The Untold Legend of The Batman #1-3

This mini series was the first  comic to tell me the awesome tale of batman's origins, and to this day it's still the one I consider the "true" telling of his history, despite many, many takes on it later.

Favorite Comics: Detective Comics #500

"To Kill a Legend!"

Our story opens on a  familiar scene in Batman lore. Young Bruce Wayne is walking home from the movies with his parents, Dr. Thomas and Martha Wayne, when suddenly an armed robber comes out of the shadows. Brandishing a gun at Thomas, he demands Martha’s purse. When he grabs her arm and Thomas makes a move to stop him, the robber turns around and guns him down and his wife begins screaming. Panicking, the robber turns on her and guns her down, too, fleeing the scene of the crime leaving a young Bruce Wayne crumpled to his knees realizing his beloved parents are dead and will never hold him or love him again. He begins wailing…and an adult Bruce Wayne wakes up screaming from the nightmare 20 years later!

 Bruce is surprised that he’s had such a nightmare…he hasn’t thought about his parents’ murder since he put Joe Chill away years ago. Restless after the unsettling ordeal, He  decides to become Batman to unwind, and swings out into the Gotham night, patrolling the city for  its nocturnal predators. He spies a couple of would-be muggers hijacking an old woman, and intervenes. As he chases the thieves down an alley, he is surprised to find himself in Finger Alley, the crime scene where his parents were killed 20 years ago. Suddenly  Robin shows up to help Batman, and then both of them realize Robin is supposed to be at college, in another state! How did he come to be here?

  “You are here…Because you MUST be here,” explains a ghostly voice. They turn, and come face to face with the Phantom Stranger, the mysterious mystical being  who wanders between worlds.

When Batman asks the apparition what’s wrong, the Stranger replies ‘The wrong has yet to be done, and given your help, may NEVER be done! He explains.

  There are worlds beyond worlds. Forty years ago on one such planet, another Bruce Wayne saw his parents murdered, and became Batman, Then twenty years ago, on THIS planet, Bruce watched HIS parents die, and, like his predecessor, became Batman as well. Now on still another planet, the cycle is about to repeat itself. Thomas and Martha Wayne will die unless he intervenes! 

The Batman is confused, wondering why the Phantom Stranger would offer such an unusual choice. The Stranger replies that have for all the good Batman has done, he’s always felt like he  failed the ones he loved most. “This is your second chance, Bruce Wayne, and I offer it as a friend and as a comrade.”

Both Robin and Batman take him up on the offer. The fog swirls in around them, and when the fog clears, they find themselves in a slightly distorted vision- it is Gotham City (or at least, a version of it)  twenty years ago! They have come right upon a gang of boat smugglers, and quickly jump in and subdue the crooks. When the police arrive, who should show up, but a young Lieutenant Gordon! Not familiar with the Dark Knight, he wants them arrested for vigilantism, but the duo speed away!

 They go to the hall of records to pick up the trail of Lew Moxon, the man who will hire Joe Chill to murder the Waynes. While Batman goes through the files, Robin reads up on the happenings of this planet. He is shocked to find that on THIS planet there are no costumed heroes. In this planet, there will not even be a Superman! He reasons that if they intervene, they might well be cheating this world of its only hero, but Batman doesn’t want to hear about it.

Later, under the cover of trees, Batman and Robin watch over the Wayne family. Young Bruce is having a temper tantrum and throwing his toys around, but his parents try to be patient with him. Batman is solemn, watching his beloved parents, but Robin notes, “THIS Bruce Wayne is a spoiled Brat!” He wonders, “If we stop the murder, will Bruce grow up to become the bored playboy Bruce only pretends to be?”

  Later, the Dynamic Duo catch up to Lew Moxon and demand to know where his killer Joe Chill is. They rough up Moxon and warn his that he’ll be in trouble if any harm comes to the Waynes. As they leave however, their threat has the opposite effect, as Moxon decides he’d better hire a killer RIGHT AWAY, since so many seem to suspect his plans!

