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.

BAB Book Review: Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns Gallery Edition

Frank Miller's Batman: The Dark Knight Returns Gallery Edition
Graphitti Designs, May 2016

Doug: Hey, I'm not one to toss about texting lingo, but

OMG

Is this a cool book, or what? (Yes, it's a very cool book, as I think you'll see.)

First off, the nuts and bolts of the book, courtesy of the folks at Comic Book Daily --

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns – Frank Miller Gallery Edition
Includes artwork from Dark Knight Returns 1-4, covers, related art and previously unpublished pieces. Though Graphitti Designs was unable to locate every original from this story, they are pleased to present to fans everywhere the best presentation of the artwork from this historic series ever seen.

• Publication Date: May 18, 2016
• Publisher Series Number: 6
• ISBN: 978-1-4012-6443-7
• Diamond Item Code: OCT150238
• 13″ x 20″
• 216 pages
• $175 USD
• Solicitation
• Initial Reported Sales: 1165
• Variants: Variant Edition, Signed Edition ($275)

Some may see the price and think "no way", and I'd most likely be in that camp as well had I not been earning revenue from the sale of my collection. I pre-ordered this book from Westfield Comics in Wisconsin; I'd done business with them as a subscriber during my college years and was pleased to make their acquaintance once again. They sold me the book in October for $148 (which included S&H), and I waited patiently through two publication delays before getting my mitts on the book on June 9. As you can see from the tale of the tape above, it is big -- way bigger than the average Artist Edition from IDW (though not as large as the twice up John Romita's Amazing Spider-Man or my pre-ordered Jack Kirby's Thor (already delayed and now due to arrive this week)) and weighing in at close to 10 pounds. Not exactly the sort of book one would rest on the lap.

Here are a few of shots of the packaging -- the book's transit appeared to have been smooth. The cardboard "case" is standard for these types of books, as IDW uses the same product. I keep all of my Artist Editions nestled in this original packaging. Note: All images henceforth are photographs -- I'd have gotten a hernia attempting to scan from this monster.

I've also included an image of the inner spine of the book to show the stitching. The craftsmanship is solid, and what's especially nice is that although it's not a "lay flat" book it does not want to close once opened. I could look at it or read from it without having to hold down pages on either side.

Below are shots of the title page, as well as the back cover (just ignore my reflection in that pic). The image of Batman towering over the Gotham City skyline was the cover of the first Warner Books trade paperback (which I owned at one time before a colleague to whom I'd loaned it lost it); it was also a 16"x20" poster, which I also own.

And here, kids, is where the awesomeness begins. Below you'll find a vellum (not sure if that's the exact nature of the material, so I'm going with it anyway) overlay with Frank Miller's original pencils to the cover of The Dark Knight Returns and the finished graphic design that saw publication. You can see how the color version shows through the top sheet. I'll have several more examples of this feature of the book.

I sent all of these images to Karen shortly after I received the book. One of the things she remarked about was her love of the margin notes. Those of you who have read Miller's collaboration with Bill Sienkiewicz, Elektra: Assassin, know that Sienkiewicz repeated certain images, and often. Note below that Miller's bottom left panel is marked for "stat" and is repeated two panels to the right.

As you saw from the product description above, Graphitti Designs could not locate all of the pages. They do, however, include scans of the published pages for the purpose of completion. Below is a common example; however, when a page in question is paired with a vellum overlay the scanned page is full-size to match the size of the overlay. The coordination of the printing and bindery process in this book was meticulously carried forth.

The two pages below are here to show you the creative process of Miller and Klaus Janson. Lots of white-out, stats, etc. The second of these two pages is my favorite vignette in the entire graphic novel. When I first read this page, I knew this wasn't any Batman I'd known. I had a "heck yeah!" moment during that first reading.

Note Miller's signature on the bottom of the page above (enlarged detail below).

The scene below was pretty tense -- love the splash page of Batman with the chest logo blown open to reveal a bullet-proof vest. Note the creative process in the enlarged detail.

In another example of the overlay, you'll find Miller's pencils to the cover of The Dark Knight Triumphant on the left, and Janson's inks on the right.

Another example of white-out, as well as Miller laying out a grid system for the building heights and the lettering. Note the margin call-out to the punctuation in the word balloon. Note also that Janson signed and dated this page -- lucky for whoever owns it!

