Marvel Legends 2016 Wave 1 3 and 3 Quarters

Yes, the folks at Hasbro have changed the name of their 3 and 3/4 sized Marvel figures (making the name the same as their 6 inchers...no, this won't cause  any problems at retail), but you still get the same action figure goodness!

This time around, starting off the new year with a House of M Spider-Man, a Spider-Man Noir version, Captain Marvel (the former Ms. Marvel, Carol Danvers, version), Thor troll villain Ulik, Black Panther, Mark I Iron Man, aquatic Inhuman Triton, and bow-slinging member of the Guardians of the Galaxy....Yondu!

All but House of M Spidey and Black Panther are new, so plenty of new adventures your little guys can get into!

Giant Superman Batman Coverage

A long time ago, DC Comics put out a series of 80 Page Giants, and these books contained reprints of earlier stories, gathered together for a new reader to gain a better insight into older stories...

...there were 15 of these giants, starting in August, 1964 (featuring Superman), and other issues included Jimmy Olsen, Lois Lane, Flash, Batman, Sgt. Rock, Secret Origins of many DC heroes and Superboy...

...with the last of these giants, 80 Page Giant Magazine #15, coming out in October, 1965, and featuring the World's Finest team...Superman and Batman!

Here's a quick summary of the stories in that collection!

World's Finest Comics #74

First up is the story from World's Finest Comics #74 (January, 1955) by writer Bill Finger, penciller Curt Swan and inker Stan Kaye called "The Contest of Heroes", under a cover by Curt Swan and Stan Kaye.


Superman, Batman and Robin are stuck trying to find an alien who came to Earth on an experimental rocket, and stop the panic it is causing with its shape-changing ability.  Batman figures out the alien is a child, so plays with it to keep it busy, while Superman figures out how to make the alien homesick...

...so that the alien will let the Metropolis Marvel take him home, ending this team-up with the Gotham Guardian!


 

World's Finest Comics #82

Next up is a little time travel for the World's Finest team, originally presented in World's Finest Comics #82 (May-June, 1956) by writer Edmond Hamilton, with pencils by Dick Sprang and inks by Stan Kaye with "The Three Super-Musketeers", under a cover by J. Winslow Mortimer.


Superman, Batman and Robin enlist the help of their friend, Professor Carter Nichols, who uses hypnosis to allow the heroes to travel back in time (hey, it was a simpler time back in the 1950s), and they end up in the 17th Century France to learn the identity of the Man in the Iron Mask...

...as well as meet D'Artagnan and the Three Musketeers!

World's Finest Comics #88

The story in World's Finest Comics #88 (May-June, 1957) is a little different, as writer Edmond Hamilton, penciller Dick Sprang and inker Stan Kaye bring out "Superman's and Batman's Greatest Foes".


Yes, Luthor and Joker stop by World's Finest Comics, starting a new legal business partnership, and this attracts the attention of Superman, Batman, Robin and Lois Lane (as these villains likely have other illegal plans).  Luthor and Joker unleash super-strong robots they created called the Mechano-Men to make Superman and Batman look foolish, but the team work together and eventually defeat the scheme devised by their most fiendish foes....

World's Finest Comics #97

World's Finest Comics #97 (October, 1958) is next up, with "The Day Superman Betrayed Batman", as told by writer Bill Finger, penciller Dick Sprang and inker Stan Kaye, with Superman making life difficult for Batman and Robin under this cover by Curt Swan and Stan Kaye.


Professor Milo makes a machine which fortells the future, one in which Superman, Batman and Robin capture members of the Condor Gang, which comes true and leads the Condor (John Titus) and his remaining members to kidnap the Professor, and that leads to a revelation of the Professor's real identity and the capture of the rest of the gang by the World's Finest team!



 

World's Finest Comics #81

The story in World's Finest Comics #81 (March-April, 1956) shows the far reaching legacy of Superman and Batman, with "The True History of Superman and Batman" by writer Edmond Hamilton, penciller Dick Sprang and inker Stan Kaye, all under a J. Winslow Mortimer cover.


