Friday, January 04, 2013
BATMAN FRIDAY
Why We Love Detective Comics
(In which the blogger discusses a story that isn't from Detective Comics, but the continuity between "Batman" and "Detective" at this time was so tight that he mistakenly believed it was.)
So, let's talk a little more about the Langstroms. After a decade or more of crazy adventures following the first appearance of Man-Bat in Detective Comics #400, the Langstroms - with their little daughter in tow - appeared in Batman #348, with a cover date of June 1982. Here's the cover:
The cover art is Jim Aparo, but the interior art is Gene Colan and Klaus Janson. (Artwise, this comic book is all-around awesome. The Catwoman backup feature is drawn by Trevor von Eeden.)
This wasn't the first time I had ever seen Man-Bat - I had a Brave and the Bold #119 in which Batman and Man-Bat go to the Caribbean and fight drug dealers or zombies or something - but it was definitely the first time I ever saw Man-Bat in a comic book that wasn't 3 or 4 years old when I first got it and, frankly, I remember being kind of surprised that Man-Bat was still part of the DC Universe. He was just so silly!
Batman #348 starts off with Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson moving the giant penny back into the Bat-Cave. This whole scene is mind-boggling. You see, Batman didn't use the Bat-Cave for a period in the 1970s and the eraly 1980s. He lived in a more urban part of Gotham City and he operated out of a skyscraper or a penthouse or an artist's loft or something. (A houseboat?) And eventually, he decided to move back to the Bat-Cave and to open up Wayne Manor again.
And for some reason, Batman moved the giant penny from the Bat-Cave to the Wayne Building and back again.
We all know what the giant penny is, right?
It's one of the trophies that Batman has kept from his earliest cases. You usually see it next to a robot of a dinosaur and a giant Joker playing card.
Here are some pertinent musings on the giant penny.
The blasted thing is, like, 20 feet tall and it's made of copper and it must weigh several tons. And Bruce and Dick are rolling it around like a couple of colllege kids who found an old couch in an alley that they think will look great in the living room!
They do not write them like this anymore!
Batman couldn't get Superman or Wonder Woman or Green Lantern or anybody who wouldn't be instantly crushed to help him move? (I especially find it hard to believe that J'onn J'onzz was too busy to help.)
OK, OK, enough about the giant penny.
Francine Langstrom shows up at Wayne Manor carrying her little daughter Rebecca. It seems that her husband Kirk - the Man-Bat - has gone a little crazy from turning into a giant bat all the time and he's been missing for months. And he's distraught because he think his daughter Rebecca has died and he blames Batman. And he's also been prowling about the Bat-Cave.
Francine says things like:
You promised you'd help me -- that you'd find a cure for Kirk's sickness --! ... You don't care about us! You're rich -- You don't care about anyone but yourself ...
And Rebecca says things like:
Please bring back my daddy ... please?
She's so adorable you want to puke. You should see her little bear!
Francine passes out, so Batman gets the bright idea to take Rebecca into the uncharted regions of the Bat-Cave fissure system to use her to convince the Man-Bat that she's OK and maybe get him to come off the ledge for treatment. (Get it? Off the ledge? Like a ledge llike you might find in a cave? Har.) So he hoists Rebecca onto his shoulders, and heads off for the furthest reached of the cave system. (And she still has the little toy bear!)
I probably don't need to describe the next few pages in any detail. Man-Bat appears and abducts the little girl. He doesn't believe it's Rebecca! Rebecca is in considerable peril! Batman is in considerable peril also when Man-Bat attacks! The reader is in considerable peril because he or she may wet him- or herself from the excitement!
Eventually, Batman gets a good hold on Man-Bat and gives him the anti-Man-Bat serum and Kirk becomes his old self - he's human, but he's still a FREAK! - and the whole family is reunited at the end. (Except the bear, which was lost in the cave.)
