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Showcase Presents
Showcase Presents: Batman, Vol. 6
In this new, value-priced collection of tales from the early 1970s, Batman returns his roots as the Dark Knight Detective, operating on his own in the shadows of Gotham City. With Robin away in college, Batman faces new foes and old including Two-Face, Man-Bat and Ra's al Ghul. This collection features stories by the renowned GREEN LANTERN/GREEN ARROW team of writer Dennis O'Neil and artist Neal Adams, who brought a new sense of purpose to comics' greatest detective.
Collects BATMAN #229-244 and stories from DETECTIVE COMICS #408-426.
Collects BATMAN #229-244 and stories from DETECTIVE COMICS #408-426.
584 pages, Paperback
First published February 24, 2015
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59 people want to read
About the author
Dennis O'Neil
1,758 books276 followers
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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
January 4, 2021
Denny O’Neil wrote some high-quality Batman stories—not to mention really creepy ones. And Neal Adams…that fella is a great Batman artist.
As a whole, this is a mixed bag as collections go, but those O’Neil/Adams collaborations are worth their weight in cheese curls.
As a whole, this is a mixed bag as collections go, but those O’Neil/Adams collaborations are worth their weight in cheese curls.
November 6, 2016
Remember when Batman was actually a detective? I do ... and so will you while reading this collection of tales. Denny O'Neil writes over half the stories, with Frank Robbins at the typewriter for the remainder. The Neil Adams art jobs are to be celebrated, but there are hundreds of pages by Irv Novick who admirably carried the ball on his stories. Underrated material that looks great in black in white ... including the occasional written AND illustrated story by the oft-maligned Robbins. His use of blacks are fantastic, making his pen and ink work on the series come fully to life.
April 13, 2024
8/10
A really really great collection of old batman stories in the order as they should be read. I don’t understand why DC haven’t published the majority of bronze age superhero stories in a similar format since.
Even though these stories lack colour, it doesnt get in the way of the great illustrations and story telling, with dennis o’neil being the stand out writer here.
A really really great collection of old batman stories in the order as they should be read. I don’t understand why DC haven’t published the majority of bronze age superhero stories in a similar format since.
Even though these stories lack colour, it doesnt get in the way of the great illustrations and story telling, with dennis o’neil being the stand out writer here.
June 11, 2017
By 1971, the Batman television show had been off the air long enough that its sales boost to the Batman and Detective Comics series had faded, and with it, the incentive to model the magazines on the show. Bruce Wayne moved from stately Wayne Manor to a penthouse in downtown Gotham City and started a charitable organization for victims of crime. Dick “Robin” Grayson went off to college on the other side of the state, and guest-starred infrequently. And most of Batman’s regular rogues’ gallery took a vacation.
This freed up space for a more somber tone, although this run certainly had its own silliness, such as a return engagement by the Ten-Eyed Man, whose optic nerves had been transplanted into his fingers. And Two-Face made an appearance for the first official time since the 1950s. But quite a few of the stories had Batman facing off against ordinary murderers and organized crime…as well as what appeared to be ghosts and psychic powers.
This volume covers Batman 229-236 and Detective Comics 408-416. The first story, “Asylum of the Futurians” pits the Caped Crusader against a group of apparent lunatics who’ve captured a photographer in the mistaken belief he possesses psychic abilities that will make him their leader. (It’s never clear that the Futurians actually have ESP; it certainly doesn’t help against Batman; but then how do you explain the sudden impulse he had to investigate the neighborhood?)
Several stories are topical to the 1970s. Thinly veiled versions of consumer advocate Ralph Nader and “participatory journalist” George Plimpton make guest appearances. Stories featuring youth activism and black radicals have aged poorly; the latter mixes in a police corruption subplot, the end of which supposedly fixes injustice in the legal system of Gotham City. Batman’s platitudes towards the radicals he’s fighting/helping come off as tone-deaf.
Other stories focus on Batman as the World’s Greatest Detective, revealing at the end the one clue he noticed where the criminal slipped up. One, taking place at a production of Macbeth, involves the literal pricking of Batman’s thumbs.
The most notable plotline was the first appearances of Ra’s al Ghul and his daughter Talia. Talia appeared first, helping Batman bring down Dr. Damien Darrk of the League of Assassins, who had fallen out with her father. Then Ra’s contrived a scenario where both Robin and Talia were kidnapped in order to test Batman’s fitness to marry Talia (who had fallen for Bruce) and eventually take over his shadowy empire.
