A couple of weeks ago, I noted that when I picked up Detective Comics #450 in the late spring of 1975, it had been well over a year since I’d bought an issue of that title. As it happens, I could have said the same thing about most of DC Comics’ other Bat-books of the time. The last issue of Batman itself that I’d purchased had been #255, which had come out at the end of 1973, and I hadn’t been paying any attention at all to World’s Finest (which of course was technically Superman’s book at least as much as it was Batman’s) since well before that. Granted, I was a somewhat more frequent consumer of Brave and the Bold, where every new issue arrived possessing the baseline advantage of Jim Aparo’s reliably fine artwork, then might pick up additional interest based on who the Masked Manhunter’s co-star happened to be this time around. Still, you get the basic idea; while I continued to like the character of Batman just fine, DC’s “Batman family” of comic-book titles was mostly leaving my younger self cold.
Which makes my decision to purchase Batman Family #1 in June, 1975 something of a poser, fifty years later. I suppose the fact that it was a first issue might have had something to do with it; the artwork of Mike Grell might also have attracted my attention. (Along with the lead story featuring Batgirl and Robin, Grell also drew the cover’s central image based on that story; the figure of Batman that appears in the cover’s frame, however, was a reworking by Nick Cardy of a very similar Superman illustration he’d drawn for the cover of Shazam! #1, back in 1972.) As an additional plus, the book included a reprint of the very first Man-Bat story by Frank Robbins, Neal Adams, and Dick Giordano; I’d missed that story when it was originally presented in Detective #400, and so I was happy to finally have the chance to read it without having to shell out several dollars for the back issue.
And beyond all of that, there was one more factor that I suspect figured into my decision to drop fifty cents on this comic, and that was its Bicentennial-adjacent theme. I’d long had an interest in the Revolutionary War era of American history — that’s the sort of thing that’ll happen when one shares a birthday with one’s country (that’s right, your humble blogger is a Yankee Doodle Dandy) — and that interest was only getting stronger as the 200th anniversary of the ratification of the Declaration of Independence drew closer. And so, watching a couple of DC superheroes go up against the historically villainous Benedict Arnold probably seemed like it might me fun.
In any event, I did buy this book, back in the day… and so, half a century later, I get to share it with all you fine people, right here and now:
Cover art by Gil Kane and Murphy Anderson.
According to the cover-featured pronouncement of no less a figure than Batman himself, “The Invader from Hell!” represents “the origin of the Batgirl-Robin team!” But Bats would have known as well as did my younger self that those two heroes had first joined together as a discrete pairing (as opposed to simply clumping up in a Batman-led trio) back in Detective #369 (Nov., 1967), courtesy of writer Gardner Fox and artists Carmine Infantino and Sid Greene. Just sayin’.
As I’ve already indicated, I hadn’t been paying a lot of attention to the Batman titles in the last couple of years, so I’m not sure if I even knew before reading this page that Barbara Gordon was no longer the head of Gotham City’s public library, but was now serving as her district’s representative to Congress, and thus spending most of her time in Washington, D.C.. (For the record, she’d been elected to the office back in Detective #424 [Jun., 1972].)
Writer Elliot S! Maggin is clearly indulging in a bit of mildly satirical political commentary with his portrayal of a seemingly disengaged House of Representatives, whose members are either absent, or focused on matters unrelated to the nation’s business. (Interestingly, Maggin himself would unsuccessfully run for a House seat almost a decade later, in 1984.) The two card-playing Congressmen would seem to be visually based on real-life models; though,if they’re supposed to be actual members of the House in this era, I have no idea who they might be. On the other hand, if we allow that they just might be members of the DC Comics staff, then I’d peg the fellow on the left as being Julius Schwartz, the editor of this very comic book. And perhaps the gentleman on the right is Joe Orlando, who gave artist Mike Grell his first assignment at the publisher? (Other suggestions welcome.)
