{"id":31219,"date":"2024-12-28T15:46:42","date_gmt":"2024-12-28T15:46:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/?p=31219"},"modified":"2024-12-28T15:46:42","modified_gmt":"2024-12-28T15:46:42","slug":"the-batman-annuals-volume-2-dc-comics-classic-library","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/2024\/12\/28\/the-batman-annuals-volume-2-dc-comics-classic-library\/","title":{"rendered":"The Batman Annuals volume 2 – DC Comics Classic Library"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nBy Bob Kane<\/strong>, Bill Finger<\/strong>, Edmond Hamilton<\/strong>, Ed<\/strong> France Herron<\/strong>, Jerry Coleman<\/strong>, David Wood<\/strong>, Sheldon Moldoff<\/strong>, Lew Sayre Schwartz<\/strong>, Dick Sprang<\/strong>, Curt Swan<\/strong>, Charles Paris<\/strong>, Stan Kaye<\/strong>, Ray Burnley<\/strong> & various (DC Comics)
\nISBN: 978-1-4012-2791-3 (HB)<\/p>\n

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

There\u2019s a lot of truly splendid 1940s and 1950s comics material around these days in a lot of impressive formats. DC\u2019s Classics Comics Library<\/strong> hardbacks were a remarkably accessible, collectible range of products – inexplicably still not available in digital editions! – and one of the best is this wonderful aggregation of four of the most influential and beloved comic books of the Silver Age of American comic books.<\/p>\n

Batman Annual<\/strong> #1 was released in June 1961, a year after the phenomenally successful Superman Annual<\/strong> #1. The big, bold anthology format was hugely popular with readers. The Man of Steel\u2019s second Annual was rushed out before Christmas and the third came out a mere year after the first. That same month a Secret Origins<\/strong> compilation and the aforementioned Batman Blockbuster all arrived in shops and on newsstands. It\u2019s probably hard to appreciate now but those huge comics – 80 pages instead of 32 with practically no advertising except other comics – were a magical resource with a colossal impact on kids who loved comics. I don\u2019t mean the ubiquitous scruffs, oiks, scofflaws and scallywags of school days who read casually before chucking them away (most kids were comics consumers in the days before computer games) but rather those quiet, secretive few of us who treasured and kept them, constantly re-reading, listing, discussing, pondering, and even making our own. Only posh kids with wicked parents read no comics at all: those prissy, starchy types who were beaten up by the scruffs, oiks and scallywags even more than us bookworms. But I digress…<\/p>\n

For budding collectors the Annuals were a gateway to a fabulous lost past. Just Imagine!:<\/em> adventures your heroes had from before you were even born<\/em>…<\/p>\n

Those fantastic innovative aggregations in the early 1960s changed comics publishing. Soon Marvel, Charlton, and Archie were also releasing giant books of old stories, then came new ones, crossovers, continued stories. Annuals proved two things to publishers: that there was a dedicated, long-term appetite for more material – and that punters were willing to pay a little bit more for it. This hardback compendium completes a set by gathering Batman Annuals<\/strong> #4-7 (from 1963-1966) in their mythic entirety: 33 terrific complete stories, stunning pin-ups and especially all those magnificently iconic compartmentalized covers. Also included are original publication details and credits (the only bad thing about those big books of magic was never knowing \u201cWho\u201d and \u201cWhere\u201d); creator biographies and another reminiscing Introduction<\/em> from Michael Uslan, putting the entire nostalgic experience into perspective.
\n\"\"
\nWay back then editors sagely packaged Annuals as themed collections, the first here being The Secret Adventures of Batman and Robin<\/strong><\/em> (released November 8th<\/sup> 1962) which started the ball rolling with \u2018The First Batman\u2019<\/em> (by Bill Finger & Sheldon Moldoff as originally seen in Detective Comics<\/strong> #235, September 1956): a key story of this period, introducing a strong psychological component to Batman\u2019s origins by disclosing how, when Bruce Wayne<\/em> was still a toddler, his father had clashed with gangsters whilst clad in a fancy dress bat costume…<\/p>\n

\u2018Am I Really Batman?\u2019<\/em> (Finger, Moldoff & Charles Paris; Batman<\/strong> #112, December 1957) saw bona fide mad scientist Professor Milo<\/em> poison the hero with a rare plant, forcing Robin and Alfred<\/em> to put the Masked Manhunter through a baffling psychological ordeal to counteract the toxin…<\/p>\n

Today fans are pretty used to a vast battalion of bat-themed champions haunting Gotham City and its troubled environs, but for the longest time it was just Bruce, Dick Grayson<\/em> and occasionally borrowed dog Ace<\/em> keeping crime on the run. However, with Detective <\/strong>#233 (July 1956, and 3 months before The Flash\u2019s <\/strong>debut officially ushered in the Silver Age) editorial powers-that-be introduced vivacious heiress Kathy Kane<\/em> who – for the next eight years – incessantly suited-up in chiropteran red & yellow. Edmond Hamilton, Moldoff & Paris premiered \u2018Origin of the Batwoman\u2019<\/em> with a former circus acrobat bursting into Batman\u2019s life, challenging him to discover her secret identity at the risk of exposing his own…<\/p>\n