Two more examples of editing and mark-ups.

Great image on the left, below. Given that Janson signed here, and the page above, both in June of 1986 has me wondering if the same collector owned both pages.

Miller and Janson both signed this page. Memorable panel from The Dark Knight Triumphant.

The cover of Hunt the Dark Knight was just plain white, except for the image of Carrie Kelly in the bottom right corner. A graphic designer must have done the Bat logo.

Detail of a single panel, when Bruce and Clark were riding horses and discussing the coming storm. Miller did not care for Janson's inks, so re-inked the image himself. The overlay at right is Miller's version.

I thought this was interesting -- several panels redrawn by Miller. It seemed that as the story wore on he became fussier about the work. For those of us who bought the book as it was released, this might explain the longer and longer delays as the series progressed.

Awesome splash...

Again, enjoy the process. And Miller's tinkering. I'll tell you, looking through this book it struck me how much Miller must feel the same way about this work as George Lucas feels about his original trilogy of Star Wars films. Perfection is an unattainable thing.

Detail. White-out and redrawing. I love seeing stuff like this!

One of the iconic images of the entire series. I thought it would be cooler than it is, but for the most part it looks like Miller and Janson were satisfied the first time. Or, perhaps it's because of the tardiness of the series that there was no reworking here.

Near the end of the book there are several extras. As you may know, all of these original art collections are color scans of the art. That's why you feel as if you're looking at the actual bristol board and it's also why all of the white-out, blue line pencil, and even eraser marks are visible. Near the top you saw that there's no shortage of color images. I was surprised to see this huge fold-out at the back of the book. If you were buying this back in the day, you may recall a large counter display when The Dark Knight Triumphant was released. This is a reproduction of the artwork for that display. Nice touch, Graphitti!

Lastly, here are a couple of other promotionals. On the left is Miller's design for a Dark Knight statue, while on the right is his portion of the cover to 'Mazing Man #12 (June 1986).

I hope you enjoyed the tour. I've been through the entire book three times and just love it. Of the original art reproductions that I own, this is one of the best. Of course, all this may change when the Kirby one arrives in a couple of months. You know I'll keep you informed...

Breaking Up is Hard To Do - Detective Comics 369

Detective Comics #369 (November 1967)
"Batgirl Breaks Up the Dynamic Duo!"
Gardner Fox-Carmine Infantino/Sidney Green

Doug: My Bronze Age connection to this Silver Age gem? I first came across this tale between the covers of Batman Family #2 (Nov./Dec. 1975), which I acquired in some unknown manner; I know I didn't buy it off the spinner racks. So despite the fact that I'll be scanning from Tales of the Batman: Carmine Infantino (2014), I've known of this story for many a'moon. I'm curious as to the intentions of Gardner Fox and Carmine Infantino (and editor Julius Schwartz) -- this was only the 4th appearance of Batgirl, having debuted in Detective Comics #359 (cover dated January 1967). We know of her tie-in with the William Dozier television program, but I almost have to wonder if there wasn't some intent to create more of a triangle relationship between the three caped crimefighters. And no, I'm not even going to entertain the posits that float around about Batman and Robin -- that never occurred to me as a kid, and I'd prefer to leave that in the realm of people just stirring up trouble. But certainly Dick Grayson as an adolescent male, suddenly confronted with a powerful (and powerfully beautiful) female every bit his equal... well, who wouldn't take a second look? But I'm curious about Dick's age in the comics at this point. Without digging too deep, I'll assume that he was still high school aged (15 or 16?) -- which seems younger than he was portrayed on TV where I felt he was 18 or maybe 19. Even if the older suggestion is true, that would still put him a good 3-4 years or so younger than Barbara Gordon. While one can complete a bachelor's degree in library science, it was my sense that Barbara was a little higher up at the Gotham City Public Library and so perhaps had her M.S. -- she'd then be 23 or 24. So anyway, the match-up wasn't quite making sense to me as a kid, and I still have reservations and curiosities about it on the reread. I'd sure like to see others' take on this.