Since the nature of the image of Benedict Arnold that Congresswoman Gordon is standing in front of is never well-defined — is it a painted backdrop? a slide projected on a screen? — the effect of its coming to life is unfortuately muddled (at least for this reader).
As may be inferred from the above, at this juncture in DC Universe history, Babs Gordon and Dick Grayson are completely unaware of (some might say unreasonably oblivious to) each other’s secret identities.
In the last panel above, Maggin is referring to a couple of stories he’d written for Superman in which Batgirl guest-starred with the Man of Steel; these had appeared in issues #268 (Oct., 1973) and #279 (Sep., 1974), and, just so you know, Clark Kent and Barbara Gordon were not “going” together, alright?
I’m not sure if we’re supposed to think that the remarkably casual attitudes of the House members we see on this page are indicative of more satirical jabbing by Maggin, or if we’re supposed to assume that they’re all being mentally dominated somehow by General Arnold and/or his mysterious red-suited companion. Since Babs doesn’t appear to be affected by any such cognitive meddling, I’m inclined to go with the former explanation — but, honestly, I wouldn’t lay money on either option.
How do you fight an army? Well, it helps that these soldiers are apparently all lousy shots… though that may be reflective of the fact that these men are, as Robin deduces, “entranced” — plus, if we assume these are modern U.S. soldiers unwillingly cosplaying as redcoats (that’s never stated, but who else could they be?), they’re probably unfamiliar with the arms they’ve been coerced into using.
In any event, Batgirl and Robin are ultimately overwhelmed by their foes’ greater numbers, and taken prisoner…
I’m not certain how or why one of our heroes freeing the other would be seen as “sacrificing him or herself”, since they’d still be alive, even if they remained captive. Maybe Arnold plans to order his soldiers to shoot the one left while they’re dangling there? It’s yet another instance where the storytelling (either on the scripting side, the artistic side, or both) isn’t as clear as it really ought to be.
OK, so maybe the redcoats weren’t mind-controlled modern soldiers (despite the earlier use of the word “entranced”), but rather some sort of phantoms conjured up by “Old Scratch”? Or did the latter simply teleport them back to the Pentagon in a way that made it looked like they’d vanished into thin air? I gotta tell you, this story is starting to make my head hurt…
And why do you suppose Old Scratch teleports Arnold and our heroes to what I assume are the steps of the U.S. Capitol, then immediately sends them somewhere else? Anyone?
While Old Scratch silently watches, Arnold continues to drive Robin and Batgirl backwards, forcing them (or so it appears) up the steps of a building (not the Capitol, this time)…
Why does Robin assume that touching two magically-powered swords together will create “a feedback“? Once again, I have no idea.
As I’ve discussed in previous posts, I was raised as a devout Southern Baptist, which meant that, at the time I first read this story, I actually believed that Satan was a real entity. Even so, I never minded when the Devil showed up in my comic books, provided he was portrayed as a 100% bad guy — which, at least in Code-approved American color comics, was rarely (if ever) an issue. I even kind of liked it, as such appearances seemed to provide a sort of justification for my earnest young Christian self to be reading such “worldly” material… especially whenever the Adversary was shown suffering a big loss, as in our present story.
And here we have the moment for which this story is probably best remembered today, by those who remember it at all: Barbara Gordon and Richard Grayson’s first kiss. Granted, these are considerably different iterations of the two characters than the versions currently steaming things up over in Nightwing and the other Bat-books (the current Dick and Babs have been established as being more or less the same age, to note one important difference). Nevertheless, it’s a historically significant scene, one which gets referenced just about any time someone chronicles the development of these two iconic characters’ decades-spanning romantic history (see here and here for a couple of relatively recent examples).
“Give ’em hell,” indeed. I suspect that the following remarks will be seen by some as a rather odd way to end a review of such a frankly bonkers comic-book story, but here goes, anyway: Fifty years ago, the Devil came to the DCU version of Washington, D.C., and was soon sent packing. Today, in the real-world halls of power in this nation’s capital, it feels more like he’s been invited to sit down and make himself at home. I retain hope that we’ll yet find our way out of this mess, even without any aid from costumed superheroes (outside of a bit of inspiration, that is) — but it’s clearly going to be a long, hard fight, and at this writing, very far from a sure thing.
