Category: School Stories

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Wandering Son volumes 1 & 2


By Shimura Takako, translated by Rachel Thorn (Takumigraphics/Fantagraphics Books)
ISBN: 979-8-8750-0073-7 (TPB)

If woke stuff and picking your own personal pronouns upset you and/or you can sincerely defend the inherent injustice and sheer nonsense of assigned genders at birth, you should piss right off, right now. Or stay and have an aneurism. The grown-ups will just carry on and learn stuff by enjoying ourselves.

Nitori Shuichi is an extremely shy boy freshly transferred into a new school. He’s starting Fifth Grade and on the cusp of puberty. He’s also in a bit of a quandary. Slim, androgynous and, to be frank, rather pretty, he is constantly thinking about wearing girls’ clothes…

That’s how one of the most lauded, gracious, kind and understanding stories about owning your own body (and associated other transgender issues) ever created opens. Although a more fitting translation might be “Prodigal” Son, we’re just happy to welcome it back to English publication as Wandering Son.

Created by Shimura Takako, it began in seinen (aimed at young men) monthly Comic Beam as Hōrō Musuko, running from December 2002 until August 2013 and subsequently filling 15 tankōbon volumes. It is resplendent in its refined charm and exudes assured contentment, presenting a sublimely personable shared history and shared voyage of discovery in an open-minded spirit of childlike inquiry and accepting optimism that make for a genuine feel-good experience. Fantagraphics began publishing their translation (by Matt Thorn) in lavish hardcover editions from 2011 but the project stalled at volume 8, probably from low sales and not the themes it covered. Now we get the chance to see how it all turned out in the end…

From any other culture this type of story would be crammed with angsty agonies, gratuitously filled with cruel moments and shame-filled subtext, but instead here Shimura (Sweet Blue Flowers, Scenes from Awajima, Beautiful Everyday, Even Though We’re Adults, Bloom Brothers) crafts a genteel, winningly underplayed, enchantingly compulsive school saga filled with as much hope and positivity as drama. Now the story is back in double-volume trade paperback editions remastered by series editor/translator/Cultural anthropologist/college professor (at Kyoto Seika University’s Faculty of Global Culture) Rachel Thorn, with the first two tomes laying the groundwork for incredible journeys ahead…

Preceding first monochrome chapter ‘The Boy Who’s a Girl’ is a full-colour introductory character chart of our protagonists’ friends, families and significant personages, prior to the wandering beginning on Shuichi’s first day. At school, instead of the bullying his older sister Maho warned of, he’s sent to the wrong classroom and mistaken for a girl by homeroom teacher Nakazawa. Eventually set in the right place, things look up for “Shu” as soon as he’s paired with and befriended by Takatsuki Yoshino.

She’s a tall, confidant tomboy who harbours similar secret questions and yearnings, with an understanding family who are sympathetic but have no idea of what’s really going on. Takatsuki-san’s mother is constantly buying her child girly dresses that will never be worn, and when Shu visits, he gazes admiringly and is casually offered one that provokes throes of guilt and glee. Accepting it but riven with second thoughts Shu ultimately hands it off to his annoying interfering sister, with whom he still shares a bedroom…

Takatsuki-san’s instinctive friendliness towards Shuichi is shared by pretty Chiba Saori (“Saorin”), an extremely perceptive girl who seems content with her gender but is troubled in almost everything else. Ever (over) eager to please, she is a ball of inexplicable guilty feelings and – even at her tender age – is dabbling with alternative lifepaths. Currently, she’s seriously considering converting to Christianity…

From the start, this close circle supports if not actively encourages Shuichi to embrace his inner longings. Yoshino’s clueless mother keeps buying dresses which the despairing daughter tries to give to her confused new pal, much to his embarrassment – but dwindling resistance. Saori, acutely aware of the Nitori boy’s underlying otherness, encourages his crossdressing fascination. She even buys him an extravagant frock for his birthday, almost killing their budding friendship stone dead…

Second chapter ‘The Wandering Son Wanders On’ sees Shu’s dreams wracked by his capitulation as he puts on and rejects the dress, just as Saori successfully suggests that their unsuspecting class perform The Rose of Versailles as an end-of-term play. Moreover, all the girls should play the male roles and vice versa.

The Rose of Versailles is a monumentally popular Shoujo manga tale – later, a movie and musical – by Riyoko Ikeda, telling the story of Lady Oscar: a girl whose soldier father raises her AS a man. She/He eventually becomes a dashing Palace Guard and the darling of Marie Antoinette’s Court. We’ll be covering Tezuka Osamu’s manga adaptation of it later this year…

Continuing over into ‘Oscar and André’ Shu’s perplexities, yearnings and misgivings slowly settle. Both he and Yoshino are hard-pressed to deny their overwhelming mutual need: boy wants to be girl and girl, boy. Inevitably, in ‘Wandering Daughter’  it all proves too great and both succumb. Yoshino has her hair cut far too short and goes out in her brother’s school uniform, only to be chatted up in a burger bar by a lovely older girl. Stunned and baffled, Takatsuki leaves the café with Yuki-san’s phone number..

Shuichi’s sporadic surrenders are less public, but increasingly important to his happiness and wellbeing… and to be honest, after his own feminising haircut, Shu does make an astonishingly pretty girl, more so even than Roger Taylor in that Queen video or Patrick Sawyze in To Wong Foo – Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar – although completely pure, innocent and utterly raunch-free…

The shared quandaries intensify with ‘Nitori-kun’s Birthday’ and choices of what to buy with the cash that comes with that, before his friends in the know double down with gifts any girl would love to receive. Inevitably, pressures of the school play and effects of ‘Friends and their Words’ bring on stress related illness. Ever-understanding, Shu’s bestie has the perfect solution and leaves him with her little sister’s old school uniform. He looks great in it…

However, as they head out for a moment of shopping fun, inescapable biology strikes back in ‘Takatsuki-san’s Calamity’. Hit hard and without warning by her first ever period, Yoshino is trapped in a toilet cubicle until Shu – still dressed as a schoolgirl – can bravely buy the necessary tampons, pads and other paraphernalia demanded by the crisis…

Now at school and carrying the formal kit every girl hides in her schoolbag, Yoshino falls prey to stupid boy bullying in ‘Everything I Want’ and retaliates in kind. However, it’s not the treatment that’s a problem, it’s realising that mind & heart can be as willing as it must, but the body will do what it wants… and what it does to her is sheer, appalling torture…

No matter how much Shiuchi & Yoshino wish they could exchange genders, time and physical maturity inexorably march on and the changes of puberty are irresistibly challenging their dreams and causing their treacherous forms to horrifyingly and inescapably betray them. The changes lead to confusion, anger, and inevitably exchanges of blows…

Be warned please, incidents and aftereffects of actual periods are sensibly and accurately portrayed and sensitively dealt with (as much as they can be when school classmates are what they are) so if you’re not quite evolved enough yet, you might need to sit down for a bit before continuing…

That will be in Volume 2, following comedic aside ‘Just Before Transferring Bonus Manga’…

The second stage of the desired metamorphoses again come with a full-colour character catalogue before the tales picks up with chapter 9 as ‘Love & (Hair)piece’ finds Shu and Yoshino entering Sixth Grade. When Shu and sister Maho-san are given a relative fortune by their doting grandma, they gleefully consider their options before he sagely decides to save his… until he sees that long blonde wig in the boutique. Stood beside Yoshino wearing her brother’s school uniform, they make the perfect couple…

Yuki-san sure thinks so when she sees the couple. She still seems interested in the “young man” she met in the cafe and introduces them to her male friend: a weird guy called Shii-chan. They both seem to know an awful lot about what Shuichi and Yoshino are going through and there’s a reason for that…

Over another loaded café meeting Yuki-san and boyfriend Shii-chan reveal that they are both trans, offering insight and a possible happy destination for the overwrought kids. As teacher Nakagawa-sensei sets project “My Dream” to the class to consider and discuss what each pupil most wants, ‘Dreams and Desires and Stuff’ sees the topic grip everybody. Shu ponders his possible future and life goals amidst a sea of conflicting opinions and soon even the families get involved. To offset the self-induced pressures, he and Yoshino meet up with Yuki-san who deftly probes their situation…

Unable to clear his mind, She falls ill, and whilst at home, dresses in full female form. Sadly that’s when classmate Seya-kun pays a visit and falls in love with “girl” who opens the door…

Revealed in ‘An Unfortunate Boy’, Seya’s visit was not an accident. He was infatuated with Shu’s siter Maho, but now after seeing the other girl, the poor sap is deeply conflicted but not nearly as much as Shu, who Maho somehow blames for losing her a potential boyfriend. That ultimately leads to a sibling spat that leaves Maho stunned but now also part of Shu’s big secret…

The potential fallout of take-charge Maho sharing the burden is explored in ‘An Undaunted Girl’ as she confronts and teases oblivious Seya before chasing her own dream by contacting a modelling agency. Meanwhile, Shu and Yoshino have been regularly seeing Yuki, and become embroiled in her most excessive relationship with frankly scary Shii, who fears Takatsuki might be a love rival… until a most revelatory close and personal encounter.

With the air cleared, Yuki shares the tale of her transition from unhappy young man to contented woman, before the now-inspired kids return to a storm of familial cross-examination about where they have been. Even Maho is ticked off. She could really use an understanding adult friend right now…

Adding to all their woes, at school Shu and Yoshino are now expected to contribute to ‘The Exchange Diary’, adding to a communal chronicle of pupil secrets and aspirations that they know will cause them nothing but more grief, but which forces them to consider expanding their clandestine circle of trust in ‘An Odd Pair’ all in advance of their next major challenge: preparing for a organised outing away from their homes and admittedly tenuous comfort zones…

Of course frightful biology keeps surprising them. In ‘School Trip: The Day Before’ it’s poor Shu’s turn to anticipate shame and betrayal as his sleep is ruined forever by Yuki’s story of her personal school horror: a school trip sleepover that resulted in a nocturnal emission, compounded by a far-too understanding helpful adult helping to clean it up. At least schoolmate Shii was there to calm the agitation…

Now, wracked with dread, but heartened that the contented adults see themselves in him and Yoshino, the pair ready themselves for the stay at mountaintop national park Nikko with a bunch of rowdy, judgemental schoolmates who might become condemning foes at the slightest misstep. Dealing with communal meals and baths with excitable grabby strangers in ‘School Trip: Day 1’ is bad enough but its nerves that prevent Shu from sleeping, before ‘School Trip: Day 2’ sees his close group targeted by bullies, This time, weirdo Saorin is the first to leap violently to his rescue. That’s nothing compared to what happens after Yuki & Shii “coincidentally” show up at the park and Yuki makes a pass at Shu’s teacher…

To Be Continued…

The drama is bookended by Takako Shimura’s humorous sidebar An Afterword That’s More Like Random Notes on my Life as of late and supported by crucial essays from Rachel Thorn. The first is Snips and Snails, Sugar and Spice: A Guide to Japanese Honorifics as used in Wandering Son: a fantastically useful detailing of honorifics explaining the institutionalised societal, age and gender rankings/positions ingrained in the nation’s being. Trust me, in as stratified a culture as Japan’s, this background piece is an absolute necessity, especially when dealing with transgender issues, sexual identity and the attendant dysphoria and forces shaping gender identity, such as how husky, aspiring boy-to-be Takatsuki is regarded as “kun” (male, intimate) not “chan” (female, diminutive, intimate) by classmates.