As created by writer Denny O’Neil and artists Dick Giordano and Neal Adams, Ra’s al Ghul was a mastermind in the Fu Manchu style (particularly the later novels.) He controlled a vast criminal network, but did not consider himself a criminal, but rather humanity’s eventual savior. Over his long life, Ra’s had become convinced overpopulation was the root of all the Earth’s problems. Therefore he was going to do something about that.
Like Fah Lo Suee before her, Talia was conflicted between loyalty to her father and the desire to jump the hero’s bones. Ra’s respected Bruce’s intelligence and skills enough to allow them to be mated, but only if Batman accepted a place as the Demon’s Head’s heir presumptive. And no, Batman was not impressed by the “kill most of humanity to save the rest” plan.
After several encounters, Batman decides to take down Ra’s al Ghul once and for all, assembling a small team of specialists to help. (This was the first appearance of the Matches Malone disguise, as Batman’s attempt to recruit the hitman went awry.) After much ado, they finally catch up to the mastermind, or rather his corpse.
Except that it turns out Ra’s has access to something called the Lazarus Pit, which allows him renewed life and vigor at the cost of temporary insanity. (This puts a different cast on an earlier story where Talia had supposedly believed her father dead.) Eventually, Batman and Ra’s al Ghul must duel in single combat to determine which of them shall triumph in the last story of the volume.
This is nifty stuff, with some crackerjack writing and excellent art. On the other hand, Talia’s personality is entirely defined in this storyline by her relationships with men, and she wavers back and forth between them as the plot demands.
Overall, this is a good run of Batman, and well worth requesting for the library, or even buying if you are a big Batman fan. (Batgirl has a couple of blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameos.)
This freed up space for a more somber tone, although this run certainly had its own silliness, such as a return engagement by the Ten-Eyed Man, whose optic nerves had been transplanted into his fingers. And Two-Face made an appearance for the first official time since the 1950s. But quite a few of the stories had Batman facing off against ordinary murderers and organized crime…as well as what appeared to be ghosts and psychic powers.
This volume covers Batman 229-236 and Detective Comics 408-416. The first story, “Asylum of the Futurians” pits the Caped Crusader against a group of apparent lunatics who’ve captured a photographer in the mistaken belief he possesses psychic abilities that will make him their leader. (It’s never clear that the Futurians actually have ESP; it certainly doesn’t help against Batman; but then how do you explain the sudden impulse he had to investigate the neighborhood?)
Several stories are topical to the 1970s. Thinly veiled versions of consumer advocate Ralph Nader and “participatory journalist” George Plimpton make guest appearances. Stories featuring youth activism and black radicals have aged poorly; the latter mixes in a police corruption subplot, the end of which supposedly fixes injustice in the legal system of Gotham City. Batman’s platitudes towards the radicals he’s fighting/helping come off as tone-deaf.
Other stories focus on Batman as the World’s Greatest Detective, revealing at the end the one clue he noticed where the criminal slipped up. One, taking place at a production of Macbeth, involves the literal pricking of Batman’s thumbs.
The most notable plotline was the first appearances of Ra’s al Ghul and his daughter Talia. Talia appeared first, helping Batman bring down Dr. Damien Darrk of the League of Assassins, who had fallen out with her father. Then Ra’s contrived a scenario where both Robin and Talia were kidnapped in order to test Batman’s fitness to marry Talia (who had fallen for Bruce) and eventually take over his shadowy empire.
As created by writer Denny O’Neil and artists Dick Giordano and Neal Adams, Ra’s al Ghul was a mastermind in the Fu Manchu style (particularly the later novels.) He controlled a vast criminal network, but did not consider himself a criminal, but rather humanity’s eventual savior. Over his long life, Ra’s had become convinced overpopulation was the root of all the Earth’s problems. Therefore he was going to do something about that.
Like Fah Lo Suee before her, Talia was conflicted between loyalty to her father and the desire to jump the hero’s bones. Ra’s respected Bruce’s intelligence and skills enough to allow them to be mated, but only if Batman accepted a place as the Demon’s Head’s heir presumptive. And no, Batman was not impressed by the “kill most of humanity to save the rest” plan.
After several encounters, Batman decides to take down Ra’s al Ghul once and for all, assembling a small team of specialists to help. (This was the first appearance of the Matches Malone disguise, as Batman’s attempt to recruit the hitman went awry.) After much ado, they finally catch up to the mastermind, or rather his corpse.