As mentioned earlier in this post, Batman Family #1 contained reprint material as well as the brand-new story we’ve just discussed. Featuring 64 pages for 50 cents, the comic was an example of the new “Giant” format DC had recently introduced as a successor to the now-defunct “100 Page Super-Spectacular” size books, which had sold for 60 cents. Conceptually speaking, Batman Family was an obvious spinoff of the similarly-formatted Superman Family (as would also be two other giant-size DC titles that were about to follow it to the stands, Super-Team Family and Tarzan Family).
Whether by design or accident, the three stories reprinted in BF #1 fall neatly into three distinct eras of American comic-book history. Leading off with its representation of the Golden Age of Comics is “The Great Handcuff King”, a solo adventure of Alfred that originally appeared in Batman #28 (Apr.-May, 1945); it was drawn by Jerry Robinson and, per the Grand Comics Database, may have been written by either Don C. Cameron or Joe Samachson.
At only four pages, this one hardly hangs around long enough to make any kind of impression, good or bad, but given that it presents the Wayne family butler as a comical bumbler, I object to it on principle — as I suspect I also did fifty years ago. Even then, well before Mr. Pennysworth’s backstory included all the British intelligence and field medic stuff, I liked him better when he was portrayed as a competent and valuable aide-de-camp to Batman and Robin; depending on your personal taste, your mileage may well vary.
Next up is a story from the Silver Age (or, to be a little more specific, the “New Look” period of 1964 through [roughly] 1969) — “Commissioner Gordon’s Death-Threat!”, which features a script by Gardner Fox and artwork credited to Bob Kane (but actually by Sheldon Moldoff and Joe Giella); it first ran in Batman #186 (Nov., 1966). That issue had come out not long after I’d started buying comics — indeed, I’d bought the five issues of Batman that had preceded it — so it was pretty much just the luck of the draw that I hadn’t already read this story when I encountered it here.
This one is a perfectly serviceable example of the plot-driven, relatively grounded stories of its particular Bat-era — but it doesn’t really pass muster as a showcase for Commissioner James Gordon, given that he spends virtually the entirety of its 10-page run as a captive of the bad guys, and the one action he takes that helps in his rescue is an inadvertent one.
Moving on, we come to the third and last story — a classic of the early Bronze Age, which, as we’ve already noted, was written by Frank Robbins and illustrated by Neal Adams and Dick Giordano. It’s “Challenge of the Man-Bat”, which had first appeared in Detective Comics #400 (Jun., 1970):
I’ve already covered the highlights of this one in my Detective #407 post of a few years back, so I’ll limit my comments here to noting the timeliness of DC’s reprinting Man-Bat’s origin story at this specific juncture, given that he was on the verge of being spun off into his own eponymous title — a house ad for which was published in this very comic (see right). Featuring a script by Gerry Conway, and art by Steve Ditko and Al Milgrom, Man-Bat #1 would arrive in spinner-racks in September — making it the third Batman-derived title launch from DC to appear in 1975, following the release of Joker #1 in February and Batman Family #1 in June. Which is sort of remarkable, when you think about it, given that the last new Bat-title launched by DC had been… Batman, all the way back in 1940. (No, I’m not counting World’s Finest, which had always showcased Superman equally with Batman, or Brave and the Bold, which had started out as a historical adventure title.)