That’s accompanied by a comprehensive Japanese Pronunciation Guide that is also invaluable especially if you read aloud…

Openhearted, charming and beguiling, coming of age epic Wandering Son potently and delightfully explores a charged and critical dilemma affecting so many, and deals with the issues in a compelling, witty, sensitive, funny and deeply welcoming manner, but it’s also a sublimely readable story about people and one that everybody should see.
Wandering Son Vols. 1-2 [HORO MUSUKO Vol. 1. 2] © Takako Shimura 2003, 2004. First published in Japan in 2003, 2004 by KADOKAWA CORPORATION, Tokyo. English Translation rights arranged with KADOKAWA CORPORATION, Tokyo through TUTTLE-MORI AGENCY, INC. Tokyo. Essay © 2026 Rachel Thorn. This edition is © 2026 Fantagraphics Books, Inc. All rights reserved.

Wandering Son volumes 1 & 2 will be released on September 15th 2026 and is available for pre-order now.

Today in 1892 welcomed French comics pioneer Edmond-François Calvo (La Bête Est Mort/The Beast is Dead), a birthday shared with astounding author Otto Binder (Captain Marvel/Shazam!, Superman, Superboy Supergirl, Mighty Samson, Young Allies, Tommy Tyme, Miss America, Captain America, Sub-Mariner, All-Winners Squad, Kid Eternity, Uncle Sam, The Shield) in 1911; cartoonist Brant Parker (Crock, Out of Bounds, Wizard of Id) in1920 and Filipino creator Francis Manapul (Witchblade, Flash, Legion of Super-Heroes) in 1979.

The day saw the passing of unsung Belgian artisan and Ligne claire pioneer Bob de Moor (Johan et Stephan, L’énigmatique monsieur Barelli, Cori le Moussaillon, Les aventures d’Oncle Zigomar, The Adventures of Blake and Mortimer, The Adventures of Tintin) in 1992.

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Star Comics All-Star Collection volume 1


By Lennie Herman, Sid Jacobson, Stan Kay, Bob Bolling, Warren Kremer, Howard Post, Vince Colletta, Jon D’Agostino, Jacqueline Roettcher & various (Marvel)
ISBN: 978-0-7851-4291-1 (TPB), 978-1-3025-0691-9 (Digital edition)

This book includes Discriminatory Content and especially outdated gender roles produced in less enlightened times.

Once upon a time the US comic book industry aimed at younger readers was utterly dominated by Dell/Gold Key with their TV & Disney licenses, and Harvey Comics who had largely switched from a variety of genres to a wholesome, kid-friendly pantheon by the end of the 1950s. Despite valiant and consistent efforts from DC, Charlton and Marvel to compete, this Big Two owned the pre-school sector until declining morals, television cartoon saturation and rising print costs finally forced them to bow out.

The Wester Publishing companies suffered a slow erosion, gradually losing valuable prime properties like Popeye, Star Trek, assorted Hanna-Barbera and Warner Brothers cartoon stars, plus sundry other treasures until the parent company called it a day in 1984. Harvey had already shut up shop in 1982 when company founder Alfred Harvey retired.

The latter’s vast archived artwork store was sold off and, with properties and rights up for grabs, Marvel Comics (who had already secured those lost Star Trek and Hanna-Barbera titles) was frontrunner for licensing the family firm’s iconic characters. These included Richie Rich, Casper the Friendly Ghost, Sad Sack, Hot Stuff – the Little Devil, Wendy the Good Little Witch and so many others. That bid ultimately foundered, but business savvy Editor-in-Chief Jim Shooter, recognised a huge gap in the market, and subsequently launched a cloned imprint of the Harvey stable which would also encompass new TV/toy properties like Jim Henson’s Muppet Babies & Fraggle Rock; Alf; Madballs; Strawberry Shortcake, Care Bears; Thundercats; Ewoks and every Saturday Morning TV sensation still to come. He resolved to devise and deliver the next generation of worthily wholesome, entry-level comics for entertainment-hungry young minds and their concerned parents…

Marvel’s Star Comics line launched in 1985, edited by ex-Harvey head-honcho Sid Jacobson, with familiar-looking titles sporting an incontestably similar look and feel, which was achieved primarily by hiring former Harvey stalwarts like Jacobson, Lennie Herman, Warren Kremer, Howard Post, Ernie Colon and others.

Millionaire prince and all-around good kid Royal Roy especially invoked the ire of the Harvey heirs who sued for copyright infringement of their astonishingly prolific Richie Rich: a glittering prize who had shone in over 55 separate titles between his debut in 1953 and the bust of 1982. Roy was cancelled after 6 issues – as were many Star series – in a brutal “Survival of the Funnest” policy – and the suit was quietly dropped. None of which affects the fact that those Eighties child stars were, in their own right, superb examples of all-ages fun, excitement and adventure joyously revisited in this collection first released in from 2009: gathering that first wave of titles and latterly expanded on in a coordinated curated kids comics book sequence (remember now: “gotta get ‘em all!”).

Re-presenting Planet Terry #1-2, Top Dog #1-3, Royal Roy #1-2 & Wally the Wizard #1-2 in a veritable nova of bubbly contagious thrills and frolics, the eccentric escapades open with a star who was just a little lost boy in space…

Planet Terry was created by Lennie Herman (who died just before the big Star Comics launch) and the merely magnificent Warren Kremer, whose animation-based art style became the defining look of Harvey Comics during its happy heyday, and starred a young lad searching the universe for the parents he had never known. Introduced in ‘The Search’ (Herman, Kremer & Vince Colletta), little Terry was something of a nuisance, periodically landing on alien worlds, pestering the inhabitants and asking “Has anyone seen my mother and father?”

Found wandering in a life-pod which raised and educated him, the only clues PT had to his past are a name bracelet and an empty picture frame. However, this time when he returns to the obnoxious planet Bznko, Terry accidentally drives off a menace which bores folks to death with bad jokes, so the inhabitants give him a junked lady robot as a reward. This proves to be a blessing in disguise as Robota inadvertently leads the lonely lad to ‘A Clue’ when they later crashland on a mining asteroid and meet aged Enoch Diggs who recognises the lifepod the infant Terry was originally found in…

‘Some Answers’ are forthcoming as the dithery prospector reveals he once worked on Confederation Cosmos Cruiser Space Warp, where the captain’s wife was going to have a baby. Needing a sterile environment for the newborn infant, the crew placed him in the emergency lifeboat, but his jubilant father accidentally triggered it whilst celebrating his son’s birth and the infant was rocketed into deep space. Although they searched everywhere, the heartbroken spacemen never located the pod and assumed baby Terry was lost forever…

Although Enoch can’t remember the names of Terry’s parents, he suggests another old shipmate might, and the re-energised searchers rush to another asteroid to find him. Sadly, they instead encounter ‘The Malt Shop Menace’, before recruiting another voyager when Robota saves a brutish monster…

Omnus gratefully joins their decidedly odd and growing family. Little do they know that a sinister conspiracy is at work to keep the whereabouts and secret of the Space Warp lost forever…

In #2 (by Herman, Kremer & Jon D’Agostino) the quest continues as the outcasts encounter sabotage and opposition before landing their freshly repaired ship on the lost world of the Gorkels where the trio clumsily fulfil an ancient prophecy in ‘The Saga of Princess Ugly’. In return for repairing Terry’s downed vessel, he, Robota and Omnus must rescue an abducted Princess by battling hostile jungles, shapeshifting beasts, killer vines, a whirlpool and a volcano all controlled by archvillain Vermin the Vile in ‘Too Close (enough) for Comfort’ before saving the girl from ‘The Doom of the Domed City’ and uncovering the final resting place of the elusive Space Warp…

Also by Herman, Kremer & D’Agostino, Royal Roy debuted on his birthday in ‘The Mystery of the Missing Crown’, wherein the Prince of wealthy Ruritanian Cashalot discovers that the traditional, venerable Royal Highness Crown has gone missing on the very day of his investiture. Whilst King Regal and Queen Regalia understandably panic, super suave, ultra cool bodyguard Ascot diligently investigates as assorted resplendent relatives dither and interfere, so Roy and his pet crocodile Gummy keep their heads and maintain their poise by ‘Picking up the Scent’. They soon expose a supernatural agency at work after ‘A Midnight Visit’ by ghostly ancestor William the Warhorse…

Topping off that opening issue was a snappy, snazzy short fun yarn starring reptilian Gummy in ‘Crocadog’ prior to #2 hosting ‘The Grand Ball’. Scripted by Stan Kay, it occupied most of Roy’s attention as the underage but still eligible Prince took a fancy to simple commoner Crystal Clear whilst ambitious – and mean – social climber Lorna Loot spent all her time – and considerable cash – unsuccessfully attempting to beguile the boy by turning herself into a contemporary Cinderella in ‘A Strange Stranger’…

‘Maneuvers!’ then sees Roy fulfil his hereditary duties by joining Cashalot’s army on dawn exercises. As ruler-in-waiting of a rich but peaceful nation, the plucky lad isn’t too surprised to find that the entire armed forces consists of one reluctant prince and a keen but aging general…

Top Dog featured a far more modern and mundane situation, depicting the lives of average American boy Joey Jordan and a mutt he brought home one day. Herman, Kremer & Jacqueline Roettcher’s ‘The Dog-Gone Beginning’ revealed how, whilst looking for his lost baseball, the kid had accidentally spotted a dog reading the newspaper and talking to himself. Exposed, the canny canine begged the boy to keep his secret else all the four-footed wonder could expect was a short and painful life being poked, prodded and probed by scientists…

Once the lad swore to keep his secret, Top Dog agreed to come live with Joey in ‘House About a Dog, Mom?’ Whilst the boy tries to teach the pooch to bark – one of the few languages he can’t speak! – Joey’s accommodating family gradually get used to the seemingly normal dog and his boy.

However, when Mervin Megabucks (the richest, meanest kid in town) overhears them playing and chatting, the spoiled brat refuses to believe Joey is a ventriloquist and when the junior Jordan refuses to sell, Mervin steals Top Dog as the perfect addition to his palatial high-tech house. However, even torture won’t make the purloined pooch speak again, and when Joey stages ‘The Big Breakout’, Mervin’s mega-robots prove no match for dogged determination leaving the peewee plutocrat brat baffled, bamboozled and dog-less…

Top Dog #2 exposes ‘Spies!’ after the restless dog of a thousand talents seems to harbour a dark side. Going out on nightly jaunts, the marvellous mutt apparently leads a double life as a security guard at a Defence Plant, triple-crossing everybody by photographing military secrets for a foreign power. It’s actually a diminutive enemy agent in a dog costume but Vladimir’s handlers hadn’t reckoned on a real dog looking (and speaking) just like their hairy infiltrator. Thus they accidentally give the purloined plans to the chatty all-American canine.