Except that it turns out Ra’s has access to something called the Lazarus Pit, which allows him renewed life and vigor at the cost of temporary insanity. (This puts a different cast on an earlier story where Talia had supposedly believed her father dead.) Eventually, Batman and Ra’s al Ghul must duel in single combat to determine which of them shall triumph in the last story of the volume.
This is nifty stuff, with some crackerjack writing and excellent art. On the other hand, Talia’s personality is entirely defined in this storyline by her relationships with men, and she wavers back and forth between them as the plot demands.
Overall, this is a good run of Batman, and well worth requesting for the library, or even buying if you are a big Batman fan. (Batgirl has a couple of blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameos.)
June 22, 2020
I read an interview with Denny O’Neil a while back in which he was asked how his famous pairing with Neal Adams that resulted in so many classic stories came about. He said it was just random chance. When he handed in a script he had no idea which artist would be drawing it. Just so happens that Adams got many of them. He also seems to have had the best ones but it might look that way because of what he made of them.
Of course, Neal Adams is the star draw here – pun intended – but as many stories are pencilled by Irv Novick and Bob Brown who also deserve kudos. Irv Novick’s art reminds me a lot of Gene Colan’s work of a certain period and while Bob Brown never got to star status, he is a competent professional who turned in a good job. Similarly, O’Neil wrote the most memorable stories but Frank Robbins did some solid detective yarns, too. The collection is not bought down by the other contributors, just made better value with the O’Neil/Adams classics.
The varied pencils are given a certain delightful unity by the classy inks of Dick Giordano who really does deserve a lot of respect for this period of ‘Batman’. The greatest pencils can be ruined by a duff embellisher but Giordano – au contraire – makes a solid pro like Bob Brown look good, a significant talent like Irv Novick look great and a class act like Neal Adams look magnificent. I have a book by Giordano, ‘The DC Comics Guide To Inking Comics’ which demonstrates how much thought and effort he put into his work. Alas, it’s probably out of date now when much art is done on computers. I think the latest version is by Klaus Janson, who’s also great.
This generous volume features stories from Batman # 229-244 and Detective Comics # 408-426. As there were back-up strips in the original comics featuring Robin or Batgirl, I think, most of these solo Batman tales run to a mere fifteen pages. That’s a good thing in one sense because the plots are tight and nary a word is wasted. On the other hand, it means they tend to blur into one another somewhat. However, certain yarns definitely stand out.
‘A Vow From The Grave’ in Detective Comics # 410 has Batman chasing a criminal into the wilderness and encountering a family of misfits. ‘Daughter Of The Demon’ in Batman # 232 is a lush 22 page story in which Batman has to rescue Robin and Ras Al Ghûl’s daughter, Talia. ‘Half An Evil’ has a glorious opening panel and a good gag on page three as Batman frightens a blustering public servant. Two-Face is the villain. ‘Night Of The Reaper’ from Batman # 237 is another classic though I’m not sure it made sense psychologically. It’s set in the Rutland, Vermont Halloween Parade and I’ve a notion a number of the hip 70s comic guys met there and all did stories based on their stay. The book concludes with ‘Bruce Wayne – Rest In Peace’ Batman # 242,‘The Lazarus Pit’, Batman # 243 and ‘The Demon Lives Again’ Batman # 244. This multi-part story is Bats vs. Ras Al Ghül and opens with our hero faking Wayne’s death as Ras knows his secret identity and doesn’t want to be targeted that way.
These issues are interrupted by ‘Detective Comics’ stories, presumably because they put them here in strict chronological order but they’re obviously best read in sequence.
Yes, all of the above except one are O’Neil/Adams. They're easy to pick out because of the distinctive art. Frank Robbins turns in some good scripts, too. I liked ‘Challenge Of The Consumer Crusader’ in Detective Comics # 415 and he does a great Manbat story in Detective Comics # 416 which he also draws. Perhaps he should have let Neal Adams draw it. Frank Robbins is a pretty good scripter but, while I can see the sort of effects he’s trying to get with his art and can appreciate the work he put into it, I don’t find it pleasing to the eye. The storytelling aspect is excellent but the figures are odd-looking and the blacks a bit overwhelming. These things are a matter of taste but I don’t think Robbins ever gained popularity as an artist. ‘Blind Justice, Blind Fear’ is a good prison break tale which Robbins also draws. This is when comics were getting ‘relevant’ and it’s about racism and corruption. These stories were published in the early 70s when US society was undergoing a severe re-assessment of itself and disillusionment was rife. In that way, certain comics of the time are interesting as social history. Simultaneously with the cosmic stuff, there were street super-heroes tackling the issues of the day.