Anyway, outside of a few brief filler features (e.g., background pages on the respective histories of Batgirl, Robin, and Alfred), that’s that for Batman Family #1. It’s worth noting, I think that the book seems to have been added to DC’s publication schedule rather late in the game; the lead story had actually been originally intended for DC’s 1st Issue Special tryout title, as evidenced by a house ad that had run in February in DC Special #16. The last-minute regrouping that’s implied by that change may help account for the fact that 
when the second bi-monthly issue of Batman Family appeared in August, it included no new comics material whatsoever. While there was a story of the “Dynamite Duo”, it was a reprint of the Detective #369 yarn that had introduced the concept of a Batgirl-Robin team in the first place — and, as I noted earlier, I’d bought that one back in the day. Making it even less likely that I’d even think about picking this one up, BF #2 included another Fox-Infantino-Greene classic from the “New Look” era — Detective #351’s introduction of the Cluemaster — that I already owned as well. A nice package overall, but not one that could ever have tempted me to spend 50 cents, back in the day.
With its third issue, Batman Family started featuring new stories of Batgirl and Robin again (sometimes as a team, other times in separate adventures), but I still didn’t bite. For one thing, I wasn’t all that interested in reading stories about either of those characters unless Batman was also involved; for another, the creative 
teams assigned to the features generally didn’t excite me. But most of all, the title was still being published in a format where the amount of reprint material outweighed the amount of new stuff, and that was a turn-off for my younger self. And so, I inevitably missed out on the mid-Seventies evolution of the Batgirl/Robin relationship dynamic, such as it was. Evidently, things never went much further than Dick crushing on Babs (the Dynamite Duo seemed to figure out each other’s secret IDs somewhere along the line, incidentally). One supposes they really couldn’t, given the difference in the characters’ ages (which, as we previously noted, would only be eliminated after a few decades’ worth of retcons); even so, early shippers were at least rewarded by the fantasy fake-out of Batman Family #11’s “Till Death Do Us Part!”, the Jim Aparo cover for which must be given its due as a camp classic par excellence.
Cover art by Michael W. Kaluta.
As things turned out, I wouldn’t buy another issue of Batman Family until #17 (Apr.-May, 1978). By that time, the cost had gone up to a dollar, the page count had risen to 80 — but, on the upside, all the stories were new. For more discussion about that one, however, we’re going to have to wait until January, 2028 — so here’s hoping we’re all still around by then.
Another fun romp through the pages of comics 50 years time ago! The Yardbirds’ classic “Happenings Ten Years Time Ago” just bounced through my head while typing that! Wouldn’t have even seen that mag on the racks at my comics source of a half century ago, the Navy Exchange on Treasure Island which for reasons beyond my ken didn’t offer up any giant-size comics for sale. I’m a history buff myself and have read up on the strange case of Benedict Arnold, the most infamous player in the drama of our War for Independence. A mostly fluffy tale with some nice art by Grell. The ol’ devil must be chortling with delight at the doings of our current government and our craven commander-in-chief. Looking at the cover, my first thought was “why are Bat-Girl and Robin tangling with George Washington???” Oops, wrong Revolutionary War general.
Meanwhile, happy upcoming Independence Day birthday, Alan! The date of my own birth happened to fall on Flag Day, not an actual holiday but one of observance of the date the revolutionary era version of our national flag was adopted. And it was 50 years ago today that I magically transformed into a teen-ager and I got a little black & white tv, so for the first time I could watch what I wanted (or at least whatever I preferred of the options being broadcast) in the privacy of my bedroom, all in not-so-living B&W! Later today, I might partake in a No Kings rally here in Jax and later in the afternoon in a group discussion of a book titled Ignorance: A Global History, by Peter Burke.
Thanks for the comments about the Devil being invited to DC (Washington, that is) to sit down for a spell. While some may bemoan the insertion of modern politics into a review of a 50-year-old comic, I appreciate any signal of solidarity from people who feel, as I do, that the nation is in a precarious spot. I can’t attend any No Kings rallies today because I’m driving my in-laws (who are Trump supporters) to an out-of-state family event. But I’ll be hoping for a day of peaceful, effective counter-programming to the excessive military and birthday celebration by our current Devil.
You said it: I officially bemoan the insertion of modern politics into a review of a 50-year-old comic book, bicentennial though it may be.