This story starts with the World's Finest team meeting with Ka-Thar of 5956, who came back in time with a book telling tales that the heroes accomplished.  Superman says he's gotten his facts wrong, and Ka-Thar threatens to reveal the heroes secret identities if they don't follow what the book says.  So, the heroes follow along so that Ka-Thar will go back to the future....

 

World's Finest Comics #95

World's Finest Comics #95 (July-August, 1958) features "The Battle of The Super-Heroes" with Batman vs. Superman in a story written by Dave Wood, with interior pencils by Dick Sprang and inks by Stan Kaye, under a cover by Curt Swan and Stan Kaye.

Batman wakes up in the Bat Cave after passing out, to find he suddenly possesses super powers!  Batman and Robin then go to deal with a fire when Superman arrives, and Superman and Batman are more interested in competing with each other than solving the problem.  Robin does his best to stop the battle, but ends up on the alien planet of Xlym, where Robin learns that these aliens gave Batman powers, and made Superman and Batman hate each other!  Thankfully, Robin stops the alien interference, and Batman loses his newfound powers, with the friendship between Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent renewed!

End Of An Era

Even though 80 Page Giant Magazine #15 was the end of the 80 Page Giant Magazine, the format lived on, starting in individual titles (with the first being Justice League of America #39 of November, 1965, and many of the titles mentioned above had Giants included in their runs, including folks like the Flash and Supergirl, as well as continuing Superman and Batman team-ups with World's Finest Comics #161 of October, 1966).  Check back as there will be more giant coverage to come!  

Holy 50th Anniversary Batman

Batman has been around for more than 50 years, but January 12, 1966 was the airing of Batman's first television episode with Adam West as Batman and Burt Ward as Robin, with "Hi Diddle Riddle".

The episode also featured Frank Gorshin as the Riddler (a character who barely had appeared in the comics....but got many more appearances afterwards!), and Jill St. John as Riddler's henchwoman, Molly.

The Batman TV show did introduce more villains from the comics to the viewing public as well, like Penguin, Catwoman, Mr. Freeze, Mad Hatter and the Joker (and go here to take a look at them), as well as creating its own foes, like the Bookworm, Shane, King Tut, Egghead and the Siren, and even borrowed a few rarely used Superman villains, like the Puzzler and the Archer (which the 1950s Adventures of Superman never did...a small kryptonite chink in the otherwise invulnerable armor of George Reeves tenure as Superman).

For the first two seasons, episodes ran half an hour, with a cliffhanger at the end of one....to be concluded the next night, same Bat-time, same Bat-Channel, with the series adding Yvonne Craig as Batgirl in the 3rd season as Com. Gordon's daughter, Barbara, who was also  confidant to Bruce Wayne's butler, Alfred Pennyworth (with the show down to only one episode a week...ending in March, 1968 with 120 episodes, plus a movie between the first and second seasons as well!).

DC Comics has recently been putting out new tales of the 1966 Batman, under the title of Batman '66, starting with Batman '66 #1 (September, 2013) with a story by writer Jeff Parker, and drawn by Jonathan Case.

The series has just concluded with its 30th issue...

....but there was also a special Lost Episode issue (featuring Two-Face, based on a story by Harlan Ellison, adapted by writer Len Wein, penciller Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez and inker Joe Prado), as well as a 6 issue mini-series teaming Batman with the Green Hornet, by writers Kevin Smith and Ralph Garman, and art mostly by Ty Templeton, and a two issue mini-series teaming up with The Man From U.N.C.L.E., by Jeff Parker, David Hahn and Karl Kesel, keeping the swinging 1960s alive!

Superman and Batman Foe Spellbinder

Sure, Superman and Batman faced foes together during their time working as a team in World's Finest Comics, but they also faced one foe as well, each on their own....



...that of the Spellbinder!

First Knight

The Spellbinder got his start in Detective Comics #358 (December, 1966) in "The Circle of Terror" by writer John Broome, penciller Sheldon Moldoff and inker Joe Giella, where the villain was able to hypnotize Batman with his horrible costume patter (and Batman would have been in real trouble had not Robin saved him). 


