Batman Illustrated By Neal Adams Volume Three!

The focus of Batman Illustrated by Neal Adams Volume Three is without a doubt Ra's Al Ghul and his "Demon Daughter" Talia. I'm going to spend a post next week focusing on this conflict, so I'll just give that epic struggle slight attention here. But there's still plenty to dig into. 

This is the first story in which Neal Adams gets to render Ra's al Ghul, the Demon's Head. I'll have more to say about this tomorrow when I look at the whole Demon's Head saga. 

Batman has to get to the bottom of some peculiar crimes in Batman #234. When a balloon is stolen from a parade he's called in and soon enough he finds himself up against a clown-faced gang who work for Two-Face. Two-Face's scheme in this one is pretty ingenious is implausible. Neal Adams and Dick Giordano really unwind in this one with some great action pages. "Half an Evil" was written of course by Denny O'Neil. 

Batman #237 is a holiday treat. It's Halloween and Batman and Robin attend the Rutland Halloween Parade which back in the early Bronze Age of comics was a strange location where characters and creators could mingle. It's "The Night of the Reaper!" and Batman and Robin are hunting a Nazi war criminal but in all those costumes he's hard to find, especially when someone is swinging a scythe at your head. 

I love the Rutland Halloween comics, wish someone would gather them up sometime from the various publishers. In this issue which is written by Denny O'Neil with help from the likes of Berni Wrightson and Harlan Ellison, we get to meet comic book versions of Wrightson, as well as Alan Lee Weiss, and Gerry Conway. Neal Adams as usual does a great job rendering this one with the aid of Dick Giordano. 

Both Batman #243 and #244 form the climax to the first fantastic Ra's al Ghul story. Much more on this saga in tomorrow's post. It's a doozy though for sure. 

Batman #245 features "The Bruce Wayne Murder Case" in which a politician seek to use Bruce Wayne's disappearance in South America into a murder perpetrated by his opponent. Batman has to intercede and by the end Bruce Wayne is back among the living. Written by O'Neil and drawn by Adams and Giordano, this one seems to exist largely to return the status quo and rip on politicians a bit. (Which is fine by me by the way.)

The Joker might have been deadlier in other stories, but I don't know if he was ever crazier than this one. Neal Adams drew a slew of covers for Batman books and this one might be the best. It knocked me out when I saw it on the stands back in the day. Batman #251's "The Joker's Five-Way Revenge" is written by O'Neil and drawn by Adams. He inks his own stuff this time. The Joker returns to Gotham after a four-year absence (in the pages of the Justice League no less), and begins murdering the former members of his gang in an effort to get the one who squealed on him to the cops. This one has fantastic visuals, and the story is pretty good. 

"Moon of the Wolf" in Batman #255 by writer Len Wein brings the Batman into conflict with a legit werewolf. Neal Adams draws a mean werewolf, and this one is shaggy and violent. Dick Giordano is back on inks. The story is about a man who has lycanthropy who falls into the clutches of former Bat-villain Professor Milo, not seen since 1957 who then turns the unfortunate man into a full-blown howling creature of the night. It's a pretty good story with a great ending. It's the last Neal Adams Batman story for quite some time, at least for DC proper. 

Neal Adams wrote and drew the "Stacked Cards" for Peter Pan's Power Book and Record series from 1975. Once again Batman and Robin are on the Joker's trail as he attempts to steal a Picasso painting. It has a pretty fun ending and more is a tad more blood thirsty than I expected. To enjoy this savory adventure record, check out this link. 

Adams and Giordano get the help of writer Frank Robbins when they meet up with Man-Bat a second offering from Peter Pan's Robin Meets Man-Bat! We get a full reprise of Man-Bat's origin (likely the Robbins contribution) and then we see how the Dynamic Duo can match up against not one but two bat creatures when She-Bat appears. I find it remarkable that this story seems to fit in well with the overall continuity of the DC comics of the time. And that's the last story in this handsome volume. To give the record a listen, check out to this link. 

I've included this cover for debut issue of Comic Book Artist from Twomorrows because the 1980's Batman art used as a cover is included in this collection. It's a dandy. 

The impact of Neal Adams cannot be overstated. He redefined one of the greatest comic book icons in our culture. His muscular style rescued the hero from the once successful but stifling camp presentation developed in harmony with the TV show. There's no way to imagine our modern images of Batman without giving a nod to Adams. And I'm not done with Neal Adams quite yet. More tomorrow when I focus on Batman's epic struggle against Ra's al Ghul. 

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Batman Illustrated By Neal Adams Volume Two!

Batman Illustrated by Neal Adams Volume Two features some of the stuff Adams did on the character, and the centerpiece is Man-Bat who debuts in the four hundredth issue of Detective Comics and is featured in three stories in this collection. But also on hand are some of the most iconic covers Adams ever created for the Batman. 

Bob Haney joins up with Neal Adams to give us "You Can't Hide from a Deadman" in The Brave and the Bold #85. The story picks up where we left it in Strange Adventures when Deadman is compelled to try and kill Batman by order of the Society of Assassins and the Sensei. Batman and Deadman then requisition the body of Cleveland Brand (in a manner of speaking) and return to Nanda Parabat where they confront the Society again. This tale reminded me little bit of The Matix as Deadman is using body after body to try and fulfill his deadly mission against the Batman. 

