Batman: The Silver Age Newspaper Comics, Vol. 1: 1966-1967

Batman : Silver Age Newspaper Comics

by Whitney Ellsworth, Shelly Moldoff, Carmine Infantino

In partnership with DC Entertainment, the Eisner and Harvey Award-winning imprint gives the deluxe archival treatment to the classic 1960s Batman newspaper strip. The complete series, which ran from 1966 until 1972, has never been reprinted and will be collected in three definitive volumes. The strip debuted in May 1966 on the heels of the Batmania craze resulting from the hit television program. The series boasted stories by longtime editor Whitney Ellsworth and art by DC stalwarts Shelly Moldoff, Joe Giella, and Carmine Infantino.

The first volume, reprinting all black-and-white dailies and color Sundays from 1966 and 1967, features an all-star list of Batman and Robin characters, including Catwoman, the Penguin, the Joker, Poison Ivy, and Batgirl!

Genres: Comics, Comic Book, Batman

256 pages, Hardcover

First published February 11, 2014

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Coole Artwork, irrsinnig witzige Dialoge und überhaupt Humor anstatt "Dark Knight"; beste Unterhaltung.

[Adam Graham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Batman comics enter the goofy zone in this collection of Batman Newspaper strips from 1966 and 1967. These are from different from the 1940s strips which were mostly serious (or as serious Batman comic strips were at the time.) Here, the full on goofiness of the TV series is reflected in this collection with many stories told with tongue firmly planted in cheek. The series featured villains such as Cat-woman, the Joker, Penguin, Poison Ivy, and the Riddler along with an early appearance by Batgirl before she appeared on television. The highlights of the book were in the last half of it which included not only the Batgirl story, but also a story guest starring Jack Benny as well as an epic 9 month tale (the aftermath of which we won't actually see until the next book.)

These stories are interesting. Even as someone who enjoys a little Silver Age silliness, I will confess there were a few storylines I found to be a little too over the top for my liking, but overall I found the book to be fairly fun. The strips are nicely curated with notes on each strip story as well as a great deal of background material which makes this a treat for any collector.

[ShickShickle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read so many of Batman’s Sliver Age comics that it is impossible to count how many so I’m going to use this rating to represent all of the ones I’ve read.

[Jose Escobar Isturiz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Silly but entertained

[Jim · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5⭐️

[Charles · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the greatest comic strip ever, but fun and often funny, especially if you like the 1966 Batman TV show and the less serious super-heroics of the sixties. Even better than than the "Holy This and That" borrowed from the TV show is Robin's recurrent "I guess I'm just a mean-minded little kid" after Batman rebukes him for some thoughtlessness or other, with the Boy Wonder's self-deprecating adjective varied to fit the scene.

Artist Joe Giella really shines here. His pencils and inks are the best work of his I've ever encountered, leagues ahead of his inking for DC in the same time frame. And there are several credited (Carmine Infantino, Sheldon Moldoff) and uncredited (if my eyes don't deceive me, Gil Kane on the 12/20/1967 daily) pencil assists from others throughout.

[David]

Haven't properly read it yet, but I have to say, this is a beautiful book. I love that it's both the dailies and Sundays.