The Dynamic Duo continued to face the hypnotic foe, along with his henchmen of Dipsy and Doodler, with Batman falling prey to the hypnosis of Spellbinder, until facing his foe a third time, where Batman was able to eventually break a trance of the Spellbinder on his own, ending his criminal reign of terror...


...for a time.

Super Trouble

When the Spellbinder returned in Superman #330 (December, 1978), he was better prepared with a new propeller device that allowed him to fly, a special phonograph that allowed him to hypnotize people in groups, and a modified helmet that allowed him to not be affected by his own power (and even a chin guard to take a super-punch!).


All this, but he still wasn't "The Master Mesmerizer of Metropolis" in the story by Martin Pasko, with art by penciller Curt Swan and inker Frank Chiaramonte.. 

...it was Superman, who unknowningly used his own power of super-hypnotism through his Kryptonian lenses to make people think Clark Kent and Superman looked differently!

Back To The Bat

Spellbinder ended up facing Batman again, in Batman #336 (June, 1981), "While The Bat's Away", in a story plotted by Bob Rozakis, scripted by Roy Thomas, pencilled by Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez and inked by Frank McLaughlin, where Batman had been out of Gotham for a while (along with Catwoman, Robin and King Faraday, facing Ra's Al Ghul), and while he was gone, the Monarch of Menace (maybe influenced by the small army that put together this issue) gathered some old Batman foes to try to take advantage (including Cluemaster, the Bouncer and Spellbinder).

Batman took out Spellbinder first, and used his identity to go and defeat the others, bringing Spellbinder's Silver Age career to an end.

A Few Friends

While Cluemaster later went on to become a more known villain in Justice League International and in Robin (which will get him a little more coverage later), the Bouncer and the Monarch of Menace really didn't appear much elsewhere.

The Bouncer first appeared in Detective Comics #347 (January, 1966 by Gardner Fox, Carmine Infantino and Joe Giella), and was a man in a special suit of "elastalloy" which allowed him to bounce off any object...at least until he met Batman's fist!

The Monarch of Menace was a villain Batman faced early in his career, but was able to elude the Batman as revealed in Detective Comics #350 (April, 1966, by Robert Kanigher, Sheldon Moldoff and Joe Giella)...

...but, in more recent times, the Monarch of Menace was disappointed in his son (who then went out to be beaten by Robin, while disguised as his father using his many gimmicks hidden in his crown and scepter, prompting much angst in Batman).  Batman was able to beat the Monarch of Menace on his return (all under this awesome Joe Kubert cover!).

The Bouncer came back, along with Cluemaster and Spellbinder, as mentioned above.

An Ending Starting Again

The Spellbinder returned himself, still not a major threat, in Detective Comics #691 (November, 1995 by Chuck Dixon, Staz Johnson and Scott Hanna), wherein Spellbinder got an alter ego (Delbert Billings), and a girlfriend (Fay Moffit), before his untimely passing.  But, Fay picked up Neron's offer of power, and became the new Spellbinder (occasionally referred to as Lady Spellbinder), with newly mystical power to create illusions and confusion.  She continued this in Underworld Unleashed #1 and Detective Comics #692 (December, 1995), before being beaten by Batman and the newer, Tim Drake Robin.

Lady Spellbinder returned again, briefly in Green Lantern #79 (October, 1996) as a prisoner in the Slab with many villains including Sonar and Hellgrammite, then in Birds of Prey: Batgirl #1 (February, 1998), for a trip to Apokolips in Birds of Prey #12 to #14 (December, 1999 to February, 2000), being part of Circe's female army in Wonder Woman #174 in November, 2001, being one of the many affected by Joker's gas during the Joker's Last Laugh (and in Birds of Prey #36 of December, 2001), before her last appearance being shot down along side the Trigger Twins in Infinite Crisis #7 (June, 2006), though that ending, like Delbert's end, could have been an illusion....