After spectacularly trapping the sinister spies without revealing his own astounding intellect, Top Dog is framed in #3 by Joey’s best friend Larry who’s been feeling neglected and rejected since the brilliant bow-wow moved in. With a feral hound dubbed ‘The Mad Biter’ on the prowl and attacking people, it’s simple to send our perspicacious pup to the Pound, where he encounters lots of bad dogs who probably deserve to be ‘Caged’.

Faithful Joey never gives up and after bailing his canine comrade out, they convince the guilt-ridden perjurer to see the light by via an impromptu midnight ‘Ghost Story’. Even with Larry recanting his lies, neighbourhood families don’t trust Top Dog, but that all changes once the maligned mutt tracks down the real Biter and engages him in ‘A Fight to the Finish’…

The final initial entry was written and illustrated by Archie Comics veteran Bob Bolling who concocted a fabulous medieval wonderland for Wally the Wizard to play in. In #1’s ‘A Plague of Locusts’, mystical Merlin’s older, smarter brother Marlin is having trouble with a stubbornly inquisitive apprentice. Wally wants to know everything NOW, has no discipline and is full of foolish ideas and misconceptions. As a serious scientist, Marlin has no time for silly superstitions, so after the lad accidentally releases a time-travelling demon from an age-old prison, the mage refuses to believe him.

Gorg however swears faithfully to repay the favour before disappearing…

Despatched to deliver a potion to King Kodger, Wally also helps a dragon save his hatchling from a deep well, only just reaches the sovereign in time and has a feed on the Royal Barge where he once again fails to impress beauteous Princess Penelope…

Meanwhile in Bloodmire Castle, wicked plotters Vastar the Vile, his sister Sybilious the Bilious and wicked warlock Erasmo conspire to conquer the kingdom by unleashing a huge metal locust to consume all in its path. Noble knights led by invincible Sir Flauntaroy are helpless before the brazen beast and Wally realises only Marlin can save them. Sadly, the boy gets lost on route to fetch him, but happily for everybody, the dragon and demon the rationalist sorcerer refuses to believe in are ready to pay their debts to the apprentice…

Sid Jacobson, Howard Post & D’Agostino handled the second issue wherein Wally enters the annual apprentice’s games, with Marlin now suddenly transformed into a traditional magic-making mage. In fact, Marlin, as a three-time champion of ‘The Magic-a-Thon!’ is secretly regretful that Wally is too inexperienced to compete… a fact his disciple discerns and tries to fix. Desperately cramming for a week and eventually (with the coaching of his proud master) Wally sets off to compete but a lovelorn barbarian accidentally cleaves the kid’s crib notes in twain, leaving him able to create only half-spells and conjure up mere semi-monsters…

Undaunted, Wally continues and perseveres, even after a huge storm deprives him of the demi-directions and his back-up pouch of herbs and potions. He is determined to win using nothing but his wits, guts and unflagging optimism…

This clutch of classic children’s tales also includes the enchanting covers and the original house-ads which introduced the characters to the Kids in America and four decades later is still a fabulous blast of intoxicating wonder and entertainment readers of all ages cannot fail to love. With children’s comics back in force again after too long a fallow period, it’s apt, sensible and fun to acknowledge the timeless classics we used to draw upon and which drew kids in. Historical compilations like this one belong on the shelves of every funnybook-loving parent and even those lonely couples with only a vague twinkle in their eyes…
© 1985 and 2009 Marvel Characters, Inc. All rights reserved.

Today in 1928 Lyman Young’s strip epic Tim Tyler’s Luck launched, followed by Al Capp’s Li’l Abner in 1934.

This day in 1919 prolific illustrator and inker Jim Mooney (Tommy Tomorrow, Supergirl, Omega the Unknown, Robin, Batman, Pussycat, Man-Thing, Spider-Man, Thundercats, Elvira, Mistress of the Dark) was born, as were artist/inker Gene Day (Star*Reach, Star Wars, Master of Kung Fu) in 1951; all-rounder Donna Barr (Desert Peach, Stinz) in1952; UK artist Rob Davis (Judge Dredd, Doctor Who, Nelson) in 1954; artist Bret Blevins (New Mutants, Sleepwalker, Bozz Chronicles) in 1960; both Billy Tucci (Shi, Sgt. Rock: The Lost Battalion) and cartoonist Shannon Wheeler (Too Much Coffee Man, Postage Stamp Funnies) in 1966 and Malaysian artist Billy Tan Mung Khoy AKA Billy Tan (Uncanny X-Men, Green Lantern, Tomb Raider) in 1970.

Passing on this day were Jack Cole (Plastic Man, Betsy and Me) in 1958; British editor creator John Geering (Sparky, The Topper, Cracker, Plug, Nutty, The Beano, The Dandy on Puss ‘n’ Boots, Smudge, Bananaman, DangerMouse, Count Duckula) in 1999 and Tintin colour artist Josette Baujot in 2009.

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Tiny Titans volume 4: The First Rule of Pet Club…


By Art Baltazar & Franco with Geoff Johns & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-4012-2892-7 (TPB), 978-1-4012-4528-3 (Digital edition)

DC’s Cartoon Network imprint was a potent and fun-filled bastion of children’s comics in America and consolidated the link between TV and 2D jollies and thrills with stunning interpretations of television landmarks like Ben 10, Scooby Doo, Powerpuff Girls, Dexter’s Laboratory and others. The comics line also generated truly exceptional material based on screen iterations of their proprietary characters such as Teen Titans Go!, Legion of Super Heroes, Batman: Brave and the Bold and Krypto the Super Dog as well as original material like Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam!, which were merely indistinguishable in tone and content.

Arguably the imprint’s finest release was a series ostensibly aimed at early readers but which quickly became a firm favourite of older fans – and a multi-award winner too. Superbly mirroring the magical wonderland inside a child’s head where everything is happily mixed up together, Tiny Titans became a sublime nostalgia-weaponised antidote to continuity cops and slavish fan-boy quibbling by reducing the vast cast of successive Teen Titans animated series, the greater boutique of mainstream comic books and, eventually, DC’s entire Universe to little kids and their parents/guardians in the wholesome kindergarten environment of Sidekick City Elementary School – a scenario spring-loaded with in-jokes, sight-gags and beloved yet gently mocked paraphernalia of generations of strip readers and telly-watchers…

Art Baltazar and co-creator Franco (Aureliani) mastered a witty, bemusingly charming style of storytelling that just happily rolls along, with assorted characters getting by, trying to make sense of the great big world and just coincidentally having “Adventures in Awesomeness”. The method generally involves stringing together smaller incidents and moments into an overall themed portmanteau tale and it works astoundingly well. Rounding up issues #19-25 and spanning cover-dates October 2009 – April 2010 of the magically madcap, infinitely addictive all-ages mini-masterpiece, this fourth volume begins on a romantic note by looking at the kids ‘Deep in Like’.

After a handy and as-standard identifying roll-call page, ‘Imagine Me and You…’ finds scary blob Plasmus and tiny winged Bumblebee brightening up each other’s drab day, before a similar cupid moment affects The Brain and best-est pal M’sieu Mallah, even as diligent overachiever Robin (accompanied by faithful Bat-hound Ace) finds his earnest attempts to finish his homework disturbed by a succession of pesky young ladies including Starfire, Batgirl & Duella all caught up in a ‘Like Triangle’. ‘Dates’ then sees Bumblebee & Plasmus inadvertently causing chaos during an afternoon movie monster mash – and even in the ‘Intermission’ – after which a sly sight gag for us oldies highlights the company’s many Wonder Girls in ‘Jump Rope’.

DC’s hallowed anthropoid obsession is highlighted in ‘New Recruits’ when Beast Boy chairs a meeting of the Titans Ape Club before regular feature The Kroc Files depicts ultimate butler Alfred, roguish reptilian star Kroc and Plasmus each demonstrating ‘How to Enjoy a Lollipop’ in their own signature manner. The issue closes with a word puzzle whilst the next promises to disclose The Hole Truth about Raven: beginning with a daybreak disaster at ‘Home with the Trigons’. Raven’s dad is an antlered, crimson transdimensional devil-lord as well as a teacher at Sidekick Elementary, so when he oversleeps, his sorceress scion gets him to work on time by simply opening a few wormholes. Of course, leaving those dimensional doors around is just asking for trouble…

Meanwhile, it’s washday at Wayne Manor, but Alfred won’t let Robin, Beast Boy or Aqualad go down ‘To the Batcave’. Sadly, even the dapper domestic can’t withstand united pester-power and eventually gives in… and learns to regret it. Following a perplexing maze game-page, the All Pet Club Issue! launches as Starfire and mean sister Blackfire write home for their beloved critters Silky & Poopu, so they can go to the oh-so-secret social event, whilst can-do kid Cyborg actually builds himself a brace of chrome companions in ‘Pet-Tronics’…

With ‘Club Hoppin’, the entire school gathers with their accommodatingly and uniquely compatible pets to interview potential new members – specifically tongue-tied-&-thunderstruck Captain Marvel Junior and his fuzzy pal Hoppy, the Marvel Bunny. With so many members, the club must find roomier quarters, leading to a painful tryst for Beast Boy and Terra in ‘Meanwhile, on the Moon…’

There’s a brilliant vacuum-packed bonus pin-up of the Tiny Titans in space by Franco before ‘Hot Dogs, Titans, & Stretchy Guys!’ presents the kids back on solid ground and wrapped up with the DCU’s many flexible fellows as ‘Offspring into Action’ introduces Plastic Man’s excitably boisterous bonny boy. Then, ‘Just Playing and Bouncing’ sees Bumblebee spend some time with the diminutive Atoms Family but lose control of their Teeny-Weeny, Super Duper Bouncy Ball and accidentally get Plastic Man, Offspring, Elongated Man and Elastic Lad all wound up, before helplessly watching it bowl over Principal Slade and Coach Lobo in ‘Coffee Dog Latte’.

Thankfully, Robin has exactly the right gimmick in his utility belt to set things straight, but can’t stay long as he’s en route to his Bird Scouts meeting where potential new members Hot Spot and Flamebird are trying out for Hawk, Dove, Raven & Talon. Distressingly, when shiny Golden Eagle turns up, the girls all want to make him the new leader…

The semi-regular ‘Epilogue’ page often supplies one more punch-line to cap each themed issue and this one leads directly into a convoluted and confounding Elastic Four pin-up/cover which in turn precedes a spookily uproarious tale of Bats, Bunnies, and Penguins in the Batcave! Oh My!...

It all begins in ‘Ice to Meet Ya!’ when Wayne Manor’s extraordinarily if not excessively large penguin population get into a turf war with the house rabbits, displacing the Batcave’s regular inhabitants in ‘Driving Me Batty’. The conflict escalates in ‘All in the Batman Family’ before Robin gets a rather stern admonition from his senior partner to put things right… or else.

