By Bob Kane & various (DC Comics)
ISBN13: 978-1-84576-719-8
The history of the American comicbook industry in most ways stems from the raw, vital and still compelling tales of two iconic creations published by DC/National Comics: Superman and Batman. It’s only fair and fitting that both those characters are still going strong and that their earliest adventures can be relived in chronological order in relatively cheap, and gloriously cheerful, compilations.
The latest Batman edition sees the Dynamic Duo fully developed and storming ahead of all competition in these stories originally published in 1941and 1942. As the characters’ popularity grew, new talent joined the stable of creators. Jerry Robinson had already joined writer Bill Finger and penciller Bob Kane, and during this period two further scripters joined the team.
Detective Comics #57 featured ‘Twenty-Four Hours to Live’, a tale of poisonings and Crimes of Passion whilst the Perfidious Penguin returned in the next issue to make our heroes the victims of ‘One of the Most Perfect Frame-Ups’. A few weeks later Batman #8 (now Bi-Monthly!) came out, cover dated December 1941-January 1942. Such a meteoric rise and expansion during a time of extreme paper shortages gives heady evidence to the burgeoning popularity of the characters. Behind a superbly evocative “Infinity†cover by Fred Ray and Jerry Robinson lurked four striking tales of bravura adventure.
‘Stone Walls Do Not A Prison Make’ is a brooding prison drama, followed by a rare foray into science fiction as a scientist abused by money-grubbing financial backers turns himself into a deadly radioactive marauder in ‘The Strange Case of Professor Radium’ (this tale was radically revised and recycled by Finger and Kane as a sequence of the Batman daily newspaper strip from September 23rd to November 2nd 1946). ‘The Superstition Murders’ is a gripping example of the “ABC Murdersâ€-style plot and ‘The Cross Country Crimes’ sees the Joker rampage across America in a classic blend of larceny and lunacy.
The Batman tale from Detective Comics #59 was written by Joseph Greene and sees the Penguin turn his formidable talents to bounty-hunting his fellow criminals in ‘The King of the Jungle’, followed by the rip-roaring modern cowboy yarn ‘The Ghost Gang Goes West’ which first appeared in the winter issue of World’s Finest Comics (#4). Jack Schiff, who had a long and auspicious career as an editor at DC, scripted ‘The Case of the Costume-Clad Killers’ from Detective Comics #60, another excursion into mania starring the Joker, leaving Bill Finger free to concentrate on the four fabulous tales in Batman #9 (Feb-March 1942), one of the greatest single issues of the Golden Age and still a cracking parcel of joy today.
Behind possibly the most reproduced cover ever crafted by the brilliant Jack Burnley are ‘The Four Fates’: a dark and moving human interest drama featuring a quartet of fore-doomed mobsters, a maritime saga based on the classic Moby Dick, entitled ‘The White Whale’, another unforgettable Joker yarn ‘The Case of the Lucky Law-Breakers’, and the birth of a venerable tradition in an untitled story called here for expediency’s sake ‘Christmas’.
Over the decades many of the Dynamic Duo’s best and finest adventures have had a Christmas theme (and why there’s never been a Greatest Christmas Batman Stories is a mystery I’ve pondered for years!) and this touching – even heart-warming – story of petty skulduggery and little miracles is where it all really began. There’s not a comic fan alive who won’t dab away a tear…
This volume ends with another much-reprinted classic (aren’t they all?) from Detective Comics #61. ‘The Three Racketeers’ is the perfect example of a Batman short story where a trio of crime big-shots swap stories of the Gotham Guardians over a quiet game of cards, and has a sting-in-the-tail that still hits home more than fifty years later.
These are the stories that cemented the popularity of Batman and Robin and brought temporary relief to millions during a time of tremendous hardship and crisis. Even if these days aren’t nearly as perilous or desperate, the power of such work to rouse and charm is still potent and just as necessary. You owe it to yourself and your family and even your hamster to buy the Batman Chronicles (great fun, great value; why are you waiting…)
© 1941, 2008 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.