{"id":29650,"date":"2024-04-11T08:00:12","date_gmt":"2024-04-11T08:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/?p=29650"},"modified":"2024-04-09T16:35:52","modified_gmt":"2024-04-09T16:35:52","slug":"batman-the-strange-deaths-of-batman-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/2024\/04\/11\/batman-the-strange-deaths-of-batman-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Batman: The Strange Deaths of Batman"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"
\nBy Gardner F. Fox<\/strong>, Cary Bates<\/strong>, Cary Bates<\/strong>, Bob Haney<\/strong>, David V. Reed<\/strong>, Gerry Conway<\/strong>, John Stanisci<\/strong>, Chuck Dixon<\/strong>, Carmine Infantino<\/strong> & Joe Giella<\/strong>, Curt Swan<\/strong> & Jack Abel<\/strong>, Jim Aparo<\/strong>, John Calnan & Tex Blaisdell<\/strong>, Rich Buckler & Frank McLaughlin<\/strong>, Sal Buscema<\/strong>, Greg Land<\/strong>, Drew Geraci<\/strong> & various (DC Comics)
\nISBN: 978-1-4012-2174-4 (TPB)<\/p>\n

Compiled on the coat-tails of DC\u2019s Batman R.I.P.<\/strong> publishing event (which ran May to November 2008, and with repercussions inspiring recent events in the ongoing mythology), this delightfully eccentric collection celebrates the recurrent demise of the Gotham Guardian by digging up a few oddments and some genuine valuable artifacts to amuse, enthral and amaze.<\/p>\n

The wonderment begins with the quirkily eponymous \u2018The Strange Death of Batman!\u2019<\/em>: a highly experimental mystery originating in Detective Comics<\/strong> #347 (January 1966) literally moments before the Dynamic Duo became household names all over the globe thanks to an incredibly popular TV show. Crafted by Gardner Fox, Carmine Infantino & Joe Giella, it features a major contender for the title of Batman\u2019s daftest super-foe – The Bouncer<\/em> – but still delivers action, drama and an intriguing conundrum to challenge the reader\u2026<\/p>\n

It\u2019s followed by \u2018Robin\u2019s Revenge\u2019<\/em> (World\u2019s Finest Comics<\/strong> #184. May 1969) wherein Cary Bates and artists Curt Swan & Jack Abel recount the Imaginary Story (see DC\u2019s Greatest Imaginary Stories<\/a><\/strong> for a definition if the term is somehow unknown to you) of Batman\u2019s murder and the dark path that loss takes the Boy Wonder down. Hapless Superman<\/strong> acts as stand-in guardian but is helpless to forestall inevitable further tragedy\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2018The Corpse that Wouldn\u2019t Die!\u2019<\/em> is a superb tale guest-starring The Atom<\/strong> taken from team-up title The Brave and the Bold<\/strong> #115 (October\/November 1974). Written by Bob Haney and magnificently drawn by Jim Aparo, it details how the Gotham Guardian is killed in the line of duty and how the Tiny Titan occupies his brain to reanimate his corpse and conclude the case that finished him\u2026<\/p>\n

Next is an extended saga from Batman<\/strong> #291-294 (cover dates September through December 1977) written by author David V. Reed and illustrated by John Calnan & Tex Blaisdell. Over four deviously clever issues \u2018Where Were You the Night Batman Was Killed?\u2019<\/em> sees hordes of costumed foes the Caped Crusader has crushed assemble to verify the stories of various felons claiming to have done the deed. This thematic partial inspiration for Neil Gaiman\u2019s \u201cLast Batman Story\u201d kicks off with \u2018The Testimony of the Catwoman\u2019<\/em> followed by testimony from The Riddler<\/strong>, Lex Luthor<\/strong> and The Joker<\/strong> before satisfactorily concluding in a spectacular grand manner.<\/p>\n

\u2018Buried Alive!\u2019<\/em> by Gerry Conway, Rick Buckler & Frank McLaughlin (World\u2019s Finest Comics<\/strong> #269 June\/July1981) finds Superman and Robin desperately racing against time: hunting for a madman who entombed the Batman, after which \u2018The Prison\u2019<\/em> written and inked by John Stanisci, with Sal Buscema pencils, is a moody character piece featuring post-mortem reflections of Talia<\/em>, Daughter of the Demon Ra\u2019s Al Ghul<\/em> as originally seen in Batman Chronicles<\/strong> #8, Spring 1997. This odd yet engaging tome terminates with a frilly, fluffy fantasy from Nightwing<\/strong> #52, (February 2001) as Catwoman imagines a morbidly mirthful \u2018Modern Romance\u2019<\/em> courtesy of Chuck Dixon, Greg Land & Drew Geraci.<\/p>\n

Themed collections can be a rather hit-or-miss proposition, but the quality and variety of these inspired selections makes for a highly enjoyable read and the only regret I can express is that room couldn\u2019t be found to include the various covers that fronted these tales. Include those in a new expanded edition and you\u2019d have a book to die for\u2026
\n\u00a9 1966, 1969, 1974, 1977, 1981, 1997, 2001, 2009 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Gardner F. Fox, Cary Bates, Cary Bates, Bob Haney, David V. Reed, Gerry Conway, John Stanisci, Chuck Dixon, Carmine Infantino & Joe Giella, Curt Swan & Jack Abel, Jim Aparo, John Calnan & Tex Blaisdell, Rich Buckler & Frank McLaughlin, Sal Buscema, Greg Land, Drew Geraci & various (DC Comics) ISBN: 978-1-4012-2174-4 (TPB) Compiled … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Batman: The Strange Deaths of Batman”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[10,33,75,76,225,172,9,126,325],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29650","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-batman","category-catwomman","category-crime-comics","category-dc-superhero","category-mystery","category-robin","category-superman","category-the-atom","category-the-joker"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4AFj-7Ie","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29650","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29650"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29650\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29652,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29650\/revisions\/29652"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29650"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29650"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29650"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}