The Early Days of Man-Bat

Back in the 1980s, DC Comics gave readers deluxe reprint series, that collected old stories, but on better, high quality Baxter paper, and featured no ads...

...much smaller than tradepaperbacks, yet more focused on a specific purpose.



One of these was 1984's Man-Bat #1, which featured three stories written by Frank Robbins, pencilled by Neal Adams and inked by Dick Giordano...

...featuring the first three stories of Man-Bat, a new, Jekyll and Hyde type of villain for Batman!

Detective Comics #400

Starting off, Man-Bat first appeared in Detective Comics #400 (June, 1970) in the "Challenge of the Man-Bat", where Gotham Museum of Natural History employee and self-styled bat-scientist Kirk Langstrom tried to give himself super-hearing and night vision by injecting himself with bat-gland extract...


...but, instead, turned himself into a half-man, half-bat creature that ended up facing off against Batman, though the two managed to defeat some crooks who planned to rob the museum, before the transformed Kirk wandered off into the night...


....and into his second appearance!

Detective Comics #402

Which was Detective Comics #402 (August, 1970), with the story "Man Or Bat?", where Batman accidentally interferes with Kirk's attempts to cure himself from his bat-transformation...


...and we find out a little more of what drives Kirk Langstrom, by meeting Francine Lee, the woman who was his fiancee!


This Neal Adams' cover also was altered a bit...

....to become the front cover of the collection of this series of three short stories!

Detective Comics #407

The last of Man-Bat's stories to be collected in this tome was Detective Comics #407 (January, 1971), with the story of "Marriage: Impossible".  In this story, Batman crashes Kirk Langstrom's wedding, trying to prevent the mutated zoologist from marrying Francine Lee, except that the surprise is on Batman, as Francine knew, and had taken some bat-extract herself to become the creature known as She-Bat (though Batman did cure the two of them....).


The wedding was postponed and didn't happen until later.....(and these three stories can also be found in the Batman: Illustrated by Neal Adams Volume #2, both Hardcover and tradepaperback).


But, even though this collected ended with this (and an altered back cover of Detective Comics #416, which was also drawn by Neal Adams), Man-Bat's story didn't end.

More Of The Story

Man-Bat continued on in Detective Comics #416 (October, 1971) written and drawn by Frank Robbins, wherein Kirk married Francine, but also changed back into Man-Bat after, with Batman trying to cure him again, Batman fighting a bat-creature in Las Vegas in Detective Comics #429 (November, 1972), except learning that it was She-Bat from Kirk, who was trying to save her in this Frank Robbins written and illustrated tale.

Man-Bat turned the hero in Batman #254 (January-February, 1974) in "King of the Gotham Jungle" written by Frank Robbins, with art by Irv Novick and Dick Giordano, helping Batman bring down the Getaway Genius, and also worked with Batman to help "Bring Back Killer Krag" in Brave and the Bold #119 (June, 1975), by writer Bob Haney and artist Jim Aparo.

All of this led to Man-Bat getting his own series with covers by Jim Aparo!

In Man-Bat #1 (December-January, 1975/1976), Kirk had to "Beware The Eyes Of Baron Tyme", a sorcerer who had transformed Francine back into She-Bat and taken control of her in a story by Gerry Conway, with art by Steve Ditko and Al Milgrom, and in Man-Bat #2 (Feburary-March, 1976), Kirk had to be a "Fugitive From Blind Justice", facing off against Batman foe, the Ten-Eyed Man, who got a bit of an upgrade from a secret organization who felt Man-Bat and She-Bat might have been the start of an invasion of bat-people in this story by Martin Pasko, with art by Pablo Marcus and Ricardo Villamonte.

Sadly, the series was quickly cancelled, with Man-Bat getting a back-up in Detective Comics #458 and #459 (in April and May, 1976), and a regular feature in Batman Family in 1977 and 1978, from issues #11 to #20 (including getting his own foe, Snafu, and working with Batgirl and Robin, as well as Etrigan the Demon, and beginning a partnership in a detective agency with Jason Bard, who also had a back-up feature in Detective Comics, with all Batman Family stories written by Bob Rozakis, and art by Marshall Rogers, Don Newton, Howard Chaykin, Michael Golden and Danny Bulandi)...

