Sir MilesThe Wrong Side Of The WardrobePosts: 30,966Chief of Staff
As more than ably recounted by @CoolHandBond above…I remember reading Garth in the Daily Mirror for years…the timeline was all over the place and often not on Earth - from what I can recall anyway.
I didn’t realise it was a British comic strip and that Peter O’Donnell wrote for it….thanks for that information 🍸
thanks CoolHand, I never knew Alfreds change in appearance happened in a specific story, nor guessed there was an in-story explanation!
I gather the real world cause and effect was the actor playing Alfred in the 1943 movie serial (William Austin) looked completely different from how the character had been drawn. so says wikipedia, which also states it was the movie serial that introduced the concept of a Batcave
the BatCave seen in that movie serial was really lousy looking, a desk in a damp basement with fake bats swinging round on wires. Cant believe it inspired such greatness in the comics!
thereve been many diagrams of the BatCave over the years, heres two I found in the Potts Archives
Detective 205, March 1953
Limited Collectors' Edition C37, 1975
hers a poster Dick Sprang drew of the BatCave, no idea what year or where it came from
excellent choice Coolhand, two villains for the price of one
but I gotta quibble, the first time two Batman villains met was Batman 2 summer 1942, where the Joker meets the Catwoman
Catwoman was introduced in the third story of Batman 1. In a prototypical form. Originally, she was a catburglar named The Cat, a master of disguise, but did not yet wear a supervilain costume and did use cat themed gadgets or wield a whip. The classic costume would not be seen til the late 40s (era of Good Girl Art). through most of WWII she wore a less flattering costume with a realistic cats head mask. But in her second appearance, she still did not yet have that costume either.
In this story, she and the Joker are independently scheming to steal the same jewel. Batman catches up with her and strikes a deal where he'll let her go, for now, if she tells him what she knows about the Joker. here are selected pages showing Catwomans role in the story.
CatWoman's second appearance ends as her first one did, with Batman "accidentally" letting her get away, to Robins consternation
here is a handy page from Batman 256, showing Catwomans evolving costume over the last 35 years
Joker and Catwoman were both introduced in Batman 1, in two separate stories. Joker was so popular, there was usually a new Joker story in each of the first 20 or so issues of Batman.
As always, many thanks to both of you for all the stories and info above.
Question: Above, Robin calls The Batman "Bruce" while in full costume and out and about. I always thought this was a no-no. Am I wrong and this is regular practice?
@caractacus potts said - but I gotta quibble, the first time two Batman villains met was Batman 2 summer 1942, where the Joker meets the Catwoman
I think the quibble is in the phraseology - I wrote “first major villain team-up” but in Batman #2 Joker and Catwoman don’t actually “team-up” as they work separately. Regardless of that, thanks again for excellent and informative detail, as per your response 🍸
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
The content of this comic strip contains very strong language not permitted in the ongoing threads of this site. It also contains themes that some readers may find upsetting. Reader discretion is advised for those who may be easily offended. The content has been cleared for posting by the moderators.
yes thats how I would distinguish the two stories as well. Catwoman and Joker are rivals chasing the same jewel and are only seen together briefly in one scene. Not a teamup, just a shared appearance. Penguin and Joker have a more entangled relationship from the first page of the story, sometimes agreeing to collaborate but always stabbing each other in the back. Thats the fun of the story. Definitely a teamup, at least as much a villains are capable of
and the Penguin/Joker teamup is just a better story. its been reprinted many times, a classic example of the Golden Age. Whereas that Catwoman/Joker story has only ever been reprinted in archival editions that include every single Batman story in sequence. interesting for the evolution of the characters, rather than the story itself
Barbel asked: Question: Above, Robin calls The Batman "Bruce" while in full costume and out and about. I always thought this was a no-no. Am I wrong and this is regular practice?
good question, and CatWoman was just there beside them seconds before! sure he's a kid, cant expect him to be perfect at this superhero gig, but after a goof like that Batman really shouldve sent him back the circus where he found him!
The content of this comic strip contains very strong language not permitted in the ongoing threads of this site. It also contains themes that some readers may find upsetting. Reader discretion is advised for those who may be easily offended. The content has been cleared for posting by the moderators.
The content of this comic strip contains very strong language not permitted in the ongoing threads of this site. It also contains themes that some readers may find upsetting. Reader discretion is advised for those who may be easily offended. The content has been cleared for posting by the moderators.
The content of this comic strip contains very strong language not permitted in the ongoing threads of this site. It also contains themes that some readers may find upsetting. Reader discretion is advised for those who may be easily offended. The content has been cleared for posting by the moderators.
Comments
Much appreciated, gentlemen.
As more than ably recounted by @CoolHandBond above…I remember reading Garth in the Daily Mirror for years…the timeline was all over the place and often not on Earth - from what I can recall anyway.
I didn’t realise it was a British comic strip and that Peter O’Donnell wrote for it….thanks for that information 🍸
DETECTIVE #83 - January 1944 - Accidentally on Purpose - In which Alfred goes on vacation and the Bat Cave is named for the first time.
I enjoyed that, thanks!
thanks CoolHand, I never knew Alfreds change in appearance happened in a specific story, nor guessed there was an in-story explanation!
I gather the real world cause and effect was the actor playing Alfred in the 1943 movie serial (William Austin) looked completely different from how the character had been drawn. so says wikipedia, which also states it was the movie serial that introduced the concept of a Batcave
the BatCave seen in that movie serial was really lousy looking, a desk in a damp basement with fake bats swinging round on wires. Cant believe it inspired such greatness in the comics!
thereve been many diagrams of the BatCave over the years, heres two I found in the Potts Archives
Detective 205, March 1953
Limited Collectors' Edition C37, 1975
hers a poster Dick Sprang drew of the BatCave, no idea what year or where it came from
Thank you, as always @caractacus potts
BATMAN #25 - Oct/Nov 1944 - Knights of Knavery - In which the Joker and Penguin join forces to take on Batman in the first major villain team-up.
