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For Batman comic fans, August 2018 looks to be a great month for vintage Batman reprints:
Batman: The Caped Crusader, Vol. 1 collects Batman #417-430 and Batman Annual #12.
Tales of the Batman: Gerry Conway collects Batman #337-346 & #348; World's Finest Comics #270; Detective Comics #505-513.
Batman by Doug Moench & Kelley Jones, Vol. 2 collects Batman ##536-552 & #555.
Thanks! Of the three, I will most likely get the Gerry Conway collection. Although I haven't read much of his Batman work, I always enjoyed Conway's other work, so I imagine this collection will be a solid bet. I never cared for Kelley Jones' art on Batman so I will probably skip that collection, and I am on the fence on the Caped Crusader volume. Jim Starlin is another solid writer, although his Ten Nights of the Beast storyline featured in this collection hasn't aged well. That said, any Batman story with Jim Aparo art is at least worth considering.
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Posted: |
Jan 27, 2018 - 9:44 AM
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By: |
Jim Phelps
(Member)
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Thanks! Of the three, I will most likely get the Gerry Conway collection. Although I haven't read much of his Batman work, I always enjoyed Conway's other work, so I imagine this collection will be a solid bet. I never cared for Kelley Jones' art on Batman so I will probably skip that collection, and I am on the fence on the Caped Crusader volume. Jim Starlin is another solid writer, although his Ten Nights of the Beast storyline featured in this collection hasn't aged well. That said, any Batman story with Jim Aparo art is at least worth considering.
I already have the entire Moench-Jones-Beatty run, so I'll pass on that, but I only have parts of the Starlin era, so getting that will fill a significant void in my collection. Ideally, I'd like to have most everything between 1970-1999.
Conway's run is imo a great one, and the only issue I don't have is the super-expensive Batman #257 (first Jason Todd and Killer Croc).
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Posted: |
Mar 15, 2018 - 5:36 PM
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By: |
Jim Phelps
(Member)
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Writer (and Harlan Ellison nemesis) Michael Fleisher has apparently died. His work on JONAH HEX was brilliant.
Michael Fleisher, R.I.P.
Published Tuesday, March 13, 2018 at 8:32 PM
The comic book community is just now hearing of the death of writer Michael Fleisher, who passed away last February 2 at the age of 75. I don't know a lot about the man. I met him once — a brief, unpleasant encounter — and will leave it to others to write more fully about him. I understand the Comics Journal staff will have a story about him shortly on their website.
What I can tell you is that Fleisher came into the industry around 1971 when he secured a contract to write several super-hero "encyclopedias" and was granted access to the library at DC Comics for research purposes. He spent so many hours in the office that he got to know the staff and began writing scripts for their comics. A special favorite of editor Joe Orlando, Fleisher wrote countless stories for DC's mystery/ghost comics and did long runs on The Spectre, Jonah Hex and many others. His work had many fans and some hard-to-gauge number of detractors.
A lot of people in comics probably remember him best because in 1986, he sued The Comics Journal and writer Harlan Ellison for what Fleisher felt were defamatory remarks in an interview Ellison gave that publication. The suit created great controversy and consumed weeks of court time but the jury was out less than 90 minutes before finding in favor of the Journal, Ellison and the First Amendment. (Full Disclosure: I was supposed to testify for the defendants but the judge disallowed my testimony on a technicality.)
Not long after the verdict, Fleisher largely disappeared from the American comic book industry. He was reportedly living in Oregon when he died earlier this year. We do not know the cause.
More, but not much, here:
http://www.comicsreporter.com/index.php/did_the_writer_michael_fleisher_pass_away_six_weeks_ago/
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Writer (and Harlan Ellison nemesis) Michael Fleisher has apparently died. His work on JONAH HEX was brilliant.
Rest in peace. I haven't read his Jonah Hex stories yet, but I loved his Spectre stories with Jim Aparo.
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Posted: |
Mar 16, 2018 - 7:40 AM
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By: |
Jim Phelps
(Member)
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From Wikipedia:
"Writer Harlan Ellison in a 1979 interview praised Fleisher's comics work, while also describing Fleisher and his work as "crazy", "certifiable", "twisted", "derange-o", "bugfuck", and a "lunatic". He also claimed that a Publishers Weekly review called Fleisher's novel Chasing Hairy "the product of a sick mind", and that Fleisher's Spectre run on Adventure Comics had been discontinued by DC Comics because the company "realized they had turned loose a lunatic on the world."[15] While Ellison stated that some of what he was claiming was said "in some humor",[16] Fleisher, saying his "business reputation has been destroyed" and believing he was falsely portrayed as insane, filed a $2 million libel suit against Ellison, publisher Gary Groth and the magazine in which the interview appeared, The Comics Journal.[17][18] The case came to court in 1986, and resulted in a verdict for the defendants.[17][19][20]"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Fleisher
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"Comparing Superman the Movie to the Comics of the Time":
https://www.supermanhomepage.com/movies/movies.php?topic=comparing-stm-comics
Thanks for the link. Interesting article. I think that the most faithful to the comics superhero adaptation is the Adam West Batman. Although the comics didn't have the celebrity cameos as Batman and Robin were climbing the wall, and nobody's tongue was in their cheek as they performed, the outlandish plots the show/movie featured, and the general tone was very reflective of the comics of the time. Of course everything changed a few years later, and by the mid to late 1980s Batman in the comics was completely different from the Adam West Batman. I personally think it is a fool's errand to try and do a straight adaptation with the DC and Marvel characters, who are constantly evolving to reflect the times. The best movies capture the core essence of what makes the characters work, and cherrypick the best ideas from the comics, regardless of the era.
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Bought "Tales of the Batman: Gerry Conway Vol. 2" at my LCS today. I'm thrilled to have this gem in my collection. Hope both old and new readers alike will be (re)introduced to the fine Conway storytelling found in these issues. The Don Newton artwork is of course, magnificent.
Can't wait for volume 3!
Cool. I have volume 1, but I haven't had a chance to read it yet. I will have to add volume 2 to my collection soon.
The upcoming volume I am most excited about is Legends of the Batman: Norm Breyfogle vol. 2, which I believe is coming out sometime in November. Breyfogle is one of my favorite Batman artists, and DC has taken its time releasing this book. It has been listed on Amazon for over a year before it was taken down and then a new page created for the upcoming volume. So hopefully it actually gets released this time.
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