Spider-Man Teams With The Black Widow

Seems a natural, Spider-Man teaming up with the Black Widow.  After all, when she was giving up being an Iron Man villain, she stopped by Spidey's title to get a costume change (to the costume she used in most of her appearances in Marvel Team-Up).


So, let's take a look at those team ups!

It Starts Here

The stories in MTU were usually short, being one or two issue affairs, but Marvel Team-Up #57 (May, 1977) laid the foundation for future tales, with "When Slays The Silver Samurai", and a meeting of Spider-Man and Black Widow by writer Chris Claremont, penciller Sal Buscema and inker Dave Hunt (and under a Dave Cockrum cover).

This was the second appearance of the Silver Samurai (looking more the part than his first appearance in Daredevil #111), with him facing Spider-Man, as Spidey tries to stop some would-be thieves.  Meanwhile, Black Widow is in New York (taking a break from the west coast Champions), trying to find Nick Fury, and warn S.H.I.E.L.D.  Being unsuccessful, Black Widow finds Spider-Man battling the Silver Samurai, and comes to Spidey's aid.  The two battle the warrior, eventually defeating the Silver Samurai, and they recover a small statue that he had stolen.

But, more would come of this simple encounter.

All Together Now

Spidey next encounters Black Widow in Marvel Team-Up #82 (June, 1979, by writer Chris Claremont, penciller Sal Buscema and inker Steve Leialoha, under a cover by Rich Buckler), except that the Widow thinks she's upstate school teacher, Nancy Rushman...and completely helpless against muggers attacking her (showing "No Way To Treat A Lady"), at least until Spider-Man stops them.  Trying to help her, she finds she has no memory other than the above, but, in looking for identification, they find the Widow's costume, which Spidey convinces her to put on (he says for warmth, but also hoping to jog her memory).  Then, the two are attacked by agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., with Spidey fighting them off, but getting injured, and "Nancy" displaying some combat abilities to save Spidey from the attacking agent, but not knowing how she knew how to fight.  The two are then confronted by Nick Fury, who shoots Black Widow, then Spidey...and asks the other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to clean up the mess.

Spidey wakes up in Marvel Team-Up #83 (July, 1979), being happy there wasn't "A Slaughter On 10th Avenue", and proceeds to run down last issues events in this story by Claremont, Buscema and Leiahola.  It ends up being a team-up with Nick Fury, who had tranquilized Spidey (and the Widow), with Fury looking after the Black Widow at S.H.I.E.L.D. HQ (which Spidey finds, and takes Black Widow away from S.H.I.E.L.D).  Meanwhile, a mysterious woman gives Silver Samurai orders aboard the S.H.I.E.L.D Helicarrier, asking him to use his teleportation ring to bring Hulk's foe, the Boomerang, to them (Silver Samurai got that ring from John Belushi of Saturday Night Live in Marvel Team-Up #74 in October, 1978).  This leads to a confrontation between Spidey and Nick Fury (who was being followed by Boomerang and Silver Samurai), and Spidey, Fury and the still amnesiac Black Widow to team-up to find out the plans. 

Those plans deepen in Marvel Team-Up #84 (August, 1979), where Shang-Chi (master of Kung Fu and son of Fu Manchu), shows up to help "Catch A Falling Hero" in the story by Claremont/Buscema/Leiahola, with the heroes finding out that it was Captain America foe, Madame Hydra (now calling herself the Viper) who was behind the brainwashing of S.H.I.E.L.D., and plans to use the Helicarrier to kill the President of the United States.  The heroes try to stop the assembled villains, and free the hypnotized crew, but the story ends with Spidey falling out of the flying Helicarrier...