The Boy Wonder began very publicly working solo after \u2018The Vanished Batman\u2019<\/em> (Hamilton, Moldoff & Stan Kaye, (Batman <\/strong>#101, August 1956) saw the Gotham Gangbuster declared dead and presumed gone by the underworld whilst \u2018The Phantom of the Bat-Cave\u2019<\/em> (Hamilton, Moldoff & Paris, Batman <\/strong>#99, April 1956) offered a genuine mystery as persons unknown began somehow stealing\/replacing items from the heroes\u2019 sacrosanct trophy room. \u2018Batman\u2019s College Days\u2019<\/em> (Finger, Moldoff & Paris, Batman <\/strong>#96, December 1955) saw Bruce Wayne on a sea cruise with three fellow alumni, one of whom planned murder and had deduced his alter ego, after which \u2018The Marriage of Batman and Batwoman\u2019<\/em> (Finger, Moldoff & Ray Burnley, Batman <\/strong>#122, March 1959) depicted Robin\u2019s nightmares should such a nuptial event occur whereas \u2018The Second Boy Wonder\u2019<\/em> (France Herron, Moldoff & Burnley, Batman <\/strong>#105, February 1957) was all too real as a stranger apparently infiltrated the Batcave by impersonating the kid crimebuster. The Annual ended with \u2018The Man who Ended Batman\u2019s Career\u2019<\/em> (Finger, Moldoff & Paris; Detective <\/strong>#247, September 1957) presenting a significantly different-looking Professor Milo using psychological warfare and scientific mind-control to attack the Dark Knight by inducing a fear of bats\u2026
\n\"\"
\nThe next Annual, released in summer 1963, highlighted The Strange Lives of Batman and Robin<\/strong><\/em>, opening with \u2018The Power that Doomed Batman\u2019<\/em> (Finger, Moldoff & Paris, DC <\/strong>#268 June 1959) as exposure to a comet gifts the Dark Knight with super-strength. Sadly, the effect is also cumulatively fatal, forcing them into a desperate hunt for a missing man possessing a cure. The same creative team dredged up \u2018The Merman Batman\u2019<\/em> (Batman <\/strong>#118, September 1958) wherein an lightning strike transforms the Caped Crimebuster into a water-breather, aroused \u2018Rip Van Batman\u2019<\/em> (Batman <\/strong>#119, October 1958) who fell into a plant-induced coma to seemingly awake in the future and corralled \u2018The Zebra Batman\u2019<\/em> (Detective Comics<\/strong> #275, January 1960) when the hero becomes an uncontrollable human magnet…<\/p>\n

\u2018The Grown-Up Boy Wonder\u2019<\/em> (Finger, Moldoff & Kaye, Batman <\/strong>#107, April 1957) details what happens when space gas turns the likely lad into a strapping young man – but only in body, not mind – after which World\u2019s Finest Comics<\/strong> #109 (May 1960) reveals Robin & Superman<\/strong><\/em>\u2019s tense race to save Gotham\u2019s Guardian from an ancient curse in \u2018The Bewitched Batman\u2019<\/em> by Jerry Coleman, Curt Swan & Moldoff. \u2018The Phantom Batman\u2019<\/em> (Hamilton, Dick Sprang & Paris, Batman <\/strong>#110, September 1957) shows how an electrical mishap reverses the polarity of the Caped Crusader\u2019s atoms, relegating him to helpless intangibility, before the uncanny yarns end with \u2018The Giant Batman\u2019<\/em> (DC<\/strong> #243 May 1957, by the same team and originally entitled \u2018<\/em>Batman the Giant!\u2019<\/em>). Here our hero is exposed to a well-meaning scientist\u2019s \u201cMaximizer\u201d ray and grows too large to catch the thieves who stole it and the antidote…
\n\"\"
\nSix months later Batman Annual<\/strong> #6 (Winter 1963-1964) featured Batman and Robin\u2019s Most Thrilling Mystery Cases<\/strong><\/em>, kicking off with \u2018Murder at Mystery Castle\u2019<\/em> (Finger, Moldoff & Paris, Detective <\/strong>#246 August 1957) as visitors – Batman & Robin included – to a reconstructed medieval fortress witness a devilish remote control killing and must deduce who set the fiendish trap…<\/p>\n

\u2018The Gotham City Safari\u2019<\/em> (Finger, Moldoff & Paris; Batman <\/strong>#111, October 1957) saw the Dynamic Duo hunting a hidden killer through a fabulous theme-park of exotic locales whilst \u2018The Mystery of the Sky Museum\u2019<\/em> (Hamilton, Moldoff & Paris; Batman <\/strong>#94, September 1955) finds them at an aviation museum on the trail of sinister smugglers. Next, Hamilton, Sprang & Paris\u2019 \u2018The Mystery of the Four Batmen\u2019<\/em> (Batman <\/strong>#88, December 1954) is a seagoing enigma with the Partners in Peril seeking a mysterious smuggler with a tenuous connection to bats in one form or another, after which a movie monster makes trouble on location, compelling the crimebusting champions to tackle \u2018The Creature from the Green Lagoon\u2019<\/em> (David Wood, Moldoff & Paris; D C<\/strong> #252 February 1958)\u2026<\/p>\n

