of weeks ago when I re-read it. That the Joker would double-cross the Red Skull because the Skull was a Nazi seemed strange -- was it the racism, the world conquest, or the supreme egomania that turned off the Clown Prince? It was never stated, but the Joker's seeming patriotism struck an odd note. I'm not saying it was bad... not at all. In fact, it was good because it was so unexpected.

In addition to the wonderful splash of the Batcave, late in the story there is (of course) a perilous trap, timed to kill Batman and Bucky (the crossover with the sidekicks was fun). It definitely hearkened to the days of the cliffhanger endings popular in the serials of the 1940s as well as to the 1966 Batman television series.

Byrne gives a "thanks" to Roger Stern for the epilogue of the story. It's a nifty "What If?", as 20 years after the War Batman and Robin are patrolling the ocean for any signs of the Joker... Junior. "Jr.", huh? Well, this ain't yer daddy's Batman and Robin. Nope -- this is Dick Grayson wearing the mantle of the Bat and Bruce Wayne, Jr. as Robin. And as they pilot the Bat-sub, what's in that ice floe they find up ahead? I think you know what (or who) it is...

The Bad: I guess if I have one complaint it's that Bucky got a little short-shrifted in this story. He has a moment here and there, but largely it's Robin who does the more-heroic stuff. Bucky sort of comes off as a whiner, which I felt was interesting given that I'd have assumed Bucky to be older at that time than Robin -- maybe a little more mature. Too, and if we are to believe the Winter Soldier retcon (which obviously wasn't a thing yet when Byrne penned this story), I'd have liked to have seen Bucky as a bit more take-charge. But then, and as I've said, whenever I was reading the Invaders I never thought of Bucky as carrying out any "collateral damage".

Oh, and another thing -- when the Joker stole the atomic bomb, Fat Boy, and it went off in the Atlantic after our heroes worked their (lucky) magic, what are we to assume? In our reality, the bombs dropped on Japan were nicknamed Fat Man and Little Boy. So in this story was there only one bomb, and if so, was the atomic destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki not to pass? This is in no way a situation that ruins this story for me. Far from it. But it just left me to wonder. Sooooo many universes! Someone should write a Crisis...

The Ugly: Nada.

Check this out if you're able. It's been reprinted in one of the Crossover Classics volumes, and can probably be found at your LCS or online for only a buck or two. It was a nice half hour diversion, and one I'm glad that after all these years I read again.

That Zany Bob Haney:The Brave and the Bold 143

The Brave and the Bold #143 (September/October 1978)
"Cast the First Stone"
Bob Haney/Cary Burkett-Jim Aparo

Doug: At the end of March the Creeper's name came up in our discussion of costume accessories. It then occurred to me that we've never had this weirdo on the BAB. That, for better or worse, changes today. And yes, he is a weirdo. NOTE: Apologies at the top for the quality of the scans. I am reading/scanning from Legends of the Dark Knight: Jim Aparo, volume 2. As this is my first review from that book, the spine is pretty tight.

Doug: The 50c cover price really threw me -- when I got to setting up the post I assumed this issue would be from the early 1980s. I was never a reader of The Brave and the Bold as a child, so that the book apparently went double-sized eluded me. It seemed an oddly short-lived experiment, lasting only two issues (this one and #144) before settling in at 40c. So basically the marketing dept. at DC charged you 35c, but when Marvel raised their prices to 40c DC actually went to a 44-page book at 50c for two months. I believe this up-and-down occurred across the line and was the last straw before the famed "DC Implosion". You can check out the well-referenced facts on the Wikipedia article -- it's interesting.

