Customer Reviews

Showcase Presents: Batman, Vol. 2

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Showcase Presents Batman Volume 2 contains issues 343-358 of Detective Comics and issues 175-188(excluding 176, 182, 185, and 187, which were "80 Page Giant" reprint issues) of Batman. These issues, spanning from September 1965 to December 1966, continue the "New Look" Batman stories.

To recap, the Batman books were revamped in 1964 to save the books from low sales and possible cancellation. New editor Julius Schwartz jettisoned the extraneous elements of the Batman mythos and brought a serious and literate tone to the books while artist Carmine Infantino gave the stories a fresh, modern look. As a result, the stories hold up well today and are a far cry from the 1950s stories, in which Batman and Robin fought aliens and underwent various transformations.

This volume contains the first appearances of two notable Batman villains: Poison Ivy (who still menaces Batman to this day) and Blockbuster. The Joker, Penguin and Riddler make appearances as well. Batman #179's "The Riddle-Less Robberies of the Riddler!" is a stand-out. The Riddler discovers that he is psychologically bound to leave clues to his crimes and tries to cure himself, with dubious results.

Another Batman villain who appears is the Outsider. In previous stories(featured in volume 1 of this series), the Outsider was a mysterious villain who knew the Dynamic Duo's secret identities and used their own equipment against them. This volume unveils the Outsider, but his identity is implausible, to say the least. However, blame editorial interference on this one, not bad writing.

As the volume progresses, the influence of the "Batman" TV series starts to show. The series, which premiered in January 1966, was a smash hit and sent Batman's popularity skyrocketing. The later stories in this volume reflect the series' influence, such as "Holy!" exclamations and prominent sound effects. The comics, however, never fully matched the campy tone of the series.

All in all, this volume is a wonderful addition to the Showcase line and a must-read for Batman fans, old-school fans, or anyone who likes fun superhero comics. Regretfully, the cover, which shows Batman fighting the Outsider, removes the absurd but memorable quote from the original Detective Comics #356 cover-Robin saying "Holy Tombstone! I'm turning into a coffin!"

Anyone who grew up in the 60's and loved the Batman tv show should buy this book. Especially comic book lovers.

I started reading Batman and Detective Comics only about a year before the TV show premiered, and I remember how I had to content myself with the comic books since my town only had two TV stations and neither carried the show. Particularly amusing, that, since Woolworth's and TG&Y were crammed full of Batman-related merchandise to sell to a customer base fed only by the hype. Anyway, this volume contains the comic books stories published in that period, and since my town did have plenty of comic book racks I have to say that, all in all, I wasn't so bad off. (And I did buy my share of that merchandise, show or no show.)

This is sixties Batman, so a lot of it is pretty silly. The Bouncer is maybe not as silly as the Eraser, who would have fit right in in the Tick, with his pencil rubber for a head.

Still, some of these I had seen before in old Planet comics reprints as a kid, including the Mystery Writers story, and the Blockbuster arc, which it was good to see again - and is definitely the best work in there, both writing, and Infantino's art, along with the Alfred/Outsider subplot.

Still a good deal these Showcases, though, and there are some classic panels if you wanted to take them out of context, as the cheery pair of
Batman and Robin take on hoods and go out to dinner.

Sure, they're dated. Yeah, they're simple. But they are entertaining and fun, and the stories at least make some kind of sense, unlike the ludicrous "plots" of some of the other superhero collections from this age. Pretty good value for how long they'll keep you occupied.