It's so beautifully drawn by Colan and Janson that you hardly notice that it makes no sense.
|
(In which the blogger discusses a story that isn't from Detective Comics, but the continuity between "Batman" and "Detective" at this time was so tight that he mistakenly believed it was.)
So, let's talk a little more about the Langstroms. After a decade or more of crazy adventures following the first appearance of Man-Bat in Detective Comics #400, the Langstroms - with their little daughter in tow - appeared in Batman #348, with a cover date of June 1982. Here's the cover:
The cover art is Jim Aparo, but the interior art is Gene Colan and Klaus Janson. (Artwise, this comic book is all-around awesome. The Catwoman backup feature is drawn by Trevor von Eeden.)
This wasn't the first time I had ever seen Man-Bat - I had a Brave and the Bold #119 in which Batman and Man-Bat go to the Caribbean and fight drug dealers or zombies or something - but it was definitely the first time I ever saw Man-Bat in a comic book that wasn't 3 or 4 years old when I first got it and, frankly, I remember being kind of surprised that Man-Bat was still part of the DC Universe. He was just so silly!
Batman #348 starts off with Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson moving the giant penny back into the Bat-Cave. This whole scene is mind-boggling. You see, Batman didn't use the Bat-Cave for a period in the 1970s and the eraly 1980s. He lived in a more urban part of Gotham City and he operated out of a skyscraper or a penthouse or an artist's loft or something. (A houseboat?) And eventually, he decided to move back to the Bat-Cave and to open up Wayne Manor again.
And for some reason, Batman moved the giant penny from the Bat-Cave to the Wayne Building and back again.
We all know what the giant penny is, right?
It's one of the trophies that Batman has kept from his earliest cases. You usually see it next to a robot of a dinosaur and a giant Joker playing card.
Here are some pertinent musings on the giant penny.
The blasted thing is, like, 20 feet tall and it's made of copper and it must weigh several tons. And Bruce and Dick are rolling it around like a couple of colllege kids who found an old couch in an alley that they think will look great in the living room!
They do not write them like this anymore!
Batman couldn't get Superman or Wonder Woman or Green Lantern or anybody who wouldn't be instantly crushed to help him move? (I especially find it hard to believe that J'onn J'onzz was too busy to help.)
OK, OK, enough about the giant penny.
Francine Langstrom shows up at Wayne Manor carrying her little daughter Rebecca. It seems that her husband Kirk - the Man-Bat - has gone a little crazy from turning into a giant bat all the time and he's been missing for months. And he's distraught because he think his daughter Rebecca has died and he blames Batman. And he's also been prowling about the Bat-Cave.
Francine says things like:
You promised you'd help me -- that you'd find a cure for Kirk's sickness --! ... You don't care about us! You're rich -- You don't care about anyone but yourself ...
And Rebecca says things like:
Please bring back my daddy ... please?
She's so adorable you want to puke. You should see her little bear!
Francine passes out, so Batman gets the bright idea to take Rebecca into the uncharted regions of the Bat-Cave fissure system to use her to convince the Man-Bat that she's OK and maybe get him to come off the ledge for treatment. (Get it? Off the ledge? Like a ledge llike you might find in a cave? Har.) So he hoists Rebecca onto his shoulders, and heads off for the furthest reached of the cave system. (And she still has the little toy bear!)
I probably don't need to describe the next few pages in any detail. Man-Bat appears and abducts the little girl. He doesn't believe it's Rebecca! Rebecca is in considerable peril! Batman is in considerable peril also when Man-Bat attacks! The reader is in considerable peril because he or she may wet him- or herself from the excitement!
Eventually, Batman gets a good hold on Man-Bat and gives him the anti-Man-Bat serum and Kirk becomes his old self - he's human, but he's still a FREAK! - and the whole family is reunited at the end. (Except the bear, which was lost in the cave.)
It's so beautifully drawn by Colan and Janson that you hardly notice that it makes no sense.