Doug: Let's check out the plot of this story in a 100-Word Review:

We open with a news broadcast from “the most trusted man in America”, Cosmic Broadcasting’s Monty Walcott. He’s being trailed by the Batman; his top security man is Jack Ryder (secretly the Creeper) – you see where this is headed. Batman and the Creeper meet, tussle briefly, and the Batman tells him of an adventure he’d had with Aquaman concerning the log of a ship sunk 30 years earlier. It’s a tale of drugs, drug lords, and a revelation about Aquaman’s father. But the true bombshell was the reveal of the Gotham City kingpin – Monty Walcott! Can our heroes stop him?

The Good: When you're reading a Bronze Age B&B, you know you start your praises with Jim Aparo's art. As many around these parts say, he's the definitive Bronze Age Batman artist, and the favorite of more than a few of our readers. Aparo stays inside the lines for every one of his panels, but he really varies the size and shape of each one -- no grid system here. He paces things well, and of course his action sequences are top shelf. Although not the colorist on the issue (Jerry Serpe is credited), the page where Batman narrates to the Creeper the adventure with Aquaman from the previous issue is really well done in solid colors with only the inks for shading. And as three of the panels are underwater scenes, it's nicely effective.

Aparo also chooses interesting camera angles, really showing Batman from all perspectives -- I've chosen a panel with a shot from above that is pretty cool -- of course, the blowing cape doesn't exactly lend itself to stealth, does it? I also enjoy Aparo's depiction of Commissioner Gordon with the tousled hair and thick mustache that's really wanting to become a handlebar! If I have a qualm, and it's a minor one, it's in the way Jack Ryder is drawn. Fortunately he's named in each panel that starts a scene, as one might be tempted to think "Bruce Wayne" if just bouncing through the book visually. This was a real problem in the Silver Age in the Avengers in any scene where Cap, Goliath, and/or Hawkeye were shown sans masks -- all that square jaw/blond hair was tough to differentiate. That's what I'm saying here about Aparo's "tall, dark, and handsome" guys. And they are that -- he draws a good-looking man. If I have any knock on the guy's style, it's that his female faces are not equally attractive.

The story in this issue is only 17 pages, as again the book was divided but extra length. Bob Haney's script is pretty simple, with the surprise revealed at the beginning. After all, who would suspect the DCU's version of (apparently) Walter Cronkite as a drug kingpin? Not me. But that's out of the way at the front, and Batman really doesn't have to do much convincing to get the Creeper to help him out in putting Monty Walcott away. Walcott does get crafty in the middle of the tale, as he employs a "vertigo effect" that allows him to escape the clutches of the Batman and Gordon during an interrogation. Batman later learns that this is actually a gas weapon whereby the gas could be set off with a bomb, but activated by a particular radio frequency (there's your Zany) and causing crippling dizziness. There was an antidote, and Walcott had used it to escape from GCPD headquarters. You know he won't be on the lamb for long, though...

The Bad: I am searching the dark depths of my memory for facts lost among minutiae like what I'm supposed to get from the grocery store, in order to recall if I've read many Creeper stories. I know I've owned a few, notably in a longbox of Batman comics I bought for $30 in June 1989 (I've told that story -- took 'em right off the hands of a fellow at a flea market who apparently didn't know there was a Batman film about to be released. Two copies of Detective Comics #400 in there among the other 200 Bat-books). I must say that I don't really care for the character -- not his look, and I find his personality a bit confusing. Bear with me -- it could be just because I'm a novice. I'd like our readers to "sell" me on the character if you have a particular affinity for him. I thought the mash-up of his laughter, mystic talk, and regular-guy talk was off-putting. I guess I couldn't decide which was the "real" him. I said at the top the Creeper is weird -- standing by that, but then again -- maybe that's the point. Other than that general impression, there wasn't anything else in the story that wasn't either positive or what I would have expected from the Haney/Aparo team.

The Ugly: First, can you imagine if the Creeper was really out there running around all yellow and red hairy-cape-thing? That's ugly. Second, as mentioned above, I really tire of megalomaniac talk that includes admonitions like "Mortals!" and "Humans!" Pfah... spare me.