A stunning chase to expose a killer searching for a lost golden hoard involved solving \u2018The Map of Mystery\u2019<\/em> (Hamilton, Sprang & Paris; Batman <\/strong>#91, April 1955), before a disgruntled family member seemingly threatens to kill every member of \u2018The Danger Club\u2019<\/em> (Hamilton, Lew Sayre Schwartz & Paris; Batman <\/strong>#76, April\/May 1953). The astounding sleuthing only ceases after uncovering \u2018Doom in Dinosaur Hall\u2019<\/em> (Finger, Moldoff & Paris, Detective Comics<\/strong> #255 May 1958) where the curator\u2019s murder at Gotham\u2019s Mechanical Museum of Natural History led to a fantastic chase and a surprise culprit\u2026
\n\"\"
\nSummer 1964 spawned Batman Annual<\/strong> #7 and Thrilling Adventures of the Whole Batman Family<\/strong><\/em>: beginning by introducing the hero\u2019s most controversial \u201cpartner\u201d – a pestiferous, prank-playing extra-dimensional elf – in \u2018Batman Meets Bat-Mite\u2019<\/em> (Finger, Moldoff & Paris; Detective <\/strong>#267 May 1959), after which eponymous masked dog Ace<\/em> narrates \u2018The Secret Life of Bat-Hound\u2019<\/em> (Finger, Moldoff & Paris; Batman <\/strong>#125, August 1959) and his part in capturing the nefarious Midas Gang<\/em>. Finger, Moldoff & Paris enlarge the clan in Batman<\/strong> #139 (April 1961), \u2018Introducing Bat-Girl\u2019<\/em> as Kathy Kane\u2019s niece Betty<\/em> starts dressing up and acting out as an unwanted assistant, eventually proving adults and boys wrong by taking down the deadly King Cobra<\/em> and his crew, before Hamilton delivers the only adventure of \u2018The Dynamic Trio\u2019<\/em> (DC <\/strong>#245 July 1957), with a very old friend donning cape and cowl as Mysteryman<\/em> to help combat a smuggling ring facilitating the escape of Gotham\u2019s fugitives. Courtesy of Finger, Moldoff & Paris, faithful manservant Alfred personally reveals an early failure and shocking resolution in \u2018The Secret of Batman\u2019s Butler\u2019<\/em> (Batman <\/strong>#110; September 1957) before \u2018The New Team of Superman and Robin\u2019<\/em> (Finger, Swan & Moldoff; WFC<\/strong> # 75, March\/April 1955) depicts how disabled Batman can only fret and fume as his erstwhile assistant seemingly dumps him for a better man\u2026<\/p>\n

When Bat-Mite elects himself \u2018Batwoman\u2019s Publicity Agent\u2019<\/em> (Finger & Moldoff; Batman <\/strong>#133, August 1960), the result is chaos and unbridled craziness, but not as much as an \u201cImaginary Story\u201d devised by Alfred debuting \u2018The Second Batman and Robin Team\u2019<\/em> (Finger, Moldoff & Paris: Batman <\/strong>#131, April 1960) which would inevitably emerge after Bruce and Kathy wed and Dick assumes the mantle of the bat\u2026<\/p>\n

Moldoff\u2019s unforgettable back page pin-up \u2018Greetings from the Batman Family\u2019<\/em> wraps up this final glimpse at simpler but wilder times. Strange, addictive and still potently engrossing, these weird wonder tales typify a lost era of gentler danger, more wholesome evil and irresistible fun. They\u2019re also impossibly compelling, incredibly illustrated and undeniably influential. A perfect treat for young and old alike and anyone who came to the characters via Saturday morning cartoons…
\n\u00a9 1962, 1963, 2010 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Bob Kane, Bill Finger, Edmond Hamilton, Ed France Herron, Jerry Coleman, David Wood, Sheldon Moldoff, Lew Sayre Schwartz, Dick Sprang, Curt Swan, Charles Paris, Stan Kaye, Ray Burnley & various (DC Comics) ISBN: 978-1-4012-2791-3 (HB) This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times. There\u2019s a lot of truly splendid 1940s and 1950s … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “The Batman Annuals volume 2 – DC Comics Classic Library”<\/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":[191,10,75,76,225,127,107],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31219","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adventure","category-batman","category-crime-comics","category-dc-superhero","category-mystery","category-nostalgia","category-science-fiction"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4AFj-87x","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31219","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=31219"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31219\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31225,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31219\/revisions\/31225"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31219"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31219"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31219"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}