This sort of manufactured, hyperbolic nonsense has been dividing people at *least* since the Nika Riots (when half of Constantinople was burned and 30,000 people died, so don’t tell me the sky is falling now), but the devil is always human credulity. Politics is professional wrestling for people who think they’re smart.
Anyway, it was briefly fun. Let me know when mom’s “dinner table rule” goes back into effect.
Well, Tyrell, such a rule has in fact never been in effect in the ten-plus years this blog has been around, so I’d say the odds of one being instituted in the future are less than nil. I’d say, “sorry to see you go”, but honestly? I don’t really think I am.
Anyone remember the “Bicentennial Minutes” that ran on CBS from the summer of ’74 through December of ’78?
I recall a Bicentennial Special on July 4. !776 that featured a segment where the singer-actress Sandy Duncan was singing on a hillside overlooking a herd of buffalos. in a field. That seemed random, but I assumed it was a bison-tennial moment . . . . (True story . . . and I have a odd mind . . . .)
BIson-tennial…….groan……….that’s just..just so wrong!
I suspect the Bisons being serenaded while they were trying to graze agreed.
I do vaguely recall the “Bicentennial Minutes”, although I don’t recall the Bison-tennial one. I may have seen it and just forgotten about it and the intended pun may have flown over my young head at the time.
HAH! Good one, John! (And I remember those bicentennial minutes, also.)
I always thought Schwartz and his writers thought there was potential in Batgirl and Robin but had no idea how to run with that particular ball’
About a year later. there was a good Maggin/Swan Batgirl/Robin story were they fought Sportsmaster & The Huntress and it was never that good again until Al Milgrom started editing the book
Perhaps if Grell had stayed on the book, it would have had more character.. . . .
I rather liked the take expressed a few issues later, Robin saying “it’s like having a crush on your teacher — you know it can’t happen but you can’t help hoping.”
I do remember this issue from my youth. Fifty years on my takeaway is it’s too bad artist Grell didn’t take a few moments to look up a picture of Benedict Arnold. Not hard to do even in those pre-internet days. The character in this story is just some guy in 18th century attire who looks nothing like Arnold.
Much as I enjoyed Congresswoman Gordon’s commentary on Benedict Arnold, I was dismayed that she didn’t mention his involvement in the Battle of Saratoga in 1777.
Why?
Because it formed the subject of a superb *Blazing Combat* story, with art from Reed Crandall, in the book’s second issue.
It’s clever title is “Saratoga” and it is highly recommended.
Arnold also figures in a play called *The General from America.* When I saw it, Vanessa Redgrave’s brother Corin undertook the title role.
Happy Flag Day to all!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boot_Monument Arnold was good that day, as he had been when he and Ethan Allen took FT Ticonderoga and captured a lot of Artillery and in the Failed effort to take Quebec.
I have no idea why I bought this back when. I disliked Grell’s art from the first time I ever saw it and had no love for how weak Babs was written as being or how pointless every Robin solo story of the time seemed. Doesn’t it look like Colletta inks on the story despite the credits? I would go on to buy ever issue of BatFam, probably only because I’d bought the first issue though it also had art from Adams, which I disliked as well and grew to pretty much hate as I would later feel for Grell as well. I also kinda wish they had kept this title going and canceled Detective just out of contrariness.
They were going to in the DC Implosion! DETECTIVE’s sales always lagged behind BATMAN, not matter how they jiggered the logo to emphasize Batman. So wen DC imploded, the suits were ready to cancel DETECTIVE and keep BATMAN FAMILY. But then wiser heads prevailed, and they realized that cancelling the book that gave DC its name might have been a poor move. (Sorry, Steve.)
