Batman's Elseworlds Other Identities

You think you know the story. After all, even when he teams with Marvel heroes, Batman’s story is pretty straight forward.

Young Bruce Wayne, going home with his parents….only to see them killed by a mugger, and he adopts the mantle of the Batman….or does he? Get ready for a step into the Twilight Zone! (or, the DC equivalent…their tales of Elseworlds…tales that seem familiar, but are also not!).

Superman: Speeding Bullets

In the 1993 Elseworlds, Superman: Speeding Bullets (by J. M. DeMatteis and Eduardo Barreto), young Kal-El was rocketed to Earth….and found by Thomas and Martha Wayne! Naming their son Bruce, he grew up unaware of his powers, until the day a mugger killed his parents, incinerating the thief with his heat vision. 

Later in life, Bruce does grow up to become Batman, who uses his powers to attack the villains of Gotham, including some joker named Lex Luthor (a brilliant scientist who was disfigured and driven insane). Eventually, with the help of Lois Lane, the super-powered Bruce gives up the Batman identity to become Superman.

Batman: In Darkest Knight

In 1994, with the Batman: In Darkest Knight (by Mike W. Barr and Jerry Bingham), Bruce had just returned to Wayne Manor after an unsuccessful attempt to strike fear into the hearts of criminals, and was looking for a symbol to inspire him. At that point, a ghostly green image appeared, taking him to the spaceship of a dying Abin Sur…who gives him the power ring of the Green Lantern.  

With this ring, Green Lantern Bruce Wayne is able to stop the Red Hood, and is later summoned to take the power ring from the power mad Green Lantern Sinestro. GL Bruce Wayne also finds the killer of his parents with the help of Commissioner James Gordon (who does find Joe Chill, but Gordon is killed by Sinestro, who is now in possession of a yellow power ring from Qward, and Sinestro finds Chill, and absorbs his mind!). The Guardians of Universe recruit Clark Kent, Diana and Barry Allen to help Green Lantern Katma Tui stop Bruce Wayne (who they fear is as power mad as Sinestro).

What’s next…Superman becoming the Flash? Lois Lane becoming Batwoman?  

Well, those happened too, but are a tale for another time....

Don't Get Mad, Go Vote!

Mad #56 from July, 1960 gives us this great cover by Kelly Freas....


...and you'd be Madder than Alfred E. Neuman not to and vote!

Comics Are For Cavemen Like Anthro

It’s tough growing up….dealing with disapproving parents, looking for love, and trying to find your way in the world.

And, it’s been that way since the days of the dinosaurs!

Starting with Showcase #74 (May, 1968), Howie Post put teenage angst into the caveman days by introducing Anthro…the first boy on Earth!

Anthro and his family had to deal with plenty of turmoil in those days of the Cro-Magnon; his father Ne-Ahn (leader of the Bear Tribe) was a respected man (well, Neanderthal) in his community, his younger brother Lart was injured, and then there was that girl Embra who followed him around (and her father, Chief Tugg didn’t approve of Embra marrying before her older sister, Ita…and Embra had to fight off Nima as well).

All this drama sounds like an episode of Happy Days or maybe issues of Archie Comics…

Anthro lasted six issues from July-August 1968 to July-August 1969, with Howie Post doing all the writing and most of the drawing (inker Wally Wood chipped in on issue #6) and Anthro popped up in major DC crossovers like Showcase #100, and the Crisis on Infinite Earths (where his marriage and expecting a child with Embra was revealed; and appearing in issue #2, the same issue that has Kamandi, the LAST boy on Earth…)...

...and Final Crisis, as well as a small run in Tales of the Unexpected…where he fought to be remembered along with Dr. 13, Infectious Lass and I, Vampire (collected in Doctor 13: Architecture and Mortality, by Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang)!



Pretty likely Anthro will be remembered, as tales of youth seem to be eternal!