What If a Bat and a Cat Had a Kid? DC Super-Stars 17

DC Super-Stars #17 (Nov.-Dec. 1977)
"Secret Origins of the Super-Heroes"
Huntress Story --
"From Each Ending... A Beginning!"
Paul Levitz-Joe Staton/Bob Layton

Doug: Back on February 13 I told you that this cover made me buy this book. As many of you agreed, and since I have the trade paperback Huntress: Darknight Daughter (J.A. Morris reviewed the entire trade on his Bronze Age Reprints blog on March 14) we'll take a look at the cover story, a 13-page visit to Earth-2 and the Golden Age Batman and Catwoman. DC Super-Stars #17 landed right in the thick of my love affair with the revival of the Justice Society of America within the pages of All-Star Comics (All-Star Comics #69 [Dec 1977] gets equal billing as the debut of the Huntress). Like many here, the concept of legacy heroes was fascinating to me -- that the Invaders had preceded the modern Marvel Universe was as enticing as the notion at DC that Earth-2 had a heroic history that pre-dated "our" Earth's by close to 20 years. And the Super Squad of Power Girl, the Star-Spangled Kid, and Robin gave a kid like me an opportunity to further appreciate the classic heroes of DC's WWII era. Now the Huntress would be a part of that -- yes, the offspring of the Golden Age Batman and Catwoman. Gives me pause...

100-Word Review: On Earth-2 in 1955, Bruce Wayne married a reformed Catwoman – Selina Kyle. Two years later their daughter Helena was born. Helena grew to be as smart and skilled as her famous parents. But one day in 1976 Selina answered a call that would change all their lives. A former henchman blackmailed Selina into becoming Catwoman for one more job. But a stray bullet and the appearance of the Batman destroyed the Wayne family’s world as Selina plunged to her death. Shortly, a new bat-like figure exacted revenge for her death – the Huntress would protect Gotham from its criminal element!

The Good: About a gazillion things, really. Where to start? Joe Staton's art - go! Staton's art is perfect for these stories that have a "yesterday" feel to them. I've always felt that on the All-Star material. Sure, he was a nice fit on Green Lantern, but for some reason I like him better on the Earth-2 stuff. There's a certain quirky charm to his figures, and his facial expressions are top shelf. Staton made good use of montage panels/pages for effect. His camera angles constantly shift, keeping the reader on alert - no easy way out in his panel work. Paul Levitz's story is a somewhat typical "Got it all/Lose it all/Exact revenge" tragedy. However, because I felt already fully-invested in the character due to her relationship to the Batman, Levitz was able to tug at my heartstrings. Of course, also being a fan of Batgirl, it was exciting to immediately see those possibilities for Earth-2, as well as a a potential set-up of a "next generation World's Finest" team of Power Girl and the Huntress. What's more, I'm really feeling many of these thoughts now as I did when I was 11 and read this for the first time. While it's not an original concept, it's execution and subsequent roll-out (until the Crisis, that is) made for some fun.

The Bad: I really only have one complaint with the story, and it involves a general complaint many of us have had with the way the Batman has been depicted on film since the Burton/Keaton film back in 1989 -- I am speaking of the voice. The gravelly voice.  In the climax of this story, as Helena Wayne has adopted the Huntress identity, she sets off after Silky Cernak. Cernak had been a member of the Catwoman's gang who went to the Big House when Selina Kyle went straight. Now out, Cernak was the one who contacted Selina Wayne about doing one more job -- or he'd make it known that she had indeed killed a man, something she'd sworn to the parole board and to Bruce Wayne. Obviously, the blackmail worked, as it got Selina back into the Catwoman costume, where she eventually met her tragic end -- from a ricocheted bullet fired by what appeared to be Cernak's gun. 