Not the last time those two were to join forces over the years.
excellent choice Coolhand, two villains for the price of one
but I gotta quibble, the first time two Batman villains met was Batman 2 summer 1942, where the Joker meets the Catwoman
Catwoman was introduced in the third story of Batman 1. In a prototypical form. Originally, she was a catburglar named The Cat, a master of disguise, but did not yet wear a supervilain costume and did use cat themed gadgets or wield a whip. The classic costume would not be seen til the late 40s (era of Good Girl Art). through most of WWII she wore a less flattering costume with a realistic cats head mask. But in her second appearance, she still did not yet have that costume either.
In this story, she and the Joker are independently scheming to steal the same jewel. Batman catches up with her and strikes a deal where he'll let her go, for now, if she tells him what she knows about the Joker. here are selected pages showing Catwomans role in the story.
CatWoman's second appearance ends as her first one did, with Batman "accidentally" letting her get away, to Robins consternation
here is a handy page from Batman 256, showing Catwomans evolving costume over the last 35 years
Joker and Catwoman were both introduced in Batman 1, in two separate stories. Joker was so popular, there was usually a new Joker story in each of the first 20 or so issues of Batman.
As always, many thanks to both of you for all the stories and info above.
Question: Above, Robin calls The Batman "Bruce" while in full costume and out and about. I always thought this was a no-no. Am I wrong and this is regular practice?
@caractacus potts said - but I gotta quibble, the first time two Batman villains met was Batman 2 summer 1942, where the Joker meets the Catwoman
I think the quibble is in the phraseology - I wrote “first major villain team-up” but in Batman #2 Joker and Catwoman don’t actually “team-up” as they work separately. Regardless of that, thanks again for excellent and informative detail, as per your response 🍸
WARNING NOTICE
The content of this comic strip contains very strong language not permitted in the ongoing threads of this site. It also contains themes that some readers may find upsetting. Reader discretion is advised for those who may be easily offended. The content has been cleared for posting by the moderators.
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THE DEPARTMENT OF TRUTH - Chapter Seventeen - It’s A Wonderful Life - Part One
Continues tomorrow…
.... and how much of that is fact and how much fiction, exactly? I don’t know.
yes thats how I would distinguish the two stories as well. Catwoman and Joker are rivals chasing the same jewel and are only seen together briefly in one scene. Not a teamup, just a shared appearance. Penguin and Joker have a more entangled relationship from the first page of the story, sometimes agreeing to collaborate but always stabbing each other in the back. Thats the fun of the story. Definitely a teamup, at least as much a villains are capable of
and the Penguin/Joker teamup is just a better story. its been reprinted many times, a classic example of the Golden Age. Whereas that Catwoman/Joker story has only ever been reprinted in archival editions that include every single Batman story in sequence. interesting for the evolution of the characters, rather than the story itself
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Barbel asked: Question: Above, Robin calls The Batman "Bruce" while in full costume and out and about. I always thought this was a no-no. Am I wrong and this is regular practice?
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good question, and CatWoman was just there beside them seconds before! sure he's a kid, cant expect him to be perfect at this superhero gig, but after a goof like that Batman really shouldve sent him back the circus where he found him!
WARNING NOTICE
The content of this comic strip contains very strong language not permitted in the ongoing threads of this site. It also contains themes that some readers may find upsetting. Reader discretion is advised for those who may be easily offended. The content has been cleared for posting by the moderators.
————————————————————————————————————————————————————
THE DEPARTMENT OF TRUTH - Chapter Seventeen - It’s A Wonderful Life - Part Two
AND NEXT WEEK A DOUBLE LENGTH CHAPTER BEGINS…IT’S NOT TO BE MISSED…
It won't be!
Cracking nicely along 👏🏻
SAUCER COUNTRY Part 2 - 1 of 2
Continues tomorrow…
Yes, I like this. She's got my vote. Oh, wait....
SAUCER COUNTRY Part 2 - 2 of 2
More next weekend…
Very much enjoyed that, looking forward to more.
Good to see you’re enjoying Saucer Country, Barbel.
It’s Monday so some inside pages of British comics…
And the birthday comic covers 27 January - 2 February…
I’m not sure that the character Sparky would pass muster nowadays.
Definitely not!
I was a committed reader of Fantastic, some of the others my brothers read.
Haven’t seen/read many of the above…I have a vague memory of Sparky though 👀
BATMAN #34 - April/May 1946 - Marathon of Menace - In which the first official Bat Boat appears…
Fun story!
BATMAN #35 - Jun/Jul 1946 - Nine Lives Has The Catwoman - In which Catwoman is blonde and appears in her first cat-eared purple costume…
Not one dirigible but two, a nice touch.
WARNING NOTICE
The content of this comic strip contains very strong language not permitted in the ongoing threads of this site. It also contains themes that some readers may find upsetting. Reader discretion is advised for those who may be easily offended. The content has been cleared for posting by the moderators.
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THE DEPARTMENT OF TRUTH - Chapter Eighteen - Mr. Smith Goes To Washington - Part One
More tomorrow…
Fantastic, in the best sense.
WARNING NOTICE
The content of this comic strip contains very strong language not permitted in the ongoing threads of this site. It also contains themes that some readers may find upsetting. Reader discretion is advised for those who may be easily offended. The content has been cleared for posting by the moderators.
————————————————————————————————————————————————————
THE DEPARTMENT OF TRUTH - Chapter Eighteen - Mr. Smith Goes To Washington - Part Two
More of this brilliant story next week…