Blog Archives
Comic Cover Of The Week: Battle Of The Batmen!
That’s correct, old chum, these burly, brawly bodacious Batmen are battling it out once more, to see which of these utterly captivating comic cover classics end up on top of this breathtaking bat-pile! Delightful and dazzling DC Comics have bestowed upon us, humble comic book fans, another perfect plethora of phenomenal pictorials starring everyone’s favourite curmudgeonly creature of the night – The Batman, but which of these cool and creatively compelling covers will win out in the end… only YOU can decide.
Another month, another bustling, brimming battalion of brush-stroked Batmen! DC Comics know what their frenzied fans want, and that is, apparently, a cavernous cadre of crazy chiroptera clad comic covers, there’s more images of the dark and surly one here than you could shake a batarang at, but which of this cavalcade of caped crusaders is your fave? Why not sound off in the comments below, fellow fans of fantastic fiction!
Batman #134 – Variant Cover By – Stanley (Artgerm) Lau
The Batman & Scooby Doo Mysteries #7 – Cover by – Dario Brizuela
Batman #134 – Cover By – Joe Quesada
Batman & The Joker: The Deadly Duo #6 – Cover By – Marc Silvestri
Batman Incorporated #7 – Cover By – Mico Suayan
This Brethren Of Bodacious Bat-Books Are Available At Your Local Comic-Book Emporium, Right Now!
Batman and all related characters and imagery are copyright: DC Comics.
Daily Dose Of DC…
On this very day, 84 years ago, The Batman made his first ever appearance in Detective Comics #27, featured in the thrilling tale – The Case Of The Chemical Syndicate – brought to you by his astounding architects – Bill Finger and Bob Kane.
The highest graded copy of ‘Tec #27 is a CGC 9.2 Near Mint, which, if it was to ever see auction today is estimated to exceed a staggering £2.5 million pounds (around $3 million dollars) The most expensive copy ever sold was a CGC 8.0 Very Fine, which sold in 2010 for a whopping £890,000 or $1.1 million!
Happy Birthday Bruce!
Happy 40th Anniversary – Jason Todd!
“Tell me what bothers you more, Bruce, that your greatest failure has returned from the grave, or that I’ve become a better Batman than you!?”
As I’ve mentioned on a number of occasions, I’ve been a huge fan of the big, bad bat since the tender age of six, and though I initially discovered the character in the late seventies, I was way too young to appreciate the nuance and depth of the tantalising tales that beset my young eyes in publications such as Batman and Detective Comics. And so, it was the eighties that my appreciation of the Caped Crusader really took flight, through scintillating storylines regaled to me by such luminaries as Gerry Conway, Frank Miller and Alan Grant. The eighties were also a time of change for the Dynamic Duo themselves, as Batman’s lifelong partner against crime – Dick Grayson vacated his role as teen sidekick – Robin, all grown up and now wearing his big boy pants, he flew the nest and became the fun loving quip-tastic costumed crimefighter known as Nightwing!
Leaving poor ol’ Batsy rudderless, as Dick acted as his moral compass and helped bear a lot of the pain and pressure that comes with wading through the villainous detritus that the streets of Gotham spewed forth, Batman’s crusade got darker, and the bat himself, meaner and even more violent, a Batman without Robin was a minacious prospect. Luckily (or, maybe not so, with context) Batman would soon have a new soldier in his never ending fight against crime, a young street urchin named Jason Todd, a troubled youth who looked set to live a troubled life, in fact the first time Batsy met the wayward juvenile, he was in the middle of boosting the tyres… from the Batmobile!
And so, a new Robin was born, as Batman took the teen terror under his (bat)wing and attempted to instil a sense of righteouness and discipline into his new ward. Unlike the previous Boy Wonder, who was an amiable, affable and grounded individual, Jason was an angry and splenetic young man, and though, over the years as Batman’s sidekick, he seemed to mellow slightly, his anger at the injustices life had wrought unto him, never really went away. Until one day, in an ill fated meeting with the jester of genocide himself – The Joker, Jason lost his life after a savage beating by crowbar and ultimately a bomb placed beside the bloodied and bound young crimefighter, Batman arrived mere minutes after the devastating explosion, and, unable to save his life, spiralled downwards into uncontrollable grief and anguish. Surprisingly though, not too long after this, Jason, somehow, returned, but this time he was… different.
Eco-terrorist – Ra’s Al Ghul, who felt partly responsible for Jason’s untimely demise, because of his own dealings with the Joker at the time, exhumed his corpse and bathed the body in the life giving waters of the Lazarus Pit, which brought Jason back, meaner, madder and with a vengeance streak a mile long. Jason returned to Gotham under a new guise – The Red Hood, and with lethal force began tearing down the mad machinations of the various Supervillains and crazies, whereas an encounter with The Batman would, at worst, end with a visit to the hospital emergency room and six months in traction, a similar confrontation with ol’ Hoody would mean a handgrenade in the mouth and a ten inch blade buried in the head!