Tuesday, January 01, 2013
I, THE AUDIENCE: The Movies I Saw in 2012
So here's all the movies I saw in 2012. I'm not sure what my favorite movie of 2012 was. Maybe "Seven Psychopaths." Maybe "Snow White & the Huntsman." Maybe "Wreck-It Ralph." I liked "Seeking a Friend for the End of the World" quite a bit as well. I'll have to mull it over.
1903-1920
1903 — Alice in Wonderland — 1915 — Alice in Wonderland
1921-1930
1921 — The Kid — 1924 — The Hands of Orlac — 1926 — Faust
1931-1940
1932 — The Sign of the Cross * Dr. X — 1933 — Island of Lost Souls * The Private Life of Henry VIII * The Fatal Glass of Beer * — 1934 — Naughty Marietta — 1935 — Black Sheep * Little Sinner * Our Gang Follies of 1936 * A Midsummer Night’s Dream * The Mysterious Mr. Wong — 1936 — San Francisco * The Pinch Singer * Divot Diggers * The Lucky Corner * Second Childhood * Bored of Education * Arbor Day * Two Too Young * Pay As You Exit * Spooky Hooky * Bullets or Ballots * The President’s Mystery * After the Thin Man * Follow the Fleet * Charlie Chan at the Opera — 1937 — Reunion in Rhythm * Glove Taps * The Awful Truth * The Hurricane * The Black Legion — 1938 — Bringing Up Baby * The Adventures of Robin Hood — 1939 — Mr. Wong in Chinatown * The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes * The Return of Dr. X — 1940 — Tom Brown’s School Days * Rebecca * Virginia City * The Mummy’s Hand * The Invisible Man’s Return * The Invisible Woman
1941-1950
1941 — They Died With Their Boots On * Meet John Doe * Spooks Run Wild * The Black Cat — 1942 — The Corpse Vanishes — 1943 — Captive Wild Woman * Son of Dracula * Shadow of a Doubt * Ghosts on the Loose — 1944 — Soul of a Monster * The Mummy’s Curse — 1945 — A Game of Death * Mildred Pierce — 1947 — The Paradine Case — 1948 — Canon City * Ruthless * Casbah — 1949 — Under Capricorn * The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend * Africa Screams * Prince of Foxes * The Heiress — 1950 — The Torch * Stage Fright
1951-1960
1952 — Kansas City Confidential * The Narrow Margin — 1954 — Down Three Dark Streets * Knights of the Round Table — 1955 — Big House, U.S.A.* Smiles of a Summer Night * Il Bidone (The Swindle) * The Big Combo * Rififi — 1956 — The Bad Seed — 1957 — Plunder Road — 1959 — The Law — 1960 — The Bellboy * Compelled * The Millionairess * Wasp Woman
1961-1970
1961 — Blueprint for Robbery * The Innocents — 1962 — Harakiri * Tales of Terror * Burn, Witch, Burn * Boccaccio ’70 * Le couteau dans la plaie (Five Miles to Midnight) * King Kong vs. Godzilla * The Tale of Zatoichi * The Premature Burial — 1963 — The Birds — 1964 — Topkapi * Revenge * Becket * Mothra vs. Godzilla * Masque of the Red Death — 1965 — Gigantes Planetarios * Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines — 1966 — Munster, Go Home — 1967 — Hour of the Gun * Le Samouraï * Deadlier Than the Male * Marat/Sade * Mad Monster Party * King Kong Escapes — 1969 — Topaz * Godzilla’s Revenge * The Magic Christian
1971-1980
1971 — Mary, Queen of Scots — 1972 — Fata Morgana * Frenzy * Wandering Ginza Butterfly * The Poseidon Adventure * Hanzo the Razor: Sword of Justice * Sleuth — 1974 — Juggernaut * Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell — 1975 — Monty Python and the Holy Grail * Inserts — 1976 — Yakuza Graveyard * Master of the Flying Guillotine * The Killing of a Chinese Bookie — 1979 — The Great Train Robbery * Woyzeck
1981-1990
