BATMAN ANNUALS TIMES THREE...

Images copyright DC COMICS

Here's a cracking hardback book I got a good while back, but neglected to inform all you Crivvies of.  It's part of the DC COMICS CLASSICS LIBRARY, and features the first three BATMAN ANNUALS.  Although I'm a big fan of the MARVEL MASTERWORKS books and large-size OMNIBUS volumes, I must confess that I prefer the paper DC uses in its reprint books.  Marvel uses a glossy paper which reflects the light, whereas DC employs a matte paper which captures the mood of the traditional comics page.  I wish Marvel would follow suit.

Although DC published a replica edition of the first Batman Annual a few years ago, it's handy to have it and the subsequent two editions in the same volume.  Doubtless it would set collectors back a few quid to acquire original issues, so this handsome hardback edition with a dynamic dustjacket is just the ticket for all those of you who haven't yet won the lottery.

Featuring such tales as - oh stuff it - there are far too many to mention.  You'll just have to get your own copy to discover just what Dark Knight delights it contains.  The perfect Christmas present to give yourself before December 25th.

ISBN #978-1-4012-2192-8

"The MAN BEHIND The RED HOOD!" FAVOURITE COMICS Of The PAST - PART TWENTY-ONE...

Images copyright DC COMICS

Ah, Rothesay, 1970.  How it all comes back to me.  The sound of the gulls, the smell of the sand and the sea - and Giant BATMAN (G61) #213.  Emerging from the little side-street newsagent's clutching my prize, I was soon immersed in its pages as we (my parents and brother) strolled through the picturesque alleys of the Scottish seaside resort.  (As I type this, I'm besieged by a nagging doubt as to whether my bruv obtained his copy of The FLASH #190 from the same source on the same day, or from another newsagent's on the early evening of a different day.  On reflection, I think it was the latter.)

If memory serves (it gets lazier the older I get), it was on this holiday that I also bought a cheap articulated figure with bendy rubber arms.  I had the boots from a PEDIGREE CAPTAIN SCARLET action figure with me (having swapped an ACTION MAN for it with a pal some time before), and when I placed them on the cheapo figure (I steadfastly refuse to use the word 'doll'), so tight were they that when I pulled them off, the feet came off with them.  A couple of nuts and bolts from a small hardware store soon rectified the problem, but so annoyed was I with those confounded boots that I threw them from the far end of the pier into the sea.  Sacrilege!  The boots alone would probably fetch a tidy sum on eBay nowadays.

(Before we proceed, I should perhaps allay your horror at the above act by saying I now have two Pedigree CA figures, complete with boots, so I feel that - given what they cost me - I've now repaid my debt to society for my heinous crime.)

Anyway, returning to the Batman, this big 30th Anniversary Special included a new version of "The ORIGIN Of ROBIN!", plus "HERE COMES ALFRED!", "The MAN BEHIND The RED HOOD!", "The CHALLENGE Of CLAY-FACE!", as well as a solo Robin adventure entitled "The GAME Of DEATH!"  Essentially, most of them were origin tales, although I recall reading in a later issue's letters page that the Alfred story had been traced from the original published comic as proofs were unavailable at the time.  Quite a few early Batman tales were re-created utilising this method, including his debut appearance from DETECTIVE COMICS #27, which was even used for the very first ARCHIVE EDITIONS of ol' Bats.  I seem to remember that the Red Hood story also received this treatment, but I'm not 100% certain after all this time.

So, let's have a look back at some of the pages from this landmark issue, purchased in the holidays between my transition from Primary school to Secondary.  To me, it will ever scream "Rothesay, 1970!", but to you, dear readers, it will doubtless have its own sweet memories and associations.  Why not take this opportunity to relive them now - and then share them with your fellow 'Criv-ites' in the comments section?