Guest Review: "Bang! You're Dead!" - Batman 321

Doug: Welcome to a second review submitted by Thomas F. You'll recall Thomas's maiden voyage with his thoughts on Spectacular Spider-Man (1976) #1. We're excited to post this today, as it will serve as a sort of bookend to next Monday's review, where I'll take you back to the Silver Age for a Batgirl story from Detective Comics. Onward!

Batman #321 (March 1980)(cover by Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez)

“Dreadful Birthday, Dear Joker…!”

Len Wein-Walt Simonson/Dick Giordano/Julianna Ferriter

Thomas F.: Here we have the first Joker story in the pages of Batman for the 1980s. This story is scripted by Len Wein, an underrated writer who happens to be the co-creator of Marvel’s Wolverine and DC’s the Swamp Thing. This is a classic Joker tale, and Len Wein writes a perfect homicidal, sociopathic Joker with a morbid sense of humor (the twisted humor and depraved deeds tend to be at the expense of the Joker’s victims or even Batman himself).

The art duties were handled by Walt Simonson, a distinctive and popular artist initially known for his acclaimed work on Detective Comics (specifically, the eight-page Manhunter backup stories, beginning in November 1973, which gained him industry-wide recognition), Marvel’s Star Wars, and especially The Mighty Thor in the late 1970s/early 1980s. (Simonson is also well-known for creating the Beta Ray Bill character who first appeared in The Mighty Thor #337, a key Bronze Age issue). 

Although it’s unrelated to the review of Batman #321, I just wanted to mention that the very first piece of artwork by Walt Simonson that I’d ever seen was back in 1989 when I was in elementary school. It was a few months after the release of Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman movie starring Michael Keaton, and Batmania was in the air, especially amongst youngsters. The artwork was a full page pinup of Batman that Simonson had contributed in the pages of Detective Comics #600. (As I recall, a classmate had the issue and was showing it around). It’s a powerful shot of a dark, moody Batman standing in readiness atop a gargoyle.

By the way, the entertaining story in Batman #321 is deservedly reprinted in the trade paperback “Batman in the Eighties” and “The Greatest Joker Stories Ever Told,” so it’s easily accessible (NOTE: It's also been recently reprinted in 2014's Tales of the Batman: Len Wein. -Doug). Of course, all Joker appearances in Silver and Bronze age Batman comics are highly-sought after by comic book collectors, but fans should be able to obtain an original copy of this great book at a relatively low price if they wish to do so.

The story opens at Gotham Police Headquarters on Gotham City’s lower east side. Commissioner James Gordon enters through the front doors out of the pouring rain, where the sergeant manning the front desk informs him that there’s an envelope bearing no return address waiting for him. Tearing it open, Commissioner Gordon is appalled to find that the contents include an invitation from the Joker to attend his birthday party the next evening. The invitation reads: “Dear Gordie, you are cordially commanded to be present at the JOKER’S BIRTHDAY PARTY tomorrow evening at 9:00 PM! Black tie optional, funny hats mandatory. R.S.V.P.  B.Y.O.B.” Gordon tosses the invitation aside, scoffing at the Joker’s presumptuousness.

Suddenly, the two policemen at Gordon’s side are overcome with an attack of mirth. But as the Joker himself strides through the door, clad in his trademark purple overcoat, it’s clear that the laughter is unnatural and is caused by the Joker’s lethal laughing gas!
Outside, having been summoned earlier via the Bat-Signal, the Batman swings down on a rope towards Gotham Police Headquarters, where two things immediately alert him that the present situation is out of control: one, the Jokermobile parked directly in front of the building, and two, the loud hysterical laughter audible even from outdoors. The Batman correctly surmises that laughing gas is involved here and accordingly puts on a miniature gas filter. Crashing down through a high window, the Dark Knight lands amidst the Joker’s armed henchmen. He wades into them like a tornado, making short work of them.