...and into Marvel Team-Up #85 (September, 1979), dealing with his fall and "The Woman Who Never Was" in this story by Claremont/Buscema/Leialoha.  The combined heroes do battle with the villains, working to save the President and the hypnotized S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, and we learned Black Widow had been previously pursuing Viper, and learned of Viper's plans, but was unable to get to Nick Fury to warn him (and had to get to Nick, as Widow wasn't sure who she could trust).  Captured by Viper, Widow was able to escape, but the severe torture Black Widow endured regressed the heroine into an old cover identity she used when she originally began working for S.H.I.E.L.D.  The story ends with Nancy coming to terms with who she is, and planning to come back to being Natasha Romanoff.

A Look Back

After that lengthy battle, it's time for a simpler team-up, and thankfully, Marvel Team-Up #98 (October, 1980), dealing with "The Fatal Attraction Of The Black Widow", in a story written by Marv Wolfman and Roger McKenzie, pencilled by Will Meugnoit and inked by Bruce Patterson, under a cover by Al Milgrom.

This time around, Spidey ends up working with the Black Widow and Simon Stroud (a C.I.A. agent, who faced monstrous Spider-Man foes, lycanthrope Man-Wolf and vampiric Morbius) to stop a smuggling ring...except that it was no average smuggling ring, instead, it was an operation run by Daredevil foe, the Owl, who had been injured in a battle with Spider-Man and Daredevil in Marvel Team-Up #73 (September, 1978), and is working the criminal mob of the  Maggia to plunge Manhattan into a blackout in return for the weaponized chair which now he needs for movement.  The heroes work against the Owl's henchmen, with Stroud taking down the Owl.  

A Look Forward

With their last team up, Spidey and the Black Widow get new looks.  True, Black Widow had just updated her costume in recent issues of Daredevil, and Spidey was still in the familiar red and blue for Marvel Team-Up #140 (April, 1984), the times were changing (though the title seems to hint at the fate planned for New York last time they met, with "Where Were You...When The Lights Went Out?", in this story written by Tom DeFalco and Bill Mantlo, pencilled by Ron Frenz and inked by Mike Esposito, under a cover by Ed Hannigan and Klaus Janson. 

This time around, New York has rolling blackouts, with Spider-Man failing to stop a murder, yet the police think they have the murderer, but blind lawyer, Matt Murdock (secretly Daredevil), thinks the boy is innocent, and has Black Widow looking into the case, meeting up with Spider-Man...but, Spider-Man gets sucked into the Beyonder's teleportation device and heads into the Secret Wars!

With Marvel Team-Up #141 (May, 1984), we see "Blind Justice" as Daredevil and Black Widow are dealing with the chaos brought about by the missing super-heroes...

...with Spider-Man returning to Earth in his new, black symbiote costume.  The heroes work together to find the real murder, with Daredevil making a deal with the Kingpin to find him in this tale by writers Tom DeFalco and Jim Owsley, pencilled by Greg Larocque and inked by Mike Esposito, under an Art Adams/Mike Mignola cover!



All this espionage can keep one busy....

....but looking forward to more straight forward team ups with Spidey and the Avengers soon!

JSA Opposite: Injustice Society Additions Part 1

The Injustice Society of the World was the evil opposite of the Justice Society of America, made up of members of the individual heroes Rogues' Galleries.  The first team faced the JSA back in All-Star Comics #37 (October-November, 1947) with the Wizard escaping....


...and returning with some new villains to start a new ISW in All-Star Comics #41 (June-July, 1948) in "The Case Of The Patriotic Crimes" by writer John Broome and artists including Alex Toth, Carmine Infantino, Arthur Peddy and Irwin Hasen, and inkers Frank Giacoia and Bernard Sachs.

Here's a few of the new foes....

Icicle

Joar Mahkent first appeared as a foreign physicist with a new freezing weapon, to make trouble for the Golden Age Green Lantern in All-American Comics #90 (October, 1947), in the story "The Icicle" by Robert Kanigher, Irwin Hasen and John Belfi (thought to have perished, but later revealed to be saved by Johnny Sorrow).  The Icicle quickly returned trying to make things cold for a South American dictator in All-American Comics #92 (December, 1947) to face Green Lantern again, in "The Icicle Goes South" by Robert Kanigher and Alex Toth.  Then, Icicle joined up with the ISW.....which influenced much of the rest of his career.