 With only five days to go before the night of the murder, Batman goes on a hunt to find Joe Chill’s whereabouts himself, sneaking into the Interstate Records at Police Headquarters. Using the Police computers, Batman finds where Joe Chill is residing, and is about to rush out, when he is stopped at gunpoint by Lieutenant Gordon! “Don’t move, please… I assure you, I’m a good shot.”

  Meanwhile Robin has been staying at the Wayne House to keep an eye on the family. He is horrified to see Bruce and his Parents getting ready to go out to see a movie, for he knows they were murdered coming OUT of a movie theater. “Where are you, Batman?”

 Batman is desperate to get out and nab Joe Chill and doesn’t have the time to explain the situation to Gordon, even if he could! “Lieutenant,” Batman begins, “In another time, another place…we’re friends.  If you can feel even a hint of that, please, trust me…let me go!”  Gordon watches the face of the brooding vigilante, and then, without knowing why, lowers the gun and decides to take the chance that the man is telling the truth.

  Batman rushes out, and in a few minutes, is shocked to find the slumped figure of Joe Chill. He’s been murdered, and as Batman realizes they’ve sent someone ELSE to kill the Waynes, he remembers that there have been five leap years in the last 20 years, five days that the calendar doesn’t record! For all intents and purposes, this day IS the night of the 26th, the night his parents are destined to be murdered!

 As Robin anxiously follows the Waynes as the leave the Movie Theater, a hoodlum comes out of the shadows! It is the hold-up man, and the murders of the Waynes is about to take place! Robin is about to step in, when suddenly, Batman comes swooping down on the gunman, diverting the killing shot and yelling ‘NO! Not this Time!” He chases the frightened criminal down the alley, and as he knocks the man unconscious, adds, “This time, I didn’t fail them.”

  At that instant, the mysterious fog rolls in again. It is the Phantom Stranger, come to take Batman and Robin home again. “You are now as much a stranger here as I.” Robin wonders if they will ever know the fate of young Bruce Wayne. “Perhaps.” says the Phantom Stranger. “But for now, all you need to know is that you saved two lives, and altered forever a third.” “Amen to that” says Batman, then the fog dissipates, and they are gone!

Epilogue.

 Thomas and Martha has seen a change in young Bruce Wayne since the night of the robbery. He has become more studious and thoughtful. “Maybe we should get mugged more often,” they joke. But Bruce Wayne will never forget that night when he and his parents were accosted and the giant batlike creature saved their lives.  He realized then that death is something that can, at least temporarily, be avoided. We see the young boy studying Detective work, and doing exercises to build up his muscles.

“There will come a day when Bruce Wayne will make a decision. a direction for his life. And when he does. it will not be a decision born of grief, guilt or vengeance, but one of awe…and gratitude.”

  And as we see young Bruce walking back to the house, the shadow he is casting is none other that the foretelling image of…The Batman!

Super-Vixens: Catwoman

Back in my day, (gads, I sound like a grandfather!) the top five major BATMAN villains were 1. Joker, 2. Penguin, 3. Two-Face, 4. The Riddler, and 5. Catwoman.

While the origins and personalities of the first four villains  have remained consistent for DECADES, the CATWOMAN of today had almost no similarity to the Catwoman I grew up with and loved.

 I’m talking, of course, about the ORIGINAL Catwoman, that is, Ms. Selina Kyle, she of feline tendencies, and on-and-off again lover of Bruce Wayne himself!

It was this lovers/arch enemies twist that made those stories so interesting, and it was really cool to be aware that the HUNTRESS was the daughter of Earth Two’s Batman and Catwoman!

  Back then, the art was usually handled by Dick Giordano or Irv Novick, and I have to say, their depictions of Selina are the ones that all others must be judged!-There was this one particular story I really had a fondness for, where somehow it ended up that Catwoman’s costume was so shredded in their battle with the Cat-Man, she ended up naked in the Batcave! What a treasured moment!

