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| Images copyright DC COMICS |
Part one of this DETECTIVE COMICS cover gallery had 11 covers, this part has 13, so why didn't I do 12 covers each? Simple! I wanted to keep the issues where BATMAN operated on his own separate from the ones with ROBIN The BOY WONDER.
I'm not really into sidekicks, to be honest. The only one that ever worked (initially anyway) was RICK JONES (seeing as he was the catalyst for The HULK's origin), but even he soon wore out his welcome. In the case of Batman, I always thought that he worked better on his own, which is why I loved the early '70s tales where Robin went to college and disappeared from the scene - apart from his own back-up tales that is.
Anyway, that's enough prattling preamble from me - enjoy these 13 classic covers from The DARK KNIGHT's earliest days. (And be sure to let me know which ones you prefer.)
Whether one liked it or not, the introduction of Robin was a significant and influential event. It was then that the Batman series began to gradually move away from the grim Dark Knight image and toward a lighter, straight superhero tone. (Although you could argue whether the kid sidekick caused Batman to lighten up, or if Robin was part of a "softening up" trend that had already started.)
ReplyDeleteOf course, there was a lot of sincere flattery: Captain America and Bucky, Human Torch and Toro, Green Arrow and Speedy, the Shield and Dusty, etc., etc., etc.
Apparently, there are no child welfare authorities in the comic book universes. Those heroes never seemed to get into trouble for taking minors with them while chasing dangerous criminals and foreign spies.
Yeah, but moving away from the grim Dark Knight image was a mistake in my view, in that it compromised the character's 'integrity' and led to all those daft SF stories of the '50s that almost got the Batman comics cancelled. So I still hate sidekicks!
ReplyDeleteConsidering that those kids main disguise was a domino mask, it should have been pretty obvious just who their adult companion's secret identity really was. Ah, well - comics were for kids back then.