"The Secret of the Waiting Graves" in Detective Comics #395 takes Bruce Wayne to Mexico where he's the guest of a wealthy, bizarre couple named Muertos who appear young and vibrant. As the Batman he works overtime to protect a government agent who has been sent to investigate the couple. Their secret of their vitality is a grisly one indeed as imagined by Denny O'Neil and Adams. This is the beginning of the Adams and O'Neil partnership which will transform the Batman into the truly scary Dark Knight we still enjoy today. 

"The Silent Night of Christmas" in Batman #219 has the Batman convinced to take some time off from his lifelong mission to protect Gotham and trust that the spirit of Christmas will take hold to protect the innocents for one night. This is a little tale for the holidays. Mike Friedrich wrote this charming seasonal tale. 

"Paint a Picture of Peril" pits the Batman against a wealthy recluse named Orson Payne who is stealing art which reminds him of his lost love Caterina. He drove her away when he was a young man with his possessiveness, and seeks her again through art. His madness finally overcomes him. Denny O'Neil wrote this homage to Citizen Kane. 

To celebrate the four hundredth issue of Detective Comics, Frank Robbins builds a story from an idea by Neal Adam which introduces the Man-Bat. Kirk Langstrom takes his formula for the very fist time and just in time to assist the Batman in rounding up the "Blackout Gang" who use high-tech to see in the darkness so they can rob and steal. It's as wild anniversary story and it's not over for this duo by a longshot. 

Frank Robbins and Neal Adams continue the saga of the Man-Bat in "Man or Bat", a story which sees Kirk Langstrom desperate to find a cure for his transformation. That search puts him in conflict with Batman again, who is trying to cure the unfortunate man himself. But Langstrom's transformation continues as he mutates into a true Man-Bat, with wings and all. The art by Adams and Dick Giordano is really maturing at a fantastic rate as the two consummate pros blend their styles to wonderful effect. 

When a film crew tries to tell the story of Enemy Ace, the company suffers strange and deadly accidents and even worse. Bruce Wayne is funding the film and that brings Batman into conflict with the villains who are working to stop the production. "Ghost Killer of the Skies" from Detective Comics #404 is a doozy as the Batman finds himself in a dogfight with a man who looks just like the Hammer of Hell. Does the true Baron Hans Von Hammer appear in this story? That's left a bit open in Denny O'Neil's yarn. The story is dedicated to Robert Kanigher and Joe Kubert and Adams and inker Dick Giordano even evoke Kurbert's unique style in some panels. 

Robbins and Adams bring their Man-Bat trilogy to a close in "The Bride of the Man-Bat!" in Detective Comics #407. Kirk Langstrom and his lover Francie are about to tie the knot when Batman steps in. There are some really good surprises in this yarn which has you wondering at times if Batman is doing the right thing. The Man-Bat uses masks of his old face to pass in society as best he can, and that reminds of Marvel's The Beast who used chemicals to effect a monstrous change in himself at about this same time. The rise of horror in comics is reaching its peak, as is evidenced by the next story. 

Denny O'Neil and Adams team up to give the world a very strange team-up in the pages of The Brave and the Bold #93. Batman enters The House of Mystery...sort of. What really happens is Batman is exhausted and he heads to Ireland for a break. He saves a young boy from drowning and that's just beginning as he ends up on a remote island where strange and even murderous things are about. Many inexplicable and possibly supernatural events assist the Batman in uncovering a deadly plot and saving the day. "Red Water, Crimson Death" is narrated by Cain the caretaker of the House of Mystery and only he seems to know what really happens. 

The creepiness continues in Detective Comics #408 where we get to share a grisly nightmare Batman suffers where he sees his partner Robin dies and even his own funeral. This is much more hoodoo is brought to the reader by Adams and writers Len Wein and Marv Wolfman. 

A pernicious villain from the Batman's checkered past shows up to take credit for all this peculiar activity. 

"A Vow from the Grave" by O'Neil, Adams and Giordano wraps up the story portion of his collection and we get another tale inspired by classic horror, this time Freaks by Tod Browning. Batman chases a murderer into a remote area and meets a group of folks from the Carnival sideshow who have been abandoned. The strongman Goliath, the human skeleton Charlie Bones, the fat lady Maud and the seal boy Flippy all part of a deadly murder scheme. Detective Comics #410 is one of the first Neal Adams Batman stories I bought off the racks myself. 

There is a clear effort in these stories to pull Batman out of his comfortable Silver Age environment and cast him among some decidedly deadly shadows. His intellect is challenged by outright supernatural doings. He's no longer the cuddly hero from TV, that's for sure. The last cover in this second collection is for the story by Denny O'Neil and Bob Brown that introduces the world to the alluring Talia and her deadly father Ras Al Ghul. A wee bit more on them coming up. 

Tomorrow, more of the Batman by Neal Adams! 

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