Happily, ever-so-cute & capable Batgirl is willing to lend a hand. Unfortunately, so too are the kids she’s baby-sitting (Tim & Jason: you’ll either get that or you won’t, bat-fans) and impishly infuriating Batmite. With even Batcow helping out, things soon start calming down, but ‘Meanwhile, at the Titans’ Treehouse…’ not all of the fugitive Bat-bats have heard the good news…

Once your ribs have stopped hurting you can then enjoy a Tiny Titans Aw Yeah Pin-up from Franco before ‘The All Small Issue!’ opens with assorted big kids accidentally drinking ‘Milk! Milk!’ from the Atoms’ fridge and shrinking away to nearly nothing. Good thing the Atomic nippers think to call their dad, who’s with fellow professional dwindlers Ant, Molecule and substitute Atoms Adam & Ryan (another in-continuity howler targeting old fogey fans) for a Team Nucleus meeting…

That compressive cow-juice causes more trouble in the ‘Epilogue’ before a Blue Beetle puzzle clears the mind in advance of an outrageous ending as ‘Superboy Returns!’ in a fairly cosmic crossover – and requiring some additional scripting by Geoff Johns.

When Conner Kent shows up, all the girls are really impressed and distracted, whilst – across town – Speedy is trading a lot of junk he shouldn’t be touching to Mr. Johns’ Sidekick City Pawn Shop and Bubblegum Emporium in ‘Brightest Day in the Afternoon!’ When Starfire & Stargirl then buy the seven different coloured “mood rings” from the shop, they and BFFs Duella, Batgirl, Wonder Girl, Terra and Shelly, are turned into Green, Red, Yellow, Orange, Blue, Violet and Indigo Lanterns! Soon, the Tiny Titans are up in the air again and annoying The Guardians of the Universe and their super-serious Green Lantern Corps.

It all ends well, though, in an Emerald ‘Epilogue’ and a lavish pin-up of a posse of pistachio-painted interplanetary peacekeepers…

Despite being ostensibly aimed at super-juniors and TV kids, these wonderful, wacky yarns – which marvellously marry the heart and spirit of such classic strips as Peanuts, The Perishers or Calvin and Hobbes with something uniquely mired and marinated in pure comic-bookery – are deliciously hilarious tales no self-respecting or self-indulging joy-lover should miss: accessible, entertaining, and wickedly intoxicating. Go mellow out with some kids’ stuff, now, okay? Why should they have all the fun?
© 2009, 2010 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

Today in 1948 cartoon gadfly Garry Trudeau (Doonesbury) was born, followed in 1950 by scripter and gamed developer Bill Kunkel (Doorway to Nightmare, Vigilante, Marvel Team-Up, Richie Rich). In 1942, Italian artist Giove Toppi died. He was the first cartoonist to draw Mickey Mouse in comics.

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Jess Bradley’s Squid Bits! : That’s a Nice Hat!


By Jess Bradley with Emily Kimball, Kate Brown & various (DFB/Phoenix)
ISBN: 978-1-78845-395-0 (TPB)

The Phoenix has been the shining saving grace of traditional British kids’ comics since 2012, regaling rabid readers with anthology strips for girls, boys and all points between, offering humour, adventure, quizzes, puzzles and educational material in a joyous parade of cartoon fun and fantasy. Although pretty strong in its action and mystery yarns, the publication is probably best known for its award-winning comedy stylings, and has always offered perplexing pages of puzzles, fun facts and info downloads in cartoon form.

And then there’s Squid Bits.

Concocted by Jess Bradley (Comic Strip Science series, Super Dweeb, A Day in the Life of…), the composite self (un)help feature offers advice, suggestions, recipes, style tips, listicles, little snippets of information and much more by dredging up (more like making up!!!) countless tips from all human knowledge: history to astrology, science to economics, baking to nonsense and beyond. These articles are all purportedly supplied by mystery cartoonist The Squid and THEY CANNOT BE TRUSTED!

At the height of the Ritalin* Generation and after years of periodical dis, mis and even hiss information (there’s lots of stuff on lizards and reptiles) across many pages of octopoidal excess, the mix-&-match wonderment and sheer randomised inventiveness – undoubtedly sparked by an excess of imagination and too much tea and confectionary – has been compiled and curated into an almanac of absurdity, unleashed upon the reading public as Jess Bradley’s Squid Bits: That’s a Nice Hat. The perpetrators even have the temerity to threaten more books coming!

The seemingly utilitarian assemblages of pictorial bric-a-brac are manipulated and wrangled on-page by a Greek chorus of stick-figure doodles called “The Doodles” (individually Dog, Cat, Lizard, Rabbit, Mouse & Goat) seeking to please, placate and ingratiate their multi-tentacled Master/Benefactor/Employer. However, as the graffiti gang introduce themselves in an introductory chapter, old rivalries emerge and the linear sextet are consumed by millinery madness. From this point onwards all six lie, cheat, create, purloin, commandeer, otherwise obtain and steal – especially steal – a succession of staggering titfers and chapeaus to impress their unseen overlord.

Amidst and in between all bouts of hat madness and 2-dimensional personal quests for validation, a vast selection of exemplary, data-drenched drawings from the Squid Bits feature bombards your-ever-expanding brainpan, technically making you smarter, but absolutely no use at all in any kind of crisis…

Recurring features within the strip include the life of ‘Red Panda – Nature’s Jerk!’; the lectures of piscine critic ‘Art Shark’; the indescribable ‘Banana!’; ‘The Amazing Lizard Bros!’; ‘Werewolf Problems!’; ‘President Dog!’; ‘Undercover Pigeon!’; ‘Dr. Bacon, M.D.’; ‘Cecil P. Wombat – Expert on Everything!’;‘Adventures in Opposite Land!’ and so very much you never needed or wanted to know about slugs, shopping, fighting, monsters, ghosts, flatulence, vampires or other staples of modern childhood.

Also incrementally improving reader’s lives are such perennial favourites as ‘Totally Real Nature Guide’; ‘Squid Bits Horoscopes’; ‘In the Olden Days’; ‘Squid Bits Weather Report!’ ‘That Escalated Quickly…’; ‘For Sale!’; ‘Squid Bits Homework Help!’; ‘Job Interviews!’; ‘Monster Fashion!’; excerpts from ‘The Adventurer’s Guide’ and the ever-topical and handy “Check List!” of things you probably don’t need for a far better life.

These are counterbalanced by occasional or one-off events such as ‘5th Annual Nudibranch Festival!’, ‘Cut ‘n’ Keep Gentle Reminder!’; a visit to ‘The Evil Forest!’; ‘Stick Insect Romance!’ and ‘Time Travel Foibles’; ‘Too Many Guinea Pigs’ and ‘What Were You Before the Experiment?’…

As always, wrapping up these multi-pronged life-lessons and graphic shenanigans are opportunities to get creative and construct your own Fake News. This timely opportunity appears as activities offered under the aegis of the Phoenix Comics Club. Bring paper, pencils, a ruler, no respect for rules and especially You to a compact online course (QR code provided!), Alternatively, do it in the ancient ways as all aspects of comic strip creation are presented and supervised “in-book” by Bradley herself. The section details ‘How to Draw the Squid Bits Way!’ and individual lessons and topics include the draughting delights of Red Panda, Banana & Art Shark.

Also in view are ‘How to Draw Expressive Doodles’, ‘How to Draw Expressions’, ‘Have Fun With Hairstyles’, ‘Let’s Talk Body Language’, ‘Bringing it All Together’, ‘Lost in a Haunted House’, ‘Blowing Bubbles’, ‘Tentacle Attack’, plus extension specialisms ‘Guinea Pig Balancing Champions’ and – most crucially of all – ‘Sulky Pie Dropper’. Won’t get nowhere sketch-wise without knowing that one, Just ask Art Shark…

Hugely funny, infinitely (for a given value of infinite, of course) inventive and addictively, daftly and deftly drawn, Jess Bradley’s Squid Bits: That’s a Nice Hat is a wondrous “dipping book” and another item that your kids will have to explain to you. Thus, you’d be ill-advised to let your kids have a copy if you’re driving anywhere with them in the back. Otherwise, it’s great and worth your keenest attentions. I tip my hat to it, of course…
Text and Illustrations © Jess Bradley, 2026.

*Other forms of Methylphenidate are available, but should not be considered as a an alternative to study and diligent parenting.

Today in 1949, British all-rounder comics creator John Higgins (Judge Dredd, Watchmen, World Without End, Dr Who, Batman: The Killing Joke, Razorjack) was born, sharing the date with both Underground Commix star Bobby London (Dirty Duck, Air Pirates, Popeye) and writer-turned-producer & Dark Horse Comics founder Mike Richardson (The Mask, Star Wars, Aliens, Predator, Cravan: Mystery Man of the 20th Century, Deep Gravity) in 1950. In 1951 Dean of Disney Duck delights Don Rosa arrived, as did realist comics artist Bo Hampton (Greylore, Viking Glory, Batman: Castle of the Bat) in 1954 and Allan Heinberg (Wonder Woman, Young Avengers) in 1967.

1985 today saw the last published edition of UK comics bastion Jack and Jill after more than 1640 weekly issues.

Today in 1888, American cartoonist turned Comics pioneer Frank Bellew died, as did immortal legend Steve Ditko in 2018.

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DC Finest: Robin – The Origin of Robin


By Ed Hamilton, John Broome, Gardner F. Fox, Cary Bates, Mike Friedrich, E. Nelson Bridwell, Frank Robbins, Dennis O’Neil, Bob Haney, Elliot Maggin, Bob Rozakis, Ross Andru, Curt Swan, Sheldon Moldoff, Pete Costanza, Chic Stone, Gil Kane, Irv Novick, Murphy Anderson, Dick Dillin, Rich Buckler, Bob Brown, Mike Grell, A. Martinez, Al Milgrom, José Delbo, Bill Draut, George Klein, Joe Giella, Sid Greene, Murphy Mike Esposito, Anderson, Vince Colletta, Dick Giordano, Frank McLaughlin, José Mazzaroli, Terry Austin, José Luis García-López, Ernie Chan & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-79950-829-8 (TPB)

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times.

Robin the Boy Wonder debuted in Detective Comics #38 (cover dated April 1940 and on sale from March 6th). Co-created by Bob Kane, Bill Finger & Jerry Robinson, he was a juvenile circus acrobat whose parents were murdered by a mob boss. The story of how Batman took the orphaned Dick Grayson under his scalloped wing and trained him to fight crime has been told, retold and revised many times over the decades and still regularly undergoes tweaking to this day. Grayson fought beside Batman until 1970 when, as an indicator of those turbulent times, he flew the nest, becoming a Teen Wonder college student. His creation as a junior hero for younger readers to identify with inspired countless costumed sidekicks and kid crusaders, and Grayson continued in similar innovative vein for the older, more worldly-wise readership of America’s increasingly rebellious youth culture.

The first Robin even had his own solo series in Star Spangled Comics from 1947 to 1952, a solo spot in the back of Detective Comics from the end of the 1960s as covered here (but a position he alternated and shared with Batgirl) and a starring feature in anthology comic Batman Family. In the 1980s he led the New Teen Titans, initially in his original costumed identity but eventually in the reinvigorated guise of Nightwing, all while re-establishing a (somewhat turbulent) working relationship with his masked mentor.