The Icicle first returned after joining the Injustice Society in Justice League of America #21 and #22 (August and September, 1963), as a member of the Crime Champions (which included the Wizard and Fiddler from Earth-2, and new villains of Chronos, Felix Faust and Dr. Alchemy, all to take on the Justice League and Justice Society, in the beginnings of annual team-up of the two heroic teams, as they'd face a Crisis every year for some time....).  Icicle next returned in Justice League of America #123 and #124 (October and November, 1975), as the Injustice Society was using Earth-Prime writers Cary Bates and Elliot S! Maggin in a plot to cause Crisis for the JLA and JSA.

The Icicle then worked with the ISW at home on Earth-2, in All-Star Comics #63 to #66 (in 1976 and 1977), as a plan to finish off the JSA (which almost worked).  Icicle switched over to Earth-1, working with Wonder Woman foe Minister Blizzard, Flash Rogue Captain Cold (and, secretly, Hawkman's foe, the Shadow-Thief) in Justice League of America #139 (February, 1977).  Icicle worked with fellow ISWers of the Shade and the Fiddler to help the gods of Apokolips revive Darkseid in Justice League of America #183 to #185 (October to December, 1980), then rejoined the Crime Champions at the direction of the Johnny Thunder of Earth-1 in Justice League of America #219 and #220 (October and November, 1983), before getting involved in the Crisis on Infinite Earths (issues #9 and #10), and perishing in Krona's lab in Crisis On Infinite Earths #10 (January, 1986).

This didn't keep a good villain down, as his spirit menaced Hawk and the second Dove and the Titans West in the Hawk and Dove Annual #1 of 1990 (along with a few other villains condemned to hell, which might have been enough to keep him away from the Black Lantern Corps during Blackest Night), as well as a flashback to soon after joining the ISW, facing Starman and planning retirement (and for his son) in Starman #46 (September, 1988) and facing the Star-Spangled Kid before the Crisis on Infinite Earths in a flashback in Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. #0 (July, 1999).

Even better, Icicle had a legacy, his son, Cameron, who had ice-generating powers (likely thanks to his dad's exposure to his own ice gun), and the second Icicle was a part of the Wizard's Injustice, Unlimited as of Infinity, Inc. #34 (January, 1987) and later, a member of an updated Injustice Society of the World.

There was also the case of the ghost of the Icicle in Flash #56 and #57 (November and December, 1991), facing off against Flash (Wally West), but didn't hear much about that part of the Mahkent legacy after those issues...

...and while there was a villain involved, there also rose a hero!

Sportsmaster

Crusher Crock was a sportish brute, who first faced the Golden Age Green Lantern in All-American Comics #85 (May, 1947) in "The Rise and Fall of Crusher Crock" by John Broome, Irwin Hasen and John Belfi, after being barred from all sports due to misconduct.  Crusher wanted revenge, and to prove himself better than anyone in any game at the time, but failed after sparring with the Green Lantern (though using wooden sports equipment like bats and hockey sticks caused quite a bit of trouble for GL, as his weakness was wood).  Crusher Crock returned with the moniker of the Sportsmaster in Green Lantern #28 (October-November, 1947) with "The Tricks Of The Sportsmaster" by John Broome, Irwin Hasen and Alex Toth, and then again with "The End Of Sports" in All-American Comics #98 (June, 1948) by Robert Kanigher and Alex Toth (where he sabotaged a hockey game in Gotham City), after which, Sportsmaster joined the Injustice Society, which would forever alter his life.

After the JSA disbanded, Sportsmaster was captured by Argent,  a secret government organization, (detailed in Secret Origins #14 of May, 1987, revealing how Crusher was stopped in the early 1950s)..

....or was he stopped by Mr. and Mrs. Superman, with help from the Golden Age Green Lantern and Harlequin in Superman Family #206 (March-April, 1981)? 



Either way, Crusher took a little sporting hiatus....