The Caped Crusader then rushes outside just in time to see the Joker make his getaway. In the Jokermobile’s passenger seat lies Commissioner Gordon, unconscious, while the Joker speeds away from Gotham Police Headquarters. That Jokermobile looks hilariously over-the-top!

Almost incidentally, Batman learns from a policeman that in addition to Commissioner Gordon, his sidekick Robin was also abducted by the Joker earlier that day. Disguised as a woman and pretending to have a flat tire, the Joker waves Robin down and tricks the Teen Wonder into helping change a flat tire. The tire, however, turns out to be covered with an adhesive substance that Robin can’t free his hands from. We then see the “woman” pull off her mask, revealing herself to be the Joker.

The scene cuts to Bruce Wayne’s penthouse apartment, located above the Wayne Foundation Building. Selina Kyle is over, visiting, and we see Alfred Pennyworth, Bruce Wayne’s butler and confidant, recommending that Ms. Kyle visit a doctor in regard to her frequent headaches. The door opens, and Lucius Fox (CEO of Wayne Foundation) enters the room, a stack of files tucked under his arm. Lucius Fox has arrived to discuss corporate issues—arbitrage deals, to be precise—only to be informed by Selina Kyle that Bruce had been summoned away on an urgent business matter some time earlier.

Just then, Alfred hears the patter of footsteps on the roof above, and he assumes that Bruce Wayne is returning in his guise as Batman, and just as it occurs to him to distract Selina Kyle and Lucius Fox, a powerful explosion rocks the room. In the wall is a gaping aperture where now stand the Joker and two of his armed henchmen. The Joker instructs his hired help to pick up Alfred, who has been knocked unconscious by the heavy impact, and prepare to leave.

Suddenly Selina Kyle rises to her feet, and with her martial arts prowess makes short work of the Joker’s goons. The Joker charmingly apologizes to Selina for intruding, and offers her a bouquet of roses. Selina is suspicious—as well she should be—since a moment later a gloved fist is ejected from the flowers, like a jack-in-the box, with such force that it knocks Selina out.

Exactly why the Joker kidnaps Alfred isn’t clear—have they crossed paths before? Probably. I’m wondering if the Joker knows of any connection between Alfred and the Caped Crusader. I’m also not sure why the Joker doesn’t kidnap Lucius Fox or Selina Kyle, for that matter, instead of leaving them unconscious in Bruce Wayne’s penthouse suite. Surely abducting them in addition to Robin, Gordon, and Alfred wouldn’t have been much trouble at all. And wouldn’t the Joker—not knowing Batman’s secret identity—seek to kidnap millionaire playboy Bruce Wayne himself, instead of Mr. Wayne’s elderly butler?

When Selina Kyle finally regains consciousness, she finds Batman perched in front of her, but she’s unable to give him much information. Nevertheless, by now Batman has a pretty good idea of what’s going on.

Meanwhile, in the Joker’s hideout, we see at least seven figures strapped to the Joker’s “Victim-Go-Round.”

The Joker explains his motive to Robin, which is, quite simply, vengeance. In the Joker’s own words: “Tomorrow is my birthday … and by way of celebration … I intend to eliminate all you who’ve crossed me … while all of Gotham City watches!” Then Joker the quips: “It’s not exactly the catcher’s mitt I really wanted … but it’s a pretty fair second place!”

In the background, we see the Joker’s henchmen laugh at the Joker’s inane comedy, except for one, who rolls his eyes, thinking: “Sheesh.” The Joker is vexed that this henchman didn’t find his wit amusing, and in a typically Jokeresque manner, casually murders him using a handheld spear-gun from his deadly arsenal.

This scene is so memorable—“Bang You’re Dead!”—that I just had to include it here in its entirety.