Later, after tracking Cernak to the Gotham docks, the Huntress appeared to him from the shadows. Cernak sits, waiting for a meeting he won't have -- of course he's talking to himself. He says, "I was just mindin' my own business, tryin' to make a buck!" From the shadows, a gravel-voiced shadow says, "Crime is no man's business, Cernak!" Cernak is ensnared in a rope, and turning sees a silhouette of the Batman. In fact, he even calls to the shadow, "Batman -- you again!" Now I have to wonder why Levitz went this route? Sure, the Huntress costume with its pointed mask and scalloped cape resembles the look of the Batman. But even given that, I'm drawn instead to what young Bruce Wayne said to himself many years earlier:  "Criminals are a superstitious cowardly lot, so my disguise must be able to strike terror into their hearts. I must be a creature of the night, black, terrible..." Well, if criminals are indeed superstitious wouldn't it have been better to have addressed Cernak in her own voice? Wouldn't there have been a chance that Cernak would have heard the voice of the now-dead Catwoman? Talk about instilling terror! But that's a very minor flaw in the overall story. It's just one of those "I'd have done it this way" sorts of things.

The Ugly: You get a big, fat N/A here, kids.

The trade I've used for reading and scanning retails for $20. Of course, we living here in the golden age of reprints know we can find discounted or used copies on the cheap. While this volume does not contain any of the All-Star Comics material (those are available in two trades and are also highly recommended), it does feature the Huntress's appearances from Batman Family and as a back-up feature in Wonder Woman. So feel confident that you'd be investing in some nostalgic time well spent! I would give one caution, however: Joe Staton's pencils can look very different when under the influence of various inkers. The first four stories were all inked by Bob Layton (as here); after that the art ebbs and flows, and is directly related to the embellishment. Ah, the Bronze Age and its inconsistencies...

This Cover Made Me Buy This Book

Doug: Well, actually I talked my mom into buying it. I saw it at the grocery store of all places. The cover date of the book as listed at the Comic Book Database was August 1976. That would have been on sale in June, so I am wondering if maybe this was a gift for my 10th birthday. If you were to take a college course on the foundations of DC super-heroes, this would be your textbook. Released at the same time Marvel Comics was making their Origins of Marvel Comics series available, this was my primer to the DCU. The ten heroes pictured on the cover are all featured in this book, making it a tour de force of DC's Golden and Silver Ages. In cases where there are two heroes with the same name (think Earth-1 and Earth-2), both heroes' origins are featured.

Here are the contents (all links in this post take you to the CBDB) (NOTE: This post was updated 4-20-20; the Comic Book Database no longer exists, so all hyperlinks in the post have been removed.)

Action Comics (1938) #1
Adventure Comics (1938) #256
All-American Comics (1939) #16
All-American Comics (1939) #19
The Amazing World of Superman, Metropolis Edition (1973) nn
Batman (1940) #47
The Brave and the Bold (1955) #34
Detective Comics (1937) #33
Flash Comics (1940) #1
More Fun Comics (1935) #89
Police Comics (1941) #1
Showcase (1956) #4
Showcase (1956) #22
Showcase (1956) #34
WHIZ Comics (1940) #2
Wonder Woman (1942) #1
Wonder Woman (1942) #206

Doug: And oh, yeah... this still sits on my bookshelf (far left).

The Origin Story

Karen: What elements make for a successful origin story? While no two characters share exactly the same background, are there certain aspects that resonate with readers?

Karen: I've thought about it and it seems like there is some element of tragedy in many origins. It may not be the major element, but to some degree it is there. It may motivate them for their entire career, or it may simply serve to get them on the path to their eventual career, but it's there. Batman and Spider-Man are obvious examples, with the death of loved ones motivating them to become heroes. Superman's entire planet is destroyed, leaving him the last of his kind (well, sometimes). The early Iron Man wore his chest plate to keep the shrapnel in his chest from reaching his heart-he was always on the edge of dying. Steve Rogers is reborn as Captain America just as his creator/father figure, Dr. Erskine, is killed by a Nazi agent. Norrin Radd sacrifices his humanity and becomes the Silver Surfer to save his world. And so on.