When I think of Elliott S! Maggin, this is the kind of story I think of, poorly plotted, nonsensical, and lacking any logical connection to how real life works. It’s like Elliott came up with this story while drunk, listening to the Devil Went Down to Georgia and watching the Watergate hearings on TV. I know he’s had his moments, but mostly, they look like this turkey of a story right here. I had forgotten about Bab’s brief stint as a Congresswoman and have no memory whatsoever of Dick working as her aide. The rest of this story is so awful it probably drove those plot points out of my mind. Why did “Ol’ Scratch” decide to test the mettle of democracy by pitting a dead traitor against two junior superheroes? Why did Arnold look like George Washington? Why swords? Even if Scratch gave Dick and Babs blades they still had a utility belt full of helpful gadgets they were more adept at using. Grell’s artwork is serviceable here, but as always, most of his secondary characters always seem posed.
I’ve always been a big Dick and Babs-shipper and it was nice seeing their first kiss again, even if it was the least romantic thing ever. To my mind, Dick and Babs are as iconic and “canon” in the DCU as Clark and Lois, Barry and Iris, Hal and Carol, and hell, even Bruce and Selina. Taylor and Redondo’s recent run on Nightwing has proven that, and while the Dan Watters stories that have followed haven’t quite been up to that standard, he loves Dick and Babs even more than Taylor and Bruno did and I’ll hang around to see where he takes them. Thanks, Alan. NO KINGS!
I have a slightly different take:
Maggin often did brilliant things but also frequently got half way into a story before he saw he had no story. He was a bit like Kanigher in that way.
If nothing else, his two Superman novels were excellent.
Best remarks to end a review of such a frankly bonkers comic-book story as I’ve ever read, so thank you Alan.
We have a King here in the UK, and (while lacking any real political power) he does seem to be a fairly decent sort and genuinely concerned about the well-being of his subjects/people. What you’re currently experiencing in the US, I don’t know. I could express a more definitely negative opinion, but I don’t want to see Alan the target of nonsensical tariffs suddenly imposed on historic comic-book websites that fail to adhere to a certain political doctrine (if you can even impose a tariff on special-interest websites, but reality-checks seem to be in short supply at the moment).
Anyway, the pendulum swings of history suggest that things will get better for you guys, and I really hope it’s soon.
Anyway again, and getting back on topic, I generally didn’t mind stories by Elliott S! Maggin but this does seem to be one of his lesser (and more curious) efforts. Hard to believe this was the same guy who wrote ‘the cape and cowl deathtrap’ recently discussed, or the Green Arrow / Neal Adams-illustrated vignette that I’m struggling to remember the title of – ‘Maggin often did brilliant things, BUT…’ sounds pretty accurate to me.
Before reading Alan’s description of this story, I’d never even heard of Elliott S! Maggin. This story struck me as rather silly, a bit of a weird mix of early Silver & Bronze age sensibilities.
I was 11 when I bought this issue from the rack and thought the cover concept was silly. Then again, I bought almost every comic book that was available. The lead story was a dud in the opinion of my younger self, but the impression I received from the man-bat story is something that I will never forget.
What Can One Man Do? was the title, a slogan for an oil company then . . . .
Babs and Dick do figure out each others’ identities down the road.
Craig Bruce Smith’s book “American Honor” looks at how the revolutionary generation interpreted personal honor and how that played into Arnold turning traitor. Basically we were shifting from fighting in a worthy cause being honor enough to wanting more personal honor — promotions, perks — by which standard Arnold felt he’d been slighted. It’s an interesting book.
IIRC, there is a scene in “Batman Family” #3 where, after having defeated the villain of the week together, Robin decides to tease Batgirl by calling her “Congresswoman”. Batgirl is startled for a moment, then promptly comes back with calling him “Dick”.
Young me liked the way they depart smiling towards each other at the last panel, while the narrator tells us how meaningful this moment is. It did feel meaningful, and yes, it hinted at undertones of mutual attraction with the decision to keep secrets between themselves while seeing more of each other.
Of course, that undercurrent only became stronger as “Batman Family” went on – culminating with the main story of #11 (cover shown above in Alan’s article), which has to be seen to be believed and has a borderline disturbing final panel – despite the same book also making a big deal of the pairing of Dick Grayson with Lori Elton. It did not reflect very well on Dick, but I guess it was a fairly relatable situation, or perhaps just relatable wishful thinking. Young men tend to want to believe that they have options even as they pursue commitment. And having a crush on capable, older yet very much young women is very relatable indeed.
