{"id":30390,"date":"2024-08-21T08:00:26","date_gmt":"2024-08-21T08:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/?p=30390"},"modified":"2024-08-20T16:54:50","modified_gmt":"2024-08-20T16:54:50","slug":"batman-the-black-casebook-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/2024\/08\/21\/batman-the-black-casebook-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Batman: The Black Casebook"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nBy Bill Finger<\/strong>, France Herron<\/strong>, Edmond Hamilton<\/strong>, Dave Wood<\/strong>, Lew Sayre Schwartz<\/strong>, Sheldon Moldoff<\/strong>, Dick Sprang<\/strong>, Charles Paris<\/strong>, Stan Kaye<\/strong> & various (DC Comics)
\nISBN: 978-1-4012-2264-2 (TPB)<\/p>\n

This book includes Discriminatory Content<\/strong> produced in less enlightened times.<\/em><\/p>\n

Despite having his name writ large on the cover the only thing Grant Morrison produced for this weird and wonderful compilation is the introduction, so if he\u2019s the reason you buy Batman you\u2019re in for a little disappointment. However if you feel like seeing the incredible stories that inspired him, then you\u2019re in for a bizarre and baroque treat as this collection features a coterie of tales considered far too outlandish and fanciful to be canonical for the last few decades but now reintroduced to the mythology of the Dark Knight as a casebook of the \u201cstrangest cases ever told!\u201d\u2026<\/p>\n

Tales from the overwhelmingly anodyne 1950s (and just a little overlap in the 1960s) always favoured plot over drama – indeed, a strong argument could be made that all DC\u2019s post-war costumed crusaders actually shared the same character (and yes, I\u2019m including Wonder Woman<\/strong>) – so narrative impetus focuses on comfortably familiar situations, outlandish themes and weird paraphernalia. As a kid they simply blew me away. They still do.<\/p>\n

Starting things off is a \u2018A Partner for Batman\u2019<\/em> (Batman<\/strong> #65 June\/July 1951) by Bill Finger, Lew Sayre Schwartz & Charles Paris, wherein the masked mentor\u2019s training of a foreign hero is misconstrued as a way of retiring the current Boy Wonder, whereas a trip way out west introduces the Dynamic Duo to their Native American analogues in \u2018Batman… Indian Chief!\u2019<\/em> (#86 September 1954, by Ed \u201cFrance\u201d Herron, Sheldon Moldoff & Stan Kaye), before \u2018The Batmen of All Nations!\u2019<\/em> (Detective Comics<\/strong> #215, January 1955 by Edmond Hamilton, Moldoff & Paris) took the sincere flattery a step further by introducing nationally-themed imitations from Italy, France, England, South America and Australia: all attending a convention that\u2019s doomed to disaster.<\/p>\n

A key story of this period introduced a strong psychological component to Batman\u2019s origins in \u2018The First Batman\u2019<\/em> (Detective Comics<\/strong> #235, September 1955) by Finger, Moldoff & Kaye, after which the international knock-offs reconvened to meet Superman<\/strong> and shocking new mystery-hero in \u2018<\/em>The Club of Heroes\u2019<\/em> (World<\/strong>\u2019s Finest Comics<\/strong> #89, July\/August 1957 -Hamilton and magnificent Dick Sprang & Kaye).<\/p>\n

Detective <\/strong>#247 (September 1957, by Finger, Moldoff & Paris) introduced malevolent Professor Milo<\/em> who used psychological warfare and scientific mind-control to attack our heroes in \u2018The Man who Ended Batman\u2019s Career\u2019<\/em> with the same creative team bringing him back for an encore in Batman<\/strong> #112\u2019s \u2018Am I Really Batman?\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n

Herron scripted one of Sprang & Paris\u2019 most memorable art collaborations in incredible spectacular \u2018Batman – Superman of Planet X!\u2019<\/em> (Batman<\/strong> #113, February 1958) before Finger, Moldoff & Paris unleashed the Gotham Guardian\u2019s most controversial \u201cpartner\u201d in manic mirthquake \u2018Batman Meets Bat-Mite\u2019 <\/em>(Detective Comics<\/strong> #267, May 1959). In comparison, \u2018The Rainbow Creature\u2019<\/em> (Batman<\/strong> #134, September 1960) is a rather tame monster-mash from Finger & Moldoff which only serves to make the next tale more impressive.
\n\"\"
\n\u2018Robin Dies at Dawn\u2019<\/em> by Finger, Moldoff & Paris is an eerie epic first seen in Batman<\/strong> #156, June 1963 (supplemented by, but not dependent upon, a Robin solo adventure sadly omitted from this collection). Here Batman experiences truly hideous travails on an alien world culminating in the death of his young partner. I\u2019m stopping there as it\u2019s a great story and plays a crucial part in latter day sagas Batman: R.I.P.<\/strong>, The<\/strong> Black Glove<\/strong> and others. Buy this book and read it yourself…<\/p>\n

But wait: There\u2019s more! From the very end times of vintage-style tales comes inexplicably daft but brilliant \u2018The Batman Creature!\u2019<\/em> (Batman<\/strong> #162, March 1964) by an unknown writer (latterly identified as Dave Wood), Moldoff & Paris, wherein Robin and Batwoman<\/strong> must cope with a Caped Crusader horrifically transformed into a rampaging giant monster. Shades of King Kong, Bat-fans!<\/p>\n

Even though clearly collected to cash in on the success of modern Morrison vehicles, these stories have intrinsic worth and power of their own, and such angst-free exploits from a bygone age still have the magic to captivate and enthral. Do not dismiss them and don\u2019t miss out!
\n\u00a9 1951, 1954-1960, 1963, 1964, 2009 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Bill Finger, France Herron, Edmond Hamilton, Dave Wood, Lew Sayre Schwartz, Sheldon Moldoff, Dick Sprang, Charles Paris, Stan Kaye & various (DC Comics) ISBN: 978-1-4012-2264-2 (TPB) This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times. Despite having his name writ large on the cover the only thing Grant Morrison produced for this weird … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Batman: The Black Casebook”<\/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":[191,10,75,76,225,127,172,107,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30390","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adventure","category-batman","category-crime-comics","category-dc-superhero","category-mystery","category-nostalgia","category-robin","category-science-fiction","category-superman"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4AFj-7Ua","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30390","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=30390"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30390\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30393,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30390\/revisions\/30393"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30390"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30390"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30390"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}