This broad-ranging full colour but strictly non-digital compilation covers the period from Julie Schwartz’s captivating reinvigoration of the Dynamic Duo in 1964 until 1975 with Robin-related stories and material from Batman #184, 192, 202, 213, 217, 227, 229-231, 234-236, 239-242, 244-246, 248-250, 252, 254 & 259; Detective Comics #342, 386, 390-391, 394-395, 398-403, 445, 447, 450-251; World’s Finest Comics #141, 147, 195, & 200; Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen #111, 130 and Batman Family #1 & 3-5, spanning cover-dates May 1964 to May/June 1976.

With covers by Curt Swan, George Klein, Carmine Infantino, Joe Giella, Bill Draut & Vince Colletta, Neal Adams, Murphy Anderson, Mike Grell, Ernie Chan & Tatiana Wood, the developmental wonderment and rocky road from boys to men begins with ‘The Olsen-Robin Team versus… the Superman-Batman Team!’ Taken from World’s Finest #141, May 1964, by Edmond Hamilton, Curt Swan & George Klein, it’s a stirring blend of sci fi thriller and crime caper, wherein the underappreciated sidekicks fake their own deaths to undertake a secret mission even their adult partners must remain unaware of… for the very best of reasons of course.

The sequel (WFC #147, February 1965) delivers an engaging drama of youth-in-revolt as ‘The Doomed Boy Heroes!’ quit their assistant roles to strike out on their disgruntled own. Naturally there’s a perfectly reasonable – if incredible – reason here, too. Then in Detective Comics #342 (August 1965) cover-featured ‘The Midnight Raid of the Robin Gang!’ (John Broome, Sheldon Moldoff & Joe Giella) sees the Boy Wonder defy his mentor’s orders to infiltrate a youthful gang of costumed criminals. Following that, ‘The Boy Wonder’s Boo-Boo Patrol!’ (originally a back-up in Batman #184; September 1966 by Gardner Fox, Chic Stone & Sid Greene), shows the daring lad’s star-potential in a clever tale of thespian skulduggery and classic conundrum solving, before ‘Dick Grayson’s Secret Guardian!’ (Batman #192, June 1967, Fox, Moldoff & Giella) showcases his physical prowess in one of comic books’ first instances of the exoskeletal augmentation gimmick.

Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen #111 (June 1968) brought ‘Jimmy Olsen, Boy Wonder!’ by Cary Bates & Pete Costanza, which finds the cub reporter trying to prove his covert skills by convincing the Gotham Guardian that he was actually Robin (!), whilst that same month in Batman #202 the genuine article tackles the ‘Menace of the Motorcycle Marauders!’ (Mike Friedrich, Stone & Giella), consequently learning a salutary lesson in the price of responsibility. Then April 1969’s Detective Comics #386 featured the Boy Wonder’s first solo back-up in what was to become his semi-regular spot for years.

‘The Teen-Age Gap!’ as described by Friedrich, Ross Andru & Mike Esposito depicts a High School Barn Dance which only narrowly escapes becoming a riot thanks to Grayson’s diligent intervention. Its followed by an all new story from reprint collection Batman #213 (July/August 1969 and a 30th Anniversary reprint Giant) which offers an updated retelling of ‘The Origin of Robin’ courtesy of E. Nelson Bridwell, Andru & Esposito, reinterpreting those epochal events for the Vietnam generation. Gil Kane & Murphy Anderson assume the art-chores with Detective #390’s ‘Countdown to Chaos!’ (August 1969), bringing the support-series stunningly alive for the unfolding “Relevancy era” with Friedrich concocting a canny tale of corruption and kidnapping, leading to a paralysing city ‘Strike!’ for the Caped kid to spectacularly expose and foil in the following issue.

Next up is a modern landmark in the character’s long history as Batman #217’s ‘One Bullet Too Many!’ (December 1969, by Frank Robbins, Irv Novick & Dick Giordano) sees Dick leaves home to attend Hudson University. With the boy gone, Alfred and Bruce move with the times, shuttering both Mansion and Batcave and relocating to the penthouse of the Wayne Foundation Building in the heart of Gotham. It too offers subterranean lair extras and acts as base as Bruce sets up his Victims Inc. Program to aid the suffering survivors of crime. He also formally rededicates Batman to terrifying evildoers whether they be thugs, masterminds, or the new breed of semi-respectable “legitimate” businessmen who are little more than bandits with lawyers. His first mission is to solve the seemingly senseless murder of paediatrician Jonah Feilding.  Although not really a Robin tale, it is included here, and is closely followed by all of Detective #394 from the same month, with lead Batman feature finding ‘A Victim’s Victim!’ (Robbins, Bob Brown & Giella) in the crime-infested race car scene. This neatly segues into back up yarn ‘Strike… Whilst the Campus is Hot!’ (Robbins, Kane & Anderson) as callow freshman Dick Grayson stumbles into a campus riot organised by criminals backing radical activists, forcing the Teen Wonder to ‘Drop Out… or Drop Dead!’ to stop the seditious scheme. DC #398-399 (April & May 1970) then ran a 2-part spy-thriller with Vince Colletta replacing Anderson as inker. ‘Moon-Struck’ has lunar rock samples borrowed from NASA apparently causing a plague among Hudson’s students until Robin exposes a Soviet scheme to sabotage the Space Program in ‘Panic by Moonglow’.

The 400th anniversary issue (June 1970) finally teamed the Teen Wonder with his alternating back-up star in ‘A Burial For Batgirl!’ (Denny O’Neil, Kane & Colletta): a college-based murder mystery which again heavily references political and social unrest then plaguing US campuses, but which still finds space to be smart and action-packed as well as topical, before chilling conclusion ‘Midnight is the Dying Hour!’ wraps up the saga. Never afraid to repeat a good idea, Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen #130 (July 1970, by Bob Haney & Anderson) details the exploits of ‘Olsen the Teen Wonder!’ with the junior reporter again aping Batman’s buddy to infiltrate an underworld newspaper.

World’s Finest #195 (August 1970) sees Jimmy & Robin targeted for murder by the Mafia in ‘Dig Now, Die Later!’ (Haney, Andru & Esposito, whilst simultaneously in DC #402 ‘My Place in the Sun’ (Friedrich, Kane & Colletta), embroils Grayson and fellow Teen Titan Roy Harper Speedy in a crisis of social conscience, before our scarce-bearded hero wraps up his Detective run with corking crimebusting caper ‘Break-Out’ in the September issue. From #227 (December 1970) Robin’s romps transferred to the back of Batman, beginning with ‘Help Me – I Think I’m Dead!’ (Friedrich, Novick & Esposito) as ecological awareness catastrophically collides with penny-pinching Big Business on campus, launching an extended epic tracking the Teen Thunderbolt’s exploration of communes, alternative cultures and the burgeoning spiritual New Age fads of the day.

Inked by Frank Giacoia ‘Temperature Boiling… and Rising!’ (#229, February 1971) continues the politically-charged drama, albeit uncomfortably interrupted by a trenchant fantasy team-up with Superman sparked when the Man of Steel attempts to halt a violent campus clash between students and National Guard. The tale shifts to WFC #200 (February 1971) – crafted by Friedrich, Dick Dillin & Giella – where ‘Prisoners of the Immortal World!’ has brothers on opposite sides of the teen scene abducted with Robin & Superman to a distant planet where undying vampiric aliens wage eternal war on each other. A return to more pedestrian perils follows in Batman #230 (March 1971) sees ‘Danger Comes A-Looking!’ for our young hero in the form of a gang of right-wing, anti-protester jocks and a deluded friend who prefers bombs to brotherhood, courtesy of Friedrich, Novick & Giordano. ‘Wiped Out!’ (#231, May 1971) then offers an eye-popping end to the jock squad whilst #234 sees a clever road-trip tale in ‘Vengeance for a Cop!’, when a campus guard is gunned down forcing Robin to track the only suspect to a commune. ‘The Outcast Society’ has its own unique system of justice, but eventually the shooter is apprehended in cataclysmic closing ‘Rain Fire!’ (#235 & 236 respectively).

The Collective experience blooms into psychedelic and psionic strangeness in #239 as ‘Soul-Pit’ (illustrated by new penciller Rich Buckler) finds Grayson’s would-be girlfriend, “Jesus-freaks” and runaway kids all sucked into a telepathic duel between a father and son, played out in the ‘Theatre of the Mind!’ before exposing the ‘Secret of the Psychic Siren!’ and culminating in a lethal clash with a clandestine cult in ‘Death-Point!’ (Batman#242, June 1972). Elliot Maggin, Novick & Giordano then open an age of cosy-mystery capers by setting ‘The Teen-Age Trap!’ (Batman #244, September 1972), with Grayson mentoring troubled kids and finding plenty of troublemakers his own age, before ‘Who Stole the Gift from Nowhere!’ is a delightful old-fashioned change-of-pace yarn where our hero seeks out a hidden wealthy benefactor. Batman #248 offers ‘The Immortals of Usen Castle’ (Maggin, Novick & Frank McLaughlin) wherein another deprived-kids day trip turns into an episode of Scooby-Doo, Where are You?

Pencilled by Brown, the ‘Case of the Kidnapped Crusader!’ then puts the Student Centurion on the trail of an abducted consumer advocate prior to ‘Return of the Flying Grayson!’ (Maggin, Novick & McLaughlin from #250) painfully reminding the hero of his Circus past after tracking down pop-art thieves. Batman #252 (October 1973) sees Maggin, Dillin & Giordano’s light-hearted pairing of Robin with a Danny Kaye pastiche/avatar for charming romp ‘The King from Canarsie!’, before ‘The Phenomenal Memory of Luke Graham!’ (#254 January/February 1974 and inked by Anderson) causes nothing but trouble for the hero, his college professors and a gang of robbers. Issue #259 provides a fashion spread of new costumes suggested by readers in ‘A New Look for Robin’ before the next tale as year-long adventure drought ends with ‘The Touchdown Trap’ in Detective #445 (February/March 1975) as new scripter Bob Rozakis and artist Mike Grell catapult our hero into a 50-year-old college football feud that refused to die, after which ‘The Puzzle of the Pyramids’ (#447, illustrated by A. Martinez & José Mazzaroli) offers another cunning crime conundrum. Action-packed, chase-heavy human drama ‘The Parking Lot Bandit!’ & ‘The Parking Lot Bandit Strikes Again!’ (DC #450-451, August & September 1975, by Al Milgrom & Terry Austin) gives the titanic teen one last chance to strike a bit of terror into the hearts of evil-doers in his titular home before the next big change comes.

In the midst of another expansion, DC launched a line of double-length titles with Batman Family as possibly its strongest contender. A supersized anthology of new and vintage Bat-fare highlighting a vast themed cast, it paired Robin & Batgirl as a semi-official crimebusting duo. On sale from June 5th 1975, the first issue led with Maggin & Grell’s ‘The Invader from Hell!’ as the ghost of Benedict Arnold attacks Washington DC in a Satan-sponsored sortie to clear his name and rehabilitate his reputation.