Doing my Silver Age reread over at Atomic Junk Shop I just got to the second Man-Bat story. It’s really odd how the three stories are so spaced out rather than a three-parter — I’m not sure how well any of them stand up on their own (though Adams’ art is peerless, of course).
My sense was that they were trying to see if there was any interest in the character as a hero, anti-hero or bad guy. To test it, they would do a story when the sales figures showed it made sense.
I think Schwartz was scrambling for recurring villains who would fit into Adamu/Adams influenced art. Mat-Bat, Dr. Tzin-Tzin in Detectible (originally from B&B) and eventually Ras-al-Ghul. One of the Man-Bat issues’ letter column referred to the forthcoming Joker’s Five Way Revenge by Adams (forthcoming about 3 years later)
Quite possibly that was the intent but the stories still don’t work read in isolation, whatever the reason.
Also that was sort of how this was done on TV at the time ( See, e.g.,, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea: The Phantom Strikes (Jan 16, 1966);_ and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea: Return of The Phantom (March 20, 1966).
Obviously, Schwartz had done the original Grodd stories in close succession (Flash #106-108, so not everything was dome that way.
As someone who read them out of order in annuals, they all stand on their own just fine.
It is noticeable how he showed up four times in the space of 15 months, then slowed down to about once every couple of years.
Another good TV example from the same era of the 1960s was Harry Mudd in “Star Trek” (who was in the episodes “Mudd’s Women” and “I Mudd”). I’ve wondered for decades if the character of Cyrano Jones in “The Trouble with Tribbles” was originally intended to be Harry Mudd, but the actor wasn’t available.
Of course, in “Star Trek: The Next Generation”, if they were using a similar strategy with Q, it worked because he made many appearances throughout the life of the series.
It may have been less the art and more moving away from the Rogue’s Gallery, as they reminded everyone of That Show We Want To Forget. But you may be right about looking for new foes to balance out all the street crime and murder mysteries Robbins was doing.
He also did the Ten-Eyed Man around this time and would later do The Spook . . . .
Arcs really weren’t a thing at DC back in the day.
Also, and I may be off-base here, one other reason might have been the fact that Neal wasn’t able to keep up a monthly pace. I remember him drawing three consecutive issues of BATMAN only one time – the last two parts of the Ra’s Al-Ghul/Lazarus Pit story, followed by the return of Bruce Wayne epilogue story.
Other than that, getting two issues in a row out of Adams was a BIG deal. (Not to knock his pace, although he was sorta notorious for deadlines. Considering how many covers he was drawing at the time, it’s not a surprise!)
And he was also working on GL/GA and Deadman in Aquaman. Possibly that was a factor.
I think the problem with Adams, he spread himself too thinly … easily done as he was THE in demand artist of the time. At any one time he was doing Batman titles, GL/GA etc, he could be working for Marvel (colour and b/w books), Warren and the beginnings of commercial work which of course would morph into Continuity. As you say, his DC covers alone were both incredible and prolific: Superman family, Bat stuff, Flash… list goes on.
The first comic I ever remember having as a child was the aforementioned BATMAN FAMILY #17. Got a later copy signed by both Michael Golden in March of 2011 and Gerry Conway back in February. Looking forward to that January 2028 post for sure!
This cover concept seems quite similar to Shazam no. 1, published only three years earlier:
https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/Shazam!_Vol_1?file=Shazam_1.jpg
Yes, Nick Cardy evidently just redrew his Superman figure from that cover as Batman.
If he did and it wasn’t Gre[[ or someone else . . . .
Happy Birthday, Alan. Thanks for your very entertaining blog. I lurk a lot but don’t comment very often.
Two of the first four comic books I ever got, one of which was Batman Family 9, had reprinted material.
