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A review by luana420
Batman in the Forties by Dick Sprang, Charles Paris, Bill Finger, Jerry Robinson, Bob Kane, Winslow Mortimer, George Roussos, Jack Schiff, Jack Burnley
4.0
An eye-opening look into the origins of the Caped Crusader, with a smattering of early Detective Comics and Batman issues with a few miscellaneous Bat-family featuring titles thrown in for good measure. Comics historian Bill Schelly chose these seventeen tales, and while they are all fun, I can't help but feel a little miffed that we're not getting the proper first appearance of some of the villains featured here. There's a lot of Penguin mentioning, but none of the tales actually feature him!
Surprises:
- The Batman and Robin relationship is actually quite touching in its sincerity and open affection. If there's anything I took away from this collection, it's how much I like Robin as an addition to the Bat-mythos.
- From grim avenger of the night to corny adventure duo, with Batman in particular being actually more like a punning smug Roger Moore than the overly righteous boyscout Adam West portrayed him as, even in this first decade there's a marked disparity in the portrayal of the character.
- Villain training wheels: the Joker is actually a mirthless horror clown in his first appearances, with Batman and Robin the ones who are constantly trolling him. Catwoman / "the Cat" / "Elva Barr" is just a jewelry thief dressed like an old lady (!) in her first appearance* to a CAT HEAD WEARING MONSTROSITY later. Mad Hatter is just a robber who uses his hat for storage, like Batman uses his belt. Clayface is a vengeful actor who just uses studio make-up to disguise himself.
- Adaptation LULZ: One tale is "The End of Two-Face", featuring Harvey Kent (!)'s rehabilitation. The one immediately following it is a condensed newspaper strip retelling of the origin and demise of Two-Face, in this version vain HAM ACTOR (they remind you of this every recap) Harvey APOLLO. For those complaining movie adaptations kill villains, Harvey is hanged by power cables in front of the movie screen at a drive-in at the end of this.
- DEATH: Robin cheerfully kicks a guy to his death. Batman has quite a few "you or me, buddy!" kills. There's really enthusiastic reminders that "dis guy is gettin' da chair" to the point where the comics sometimes take extra care in having cute little newsboys yell that this week's villain is sentenced to DIEEEEuhhhh.
*I'll admit, I purchased a separate issue of Batman #1 when I realized the first appearances of many villains weren't in this.
Surprises:
- The Batman and Robin relationship is actually quite touching in its sincerity and open affection. If there's anything I took away from this collection, it's how much I like Robin as an addition to the Bat-mythos.
- From grim avenger of the night to corny adventure duo, with Batman in particular being actually more like a punning smug Roger Moore than the overly righteous boyscout Adam West portrayed him as, even in this first decade there's a marked disparity in the portrayal of the character.
- Villain training wheels: the Joker is actually a mirthless horror clown in his first appearances, with Batman and Robin the ones who are constantly trolling him. Catwoman / "the Cat" / "Elva Barr" is just a jewelry thief dressed like an old lady (!) in her first appearance* to a CAT HEAD WEARING MONSTROSITY later. Mad Hatter is just a robber who uses his hat for storage, like Batman uses his belt. Clayface is a vengeful actor who just uses studio make-up to disguise himself.
- Adaptation LULZ: One tale is "The End of Two-Face", featuring Harvey Kent (!)'s rehabilitation. The one immediately following it is a condensed newspaper strip retelling of the origin and demise of Two-Face, in this version vain HAM ACTOR (they remind you of this every recap) Harvey APOLLO. For those complaining movie adaptations kill villains, Harvey is hanged by power cables in front of the movie screen at a drive-in at the end of this.
- DEATH: Robin cheerfully kicks a guy to his death. Batman has quite a few "you or me, buddy!" kills. There's really enthusiastic reminders that "dis guy is gettin' da chair" to the point where the comics sometimes take extra care in having cute little newsboys yell that this week's villain is sentenced to DIEEEEuhhhh.
*I'll admit, I purchased a separate issue of Batman #1 when I realized the first appearances of many villains weren't in this.