The Joker reveals to Robin that he’s managed to entice Gotham City’s population to Gotham’s new Seaside Coliseum by using, as per his wont, a cunning trick and an understanding of elementary psychology. In other words, he offers the jaded, cynical population of Gotham City an invitation from the “Harlequin Baking Company” an opportunity to “sample its wares” the following evening at nine p.m.

A typical elderly Gothamite reading the newspaper advertisement says to his wife, “A free sample? Sounds tempting! Think we ought’a go?” To which his bored wife replies, “Why not? It’d beat sitting through another rerun of celebrity bowling!” I found this dialogue quite funny; scripter Len Wein clearly has a good sense of humor.

Unfortunately for the Joker, Batman, who has also perused the advert, shrewdly discerns that the Joker has just slipped up—there is no existing company as the “Harlequin Baking Company.” And the next night, the Joker’s scheme appears to work. The coliseum is jam-packed full of the curious and greedy who have come for the free refreshments. Promptly at nine, the steel doors swing closed, and within a few minutes, the impatient crowd is immobilized in their seats by a rapid-acting paralytic gas.

The lights dim, and then, in a spotlight, the Joker appears on stage. The Crown Prince of Crime disingenuously welcomes his audience and thanks them for coming. He then reveals his pièce de résistance: an immense cake, with his victims securely bound to explosive candles on top.

The Joker explains to his horrified captive audience that when he triggers his detonator, the candles, along with the victims tied to them, will sizzle. But as expected, Batman arrives, intent on putting an end to the macabre charade. The Joker, who momentarily has the upper hand, informs Batman that if he allows himself to be fastened to the remaining candle, he will release the others, sparing their lives.

Of course, the Joker has no intention of keeping his word. After Batman is roped to the largest candle and the Joker doublecrosses him, Batman presses a hidden button that somehow converts the candle into a makeshift rocket, launching him skyward and out of harm. Apparently Batman had arrived early and rewired his candle’s incendiary jets, which is a rather weak explanation that I didn’t really buy into.

As Batman is launched upward, the Joker chortles that although Batman may have saved himself, his other friends will burn, and with glee he slams his palm down on the detonator. The candlewicks catch fire, and the flames slowly spread towards the Joker’s victims, when Batman frees himself from his candle and hurls batarangs that sever the candles’ fuses. A final batarang cuts Robin free, and he hurls himself into the fray with Batman against the Joker’s cronies.

The Joker takes to his heels and races on foot to the docks nearby, where he has a motorboat ready. He starts the engine and speeds away. His parting comment to Batman is typical of the Joker’s insolence, and his “look out for number one” attitude: “The Joker watches out for himself, fools! ‘Bye now!”

I really enjoyed some of the Joker’s mirth-filled lines in this issue. When he cackles, “He who fails and runs away, lives to win another day,” as he cravenly flees an enraged Batman, it’s priceless.

Snagging a loose line, Batman manages to pull himself up to the boat, where the two engage in combat. Using yet another of his trademark lethal gadgets, the Joker squirts acid from a flower that Batman barely manages to avoid, but the Joker does manage to stun Batman with a heel to the chin.

The two foes continue to grapple, when Batman notices that the boat is out of control and headed directly for a mound of rocks in the shallow water. Batman tries to warn Joker of the peril they are both in, and seizing the Joker’s hand, tries to pull himself and the Joker out into the water. Batman escapes with seconds to spare, but the Joker, who was using a fake hand that came loose as the Batman yanked him, remains in the boat. An instant later, the motorboat crashes and explodes, setting the night sky ablaze with a spectacular reddish glow.

On shore, Commissioner Gordon ponders whether they’ve seen the last of the Joker, but Batman is skeptical, and we, the readers, know perfectly well that it won’t be long before the Joker rears his ugly emerald head again.

This issue is just chock-full of the Joker’s outrageous devices, from laughing gas, the Jokermobile, a spear-gun, acid spray, phony hand … scripter Len Wein really went all-out here. Overall, a fantastic late Bronze Age story featuring Batman versus the Joker.