Of course, they were new to me, so I enjoyed learning about Batman’s history. Well, at the age of 5, I probably didn’t realize they were reprints. In case anyone wondered, the other reprint comic was my “gateway drug” Superheroes vs Super Gorillas. Batman got me into comics, and the SH vs SG turned me into fans of Superman and the Flash. My first comic was Batman 283, and I still remember wondering why Robin was absent.
I recently met Mike Grell at a convention, and he confirmed that Batman Family 1 was Yvonne Craig (TV’s Batgirl) favorite comic. She enjoyed the Batgirl/Robin kiss.
Remember back in the day when we were too young (and in my case, way too nerdy) to get dates with real girls. We also didn’t have the internet, VCRs or whatever to collect stuff to crush on our favorite celebrities. I’m kind of ashamed to admit that back then, Batgirl was my comic book crush, certainly helped by reruns of the 1966 Batman TV show. Even today, Batgirl is one of the characters of whom I have the most merch (figures, statues and such), second probably only to Batman himself.
Dude, that is nothing to be ashamed of.
Certainly not reason to be ashamed. When I was seven, Yvonne Craig as Batgirl was my first crush ever and the comic book character kept the flame going for years. I guess I had a thing for redheads because I also liked the Marvel 1970s version of the Black Widow, but Batgirl was definitely more my speed. Reading this blog entry and refamiliarizing myself with the screen shots, I found my old crush reasserting itself and I was very envious of Robin.
As drawn by Infantino in her debut, Babs had the sexy librarian thing nailed.
Belated happy birthday, Alan, and belated happy 500th posting.
After being a regular responder to your wonderful blog, the past year has kept me running – so much so that commenting on your posts has been all-but-impossible. Which is kinda ironic, since some of the books you’ve discussed over the past year (usually anything by the Steves – Englehart and Gerber) rank among my favorite comics of the 1970s, if not of all time. Perhaps I’ll go back and drop some comments on the most pertinent ones, like the AVENGERS/GIANT-SIZE AVENGERS crossovers.
But for now, my hope is to stay up to date with your thoughtful and insightful posts.
I just want to note one thing about this particular issue. I hope no one takes offense, but Grell never completely won me over. He was a fine storyteller, and he was very good at setting mood. But looking at some of his anatomy – I dunno. I think his slick inking covered a multitude of sins. But I realize that mileages vary!
Cheers!!
Bill
Good to hear from you, Bill! Your continuing readership is appreciated, and whenever you can find the time to comment on a post (new or old), I’ll take that as a plus.
Just to clarify, however (for you and anyone else who may have gotten a little confused), my birthday isn’t until July 4th. Not that I mind getting the well-wishes — whether early, belated, or spot on time! 😉
You misunderstood, Alan. I was wishing you belated Happy Birthday for 2024! (HAH!)
I recognized some of Grell’s anatomy was off even back then. Still liked his work, though.
Oh, he was an interesting creator, unquestionably. But I remember how sometimes his facial expressions could be a bit wooden, and sometimes people’s heads seemed too large or small for their bodies. That’s why I liked him better as a writer on (for example) GREEN ARROW.
I always thought his figures looked a bit stiff.
Agreed. That’s where the inking came into play.
500th posting…you’re not suddenly going to find yourself fighting an LMD version of yourself, or growing four extra arms, or anything like that, are you?
Jeez… I sure hope not!
Detective #369, mentioned above, was also the first time Adams drew an interior story in that title (Elongated Man back-up, not a Batman tale).
Happy birthday in advance, Alan. I’d forget to do it, otherwise.
I know prices for Adams would already be at a premium when comic shop ads regularly went in comics for the first time in the late 1970s/early 80s when I was at newsstands or the post office here in the UK.
Do you remember what the Adams secondary market was charging in places you were frequenting in the mid-70s?
I don’t remember actual prices at all, sportinggeek, sorry! I remember that compared to other back issues of comparable vintage, Adams’ stuff was more expensive than anyone else’s, with the possible exception of Bernie Wrightson’s (of which there was a good bit less available).