...but he came back, this time with his new wife in tow, the Huntress (more on her later on down), looking for revenge on Wildcat (but also facing Starman and Black Canary) in Brave and the Bold #62 (October-November, 1965).



The husband and wife villains returned in Justice League of America #123 and #124 (October and November, 1975) with the rest of the ISW.

The couple might have stayed on Earth-1, as they faced Batgirl and Robin in Batman Family #7 (September-October, 1976)...

....and a group of DC heroes in DC Super-Stars #10 (December, 1976, with Sportsmaster leading the villains, and Huntress leading the heroes in a game of baseball!).
 
The heroes won out in both cases...and it either convinced the villains to return to Earth-2 (or we just never heard of their Earth-1 counterparts again). 

Sportsmaster was there to attack the JSA again as a part of the Injustice Society in All-Star Comics #72 and #73 in 1978, but was quickly defeated...

...(Flash foe, the Thorn, and the Huntress were also attacking at that time, each for their own reasons).  Thankfully for the JSA, the villains didn't fair well no matter how hard they tried!

Sportsmaster came back one last time with Huntress, as they worked with the evil opposites of Infinity, Inc., the Injustice, Unlimited (made up of children and proteges of ISW members), and Huntress and Sportsmaster had a representative there as well (more on Tigress....soon!), as told in Infinity, Inc. #35 and #36 (February and March, 1987).

Sportsmaster had perished at some point (an alternate Earth version died in The Golden Age Elseworlds mini-series),  and the Council (a group of nefarious businessmen) who had cloned Paul Kirk (the Manhunter of the Golden Age) then had used clones of Sportsmaster to vex the JSA in JSA Secret Files #1 (August, 1999, which also introduced Kendra as Hawkgirl) and #2 (September, 2001), and in JSA Annual #1 (2000), keeping the Sportsmaster's villainy alive in the 21st Century.

Huntress

Paula Brooks was her name, but it took a long time before anyone hunted that fact down.  The Huntress began her career hunting Wildcat, starting in Sensation Comics #68 (August, 1947) in "Wildcat -- Former Crime Fighter" with art by Mort Meskin.  The hunt continued in Sensation Comics #69 (September, 1947) and "Follow The Leader" with Huntress robbing the U.S. Mail (also drawn by Mort, with no identified writer), kidnapping Wildcat's friend, Stretch Skinner in Sensation Comics #71 (November, 1947) in "The Count That Never Ended", this time by Robert Kanigher and Gil Kane, kidnapping Ted Grant to get to Wildcat in "Murder Masquerade" in Sensation Comics #73 (January, 1948), with art by Gil Kane (a problem, as Ted is Wildcat), using a phony Wildcat in a crime in Sensation Comics #75 (March, 1948) in "The Snare That Backfired" with art by Arthur Peddy and Bernard Sachs, going on a rollercoaster ride in "The Wildcat Ride" in Sensation Comics #76 (April, 1948), with art also by Peddy and Sachs...

....before joining up with the ISW (and never making a cover, as the book was dominated by Wonder Woman!).

An unpublished Golden Age story appeared in the DC 100-page Super-Spectacular #6 of 1971, with Wildcat facing Huntress one last time alone, when "Crime Wore A Costume" by Robert Kanigher and Jon C. Kozlak (and the book also reprinted the first JLA/JSA Crisis as well!).

Huntress returned, now married to the Sportsmaster, and looking for revenge on Wildcat (but also facing Starman and Black Canary) in Brave and the Bold #62 (October-November, 1965). 


The husband and wife villains returned in Justice League of America #123 and #124 (October and November, 1975) with the rest of the ISW, and may or may not have faced Robin and Batgirl in Batman Family #7 (September-October, 1976) and played baseball in DC Super-Stars #10 (December, 1976).

The pair returned again, with All-Star Comics #72 and #73 in 1978, along with the Golden Age Flash's foe, the Thorn, with the Huntress facing the new heroine who had taken that name (more on her, here....).  The female hero won (which made the villainess quite angry, but as later revealed, she had switched names anyway....).

