Batman: The Dailies 1944-1945

Batman: The Dailies #2

by Bill Finger (Editor), Bob Kane, Denis Kitchen (Editor)

Genres: Batman, Comics

191 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1990

About the author

William "Bill" Finger was an American comic strip and comic book writer best known as the uncredited co-creator, with Bob Kane, of the DC Comics character Batman, as well as the co-architect of the series' development. In later years, Kane acknowledged Finger as "a contributing force" in the character's creation. Comics historian Ron Goulart, in Comic Book Encyclopedia, refers to Batman as the "creation of artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger", and a DC Comics press release in 2007 about colleague Jerry Robinson states that in 1939, "Kane, along with writer Bill Finger, had just created Batman for [DC predecessor] National Comics".

Film and television credits include scripting The Green Slime (1969), Track of the Moon Beast (1976), and three episodes of 77 Sunset Strip.

-Wikipedia

Reviews

[M. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I chose this book because I enjoyed the previous volume (for which I forgot to write a review). What I like about the Batman comic strip in collected form is that it provides what are in essence extended adventures of the Golden Age Batman. Anyone who has read the comics knows that his adventures usually had a short page count that didn't always allow writers to take the stories down the occasional detour. My favorite in the prior volume was one in which Batman and Robin are out in farm country and Batman gets shot and needs emergency surgery. It was interesting because the writer could take his time, build drama and explore the situation.

My favorite in this volume was "The Mystery of Karen Drew". It ran in the strip for months, and is really a Bruce Wayne adventure because he stays in plainclothes the entire time. Equal parts mystery, romance, action and humor, it would have made a great movie in the 1940s (perhaps it did in some manner). The art is by Jack Burnley on this story, and it is lush in the reprint format.

The other stories are decent, but (and I don't like saying this) they are somewhat dampened by the art of Bob Kane. Batman's creator contributed greatly to popular culture, but his art is noticeably basic when it lies on either side of the tale drawn by Burnley.

Two more volumes to go! Someday.

[Andrew Neilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some crazy tales in this volume. Commissioner Gordon gets Batman and Robin to do him a favour, find an apartment for a girl! And a story where Bruce Wayne gets mixed up in a film noir/femme fatale type story. No Batman or Robin in this but is by far the highlight in this book

[Michael P. · Rating 3 out of 5]

In addition to the comic books, there was a BATMAN AND ROBIN comic strip in newspapers from 1943. It lasted only a few years. The five stories reprinted here are from 1944-5 and very in quality. One is a kind of film-noir and a lot of fun. Batman does not appear in costume and it is the only story not drawn by Bob Kane. The first story is decent, but the others are misfires, all of them some kind of dumb. I award two stars for average story quality, and an extra because it is wonderful that they stories are available again for fans to read and others to study

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Worth reading.