Doug: I've said it before, I'll say it again -- I have an affinity for Batman comics with Batgirl and for Superman comics with Supergirl. I don't know why... I guess I really like the feminized derivative costumes. So let's jump into this with a 100-Word Review and see just what the Dominoed Daredoll (yes, Fox uses that painful, PAINFUL expression on the third page of the story -- meet me in the "Ugly" section below) was up to in trying to end the Dynamic Duo.

Batgirl’s installed a “multi-color light-tracer beam” on her Batcycle that allows her to lock in on the specific vibrations of a car’s motor. This allows her to beat the Dynamic Duo to crime scenes – better tech = better crimefighting! Batman chauvinistically tries to take over, but in doing so ends up in a quicksand swamp. Batgirl soon deduces that he’s contracted the “swamp fever” and tells Robin. Knowing Batman won’t get bedrest, the new Dynamite Duo plot to beat him to every crime so he won’t have to work hard. In the end, Bruce Wayne is cured in the hospital.

The Good: Carmine Infantino's art trumps Gardner Fox's sometimes dopey script and dialogue. The plot is pretty typical Silver Age fare, but then I reflected on it and thought to myself, no -- Batman probably wouldn't quit crimefighting to mend from his illness. We've agreed in the past that Infantino is one of the classic cover designers, on par with any of the other artists in the "best" conversation. He's also not too bad at laying out a story. His pacing is great, and while I'd argue that he's as guilty as the next guy of using "stock poses", it works for me. It's a Carmine Infantino book. That being said, I'll stand by my comments that I did not generally care for his Bronze Age work at Marvel. But here, ten years earlier and at DC his pencils feel comfortable.

I enjoyed the camaraderie between Robin and Batgirl. As I said above, I'm not certain if there weren't romantic motives on the part of the powers-that-be, but if we just look at it through the lens that the two of them were closer in age it still works. There's also that generational element, with the "old guy", Batman, squeezed out. "Never trust anyone over 30", indeed! The creators do a nice job of ramping up the tension in the "triangle" once Batman is afflicted with the swamp fever. It's priceless when Batgirl shows up with a sidecar on her bike and Robin's logo affixed to it. This follows one of those uncomfortable times we all faced as kids when a parent had to drive us somewhere. Yep -- Robin can't drive the Batmobile alone, so Batman has to take him to his rendezvous with Batgirl! Awesome... The new "Dynamite Duo" do their best to keep Gotham City under control while Batman further spirals down with his illness. The whole time I was reading this, I just wanted to scream, "Tell the poor guy!", but as I said before -- there was no quit in the Dark Knight. The Bat-team of Fox, Infantino, and Schwartz came up with a fun solution.

The Bad: I don't really have anything of note here, other than perhaps the stock poses employed by Carmine Infantino. But since I feel like I need to raise at least one stink to show that this wasn't a perfect book, I'll settle on Catwoman's outfit. She appears in the last three panels of the story in her secret identity of Selina Kyle. Ahead of its time, Detective Comics #369 actually continued into the December issue of Batman (#197 - Holy crossover!) where a jealous Catwoman would seek out Batgirl to let the young interloper know that Batman was off-limits. The Infantino book reprints the cover (and there's that costume for which I don't care), but not the story. I'd have liked to read that!

The Ugly: Nicknames! Within these fourteen pages lurk the following: Boy Wonder, Caped Crusader, Teen Titan, Dynamic Duo (all of those are just on the splash page!), the aforementioned Dominoed Daredoll, Gotham Gangbusters, Masked Maiden, Bat-Beauty, Masked Manhunter, Chic Crimefighter... and several of those are repeated throughout the story! People complain about Bob Haney's forced language in the Teen Titans, but this style of Gardner Fox's is equally annoying. I know -- you can argue that it's part of the charm and I should view this as a "period piece". I get it. And I agree. But it was still a bit much in a 15-minute span.

Doug: Several of us have praised DC for getting all manner of Batman (mostly Bronze Age) material back in print through these hardcover series -- "Tales of the Batman" and "Legends of the Dark Knight". The books are certainly pricey if you're into paying the cover rate; me -- I usually pre-order my copies or get them from places like In-Stock Trades. I feel like if I can pay $30 for one of these rather than $50, then I've taken care of myself both economically and nostalgically. And, since I don't buy comics any more these books are a wonderful way to acquire a nice run at prices below what I'd pay for back issues. Win!