The heroine formerly known as Huntress appeared helping villains, during the Crisis On Infinite Earths #9 and #10 in the 1980s, and returned as well to be helped by Injustice, Unlimited in Infinity, Inc. #35 and #36 (February and March, 1986), as among the team's members were former ISW members, the Wizard, the Fiddler and the Shade, and the son of Icicle, the daughter of the Gambler, and the Tigress, who was Artemis Crock, the daughter of the Sportsmaster and the Huntress!

Soon after this, in stories set in the 1940s, the Huntress' past was revealed, as she was Paula Brooks, a young woman who became fascinated with big game hunter, Paul Kirk, trailed him to learn more about his life (including his identity as the mystery man, the Manhunter), and Paula joined the Young All-Stars as the Tigress to be "a hunter of men".  This worked for a while, until the Tigress was killed by Gudra, the Valkyrie, and while Paula came back, she had a darker personality then (see Young All-Stars comics from the late 1980s, issues #6 to #26 to see how this all played out as Roy Thomas filled in character back story with his retroactive continuity).  The Tigress was even involved in a secret JSA case, fighting the Stalker with Hawkman and Wildcat alongside the Manhunter in Thrilling Comics #1 (May, 1999) and with the whole JSA plus a few in All-Star Comics #2 (Late May, 1999), and it was soon after this that she appeared as the Huntress fighting Wildcat in Sensation Comics.

Back in the present, with a full history behind her, Paula Brooks even came out to support her daughter, the Tigress, when she competed in the Olympics as a member of the Zandian team, along with other super-villains, like Green Arrow's foe, Merlyn, in Young Justice #25 (November, 2000), and the new Tigress has continued along with the Injustice Society of the World with her boyfriend, the new Icicle, as that team has popped up, as well as facing the new Hawkgirl, Kendra, for a time...proving, like a good hero, it's hard to keep a good villain down....and more ISW member facts are coming soon, with info on the Fiddler, the Harlequin, the Shade, Solomon Grundy and more!

Happy Earth Day 2016!

Think Earth has it bad now?

What about "When Earth Turned Into A Comet"?

That was the title of a story from Strange Adventures #150 (March, 1963), by writer Gardner Fox, pencilled by Carmine Infantino and inked by Joe Giella (under this stunning cover by Murphy Anderson!).

Really a plot by aliens, it certainly freaked these astronauts out!

At least it was memorable. 

So memorable that Neal Adams did the cover for when the story was reprinted in From Beyond The Unknown #3 (February-March, 1970).



Be happy that our Earth isn't that mobile!

Spider-Man Teams With Black Panther and the Falcon

Spidey has met plenty of Avengers over the years, but some of them, he met when they were not part of the team.

Spider-Man met Black Panther when he was away from the Avengers for a time, and Falcon when he was just working with Captain America, before he joined the Avengers.

Let's take a look at these high-flying team-ups!

With Practice

How do dinosaurs end up on Broadway?  Well, that question is answered in Marvel Team-Up #20 (April, 1974) with "Dinosaurs On Broadway" by writer Len Wein, penciller Sal Buscema and inkers Frank Giacoia and Mike Esposito.

Picking up from the previous issue, where Spider-Man and Ka-Zar fought the new villain, Stergon the Dinosaur Man, Spidey hitched a ride from the Savage Land aboard Stergon's flying ship full of dinosaurs!  Black Panther gets involved thanks to the Avengers' butler, Jarvis, and has to help Spidey with this new menace to Manhattan.  Interesting that Marvel Team-Up could have stories over multiple issues, but not carry the guest star over (but Ka-Zar had his own new mag to get back to, with Shanna the She-Devil!).  Even more interesting is how Spider-Man and Black Panther handled all these dinosaurs on their own (and then T'Challa could spend his time in his book, Jungle Action!). 