With #2 all-reprint, we return for #3 as Maggin, José Luis García-López & Colletta bring the pair to Princetown and a fantastic clash with dinosaurs, future-men and the Spanish Inquisition in thrilling but deceptively peril-free lark ‘Isle of a Thousand Thrills!’ before seasonal shocker ‘Robin’s (Very) White Christmas!’ ( #4, Rozakis, José Delbo & & Colletta) sees Batgirl, Robin and Gotham Police Commissioner Jim Gordon unite to keep Syndicate snitch Tad Wolfe alive and out of the hands of infallible assassin Diamond Lilly.

The eccentrically eclectic collected collation of Teen Wonderments concludes with BF #5’s ‘The Princess and the Vagabond!’ by Maggin, Cary Bates, Swan & Colletta, wherein whilst babysitting foreign dignitary Princess Evalina, Congresswoman Barbara Gordon, her alter ego Batgirl, student guide Dick Grayson and Robin collectively inspire a mismatched romance by foiling the murder plot of sinister agency MAZE…

These stories span a turbulent and chaotic period for comic books: perfectly encapsulating and describing the vicissitudes of the superhero genre’s premier juvenile lead: complex yet uncomplicated adventures drenched in charm and wit, moody tales of rebellion and self-discovery, and rollercoaster, all-fun romps. Action is always paramount, and angst-free satisfaction is pretty much guaranteed. These cracking yarns are something no fan of old-fashioned Fights ‘n’ Tights fiction should miss.
© 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 2026 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

Today in 1926 saw the birth of American cartoonist George Booth (Spot, Local Item), with artist/inker Mike Royer (Magnus, Robot Fighter, Silver Star, Jack Kirby’s Fourth World, Kamandi) arriving in 1941 and iconic groundbreaking French fantasist Philippe Druillet (Lone Sloane saga, Yragaël, La Nuit, Salammbô, Nosferatu) in 1944. Romanian artist Sandu Florea (Batman: Battle for the Cowl, Justice Society of America, X-Men, Dou? palo?e) came along in 1946 and abstract expressionist/Underground Commix pioneer David Geiser (Demented Pervert, Uncle Sham, Edge City) one year later; colourist Adrienne Roy in 1953 and Belgian stylist Benoît Sokal (Inspector Canardo, Syberia) in 1954.

In 2007 we lost American cartoonist, sculptor, author and illustrator Howie Schneider (Eek & Meek, Chewy Louie).

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Stuff about Sex for Guys Who Are Not Like, Total Idiots


By David Mellon (Top Shelf Productions)
No ISBN ASIN: B01BMV519A (pamphlet)

Utterly unavailable – and how like most men today is THAT? – here’s a tiny treat that’s educational and well worth tracking down. You might even agitate for its revival and expansion and return…

Whilst not actually a graphic novel, I couldn’t resist adding this outrageous little comic book essay to my St. Valentines Day celebrations, and wholeheartedly recommend it to any oldster who likes a gentle, knowing laugh or any young man in need of an understanding non-judgemental pep talk before setting out to find a mate… either for a night, a little while or a lifetime.

In the manner of a relatively non-judgemental older sibling, David Mellon (The Boogieman, Silent) expresses, frankly and in the most simple of terms, how to start having sex. He covers the onset of adult relationships; dispelling myths, addressing if not positively coddling neuroses and especially bestowing actual useful advice (yes, really! Wash often and wear clean clothes!) to help nervous neophytes meet women (or consensual alternatives) and not nauseate them.

Beautifully rendered in accessible monochrome cartoons, Mellon takes us through the initial obstacle of ‘Shame!’, arguing that ‘It’s the Same for Everybody’ and claiming ‘Everybody Wants to Drop that Mask!’…

Nothing is held back as the author sensibly deals with ‘Personal Hygiene’ and tackles issues such as ‘Premature Ejaculation’ and ‘Masturbation’, the pros and cons of ‘Virginity’ and even asks the big question…‘What’s Love Got to Do With It?’

Even the great imponderables get a look in as we examine ‘Normal’ and discuss ‘What Women Want’…

Smart, sensible, unflinching but never harsh or mean, Mellon’s mature approach to an age-old traumatic experience and rite of passage should be mandatory reading in schools (but won’t be because of all the naked men and women he’s drawn here) as a serious and earnest contrition to sex education.
Stuff about Sex™ & © 2012 David Mellon. All rights reserved.

Today in 1865 Henry creator Carl Thomas Anderson was born, and so was civil rights champion/political cartoonist Oliver Harrington in 1912, followed four years later by writer/editor/MLJ and Archie Comics co-founder John Goldwater. In 1967 the world became a better place with the birth of New Zealand’s greatest comic export Roger Langridge.

In 1962 we lost Korky the Cat creator James Crighton, the world bid adieu to comics star turned Hanna-Barbera animator Alex Lovyin 1992 and in 2007 Germany said farewell to artist/animator Willy Moese.

In 1904, Jimmy Swinnerton’s strip Little Jimmy debuted while UK comics changed forever in 1976 when Fleetway’s astoundingly controversial weekly Action launched.

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Toby and the Pixies volume 4 How to Be Cool!


By James Turner & Andreas Schuster, with Emily Kimball & Leanne Daphne (David Fickling Books)
ISBN: 978-1-788453-77-6 (TPB)

Way back in January 2012, Oxford-based David Fickling Books made a rather radical move by launching a traditional anthology comics weekly aimed at under-12s. It revelled in reviving the good old days of picture-story entertainment intent whilst embracing the full force of modernity in style and content.

To this day each issue features humour, adventure, quizzes, puzzles and educational material in a joyous parade of cartoon fun and fantasy. The Phoenix has successfully established itself as a potent source of children’s entertainment because, like Beano and Dandy, it is equally at home to boys and girls, and HAS mastered the magical trick of mixing amazingly action-packed adventure series with hilarious humour strip serials such as this one. Most of the strips have also become graphic collections; just like this one…

Crafted by James Turner (Star Cat, Super Animal Adventure Squad, Mameshiba, The Unfeasible Adventures of Beaver and Steve) and Canadian cartoonist/designer/animator Andreas Schuster (KLARA AND ANTON in PRIMAX Magazine), Toby and the Pixies began in January 2020 as I Hate Pixies and, once out of the compost bag of creative wonders, just wouldn’t stop. Those first forays were remastered and released as Toby and the Pixies: Worst King Ever! and follow-up fester forays Best Frenemies & Pixie Pandemonium!, charting the course of a nerdy boy at a nice school… until it all goes wrong…

Unappreciated, anxious 12-year-old Toby Cauldwell was resigned to and content with his meagre, second-rate friends, dedicated personal bullies, negative charisma levels and functional classroom invisibility at Suburbiton High School, but began rapidly shedding his appallingly uncool reputation the day after his electric-toaster-obsessed Dad ordered him to sort out their unruly, out-of-control back garden…

That’s when Toby discovered that wild, jungle-like urban wilderness was – unbeknownst to any mortal – the camouflaging screen for a fabulous fey realm. The ethereal, moist and rather mucky enclave had endured unseen in the green shambles of the Cauldwell backyard for countless ages. Now, thanks to an inept and inadvertent act of emancipation triggered by Toby kicking an unfortunately placed plaster garden gnome, the status quo forever altered. A tool of fate, the reluctant lad was instantly elevated to the position of supreme overlord, by dint of accidently yet totally obliterating the sitting tyrant. It was only for a hidden kingdom of magical morons, but they were really happy to be shot of their previous mad, mean, magical master…

As interpreted by the former King’s advisors – Royal Druid Mouldwarp, wise(ish) Lore Keeper/Potion Master Gatherwool and Toadflax (she eats stuff) – deliberately or otherwise, despatching King Thornpickle made Toby new absolute monarch. Pixie law also stated said ruler could do anything they wanted… a prospect so laden with responsibility that it made Toby weep with terror…

Just coming to terms with MAGIC actually existing, and that the ever-present freaky, anarchic imps can do it whilst still being absolute idiots and morons was awful enough, without also still having to survive school’s normal horrors. Thankfully, as the little odds and sods increasingly impinged and impacted on Toby’s life, education and prospects, they also turned school upside on a daily basis, and Toby’s fellow outcast Mo soon discovered the shocking secret of their existence. And he thought it was BRILLIANT!

In the short term it actually made things worse but now, apart from constant teasing and perpetual whining pleas to visit the magic kingdom, there is a fellow human King Toby can moan at. Two, actually, as snarky bully Steph also soon discovered the secret and has since proved to not be quite as awful as she might be…

That’s good because knowledge is a dangerous, trouble-causing thing, particularly as the Pixies are now everywhere and Toby’s succession triggered many problems: especially when magic-slime wielding Princess Sugarsnap – daughter of Thornpickle and rightful heir to a job Toby really, really doesn’t want – started a war to take back the throne Toby absolutely doesn’t want…

This fourth folio of foolishly foetid foofaraw opens with a fresh chance to get reacquainted with musty regulars Toby, Mo, Steph, Sugarsnap, Toadflax, Gatherwool & Mouldwarp in a comprehensive triple page intro. Then it’s back to school and off the deep end (or is it?) in ‘Chapter 1: T Train’ as Toby – under the Advisors’ suggestions and fed up with his old nickname (“Trousers”) – decides to reboot his image. Sadly, using magic to remove everyone’s memories of old Toby to make room for supercool “T-Train” is a complete disaster… as usual.

‘Chapter 2: Pet Project’ sees the rickety ruler granted extra responsibility – looking after the class goldfish – before disaster immediately strikes when it dies. No appreciable use (as usual!) the pixies take away the wrong message from Toby’s humiliating tragedy and over-explore the fascinating human notion of “pets” by concentrating on “can anybody be one…?”