After a violent second encounter with the clown prince of crime (this time, Jason came equipped with the crowbar!) and a soul searching, yet brutal fight against his former mentor, Batman, Jason is once again caught in a calamitous explosion from a device set earlier by the Joker, which sends all three antagonists plummeting into Gotham Bay. Surfacing sometime later, Jason returned as the vilified vigilante, but toned down his murderous side to some degree, and would partner up with many other of DC’s popular heroes and anti-heroes under the guise of the super-team – Red Hood and the Outlaws, and in due course mended his broken trust and friendship with his mentor and surrogate father – Bruce Wayne.
Precinct1313 highly recommends both the Under The Red Hood, and, Batman: Death In The Family movies for a further deep dive into Jason’s tragic upbringing and eventual death and vehement rebirth.
Daily Dose Of DC…
2023 marks the eightieth anniversary of the very first live action appearances of the Dark Knight Detective – Batman and Boy Wonder – Robin, whose dynamic debuts were in the 1943, 15 chapter serial series: The Batman, directed by Lambert Hillyer and starring Lewis Wilson as Batman/Bruce Wayne and Douglas Croft as Robin/Dick Grayson.
Batman & Robin are copyright: DC Comics.
Comic Cover… Of The Year!
Felicitations, fellow fans of fantastic festive fiction, and welcome to our astonishing award for the most outstanding comic cover of space year 2022!
That’s right, the magical mansion of mystery – Precinct1313 has re-materialised back unto your physical plane after an extended stay in the Phantom Zone, where it lay unfettered as it recharged it’s mystic batteries. And, phew! we’re back just in time to share our absolute fave comic cover of the year, and with so many cool and compelling covers released this annum it’s been a rather difficult decision, but we ultimately landed on this pictorial piece of perfection, the Batman #1066 watercolour variant by the dynamic Colleen Doran.
This absolutely astonishing piece of art from Colleen recreates Herbert Draper’s classic oil painting – The Lament For Icarus – the opulent oil painting, first unveiled in 1898, depicts the deceased Icarus surrounded by lamenting nymphs and currently resides in the Tate Gallery, UK. Colleen’s vivid and vivacious variant of this cover is exquisite, re-creating Draper’s original vision perfectly, depicting a dying Batman surrounded by a bevy of Batgirls – Babs Gordon, Cassandra Cain and Stephanie Brown.
Many congratulations to Colleen for this year’s standout cover, but we’d be remiss if we didn’t, at least, provide a visual tour of some of our other fave covers from this year that were considered for the coveted title but didn’t quite match the ingenuity of Colleen’s standout piece.
Harley Quinn’s Plundering of DC Comics’ Past…
Bruno Redondo’s Outstanding Run On Nightwing…
DC Comics’ Pride 2022 Covers…
Happy Holidays!
(All art and imagery copyright – DC Comics)
Happy Batman Day!
Nana, nana, nana, nana, Batma… oh hey there, my bodacious bat-brethren, do please excuse my reciting of the classic Batman theme from Adam West’s sixties extravaganza, now that was a time when the curmudgeonly creature of the night actually enjoyed fighting crime, he even joked and (unbelievable I know) SMILED!
Of course, the swinging sixties was very much a different time and place, in fact Silver Age Batman smiled, joked, cajoled and inherently enjoyed being the Caped Crusader, this variant of the character was a million miles away from the grimdark version of the Dark Knight. Though, sixties Bats was an anomaly caused by the Comics Code Authority that cracked down hard on the various adult storylines contained within comics such as Batman and Detective Comics.
When the sensational seventies hit, ol’ Batsy was reinstalled back to his rightful place as the creepy creature of the night who revelled in hunting down vile villains, and thrashing the dastardly and deadly denizens of Gotham to within an inch of their lives. Yet, there have been a number of lightheated and fun moments since his return to the despair and darkness that envelops his being, so for this particular anniversary post, let’s turn Batman’s frown upside down and celebrate his cute and cuddly side…
Not Sure If Superman Forcing Bats To Smile For A Selfie Counts, Yet Here We Are!
Ah Yes, The Legendary Bat-Smirk, This One Is Particularly Delightful ‘Cause He Just Managed To Relieve Green Lantern Of His Power Ring, Without Him Realising!
Yeah, That Would Creep Me Out Too!
Aww, Harley Loves Batsy Really, Look at Her, Sharing The Cupcakes…
He’s Just A Cuddly Costumed Vigilante Really, He Even Keeps Lollipops In His Utility Belt!
See, He’s Not Scary At All… Unless You’re A SuperVillain, And Then You’re Gonna End Up In Traction For Six Months!