 I’m not sure why Selina Kyle’s character was constantly reimagined and reworked, maybe her history of amnesia, her shifting back and forth between a heroine and a villainess was too confusing? Too Boring? I don’ know, but with each update, she seems less and less like the Catwoman from my comics.

 But then again, that’s probably true for most of my beloved comic heroes, huh?

Catwoman

Selina Kyle

First appearance : Batman #1 (Spring 1940)

Created by  Bill Finger and Bob Kane

Super-Vixens: Thorn

The year was 1978, and I was cruising at the local Mom n Pops sundries store reading comics, when I came upon the latest issue of SUPERMAN. Although my friend Jas was a collector of the man from Krypton (a result of worshipping the Chris Reeve movie, natch), the Superman comics really didn’t seem that interesting to me...

  That was until I spied  the latest issue on the stands that day! The issue was Superman #336, and on the cover, Supes was struggling against one of the sexiest vigilantes I’d ever seen- she was like Jaclyn Smith and Kate Jackson rolled into one (an assessment I probably made at the time due to my infatuation with Charlie's Angels), badass and scantily clad, to boot!

Suddenly, I decided that I really wanted to start buying Superman!

 Despite my change of heart towards Superman, my pockets only came up with about two nickels, a far cry from the 42¢ it would have taken for me to walk out of there with the comic! I wandered around the empty lots where I’d usually find a deposit bottle of two to return and make some change, but that day I came up dry! I was halfway ready to give up, when I dropped by my neighbor’s house. The fellow who lived a few doors down always had spare change in a big ashtray on his coffee table, and I begged him to spare me  a few coins to bring my finances up to scratch! After much hemming and hawing (his right) about why I needed this comic so badly, a reason I tried to dodge by saying “I Like Superman!”, he relented, and gave me the 32¢ I needed!

 I ran back down to the liquor store, and rather sheepishly paid for the comic, feeling quite sure that the gent ringing me up knew that it was only ‘cause of this sexy heroine on the cover that I was buying it! In any case, I got it, and read the story, learning all about this new heroine/villain called the Thorn, and her sweeter alter ego, Rose. New? Well, that’s what I THOUGHT! It wasn’t until years and years later that I’d discover Rose and the Thorn had been around for quite some time, appearing in the pages of LOIS LANE as the back story for many issues!  And going online, I’ve found that Rose and Thorn’s legacy is continuing on to this very day!

Although I’ve managed to check out a few of the earlier (and later) issues,and they’re sometimes written or drawn better, nothing will affect me quite like that first issue I read, written by and drawn by Dick Giordano, as THE version of Thorn that I’ve loved all these years.

Rose and Thorn

First appearance: Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane #105 (Oct. 1970)

Created by: Bob Kanigher and Ross Andru

Super-Vixens: Talia Al Ghul

Okay, I’m going to go ahead and get Talia Al Ghul out of the way, as there’s probably no list of comic babes out there that doesn’t list her! Saying Talia is on your list of Comic Book Babes is a remark that is usually answered with a resounding “duh”.

First exposure to Talia was in the oversize Treasury Edition of Batman (and you all know which one I’m talking about…that awe-inspiring classic cover featuring Batman screaming in anguish over the fallen figure of Robin, with a very lackadaisy Talia in the background.)

…Who WAS this gorgeous mystery girl, and why did she have it “on” for Bats?

In later issues I would find her to be just as ruthless (even moreso, actually) than her father Ras Al Ghul. She had all the fire and drive as her father, but none of the finesse, generally just ass-kicking her way to her goals.

In fact, that’s one of the major differences in the Neal Adams Talia and subsequent depictions of her as drawn by folks like Dick Giordano or Irv Novick – Neal always drew her kind of naïve and spacey looking, while the other artists drew her as the threat she actually was! And who can ever forget that backside featured on the cover of Batman #330?

First Appearance: Detective Comics #411 by Denny O Neill and Bob Brown with Dick Giordano

Favorite Artists:

Neal Adams

Irv Novick

Dick Giordano (The DC Comics go-to man!)