Elements Change

"All That Glitters Is Not Gold" is the lesson of Marvel Team-Up #30 (February, 1975) by writer Gerry Conway, penciller Jim Mooney and inker Vince Colletta, with Spidey coming to the rescue of fellow Daily Bugle worker, Glory Grant, and her cousin, who has now joined a gang (but seems to be under mind control).  Spidey checks it out, while Glory calls on Sam Wilson (Falcon's alter ego) for help (Falcon had a little free time, as his usual partner, Steve Rogers, had briefly given up being Captain America and was in action as Nomad at this time).


The two heroes end up meeting, and then facing the menace of the man called Midas (it says so right on the cover blurb!).  Spider-Man and the Falcon were able to uncover his identity and put an end to his drug trafficking....

People Wither

Falcon comes to help Captain America when he calls, only to find his partner dying from a poison orchid in "Deathgarden" in Marvel Team-Up #71 (July, 1978) by writer Bill Kunkel, penciller Al Wenzel and inker Dan Green.  Nick Fury and the agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. were able to take Cap to a S.H.I.E.L.D. medical facility, but Falcon takes the lead to track down the poison and save Captain America!  Spider-Man happens to be stopping a robbery at a government facility that Falcon is checking out, and the two heroes end up battling for a bit, then team up, finding out that if it was a plant that was killing Cap, the likely villain behind it was the Plant-Man!


Falcon and Spider-Man work together to stop the villain (with Falcon using new moves like using his wings as a shield), and bring the cure to save Captain America (though Falcon and Captain America would soon give up their regular partnership, though Falcon meets up with the Defenders soon after this, then briefly joins the Avengers soon after that), with Nick Fury privately thanking Spidey for his help in this case.

Friends Change

Peter Parker is on assignment for the Daily Bugle, covering businessman Thomas Agar's preliminary hearing (for his company taking over half a million from the country of Wakanda), when Black Panther attacks in Marvel Team-Up #87 (November, 1979) in "The Razor's Edge!" by writer Steven Grant, penciller Gene Colan and inker Frank Springer.


Very quickly it is discovered that it wasn't Black Panther on the rampage, but a villain called Hellrazor, all a part of a plot to make T'Challa look evil and get access to the Wakandan vibranium (a special metal that is only found in the African country that Black Panther rules) for the evil Roxxon Corporation.  Spidey and Black Panther team-up to defeat Hellrazor, never quite getting a full hint of Roxxon's involvement in this case, with Spidey going back to his normal life, and Black Panther enjoying his visit with the Avengers after being reunited with them thanks to the Collector's plans to thwart Korvac.

It All Comes Together

Spidey tries to enjoy some time off as Peter Parker, but Aunt May ends up a victim of crime, pulled off by the Young Watchers, a vigilante group that supposedly protects people in Marvel Team-Up #114 (February, 1982) in "The Heat In Harlem!" by writer J.M. DeMatteis, penciller (and co-plotter) Herb Trimpe, and inker Mike Esposito.

Falcon had recently quit the Avengers, and was only occasionally working with Captain America at this point,  so this was a rare chance to see Falcon in action.  This time around, Spidey and Falcon faced off against Stone-Face, a foe Spidey, Cap and Falcon faced in Harlem (see Captain America issues in the mid-130s), then Falcon and Black Panther faced him again in Captain America #170 and #171.  Spidey and Falcon take care of business yet again here, with Falcon getting his own mini-series soon after!

That concludes our business of looking at Spider-Man's team-ups with these two Avengers, but there are more to come!

Guide To Golden Age Robin Reprints

Holy sidekicks, Batman!  At least, that's what people think about when they think about Robin.

True, the Tim Drake version of Robin has had his own DC series, as has Dick Grayson, the original Robin (though his has been as Nightwing and as Grayson).

