BATMAN'S COMIC BOOK ADVENTURES

[AndyFish]

Here's part two;





















Some additional takeaways from me;

1- Carmine Infantino is fantastic-- easily one of the best artists ever to work in comics.
2- While Batman fares a bit better in the rematch the Hangman gets away simply by going through a door? As a kid I thought this was lame, still do.
3- It's hilarious that Bruce Wayne has 3D TV-- he can see the side of the newscasters face during the broadcast.
4- Who are the people yelling during the roof fight? There doesn't seem to be a building anywhere near close so these people would be looking at ants.

I included the letters page because those were fun.
The ad for Batman Magic Photo-- wow! Did anyone ever use this? How do you make "real" photos of comic book characters?? I wanted to know 50 years ago and I want to know now!

Batgirl will be next up;

[gothosmansion]

I first read Case of the Chemical Syndicate in the 1984 Oreo giveaway that also reprinted the first Robin story from Detective 38 and the first Joker story from Batman 1. Back then, there weren't a lot of ways to learn about comic book history. I was quite shocked to see Batman killing villains back then.

DC, with all the errors in their collected editions, left the Hangman story out of the Carmine Infantino book. That's weird since DC selected it for the Carmine Infantino story in the first Batman treasury which focused on the great artists of Batman.

These are all great stories you're showing, Andy.

[Jim K, Bat fan]

Some additional takeaways from me;

4- Who are the people yelling during the roof fight? There doesn't seem to be a building anywhere near close so these people would be looking at ants.

Hey Andy,

Wouldn't the people yelling be the same three guys seen earlier looking out the window who say they have a ringside seat?

[AndyFish]

Yeah Jim I was attempting humor.
Leaving this one out of the Infantino volume was ridiculous.

[gothosmansion]

Does anyone know what that photo kit was? I wasn't born until 1971, so I've never seen one. I've seen the ads in lot of my back issues and was always curious about it.

[SprangFan]

You've managed to pick another tale that grabbed me early, Andy. I discovered the Hooded Hangman story in one of those tabloid sized "Limited Collector Editions" and was mesmerized by it. Partly it was the great Infantino art, but also the can't-miss strategy of appealing to a kid's sense of pride in his hero ( "Nooo! Batman can't be beaten!" Sob!). I have to say, though, that this potential to actually be defeated in a fight -- and by a mere mortal -- was part of what made Batman so compelling a character to me, and it's much missed in this era of the invincible BatGod.

The presentation is tastefully bloodless given the amount of abuse being dished out, but I was unsettled as a kid by those "cracks" on Batman's face as he lies defeated on the sidewalk. He seems to have been broken like a China doll.

Funny how Tellman's plot isn't to rob Fort Knox or rule the world, but just to be "the most famous masked man in Gotham." And this when he's already famous with his mask OFF. With that kind of lust for fame, he was ahead of his time; he'd be right at home in 2019, streaming his beat-downs on YouTube.

I ended buying a copy of the original comic a while back even though it has a crease down the middle. I figure it was either mailed that way to a subscriber or folded by a kid to fit in his back pocket, and either way that added to the charm of it as an historial artifact, even if it probably does wreck the value.

[High C]

These are fascinating, Andy. Thanks for sharing.

Hooded Hangman seems like a third-season villain in terms of goals. 'Who needs to be a successful anchorman?? Once I control Gotham City's wrestling fans, I'll rule the world!! MUHAHAHAHAAA!!'

I mean, I like his villainous unhingedness, but he needed to aim higher.