One thing that legendary master storyteller Steve Englehart always brought to a comic when he began writing duties was to create brand new characters for his run of the strip. Like he did with the oriental character Mantis in The Mighty Avengers, Steve created an interesting new character for the BATMAN storyline in DETECTIVE COMICS, a love interest, at that, in a girl called Silver St. Cloud.
Love Interest? For The BATMAN? Yep, you heard right! Well, more specifically, a girlfriend for Bruce Wayne, and when you factor in his “Playboy” persona, that’s even more unbelievable than a girl going out with Batman!
Silver was a fully developed character (Take that any way you want, it’s correct in either one), Cool , Sexy (more on that later) and most of all, INTELLIGENT! In fact, it wouldn’t be too long before the smart platinum haired girl would deduce (correctly) that her beau was none other that the Dark Knight! It would be this knowledge that would push them apart- She just couldn’t imagine having to worry about him EVERY NIGHT when he became his alter ego.
When Marshall Rogers came onboard Detective Comics, his pencils, along with master Terry Austin’s inks, became THE look for Silver St. Cloud, just this GORGEOUS creature! Fans of Rogers’ later run on DR STRANGE will agree, when it comes to pretty girls with white hair whether it be Silver St. Cloud or Clea, Marshall Rogers had it down! And Oooh, that pic above with her talking to Bruce in bed…probably my favorite Marshall Rogers illo ever!
Now, I don’t know what kind of significance Silver St. Cloud has for comic readers of today, but back in my childhood, Silver was THE ONE, spoken in that same reverence used when talking about Tracy De Vicenzo, AKA “Mrs. James Bond” in ON HER MAJESTY’S SECRET SERVICE, kind of like painted as “The great tragic romance of Batman’s life!”
Silver St. Cloud
First Appearance: Detective Comics #470 (June 1977)
By Steve Englehart and Walt Simonson & Al Milgrom