By this phase in the continuing story of Bob Kane’s creation, Batman had become The Batman and the stories were getting more serious but had not yet become especially dark. I gave up watching ‘Gotham’ the television series last week because I was sick of watching people being tied to chairs and tortured. All this sadism in the name of drama, it shows up in ‘Green Arrow’ and ‘Daredevil’ TV shows as well, is corrupting the sweet innocent memory of my childhood pleasures. God knows what it’s doing to children who watch it. They’d be far better off reading DC Showcase Batman Vol. # 6 and getting a solid grounding in real heroic morals.
This book contains several classics interspersed with fill-in material that ranges from good to very good. The black and white reproduction is possibly the best way to appreciate the Adams/Brown/Novick/Giordano art and there are over 500 pages of it. That’s a lot of good reading very cheap. Kids pocket money prices, really. How can you refuse? This may be the best ‘DC Showcase’ yet.
Eamonn Murphy
This review first appeared at https://www.sfcrowsnest.info/
Of course, Neal Adams is the star draw here – pun intended – but as many stories are pencilled by Irv Novick and Bob Brown who also deserve kudos. Irv Novick’s art reminds me a lot of Gene Colan’s work of a certain period and while Bob Brown never got to star status, he is a competent professional who turned in a good job. Similarly, O’Neil wrote the most memorable stories but Frank Robbins did some solid detective yarns, too. The collection is not bought down by the other contributors, just made better value with the O’Neil/Adams classics.
The varied pencils are given a certain delightful unity by the classy inks of Dick Giordano who really does deserve a lot of respect for this period of ‘Batman’. The greatest pencils can be ruined by a duff embellisher but Giordano – au contraire – makes a solid pro like Bob Brown look good, a significant talent like Irv Novick look great and a class act like Neal Adams look magnificent. I have a book by Giordano, ‘The DC Comics Guide To Inking Comics’ which demonstrates how much thought and effort he put into his work. Alas, it’s probably out of date now when much art is done on computers. I think the latest version is by Klaus Janson, who’s also great.
This generous volume features stories from Batman # 229-244 and Detective Comics # 408-426. As there were back-up strips in the original comics featuring Robin or Batgirl, I think, most of these solo Batman tales run to a mere fifteen pages. That’s a good thing in one sense because the plots are tight and nary a word is wasted. On the other hand, it means they tend to blur into one another somewhat. However, certain yarns definitely stand out.
‘A Vow From The Grave’ in Detective Comics # 410 has Batman chasing a criminal into the wilderness and encountering a family of misfits. ‘Daughter Of The Demon’ in Batman # 232 is a lush 22 page story in which Batman has to rescue Robin and Ras Al Ghûl’s daughter, Talia. ‘Half An Evil’ has a glorious opening panel and a good gag on page three as Batman frightens a blustering public servant. Two-Face is the villain. ‘Night Of The Reaper’ from Batman # 237 is another classic though I’m not sure it made sense psychologically. It’s set in the Rutland, Vermont Halloween Parade and I’ve a notion a number of the hip 70s comic guys met there and all did stories based on their stay. The book concludes with ‘Bruce Wayne – Rest In Peace’ Batman # 242,‘The Lazarus Pit’, Batman # 243 and ‘The Demon Lives Again’ Batman # 244. This multi-part story is Bats vs. Ras Al Ghül and opens with our hero faking Wayne’s death as Ras knows his secret identity and doesn’t want to be targeted that way.
These issues are interrupted by ‘Detective Comics’ stories, presumably because they put them here in strict chronological order but they’re obviously best read in sequence.
Yes, all of the above except one are O’Neil/Adams. They're easy to pick out because of the distinctive art. Frank Robbins turns in some good scripts, too. I liked ‘Challenge Of The Consumer Crusader’ in Detective Comics # 415 and he does a great Manbat story in Detective Comics # 416 which he also draws. Perhaps he should have let Neal Adams draw it. Frank Robbins is a pretty good scripter but, while I can see the sort of effects he’s trying to get with his art and can appreciate the work he put into it, I don’t find it pleasing to the eye. The storytelling aspect is excellent but the figures are odd-looking and the blacks a bit overwhelming. These things are a matter of taste but I don’t think Robbins ever gained popularity as an artist. ‘Blind Justice, Blind Fear’ is a good prison break tale which Robbins also draws. This is when comics were getting ‘relevant’ and it’s about racism and corruption. These stories were published in the early 70s when US society was undergoing a severe re-assessment of itself and disillusionment was rife. In that way, certain comics of the time are interesting as social history. Simultaneously with the cosmic stuff, there were street super-heroes tackling the issues of the day.