But, in the 1940s and 1950s, Robin did indeed branch away from the Batman for a time, with his own solo series (occasionally guest-starring Batman, especially towards the end, and even Commissioner Gordon and their butler, Alfred Beagle, as he was called in the Golden Age), in Star-Spangled Comics #65 (February, 1947) to Star-Spangled Comics #130 (July, 1952), and being on covers from the beginning of his run until Star-Spangled Comics #95 (August, 1949), with covers of Revolutionary War hero Tomahawk and then ghost-buster Dr. 13 until the title's end.

But, you don't have to be the world's greatest detective to find these stories, as where to find them in reprints is detailed below!

The first of Robin's tales to be solo reprinted in from Star-Spangled Comics #70 (July, 1947), with the "Clocks of Doom" by writer Bill Finger, penciller J. Winslow Mortimer and inker Charles Paris.  This deals with Robin first facing a villain all his own, the clock, as he tries to help students filming for a school project who accidentally filmed a crime!

  
This story was reprinted in the Batman in the 1940s tradepaperback of 2004, along with Robin's first appearance from Detective Comics #38 (April, 1940) and many other Golden Age Batman stories featuring Joker, the original acting Clayface and even Two-Face, all guaranteed to make you smile!



Next up is a small run of Robin reprints, all collected in the same place.

The first story is Star-Spangled Comics #82, (July, 1948) and "The Boy Who Hated Robin" by artist Jim Mooney (though, as done at the time, credited to Bob Kane).  This story has Robin meet Petey Downs while helping out at a camp for Gotham's underprivileged youth.  The second story is Star-Spangled Comics #86 (November, 1948) with Robin facing off against 3 of "The Barton Brothers" after they shoot and injure Batman, in this tale pencilled by Jim Mooney and inked by J. Winslow Mortimer. Last of the three collected in one spot is Star-Spangled Comics #103 (April, 1950) with art by Jim Mooney  and the story of "Roberta, The Girl Wonder" (who was really Mary Wills, a classmate of Dick Grayson's who became infatuated with Robin, and came up with her own costumed identity to meet the Boy Wonder, and they face off against Spider Vorn!).

These three tales were collected in the Robin The Boy Wonder A Celebration of 75 Years collection of 2015 (along with many tales of many Robins!).

Another solo Robin reprint comes from Star-Spangled Comics #111 (December, 1950) with "Dick Grayson, Detective" in a story by David V. Reed and art by Jim Mooney, with Robin's alter ego of Dick Grayson doing the crime solving at Gotham High!


Appropriately, this story is reprinted in Detective Comics #444 (December-January, 1974-1975), under a cover by Jim Aparo (which also features the beginnings of an epic Batman/Ra's Al Ghul battle as Batman kills Ra's daughter, Talia), and other reprints including Roy Raymond, Kid Eternity and Star Hawkins as well as a new story of the Elongated Man!

Served next is the story of Star-Spangled Comics #120 (September, 1951) with "The Bellboy Wonder" likely by writer John Broome and art by Jim Mooney, with Robin going undercover as a bellboy to prevent the murder of a political figure at a world conference.



This story is reprinted in World's Finest Comics #193 (May, 1970) under a cover by Curt Swan and Murphy Anderson, with Superman and Batman in trouble all on their own...

....guess the World's Finest team still needed to keep Robin on board!

There is a return in Star-Spangled Comics #123 (December, 1951), and it's when "Crazy-Quilt Comes Back", in a story by France Herron with art by Jim Mooney, where the villain comes to face Robin (Crazy-Quilt was originally a foe of the Boy Commandos, first appearing in Boy Commandos #15 in June of 1946, but he then seemed to transfer his hate over to Batman's junior partner).


This story was reprinted in Batman #255 (March-April, 1974) with a cover by Neal Adams and Nick Cardy, with a great Batman vs. werewolf new story, and a few great reprints within, including the story of how Bruce Wayne's father was "The First Batman"!

Star-Spangled Comics #124 (January, 1952) has the solo Robin story of "Operation: Escape" by artist Jim Mooney, with Robin giving a lecture to Gotham City Police cadets about how he used ordinary, average items to escape a death trap and challenges you to figure out what he did...