...before becoming an irregular feature in Detective Comics as the Batman Family took it over with Detective Comics #481 (December-January, 1978-1979), and only making that issue and Detective Comics #485 and #492, then kind of a double epilogue in Brave and the Bold #165 (August, 1980) and DC Comics Presents #35 (July, 1981), and returning as more of a villain in Batman #341 (November, 1981).

Wouldn't it be great to see a collection of Man-Bat stories, from Detective Comics #400 to DC Comics Presents #35 chronicling his days as a hero? 

Batman's Christmas and New Year

Being the time in between Christmas and New Year's....here's a little story that dealt with Christmas, New Year's....and Batman!

Under a cover by Dick Giordano, where Batman doesn't look like he's going to be enjoying the ball drop on New Year's Eve....

...is the two stories of Batman #247 (February, 1973).

In "Merry Christmas", Batman takes care of a gun-wielding criminal on Christmas Eve, with a little help from a distraction by the Christmas star (and writer Denny O'Neil, penciller Irv Novick and inker Dick Giordano!).

...then, in the second story, "And A Deadly New Year" (by Denny O'Neill and Dick Giordano), Batman and Robin take out a deadly stash of nerve gas to save Gotham, and save the new year on New Year's Eve!

Holy Holidays, Batman, and Happy New Year!

Superman Vs. Luthor...Boxing

Over the decades, Superman and Lex Luthor have had quite a few battles, but none more exciting than the story from Superman #164 (October, 1963) with "The Showdown Between Luthor and Superman" by Edmond Hamilton, Curt Swan and George Klein!

This little tale had Superman and Luthor facing off under a red sun (thus superman didn't have his powers), so it was a bare-knuckle brawl....that ended with the two becoming separated, and Lex saving the planet's inhabitants (while convincing them Superman was evil).

Luthor was unsuccessful in finding water for the people, and goes back to fighting Superman, but throws the battle, and on their way back to Earth, convinces Superman to redirect water to save the planet's inhabitants, so that while headed back to prison, Luthor feels like a hero.

Soon, Luthor teams with Brainiac for the first time (in Superman #167 of February, 1964 by Edmond Hamilton, Curt Swan and George Klein in "The Team of Luthor and Brainiac)...


...where readers and Luthor learn that Brainiac is really a robot, uses his own genius to increase the threat of Brainiac by increasing his intelligence, and then Luthor returns to the planet where he's thought of as a hero, battling with Superman all the while!

This leads into Luthor's next appearance, in Superman #168 (April, 1964) by Edmond Hamilton, Leo Dorfman, Curt Swan and George Klein, with "Luthor - Super-Hero".


Luthor is on the red sun planet, now named Lexor in his honor, where he spends time as their hero, the Defender (having gotten temporary super-powers), and has to stop Superman who was stealing rare crystals (which, unknown to the Lexorians, were emitting dangerous radiation). 


Luthor leaves the planet with Superman to save the Lexorians, including his girlfriend, Ardora. 


Wishing to read these classic tales?

The story from Superman #164 was reprinted in...

...Superman #239 (June-July, 1971), the Superman in the Sixties tradepaperback of 1999, Superman: The Greatest Stories Ever Told Volume 1 tradepaperback of 2004, and in the Superman vs. Lex Luthor tradepaperback of 2006.

 

Superman's battle against Luthor and Brainiac from Superman #167 was reprinted in....

...Superman #245 (also known as DC 100-Page Super Spectacular #DC-7 from December-January, 1971/1972), Superman: The Greatest Stories Ever Told Volume 2 tradepaperback of 2007, and in the Superman vs. Brainiac tradepaperback of 2008.

Sadly, the story from Superman #168 hasn't been collected anywhere in America....as of yet.  After all, who'd believe Luthor could be the hero?