1981 — The Munsters’ Revenge — 1982 — Evil Under the Sun — 1985 — Come and See — 1986 — Haunted Honeymoon — 1987 — Intervista * Spaceballs — 1988 — The Moderns — 1990 — Quigley Down Under
1991-2000
1991 — Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead * Delirious —1993 — The Secret Garden * The Three Musketeers — 1994 — Pom Poko — 1995 — La haine * Dracula: Dead and Loving It — 1999 — The Phantom Menace * Office Space — 2000 — Battle Royale * Quills
2001-2010
2001 — Brotherhood of the Wolf * Gosford Park * The Fellowship of the Ring — 2002 — High Crimes * The Count of Monte Cristo * Kung Pow: Enter the Fist — 2003 — Underworld * Memories of Murder * Kekko Kamen — 2004 — Resident Evil: Apocalypse * The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra * Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow * Three … Extremes — 2005 — Antarctic Journal * The Call of Cthulhu — 2006 — Underworld: Evolution * Scoop * Conversations with Other Women — 2007 — Resident Evil: Extinction * Like Stars on Earth * Trail of the Screaming Forehead * Persepolis — 2008 — The Spirit — 2009 — Underworld: Rise of the Lycans * 3 Idiots * The Lost Skeleton Returns Again — 2010 — The Reef * Elite Squad: The Enemy Within * Super * I Saw the Devil * Bitch Slap
2011-2020
2011 — Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows * The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo * The Artist * A Separation * Hugo * Warrior * Drive * The Skin I Live In * The Intouchables * Rango * Midnight in Paris — 2012 — Underworld: Awakenings * One for the Money * John Carter * The Three Stooges * Lockout * The Hunger Games * The Avengers * The Dictator * Dark Shadows * Snow White & the Huntsman * Prometheus * Ted * The Dark Knight Rises * Resident Evil: Retribution * The Perks of Being a Wallflower * Seven Psychopaths * Skyfall * Wreck-It Ralph * Seeking a Friend for the End of the World * Kahaani * The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
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1903-1920
1903 — Alice in Wonderland — 1915 — Alice in Wonderland
1921-1930
1921 — The Kid — 1924 — The Hands of Orlac — 1926 — Faust
1931-1940
1932 — The Sign of the Cross * Dr. X — 1933 — Island of Lost Souls * The Private Life of Henry VIII * The Fatal Glass of Beer * — 1934 — Naughty Marietta — 1935 — Black Sheep * Little Sinner * Our Gang Follies of 1936 * A Midsummer Night’s Dream * The Mysterious Mr. Wong — 1936 — San Francisco * The Pinch Singer * Divot Diggers * The Lucky Corner * Second Childhood * Bored of Education * Arbor Day * Two Too Young * Pay As You Exit * Spooky Hooky * Bullets or Ballots * The President’s Mystery * After the Thin Man * Follow the Fleet * Charlie Chan at the Opera — 1937 — Reunion in Rhythm * Glove Taps * The Awful Truth * The Hurricane * The Black Legion — 1938 — Bringing Up Baby * The Adventures of Robin Hood — 1939 — Mr. Wong in Chinatown * The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes * The Return of Dr. X — 1940 — Tom Brown’s School Days * Rebecca * Virginia City * The Mummy’s Hand * The Invisible Man’s Return * The Invisible Woman
1941-1950
1941 — They Died With Their Boots On * Meet John Doe * Spooks Run Wild * The Black Cat — 1942 — The Corpse Vanishes — 1943 — Captive Wild Woman * Son of Dracula * Shadow of a Doubt * Ghosts on the Loose — 1944 — Soul of a Monster * The Mummy’s Curse — 1945 — A Game of Death * Mildred Pierce — 1947 — The Paradine Case — 1948 — Canon City * Ruthless * Casbah — 1949 — Under Capricorn * The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend * Africa Screams * Prince of Foxes * The Heiress — 1950 — The Torch * Stage Fright