This story was reprinted in Batman #199 (February, 1968) under a Carmine Infantino/Murphy Anderson cover that shows Batman might need that comic instead, and it was also reprinted in the Greatest Batman Stories Ever Told Hard Cover of November, 1988 and softcover of June, 1989.

Robin faces "Murder On The Chess Board" in Star-Spangled Comics #125 (February, 1952), with story by David Vern and art by Jim Mooney, in a story which may have been checkmate for Alfred, as it is the last listed Golden Age appearance of Alfred Beagle (at least until Superman Family and the Huntress back-up in Wonder Woman deal with the Earth-2's butler of Batman!).  


This tale is reprinted in World's Finest Comics #190 (December, 1969), which features one of the last times Robin worked as a part of the World's Finest team (and they needed the help)...

....all under a Curt Swan/Murphy Anderson cover.

Robin faced "Danger In The Hall Of Trophies" in Star-Spangled Comics #126 (March, 1952) in a story by David Vern with art by .Jim Mooney, with Robin and Commissioner Gordon dealing with a French criminal who is pretending to be a detective to get into the Batcave.



This story was reprinted in World's Finest Comics #192 (March, 1970), with another incredible Curt Swan and Murphy Anderson cover (and the first part to the story mentioned a little bit above....proving what lousy luck Superman and Batman have without Robin!).

Robin faces "The Game Of Death" in Star-Spangled Comics #127 (April, 1952) by writer David V. Reed and artist Jim Mooney in a story of life or death for Batman and Robin (but, when aren't they?).





This tale is reprinted in Batman #213 (July-August, 1969) in an issue focused on Robin, under a cover by artist Bill Draut and inked by Vince Coletta.  This issue also reprints the first appearance of Alfred and of the villains, the Red Hood and the shape-changing Clayface, as well as including an updated origin for Robin!  (For those that keep track of these things, this is the Earth-1 Robin origin, differentiating between the original Robin who was on Earth-2, and the Robin who later helped formed the Teen Titans, the one from Earth-1).

Robin's next mostly solo story is in Star-Spangled Comics #128 (May, 1952) facing "The Man Called 50-50" by writer David Vern and artist Jim Mooney (and this is as good a place as any to reveal that writer David Vern and David V. Reed are one in the same!).  This had a villain called 50-50, who seemed to look like Two-Face (but wasn't....) and Robin had to take a chance to beat this foe as Batman was busy.



This is reprinted in Brave and the Bold #76 (February-March, 1968) under a cover drawn by Neal Adams, and featuring a two heroes, Batman and Plastic Man.

Last, but not least, for the Robin who would grow up and join the Justice Society, is Star-Spangled Comics #130 (July, 1952) with the "Stone-Deaf Robin" in a story by David V. Reed and art by Jim Mooney. 


This tale is reprinted in World's Finest Comics #191 (February, 1970), with a cover by Curt Swan and Jack Abel, that has Superman and Batman facing off against Superman's parents of Jor-El and Lara...proving that parents can be killers!

After this issue, Robin went back to only appearing with Batman in Batman, Detective Comics and World's Finest Comics, and Star-Spangled Comics became Star-Spangled War Stories, starting with #131 in August, 1952, and focused on war stories.



Still, there are more Star-Spangled Comics Robin reprints.

Robin Archives #1 came out in August, 2005 and featured Star-Spangled Comics #65 (February, 1947) to Star-Spangled Comics #85 (October, 1948), and contains many battles with the Clock, as well as one-timers like No-Face and the Fence, and even a little time travel with Carter Nichols!

Robin Archives #2 arrived in March of 2010, and featured Star-Spangled Comics #86 (November, 1948)  to Star-Spangled Comics #105 (June, 1950), with one last shot of the Clock, as well as one-time villains like George Midas, started to have more appearances of Batman, and even an appearance by Batman's girlfriend, Vicki Vale!

Let's hope DC will at least gather together the last of Robin's solo Star-Spangled Comics career in some collection.