Pixies are willing, compliant slaves to their King, so only chaos can result from Steph finally making overburdened Mouldwarp understand the concepts of consent and refusal in ‘Chapter 3: The More You “No”’. Rebellion can be an ugly thing to witness…

Social horror blends with the squishy icky kind in ‘Chapter 4: Spot On’ when Toby allows his advisors to “treat” the unsightly blemish on his forehead. Soon, the unsightly pimple is not only bigger than his original head, but far smarter and more erudite, too. Of course, it cannot last…

The young king hates grooming and his much-deferred barber appointments finally come home to roost in ‘Chapter 5: Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow’, paying dank, dandruffy dividends after the Advisors’ first suggestion (hungry goat) is superseded by manic tonsorial magic and grows well beyond anyone’s control. Sadly, that catastrophe is rapidly eclipsed in ‘Chapter 6: Penguin Peril’ when an impending appearance on TV show “That’s Sciency” becomes just the latest way his Advisors cannot help. Here an ecology project involving papier mache penguins and global climate crises suddenly becomes a disaster of cosmic proportions when the pixies soup it up. Now, only devious Princess Sugarsnap seems able to assist… and only for a most outrageous price…

In ‘Chapter 7: Lore Unto Themselves’ a dose of school library cleaning results in the fetid fey folk experiencing sugar-stoked culture shock after seeing in something called “a book” what proper Pixies are…

After realising the King is constantly being saved by his loyal Champion Mo, Sugarsnap bounces back with her most wicked plan yet in ‘Chapter 8: Getting the Hump’. To succeed, all she has to do is break up their friendship, and what better way than by exploiting their shared passion for video games? And THAT is best accomplished by entering the game itself via magic, yes? Well, no, actually…

Writing is hard even if you have great ideas like scholastic King Toby, but if you let your Advisors remove the Self Doubt Critter in your head via a Magical Brain Beret, all manner of plots, schemes and characters are able to unstoppably manifest. Thus, in ‘Chapter 9: Critical Thinking’ as Toby generates a torrent of unwanted essay pages, his freedom of thought increasingly and dangerously impacts on his actions. The solution is to put the SDC back in the king’s head, but it’s perfectly happy squatting in Mouldwarp’s bonce and not keen on being evicted, so it’s a happy thing that when it goes on a rampage Toby has few ideas…

When Toadflax discovers advertising and psychology it soon spawns sheer anarchic trouble in ‘Chapter 10: Choco Crisis’ as the Advisors’ addiction to sugar leads them to magically manifest idols and monsters only a hasty human ad campaign can counter…

Echoes of that encounter reverberate as Christmas rolls around again and ‘Chapter 11: Advent Adventure’ finds Mo, Steph and Toby confronting the Pixies’ newfound love of doors that open onto presents and the ultimate terror that leads to…

The storytelling terminates with one more trial as Sugarsnap returns with her ultimate gambit: suing Toby for the Kingdom of Pixies. However, nobody can win when the law is such an ass that it allows Gatherwool to be judge and book-eating Toadflax and Mouldwarp to be defence counsel. As chaos mounts in ‘Chapter 12: Court Out’, Toby has never been more happy to have Stepha and Mo acting as his behind the scenes advocates…

Ordinary school interactions can be a nightmare, but with the reading done for now, keen types can learn useful stuff from pages of related activities grouped under the banner of the Phoenix Comics Club. Bring paper, pencils and you to a selection of items from the compact online course detailing all aspects of comic strip creation supervised by Andreas Schuster.

Here that includes ‘Let’s Draw a Pixie! Castle’; ‘Pixie Magic!’; ‘Character class: Ducks!’; ‘Duckification!’ and ‘By the Power of Art, COMBINE!’ backed up by an extensive peek at other Fickling books and treats plus a plug for the Phoenix Comics Club website complete with instant access via a QR code.

Toby and the Pixies is a fabulous fabrication of festery fun and nonsense no lover of laughs and lunacy should deprive themselves and which all kids will gleefully consume. What are we all waiting for?
Text and illustrations © The Phoenix Comic 2026. All rights reserved.

Toby and the Pixies: volume 4: How to Be Cool! is published on 12th February 2026 and available for preorder now.

Today in 1898 the previous Frank Miller (who produced aviation strip Barney Baxter in the Air) was born, as was eternal letterer Irv Watanabe in 1919. In 1957 Leonard Starr’s Mary Perkins on Stage opened, but strips lost to us on this day include DC’s The World’s Greatest Superheroes in 1985 and Secret Agent X-9 in 1996.

Crucially and painfully, in 1987 Diabolik co-creator Angela Giussani died, as did the uniquely irreplaceable Steve Gerber in 2008.

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Escape from Special


By Miss Lasko-Gross (Fantagraphics Books)
ISBN: 978-1-56097-804-6 (TPB/Digital edition)

Little Melissa is a very difficult child: smart and constantly questioning her unconventional parents (easy-going hippie-types) as well as the guards and inmates at her elementary school (both intransigent teachers and status-obsessed kids). Even at six years old, she’s a fiercely independent thinker – the kind of kid modern parents usually dope with Ritalin.

She flounders in all the arenas of childhood, consequently being moved from school to school. She has a child-therapist and like many smart, creative kids has problems with reading. Painfully self-aware but ultimately adamantine, Melissa must endure the social horrors of Special Education.

But please don’t think this is a book about the crushing of a spirit. Whether on a tour-bus with her so-very-hip ‘n’ cool folks, fumbling with classmates or fighting off nightmares, this is a series of skits and sketches that affirm Melissa’s vibrant character: one which can adapt but will never buckle. Illustrated in a powerful primitivist – almost naivest – illustrative style and symbology, the little girl endures and overcomes in tales that are charming, sad, funny, reassuring and just plain strange.

Miss (that’s her name now – she changed it) Lasko-Gross has produced graphic narrative for most of her life, editing the Pratt Institute’s Static Fish comic book, working in Mauled, House of Twelve 2.0, Legal Action Comics, Aim and others whilst generally living the kind of life that finds its way onto the pages of fabulous books like this one. This book was followed by notional sequel A Mess of Everything and in 2015 macabre religious funny animal opus Henni which should also be on the must-see list of every thinking comics consumer.

The powerfully direct stories in Escape from “Special” are of such a high calibre that they’re far beyond some new or trendy genre and demand to be seen by a greater audience who don’t even care if their reading matter has pictures or not. These tales are in the same category as American Splendor, Maus and Persepolis with words wedded to pictures that you’ll revel in for years to come.
© 2006 Miss Lasko-Gross. All Rights Reserved.

Today in 1902 Red Ryder co-creator Fred Harman was born, as was Spirou originator “Rob-Vel” (François Robert Velter) in 1909. In 1928 Frank Frazetta joined the party, with Scots script wizard Alan Grant popping along in 1942, just like Jo Duffy in 1954. Two years later Timothy Truman was born, as was French star David B. in 1959. Somehow all that doesn’t really balance the scales as today in 1989 Osamu Tezuka laid down his pens and brushes for the last time.

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Dc Finest: Batman – The Case of the Chemical Syndicate


By Bob Kane, Bill Finger, Gardner F. Fox, Whitney Ellsworth, Sheldon Moldoff, Jerry Robinson, George Roussos & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-79950-670-6 (TPB/Digital edition)

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times.

Although already much reprinted, archived and curated, here’s another sound and stunning collection of the Gotham Guardian’s earliest exploits in original chronological order, forgoing glossy, high-definition paper and reproduction techniques in favour of a newsprint-adjacent feel and the same flat, bright-yet-muted colour palette which graced the originals. There’s no fuss, fiddle or Foreword, and the book steams straight into the meat of the matter with the accumulated first two years of material featuring the masked mystery-man, as well as all those stunning covers (by Kane, Robinson, Roussos, Fred Gurdineer, Creig Flessel, Jack Burnley, Fred Ray and The Strauss Engraving Company). These span Detective Comics #27-51; Batman #1-5; the Dynamic Duo’s endeavours in New York World’s Fair Comics 1940 and World’s Best Comics #1, cumulatively encompassing every groundbreaking escapade from May 1939 to May 1941.

As Evri Fule Kno, Detective Comics #27 featured the Darknight Detective’s debut in the ‘Case of the Chemical Syndicate!’ by Bob Kane and as yet still anonymous close collaborator/co-originator Bill Finger. A spartan, understated yarn introduced dilettante playboy criminologist Bruce Wayne, drawn into a straightforward crime-caper as a cabal of industrialists were successively murdered. The killings stop when an eerie figure dubbed “The Bat-Man” intrudes on Police Commissioner Gordon’s stalled investigation to ruthlessly expose and deal with the hidden killer.

The following issue saw our fugitive vigilante return to crush ‘Frenchy Blake’s Jewel Gang’ before encountering his very first psychopathic killer/returning villain in Detective #29. Gardner Fox scripted these next few adventures beginning with ‘The Batman Meets Doctor Death’, in a deadly duel of wits with deranged, greedy general practitioner Karl Hellfern and his assorted instruments of murder: the most destructive and diabolical of which was sinister “Asiatic” manservant Jabah…

This is my cue to again remind all interested parties that these stories were created in far less tolerant times with numerous narrative shortcuts and institutionalised social certainties expressed in all media that most today will find offensive. If that’s a deal-breaker, please pass on this book… and most literature, pop songs and films created before the 1960s…

Confident of their new villain’s potential, Kane, Fox and inker Sheldon Mayer encored the mad medic for the next instalment and ‘The Return of Doctor Death’, before Fox & Finger co-scripted a 2-part shocker debuting the very first bat-plane, Bruce’s girlfriend Julie Madison and undead horror The Monk in expansive, globe-girdling spooky saga ‘Batman Versus the Vampire (part one)’. It all concluded in part two with an epic chase across Eastern Europe and spectacular climax in a monster-filled castle in #32.

DC #33 featured Fox & Kane’s ‘The Batman Wars Against the Dirigible of Doom’: a blockbusting disaster thriller which just casually slips in the secret origin of the grim avenger, as mere prelude to intoxicating air-pirate action, before Euro-trash dastard Duc D’Orterre finds his uncanny SCIENCE! and unsavoury appetites no match for the mighty Batman in ‘Peril in Paris’. Bill Finger returned as lead scripter in #35, pitting the Cowled Crusader against crazed cultists murdering everyone who had seen their sacred jewel in ‘The Case of the Ruby Idol’ … although the many deaths were actually caused by a far more prosaic villain. Inked by new kid Jerry Robinson, grotesque crime genius ‘Professor Hugo Strange’ debuted with his murderous manmade fog and lightning machine in #36, after which all-pervasive enemy agents lodged in ‘The Screaming House’ prove no match for a vengeful Masked Manhunter in #37.

Detective Comics #38 (April 1940) changed the landscape of comic books forever with the introduction of ‘Robin, The Boy Wonder’ as child trapeze artist Dick Grayson – whose parents are murdered before his eyes – thereafter joins Batman in a lifelong quest after bringing to justice mobster mad dog Boss Zucco…

With the Flying Graysons’ killers captured, all-out action continued in #39 with Finger, Kane & Robinson’s ‘The Horde of the Green Dragon’ – “oriental” Tong killers in Chinatown – Batman #1 (Spring 1940) opened proceedings with a recycled origin culled from portions of Detective #33 & 34. ‘The Legend of the Batman – Who He Is and How He Came to Be!’ by Fox, Kane & Moldoff delivers in two perfect pages what is still the best ever origin of the character. ‘The Joker’ (Finger, Kane & Robinson – who also produced all the remaining tales in this astonishing premiere issue) then launches the greatest villain in DC’s pantheon via a macabre tale of extortion and wilful wanton murder.

‘Professor Hugo Strange and the Monsters’ follows as an old adversary returns, unleashing laboratory-grown hyperthyroid horrors to rampage through the terrified city, before ‘The Cat’ – who later added the suffix “Woman” to her name to avoid any possible doubt or confusion – plies her felonious trade of jewel theft aboard the wrong cruise-liner, thereby falling foul for the first time of the dashing Dynamic Duo. Then comics end with the ‘The Joker Returns’ as the sinister clown breaks jail to resume his terrifying campaign of murder for fun and profit before “dying” in mortal combat with the Gotham Guardians. pulse pounding premier package fun folds with Whitney Elsworth’s text piece ‘Meet the Artist’ and a superb Kane pin-up (originally the back cover of that premier issue) of the Dynamic Duo.