By this phase in the continuing story of Bob Kane’s creation, Batman had become The Batman and the stories were getting more serious but had not yet become especially dark. I gave up watching ‘Gotham’ the television series last week because I was sick of watching people being tied to chairs and tortured. All this sadism in the name of drama, it shows up in ‘Green Arrow’ and ‘Daredevil’ TV shows as well, is corrupting the sweet innocent memory of my childhood pleasures. God knows what it’s doing to children who watch it. They’d be far better off reading DC Showcase Batman Vol. # 6 and getting a solid grounding in real heroic morals.
This book contains several classics interspersed with fill-in material that ranges from good to very good. The black and white reproduction is possibly the best way to appreciate the Adams/Brown/Novick/Giordano art and there are over 500 pages of it. That’s a lot of good reading very cheap. Kids pocket money prices, really. How can you refuse? This may be the best ‘DC Showcase’ yet.
Eamonn Murphy
This review first appeared at https://www.sfcrowsnest.info/
November 7, 2017
A collection of Batman tales from Batman and Detective Comics originally published in 1971-72, the centerpiece of this volume is the first few encounters between Batman and Ra's al Ghul. Outside of the historical value of Ra's first appearances, there's some fantastic stories here (and, as you can expect from a collection curated by publication date, a few head-scratching oddball clunkers and mediocre efforts, some of which are so bad they are amusing just for the strange, failed gimmicks).
When the stories shine, though, they really shine: these are mostly done-in-one detective-oriented tales with Batman actually solving crimes and mysteries, rather than the modern non-stop gauntlet of violently insane sociopaths that pass for Batman comics recently. A great and value-packed example of the continued post TV show Bronze Age return to the Dark Knight's pulp roots.
When the stories shine, though, they really shine: these are mostly done-in-one detective-oriented tales with Batman actually solving crimes and mysteries, rather than the modern non-stop gauntlet of violently insane sociopaths that pass for Batman comics recently. A great and value-packed example of the continued post TV show Bronze Age return to the Dark Knight's pulp roots.
March 9, 2016
I had ordered this book from Amazon and almost forgot about it. The release date had been pushed back much further than originally scheduled, and as a result, it was almost a year later when it finally showed up.
As it turns out, it was mostly worth the wait. The classic Denny O'Neil/Neal Adams stories that introduced Batman foe Ra's al-Ghul and his daughter Talia are here, though they are a bit odd. The Batman reprints often alternate between Batman and Detective Comics stories, and O'Neil and Adams didn't even always work together. Early stories from this era were as likely to have Batman encounter a ghost, or evidence of a possible ghost, as anything else. And while the Ra's stories are generally worth it, they appear sporadically throughout the volume. One issue will have Bruce Wayne faking his death to look for Ra's, while the following issue will make no mention of Ra's al-Ghul or Talia at all and have Bruce Wayne making public appearances. Continuity is not much for this volume.
Anyone looking for other classic Bat-foes may be disappointed. Two-Face and the Man-Bat each appear once, as does the Ten-Eyed Man, but Batman mostly deals with regular crooks pulling crimes that force him to use his detective skills over his superhero skills.
As it turns out, it was mostly worth the wait. The classic Denny O'Neil/Neal Adams stories that introduced Batman foe Ra's al-Ghul and his daughter Talia are here, though they are a bit odd. The Batman reprints often alternate between Batman and Detective Comics stories, and O'Neil and Adams didn't even always work together. Early stories from this era were as likely to have Batman encounter a ghost, or evidence of a possible ghost, as anything else. And while the Ra's stories are generally worth it, they appear sporadically throughout the volume. One issue will have Bruce Wayne faking his death to look for Ra's, while the following issue will make no mention of Ra's al-Ghul or Talia at all and have Bruce Wayne making public appearances. Continuity is not much for this volume.
Anyone looking for other classic Bat-foes may be disappointed. Two-Face and the Man-Bat each appear once, as does the Ten-Eyed Man, but Batman mostly deals with regular crooks pulling crimes that force him to use his detective skills over his superhero skills.
May 8, 2016
This volume collects Batman stories from the early 1970s. Many of these stories are written in a very realistic way.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews