Batman in the Seventies

Batman Decades

by Dennis O'Neil

In the seventies, Batman began his transformation from the campy Caped Crusader of the sixties television show into the grim Dark Knight of the nineties' motion pictures. This action-packed book includes the greatest adventures of that era which helped to reshape this legendary icon. Featuring Batgirl, Robin, the Joker, Man-Bat, the Huntress, and Ra's al Ghul, BATMAN IN THE SEVENTIES is an outstanding opportunity to look back and enjoy the tales of the past that are now the foundation for the future.

Genres: Comics, Batman, Graphic Novels, Fiction, Dc Comics, Superheroes

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Dennis "Denny" O'Neil was a comic book writer and editor best known for his work for Marvel Comics and DC Comics from the 1960s through the 1990s, and Group Editor for the Batman family of titles until his retirement.

His best-known works include Green Lantern/Green Arrow and Batman with Neal Adams, The Shadow with Michael Kaluta and The Question with Denys Cowan. As an editor, he is principally known for editing the various Batman titles. From 2013 unti his death, he sat on the board of directors of the charity The Hero Initiative and served on its Disbursement Committee.

Reviews

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 5 out of 5]

The 70s were in general a great time for Batman comics. The silly camp of the sixties was moving out to make way for a darker, grittier Dark Knight. Most of the credit goes to Denny O'Neil and Neal Adams, but others helped as well, such as Steve Englehart and Marshall Rogers among others.

This graphic novel includes an overview of some of the better Batman stories of the 70s. While the stories are good, the art is great, as this was some of the best Batman art ever.

If you like your Batman stories on the darker side, this is a great volume.

[Adam Graham · Rating 5 out of 5]

The 1970s Batman often has a reputation of being dark and grim. It's actually only darker when compared to the very camp Batman stories of the 1950s and 60s. The stories really are slightly more realistic but also very enjoyable. One of the best reasons to read 1970s Batman is that several tales from that era were later adapted for the critically acclaimed Batman: The Animated Series. This book includes two of them in the form of, "There's No Hope in Crime Alley," and "Daughter of tq he Demon."

This book collects several stories from throughout this decade including the first team up between Batgirl and Robin in Batman family as well as Batman battles with the Joker, Man-bat, and Ra's Al-ghul. They're uniformly good and a great representation of their era. If I had one complaint about the book, it's that's the Ra's Al-ghul story was the first part of a two part tale, but it didn't end on a huge cliffhanger, so it's forgivable.

Overall, this book has great art and superb writing and shows why the 1970s may have been one of the best eras for Batman ever in between the camp of the 1960s and the Grim Dark tales of the late 1980s and 1990s.

[Bradley · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Denny O'Neil stories were great, but I wasn't crazy about the rest.

[Brad McKenna · Rating 5 out of 5]

The 70s bridged the Batman gap between Adam West and the campiest camp to ever camp that was the 60s TV show and Frank Miller and The Dark Knight Returns.

It's still got a melodramatic tint to the storytelling and the dialog can be stilted but the stories are much more series and occasionally macabre. It also has my favorite Bat-costume; the light-ish blue and grey. I know it's a bit less useful than the black and grey of today but it was the costume I grew up on. I also appreciated the self-contained stories (I enjoy long story-arcs but now-a-days everything seems to be connected and it's tough to just pick up a volume), the emphasis on the detective aspect of Bats, and seeing my use more nimble forms of martial arts like Judo instead of just brute-forcing his way through every fight.

[Luis · Rating 5 out of 5]

To me, the seventies was the golden age of Batman stories. It was the age that gave us the Batman we know today which was at the same time a modern take and a a return to the character's roots. This collection gives us a glimpse into what the era was, detective stories, supernatural stories, Batman Family stories, etc. The collection is brief but it does satisfy, the only misstep was the omission of a Brave and the Bold tale because that title was hugely popular in the 70s. Highly recommended for Batman fans and those interested in the history of comics.

[Chris Browning · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice little primer for the decade, with some goofy stuff, some nicely traditional stories and a couple of darker, more mature episodes that you can tell influenced the turn the character would take in the next decade or so. The debut of Ra's al Ghul is a little spoiled by later familiarity with the character, but is still a striking first story. The best thing in it though is the Alex Toth strip, which is striking in just how modern it looks. My god the man was a genius

[Bruce · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a reaction against the campy sixties television series, the Batman portrayed in comic books of the nineteen seventies returned to the darker aspects of his beginning in 1939. Once again in the prologue to the stories he is introduced as the Batman, the definite article preceding his identity as the Darknight Detective and emphasizing the more fearsome impression his appearance was designed to have on evildoers. This was a deliberate choice by editor Julius Schwartz and emphasized by writers and artists during the decade, notably by author Dennis O’Neil, and pencil and ink men Neal Adams and Dick Giordano, and this collection contains a good representative sample of their work and others working in the same vein.

[Kimberlee · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the Seventies, Batman went through an amazing transformation, and started on the path toward the character he is today. The art is beautiful, but more importantly, the characters start to take more distinct forms.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Worth reading.

[Matt Piechocinski · Rating 3 out of 5]

You know who's awesome? Batman ... in the 70s. I think that era of the Dark Knight is definitely my fave.

[Heatherblakely · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was fun! A coworker recommended it as a starting point, and I enjoyed it. The text tidbits with historical info were really interesting to read.