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There's something about Detective Comics #416 that seems awfully familiar to me as I thumb through its pages, so I think it's highly likely that I had it way back when. I'd forgotten it until seeing it recently on Super Stuff In The Bronze Age, whereupon I immediately bought a copy via eBay. It arrived on the same day as Action Comics #398 (previous post), but it's only now I've found the time to scan a few pages and let you have a look at what you're missing if you don't already have this classic from yesteryear.
Interestingly, three other titles are advertised (separately, on different pages) in this mag and they're all by Jack Kirby. The first is Mister Miracle #5, the second, Spirit World #1 (and only), and the third, Jimmy Olsen #142. However, that's by-the-by; it's the art of Frank Robbins which is the main reason for this post. Robbins was a controversial artist among readers, with some loving his art and others hating it in equal measure. It's surprising, though, just how many who weren't fans back then, now say they've since grown to appreciate (and even love) his art and storytelling.
Anyway, here are a few pages to give you a taste of the contents. Just think - only 7 and a 1/2 pence for all this. What a bargain, eh?
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That is truly a great comic, Kid, and glad you enjoyed it. (And thanks for the plug for SuperStuff in the Bronze Age). Those 48-pagers were such great value, with two new stories PLUS back-up reprints.I must go back and re-read all of Robbins' Batman stories Robbins wrote, as I think they were some of the best detective and adventure yarns by any writer in the Bronze Age.
ReplyDeleteAs you will be aware I was one of those folk that was not a fan of Robbins art at the start but are now a big fan ( well from the late 1970 s onwards). Probably at that time a comic featuring Robbins and Don Heck art would not fave gone down well with most fans, certainly for me it was comic book hell. Add a Toth reprint to that and that's 3 of my favourite artists now.
ReplyDeleteWhen I get a moment, B, I'll transform that plug into a link to your post about #416. DC very soon started including the covers in the page count, so 48 became 52, which seems even greater value, though 3 of those 4 pages were ads, the other page being the front cover. I think I'll start collecting more of them: Batman, Detective Comics, World's Finest, etc. Great stuff!
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Robbins' art might not have suited just any strip, McS, but he was good on Batman and I enjoyed his Captain America issue before Kirby returned to the title. I loved Don Heck on Iron Man and The Avengers, and even though he draws Batgirl quite well, you can see a loosening of his style from his '60s heyday. With Toth's work, I'm a bit more selective, it depends on who's inking him, but he was a good visual storyteller.
There's an image of Batman in the cover's top-left corner and ditto with Superman on the cover in the previous post. Some of the later Lois Lane covers showed Superman & Lois in the top-left corner so I assume this was all part of a brief attempt by DC to emulate Marvel's corner boxes?
ReplyDeleteI'd say it was a safe assumption, CJ, and one I subscribe to myself. Jack Kirby did corner illos for his DC mags, but his image for Jimmy Olsen wasn't used, with one by Curt Swan and Murphy Anderson being utilised instead.
ReplyDeleteThanks for adding the link to the SuperStuff blog, Kid. Much appreciated.
ReplyDeleteRe your comment on the 48-pagers: I’ve been working on getting a complete set of reading copies of all the 48-page and 52-page DC comics from mid-71 to mid-72 for a while now. Am most of the way there, although the humour and romance comics are hard to come by, with the romance comics attracting quite high prices due to scarcity caused by relatively low print runs back in the day.
I've considered doing the same thing myself for a while now, B, but I may restrict my purchases to just the titles I usually bought at the time, not romance mags as they wouldn't have interested me then. I've already got all the 48/52 page Kirby mags, Superman, Action Comics, and Lois Lane, so that leaves missing issues of World's Finest, Superboy, Batman, Detective Comics and one or two others perhaps.
ReplyDeleteI've been ( trying) to pick these up as well ( and the 100 and 64 pagers) where I see them at a decent price. I picked up a couple of Marvel romance comics a few years ago and the art is exceptional ( I buy most comics for art as well as nostalgia). Like baggsey I rarely see humour comics ( barring Archies) but Idid manage to get a DC Binky 64 pagers and a Plop! Giant for £2 each.
ReplyDeleteCan't recall if I've ever seen any of the Marvel Romance titles, McS. I managed to buy the first Plop! Giant issue a couple or so years back, though can't remember if I've read it yet or not. (I've also got the first 3 issues of Plop!, but they're standard-dsize mags.)
ReplyDeleteI thought Heck was a competent layout man but his work never popped for me until I saw Wood ink his work.
ReplyDeleteRobbins I liked on the Shadow, tolerated on Batman but though his Invaders work was horrid.
Well, Wood had that effect on the work of most artists, PS. I was never a huge fan of The Invaders, but not because of Robbins' art. His style probably suited some characters more than others though.
ReplyDeleteI came to appreciate Robbins in some cases. I enjoyed his Batman and Invaders (and that Farmer’s Daughter story he did in Plop!), but I didn’t really like his work with The Shadow (such a jarring change from Kaluta) or Captain America (though I do like it better now). I like him more now than I did then, though. Odd that I like his Invaders but not Captain America…..just a better fair for the era represented maybe.
ReplyDeleteGraham
Anybody remember Bell Boy Bubble Gum. I always used to chomp on it. Perfect with comic reading time .
ReplyDeleteI'd have loved to see Robbins' pencils inked by someone like Sinnott, G, just to see what the result would've been like. That would've been interesting.
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Aghhh, NO, LH. All forms of that 'confectionery' are disgusting and should never have been allowed to see the light of day. Mars Bars are perfect when reading comics.
Mars bars put chocolate stains on the pages at least bubble gum explodes on your face.
ReplyDeleteNah, you keep the open-topped wrapper on the Mars Bar and push it up for each bite - nae problem at all. And what a horrible, disgusting scenario you've just painted with that last bit, LH. UGH!
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