Karen: Now combing through old books, I realize the tragedy angle works mainly with Marvel characters. Looking back at DC heroes, their origins seem far less tragic -although it's hard to know just what those origins are any more,but  I'm sticking with Bronze Age and prior. DC's classic pantheon of characters like Flash, Green Lantern, and Wonder Woman for example, all seem to be worthy people who deserve to receive their powers. Maybe their common element is just that -they are already heroes in a sense, and their powers just makes them super-heroes. That was really the big difference between Marvel and DC though, at least until the 80s -Marvel characters were normal, Everyman types usually who became heroes mostly by accident. DC characters were guys (and gals) who were already better than your average Joe -they were essentially destined for greatness.

Karen: As far as favorites go, I think Spider-Man and Batman have two of the best, most compelling -I like that they are so similar, and yet the two characters are so different. You could spend hours discussing how the loss of their loved ones affected them. I also have always really liked the Superman origin and comparing the many variations that have sprung up over the years. The same goes for Captain America's origin, which has changed in the details over time. 

Karen: I'd like to hear your thoughts on super-hero origin stories, which ones are your favorites, and what in your opinion makes them successful.

The Origin of the Golden Age Batman

Secret Origins (1986) #6 (September 1986)

"Golden Age Batman"

Roy Thomas-Marshall Rogers/Terry Austin

Doug: Marshall Rogers drew pretty pictures.  And he left us too soon.  Today's review really has no history to it.  I never owned this book, and really didn't even know of its existence until this past December 25th when I received a copy of the DC hardcover Legends of the Dark Knight: Marshall Rogers as a gift from my wife for Christmas.  As most of you know, we've been working through the Jim Aparo book in the same series and my copy of the Alan Davis edition arrived two weeks ago.  But today we're going to delve into a fun and great-looking story that will take us back to the War years and the dawning of the career of the Dark Knight Detective.  It's interesting because it's anchored by dates, which when writing an historical piece is fine -- if you check the date of the issue's release you'll see the era of Crisis nigh, and the coming reboots will make all of this moot anyway.  NOTE:  I want to apologize here at the top for the quality of the scans. As I said, the book is new and the spine is very tight -- you'll forgive the muddy look on the edges of scans that were located on interior margins of the book.  Thanks.

Doug:  Roy Thomas starts us out with what we've known since Detective Comics #27 was published way back in 1939 -- young Bruce Wayne went to a motion picture with his parents, Thomas and Martha.  In this version of the story, it was not a Zorro film, but one starring Rudolph Valentino, and the year is set for us as 1924.  A mugger accosted the family while walking home and demanded Mrs. Wayne's necklace.  Her husband stepped forward in her defense and was shot twice at close range.  Martha Wayne began screaming for the police as the man grabbed her necklace.  She apparently had a heart attack as the thief ran away.  Bruce never got a good look at him, and slumped to the ground over the bodies of his dead parents.  Later, while in the care of his Uncle Philip, Bruce is reminded to say his nightly prayers.  Telling his uncle that he never forgets, young Bruce prays, " -- and I swear by the spirits of my parents to avenge their deaths, by spending the rest of my life warring on all criminals!  Please Dear God -- help me keep my promise!  I'll do anything --!"

Doug:  As Bruce got older and entered his high school years, we're told that while he was a fine student he made few friends.  Part of that reservation might have been a fear that his friends would be taken from him.  As he entered college, an adviser told him that he needed to live life to the fullest -- it was more than just books and knowledge.   So Bruce threw himself into athletics and the stage.  We know that he had ulterior motives in each area, but through this branching out he met a girl -- Julie Madison.  They get to know each other through their mutual love of the stage; Bruce says that while he enjoys it, it's really a sort of vocational training for his real passion and career goal -- police work in Gotham City.  Soon the two youngsters proclaim their love for each other, but must separate soon after graduation (the Class of 1939) as Julie heads off to pursue her dreams on Broadway.