1951-1960
1952 — Kansas City Confidential * The Narrow Margin — 1954 — Down Three Dark Streets * Knights of the Round Table — 1955 — Big House, U.S.A.* Smiles of a Summer Night * Il Bidone (The Swindle) * The Big Combo * Rififi — 1956 — The Bad Seed — 1957 — Plunder Road — 1959 — The Law — 1960 — The Bellboy * Compelled * The Millionairess * Wasp Woman
1961-1970
1961 — Blueprint for Robbery * The Innocents — 1962 — Harakiri * Tales of Terror * Burn, Witch, Burn * Boccaccio ’70 * Le couteau dans la plaie (Five Miles to Midnight) * King Kong vs. Godzilla * The Tale of Zatoichi * The Premature Burial — 1963 — The Birds — 1964 — Topkapi * Revenge * Becket * Mothra vs. Godzilla * Masque of the Red Death — 1965 — Gigantes Planetarios * Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines — 1966 — Munster, Go Home — 1967 — Hour of the Gun * Le Samouraï * Deadlier Than the Male * Marat/Sade * Mad Monster Party * King Kong Escapes — 1969 — Topaz * Godzilla’s Revenge * The Magic Christian
1971-1980
1971 — Mary, Queen of Scots — 1972 — Fata Morgana * Frenzy * Wandering Ginza Butterfly * The Poseidon Adventure * Hanzo the Razor: Sword of Justice * Sleuth — 1974 — Juggernaut * Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell — 1975 — Monty Python and the Holy Grail * Inserts — 1976 — Yakuza Graveyard * Master of the Flying Guillotine * The Killing of a Chinese Bookie — 1979 — The Great Train Robbery * Woyzeck
1981-1990
1981 — The Munsters’ Revenge — 1982 — Evil Under the Sun — 1985 — Come and See — 1986 — Haunted Honeymoon — 1987 — Intervista * Spaceballs — 1988 — The Moderns — 1990 — Quigley Down Under
1991-2000
1991 — Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead * Delirious —1993 — The Secret Garden * The Three Musketeers — 1994 — Pom Poko — 1995 — La haine * Dracula: Dead and Loving It — 1999 — The Phantom Menace * Office Space — 2000 — Battle Royale * Quills
2001-2010
2001 — Brotherhood of the Wolf * Gosford Park * The Fellowship of the Ring — 2002 — High Crimes * The Count of Monte Cristo * Kung Pow: Enter the Fist — 2003 — Underworld * Memories of Murder * Kekko Kamen — 2004 — Resident Evil: Apocalypse * The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra * Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow * Three … Extremes — 2005 — Antarctic Journal * The Call of Cthulhu — 2006 — Underworld: Evolution * Scoop * Conversations with Other Women — 2007 — Resident Evil: Extinction * Like Stars on Earth * Trail of the Screaming Forehead * Persepolis — 2008 — The Spirit — 2009 — Underworld: Rise of the Lycans * 3 Idiots * The Lost Skeleton Returns Again — 2010 — The Reef * Elite Squad: The Enemy Within * Super * I Saw the Devil * Bitch Slap
2011-2020
2011 — Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows * The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo * The Artist * A Separation * Hugo * Warrior * Drive * The Skin I Live In * The Intouchables * Rango * Midnight in Paris — 2012 — Underworld: Awakenings * One for the Money * John Carter * The Three Stooges * Lockout * The Hunger Games * The Avengers * The Dictator * Dark Shadows * Snow White & the Huntsman * Prometheus * Ted * The Dark Knight Rises * Resident Evil: Retribution * The Perks of Being a Wallflower * Seven Psychopaths * Skyfall * Wreck-It Ralph * Seeking a Friend for the End of the World * Kahaani * The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