Tense suspense and eerie evil is also on show in DC #40 as ‘The Murders of Clayface’ sees the Dynamic Duo solving a string of murders on a film set which almost sees Julie Madison the latest victim of a monstrous movie maniac…

Batman & Robin solve the baffling mystery of a kidnapped pupil in Detective #41’s ‘The Masked Menace of the Boys’ School’ before enjoying a busman’s holiday in ‘Batman and Robin Visit the 1940 New York World’s Fair’ as seen in the second New York World’s Fair Comics. Here Finger, Kane & Roussos follow the vacationing troubleshooters as they track down a maniac mastermind with a metal-dissolving ray, before Detective Comics #42 again finds our heroes ending another murderous maniac’s rampage in ‘The Case of the Prophetic Pictures!’

The heroes’ second solo outing produced another quartet of comics classics in Batman #2 (Summer 1940). It begins with ‘Joker Meets Cat-Woman’ (Finger, Kane, Robinson & new find George Roussos) wherein svelte thief, homicidal jester and a crime syndicate all tussle for the same treasure, with our Caped Crusaders caught in the middle. ‘Wolf, the Crime Master’ then offers a fascinating take on the classic tragedy of Jekyll & Hyde prior to an insidious and ingenious mystery in ‘The Case of the Clubfoot Murderers’. Ultimately Batman & Robin confront uncanny savages and ruthless showbiz promoters in poignant monster yarn ‘The Case of the Missing Link’.

By now an unparalleled hit, Batman stories never rested on their laurels. The creators always sought to expand their parameters, as Detective #43 saw our heroes clash with a corrupt mayor in #43’s ‘The Case of the City of Terror!’ before rather jumping the shark with #44’s nightmarish fantasy of giants and goblins ‘The Land Behind the Light!’, in advance of returning to bizarre baroque basics in #45’s horrific Joker jape ‘The Case of the Laughing Death!’ wherein the Harlequin of Hate undertakes a campaign of macabre murder against everyone who has ever defied or offended him…

Batman #3 (Fall 1940) has Finger, Kane, Robinson & Roussos rise to even greater heights, beginning with ‘The Strange Case of the Diabolical Puppet Master’: an eerie episode of uncanny mesmerism and infamous espionage…

A grisly scheme unfolds next as innocent citizens are mysteriously transformed into specimens of horror, and artworks destroyed by the spiteful commands of ‘The Ugliest Man in the World’ before ‘The Crime School for Boys!’ registers Robin, allowing infiltration of a gang who have a cruel and cunning recruitment plan for dead-end kids, whilst ‘The Batman vs. the Cat-Woman’ lastly reveals the larcenous lady in well over her head when she steals for – and from – the wrong people…

The issue also offered a worthy Special Feature from Ellsworth & Burnley as ‘The Batman Says’ presents an illustrated prose Law & Order pep-talk…

Plunging right into perilous procedures, Detective #46 (Kane, Robinson & Roussos) features the return of Batman’s most formidable fringe scientific adversary as our heroes must counteract the awesome effects of ‘Professor Strange’s Fear Dust’, after which #47 delivers drama on a more human scale by proving ‘Money Can’t Buy Happiness’. This action-packed homily of parental expectation and the folly of greed leads into Detective Comics #48, finding the lads defending America’s bullion reserves in ‘The Secret Cavern’, and is followed by Batman #4 (Winter 1941) which opens with a spiffy catch-all visual resume.

Then its all-out razzle-dazzle as the Gotham Guardians visit and vanquish ‘The Joker’s Crime Circus’, prior to pulling the plug on the piratical plundering of ‘Blackbeard’s Crew and the Yacht Society!’. Immediately after, ‘Public Enemy No.1’ tells a gangster fable in the manner of Jimmy Cagney’s Angels With Dirty Faces, before ‘Victory For the Dynamic Duo!’ involves the pair in the treacherous world of sports gambling.

Detective Comics #49 (March 1941), finds them confronting another old foe when ‘Clayface Walks Again!’ with the deranged actor resuming his passion for murder by re-attempting to kill Bruce Wayne’s old girlfriend Julie before World’s Best Comics #1 (Spring 1941 and destined to become World’s Finest Comics with its second issue) offers an eerie murder mystery concerning ‘The Witch and the Manuscript of Doom!’.

DC #50 pits Batman & Robin against acrobatic burglars in ‘The Case of the Three Devils’, whilst sordid human scaled wickedness informs #51’s ‘The Case of the Mystery Carnival!’: a mood-soaked crimebusting set-piece featuring fairly run-of-the mill thugs, but serving as a perfect palate-cleansers for big bold Batman #5 (Spring 1941). Once again, The Joker plays lead villain in ‘The Riddle of the Missing Card!’, before the heroes prove their versatility by solving a quixotic crime in Fairy Land via ‘Book of Enchantment’.

‘The Case of the Honest Crook!’ follows: one of the key stories of Batman’s early canon. When a mugger steals only $6 from a victim, leaving much more behind, his trail leads to a vicious gang who almost beat Robin to death. The vengeance-crazed Dark Knight goes on a rampage of terrible violence that still resonates in the character to this day. The last story from Batman #5 – ‘Crime does Not Pay’ – once again deals with kids going bad and their potential for redemption, and surely that’s what heroic mythmaking is all about?

Kane, Robinson and their compatriots created a visual iconography which carried Batman well beyond his allotted lifespan until later creators could re-invigorate the concept. They added a new dimension to children’s reading… and their work is still captivatingly accessible. Moreover, these early stories laced with Fingers’ mood-soaked macabre madness set the standard for comic superheroes. Whatever you like now, you owe it to these stories. Superman gave us the idea, but inspired and inspirational writers like Finger & Fox refined and defined the meta-structure of the costumed crime-fighter. Where the Man of Steel was as much Social Force and juvenile wish-fulfilment as hero, Batman and Robin did what we ordinary mortals wanted to do most: teach bad people the lessons they richly deserved…

These are tales of elemental power and joyful exuberance, brimming with deep mood and addictive action. Comic book heroics simply don’t come any better.
© 1939, 1940, 1941, 2025 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

Today in 1914 All American editor Ted Udall was born, but we had to wait until 1953 for Richard Bruning, 1956 for animator, director and funnybook renaissance man Bob Camp and 1958 for astounding letterer and sublime illustrator Kevin Nowlan as well as Archie Comics writer/editor Paul Castiglia in 1966.

In the meantime, UK weekly mainstay The Topper began its 37-year run today in 1953, thereby launching Davey Law’s Beryl the Peril unto an unsuspecting world.

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The Corus Wave


By Karenza Sparks (Avery Hill Publishing)
ISBN: 978-1-917355-22-3 (TPB/Digital edition)

The British have a tradition of quirkiness, and fondness for cosy mysteries and eccentric quests. Here’s an ideal example that combines sleuthing with SCIENCE! by way of a student days/buddy movie kind of vibe.

This gently genteel and genuinely refreshing mash-up offers a charming glimpse at obsession pursued and rewarded that begins when Geology student Lorelei finds a cool fossil during a beachcombing college class outing to the shore. What she found was a star-shaped fossilised Devonian-era cephalopod – what her tutor called a Palindenoid/Palindenite… and what Cornish locals used to call a “Strangely Wrinkled Potch”.

That oddment of swirling silica fascinated her and fuelled much of the toil of her last four years. Now it’s the basis of her Masters’ thesis and with final deadline and hand-in time looming, her obsessive research habits have led her into crisis. Instead of doing the bare minimum – and online – like a normal student, Lorelei has buried herself in old books and discovered the wonderful world of a lost genius. Her evaluation of the how Palindenite is formed has been derailed by one claim that they are the result of “the Corus Wave”…

Lorelei loves rocks and desperately wants to finish her thesis. She doesn’t have time for mysteries, even if they trigger old life-shaping memories. Sadly, the insubstantial legend and promise of the lost theories of Havius Corus have her now and won’t let go…

The internet is clueless over the Victorian mystery poet, scientist, mathematician, physicist, musician, historian and general polymath, but he does have a physical fan club. Having built half the great and grand buildings in Chorksbury, that admiring town now boasts the only Society dedicated to his name and works. With time pressing and time slipping away, when her pal Eddie suggests an adventure, Lorelei’s all primed for a procrastinating diversion – especially as pet cat Raisin is coming along for the ride…

Chorksbury is a rural, very quiet town packed with oddballs, but Society chief Helen is hugely helpful in detailing the lost wonders of Corus’ rise and fall. He was good at everything and en route to global glory until he latched onto an unsustainable, unverifiable theory of universal truth underpinning existence. He dubbed it the Corus Wave, and trying to prove it destroyed him…

Once his reputation was in tatters, he returned to Chorkesbury and built stuff. In 1864 he simply stopped being seen…

Now in seeking to separate fact and fiction on the origins of Palindenite, Lorelei is about to do the same. Her pursuit of disgraced and forgotten Corus – who suggested the creation of the oddly shaped fossils was due to an unrecognised cosmic force – left physical clues to the details of his discovery.

… And when she, Eddie & Raisin start looking closely, the consensus that it’s all nonsense is shelved forever. A fresh form of physics really is scattered in relics and restrooms all over town. As the students persevere, discoveries come thick, fast and incontrovertible.

… And really, really quickly if you understand the tricks of games and puzzled Corus wrapped his messages in.

Now, “proper” scientists and historians like Dr. Lowena Marley join the hunt for Corus’ truth, as concealed in his stone & natural materials building all over Chorksbury: colossal convoluted edifices like the Public Library, Anglican Church, Railway Station and Botanical Gardens, and even – somehow – the nearby ancient standing stone circle…

The strange potch Lorelei refused to let go of is instrumental in all their finds so far, but eventually her race against time with no promise of reward except satisfaction and Just Knowing totally pays off… and Lorelei learns something no one knows.

The Corus Wave  is a delightfully engaging first graphic novel from geology buff Karenza Sparks, with heartwarming shades of Father Brown, Rosemary & Thyme, The Sister Boniface Mysteries or Marlow Murder Club – but without all the death! Despite in-world jokes this is absolutely not The Da Vinci Code or National Treasure but does wallow in hints of The Village from The Prisoner) – but without all the death!

Here a truly fun time with big sky notions and traditional mystery moves – but without all the death! Get it now!
© Karenza Sparks, 2025. All rights reserved.

Today in 1952 artist Steve Leialoha was born, followed in 1954 by Peter (TMNT) Laird and their inspiration Frank Miller in 1957. Clarifying such fare is letterer (writer/artist/publisher/designer) Richard Starkings in 1962 and illustrator Sean Phillips (Third World War, Sleeper, Criminal) in 1965.

On the downside, Belgium’s Le Journal de Spirou stalwart Jaques Devos (Victor Sébastopol, Génial Olivier, Le Chroniques d’Extra-terrestres) left us.