Doug:  Twenty-five year old Bruce Wayne has moved into a downtown penthouse, part of his inheritance.  He overlooks the city and again pledges his war on crime.  He muses on Julie, who has sent him a letter telling that she's unhappy being apart from him.  Bruce also meditates on his desire to be a detective, something she is not crazy about.  So he thinks, there must be a way...  Suddenly, a large bat flies in through an open window.  It's an omen.  A few nights later some of the finest costume designers in the business arrive at the Plaza Hotel.  A bent over old man greets them, and commissions them to build him a costume of his own design.  The two men work through the night, and when finished are rewarded quite handsomely for their efforts.  Later that night, the Batman makes his debut!

Doug:  On patrol, the Batman has spied a man looking like he might be interested in breaking into a warehouse.  The Caped Crusader sees him as "filth", and readies his attack.  The guy is descended upon quickly and roughly.  Falling onto a giant spoon that was part of a billboard (a great homage to the days of Dick Sprang), he starts crying about a broken leg.  Batman comes closer for a look and gets whacked upside the head with a hammer handle.  Stunned, the Dark Knight falls back while our tough makes his getaway.  Fleeing across a freshly-tarred street, he's gone.  Batman pauses to look at the guy's tracks, and notices some small white particles that have stuck in the tar.  Upon inspection, he realizes it is thallium, a mineral used to make glass.  Following his instincts, Batman heads to a nearby glass factory.  Once inside, he's trapped in a net, thrown by our criminal from a catwalk.  Our baddie, however, being a member of the "stupid and cowardly lot", binds Batman and puts him in the basement, rather than deep-sixing our hero.  Bad guy's mistake.  It doesn't take long for Batman to free himself, and KO his nemesis.  Announcing himself publicly for the first time, the baddie is tied up and left on the street under a lamp post, a note from the Batman attached.

Doug:  Back at the penthouse, Bruce phones New York (man, DC just drives me crazy with real cities/fake cities.  The Marvel Universe is so much more manageable) and catches Julie on her way out the door.  He says he wants to talk, and has something to ask her.  She is on her way to a rehearsal, and so asks him to call back the next night -- at 3:00 am!  Bruce decides to kill the time by calling on a friend of his Uncle Philip -- Commissioner James Gordon.  Meeting Gordon, Wayne goes through some pleasantries.  I'd have thought Bruce was going to try to get some inside information on the Gotham City crime scene, but he actually was hoping to get familiar enough with the commissioner to get a recommendation to the NYCPD.  That would be the "tell"; the "ask" was for Julie to marry him.  So as I read this the first time, I'm thinking "who is this Julie Madison?", as I couldn't remember her.  I checked out the comicbookdb, which Karen and I use for our cover shots.  You can look for yourself -- to this point she'd only had nine prior appearances, five of those in the Golden Age.  Anyway, Gordon gets a call that David Lambert, "the Chemical King", has been killed.  He asks Wayne if he'd like to tag along to see a murder investigation.

Doug:  Once at Lambert's home, Gordon interrogates John Lambert, the son.  With his fingerprints on the knife that killed his dad, Gordon asks John Lambert to explain.  Apparently the youth had come home, found his father face down with the knife in his back, removed the blade, and rolled his father over.  David Lambert's dying word was "contracts".  Lambert tells Gordon that his father had three business partners, and one of them -- Steven Crane -- calls right at that time to report that Lambert had told him of a threat; Crane got the same threat.  Asking for protection from the police, Gordon tells him not to move.  Bruce Wayne takes the opportunity to slip out, only to reemerge as the Batman.  As he arrives at Crane's home, shots ring out.  Two thugs climb a rope made of bedsheets to the roof of the home.  Batman attacks them, and it goes much better than during his maiden voyage only nights before.  After defeating the henchmen, Batman lands on the ground and scoops up a rolled up paper that had been dropped during the fracas.  At that moment the police arrive, and of course you know how this is going to go.

Doug:  Or so you thought.  The Batman gives them the slip, as Gordon orders his men to get to the homes of Paul Rogers and Alfred Stryker, Crane's other two partners.  But Batman, in a red roadster, has beaten them to it.  Rogers arrived at the home of Stryker moments before, and was greeted by his manservant (any chance you get to use the term "manservant", take it) Jennings.  Welcoming Rogers into the home, Jennings wallops the visitor with a blackjack and ties him up.  Carried to a laboratory in the house, Jennings places Rogers in a chair inside a large glass dome.  In effect, it's a gas chamber!  As Jennings gets set to introduce the toxin, Batman breaks through the skylight, grabs a vice from a nearby table, and hurls it through the glass enclosure.  Jennings pulls a pistol from his back pocket, but the Dark Knight is upon him instantly.  Roy Thomas' script does a nice job of evolving the Batman right before our eyes.  As Batman and Jennings scuffle, Stryker comes down the steps to the lab.  Rogers implores his partner to free him from his bounds, but is instead greeted with a drawn knife!  Cripes -- this story is dangerous to be in!  Batman grabs Stryker's arm and jerks the knife out of his grip.

Doug: Stryker admits to the plot:  years ago, the four partners had signed contracts whereby Stryker would pay each man a designated sum of money over the years until a point where Stryker would own the entire company.  However, falling short of cash, and with the contracts known to none but the partners, Stryker began to have his partners killed.  Now found out, Stryker twists away from the Batman and falls over a rail and into... a vat of acid.  Because every lab in a Batman story has one, sort of like Reed Richards keeps a vat of water in his (don't believe me? - click here, too).  After the dust has settled, Wayne finds himself back at Gordon's for a debriefing.  The Commissioner agrees with Wayne that this Batman fellow might be useful after all; Wayne states that he might be able to cut through some red tape that might otherwise hamper the police.  Bruce scoots off just before 3:00 am to make his phone call to Julie.

Doug:  The phone in Julie's apartment rings, and she staggers out of the bedroom to answer it.  She tells Bruce that her rehearsal had gotten cancelled, but she tried to wait up for his call.  He says that he is coming to New York the next week for a visit, and to ask her something.  She sprightfully says that he needs to ask something that she can say "yes" to.  He does tell her that he is no longer interested in being a policeman, in front of or behind a desk.  He suggests that he might just become a playboy.  As they hang up, each declaring their love for each other, Bruce thinks that he will be much more effective in his war on crime... as the Batman. 

Doug:  This was one of those Roy Thomas-scripted tales that took well over the normal 20 minutes to read.  At 23 pages in length, it was a bit wordy, not boring, with enough plot twists and scene changes to keep it rolling along.  You'll notice that the creators kept a couple of now-important elements out of this origin story.  First, there is no training with Eastern mystics and martial artists.  Second, this is a Batman sans the sidearm that he carried very early on in the 1930's.  The art is simply stellar.  The Rogers/Austin team just pulls out all the stops, making this story have a real Golden Age feel to it; the costuming of the characters in the story is spot-on for the WWII period.  Terry Austin's linework evokes Vinnie Colletta -- sort of soft, feathery even.  It's really nice.  And these two can certainly draw a beautiful lady; of course they are best known for their Bronze Age Bat-girlfriend Silver St. Cloud; this Julie Madison is every bit as gorgeous (and in the 4th panel above, we see Marshall Rogers teasing us with a sexy see-through look he'd use a few years later when drawing Shalla Bal in the revived Silver Surfer mag).  Austin puts so much effort into these pages, that the times when your eye sees zipatone, it's actually the inking.  Outstandingly crafted.  And who draws the Batman's cape better?  No one.  Great stuff!

BONUS:  Because I care, and I do, here's a look at the first appearance of Julie Madison from Detective Comics #31 (September 1939).  She first shows up in only the fifth appearance of the Batman, and is billed as his fiancee.