Ok, This One Genuinely Made Me Laugh Out Loud, Maybe Bats Should Take Up Stand Up Comedy!
Love This Exchange Between Batman And Black Orchid From The Justice League Dark Animated Movie, Pure, Dry Batman Brilliance!
Sure, Joker May Be Laughing Right Now, But Just Seconds After This, Batman Kicked The Crap Out Of Him… Again!
So there you go, fellow Bat-Fans, a lighthearted look at the Masked Manhunter in celebration of Batman Day! That said, as jovial as he seems here, one thing you should never, ever do is criticise his choice of transport, he hates that!
Happy Batman Day!
We Can ‘Harley’ Believe That It’s Been 30 Years Since Ms Quinn’s Debut…
That’s right, it’s been three dynamic decades since the psychedelic psychopath of print was first unleashed onto an unsuspecting comic book universe, much to the chagrin of The Batman, but conversely to the delight of millions of comic book fans, for Harley truly is… one of the greatest comic-book characters ever conceived, and if you don’t agree, then her beloved mallet would like to have a word with you!
Former psychiatrist, Dr Harleen Quinzel was originally an Arkham Asylum intern who, after prolonged psychology sessions with crazed clown The Joker, was coerced into thinking that Batman was the ultimate cause of Joker’s insanely murderous high jinks. Slowly falling in love with the irascible psychotic, Harleen eventually aided the mirthful murderer to escape the asylum and joined him on his insane crusade to dispense madness, murder and mayhem on the populace of Gotham City.
Ms Quinn was created by Paul Dini and Bruce Timm and actually made her first ever appearance outside of the comic book format, on the critically acclaimed Batman: The Animated Series, in an episode titled “Joker’s Favour” which aired on the 11th September 1992.
Actress Arleen Sorkin was Paul Dini’s original inspiration for the clown princess of crime, after he caught her appearance in an episode of Days Of Our Lives, in which she appeared in a dream sequence wearing a Jester outfit. Dini and Sorkin had been friends since college, and he even incorporated certain facets of Arleen’s personality into the character (and, of course – Arleen/Harleen)
Though initially brought in as a throw away character, Harley proved so massively popular with the DC fanbase that she was ultimately ushered into DC Universe continuity in the 1994 graphic novel “Batman Adventures: Mad Love” which recounted her wild and wacky origin tale, written and drawn by her original co-creators Paul Dini and Bruce Timm.
Harley of course has, since that time, become a fantabulously fun force to be reckoned with both on and off the comic-book page, starring in both animated and live action movies, and is also without a shadow of a doubt, THE most most popular choice for depiction amongst cos-players across the globe.
Harley and Ivy Discuss… erm, Beavers!
Enough Already! My Ribs are Beginning To Ache!!
And So, Happy 30th Anniversary To That Marvellously Maniacal Mistress Of Mayhem – Harley Quinn!
*Please Note: No beavers were hurt during the production of this post, just tossed, stuffed, kidnapped (beaver-napped?) and made fun of… so that’s alright then!*
Comic Cover Of The Week: Wonder Woman #790
Well hey there, fellow fans of fantastic fiction, and welcome to yet another cool, compelling and creatively compulsory – Comic Cover Of The Week. The star of this week’s post is none other than Canadian artist supreme, the great Yanick Paquette and his rather stunning JG Jones homage for this months Wonder Woman #790.
JG Jones much loved cover classic was the first image that greeted Wondy fans when they got their fevered mitts on the fantastic 2002 Greg Rucka penned graphic novel – Wonder Woman: The Hiketeia. The Hiketeia was a standalone story by Greg Rucka and JG Jones that weaved the tale of a young woman named – Danny Welles invoking the ancestral rite of “The Hiketeia” which found Diana honour bound to protect and care for Danny by ancient Amazon tradition.
But, when Wonder Woman learns that Danny has sought out and killed the drug dealers who murdered her sister, it casts her into a tumult of indecision, which gets even worse when that curmudgeonly creature of the night – The Batman – turns up to bring Danny to justice. Wonder Woman is now faced with breaking her sacred oath to protect Danny or turning her back on injustice.
Though, ol’ Batsy made a huuuuge mistake when he came gunning for Wonder Woman, as he notoriously gets a bit too big for his Bat-boots, and Wondy unceremoniously puts him in his place – face deep in the mud! Moral of this tale – don’t upset the overtly powerful, millennia old demi-god, even if you are The Batman!
Wonder Woman #790 Is Available From Your Local Comic-Book Emporium Right Now!
Daily Dose Of DC…
56 years ago – July 1966 – “Batman” was released in cinemas, starring Adam West as Batman/Bruce Wayne and Burt Ward as Robin/Dick Grayson.
“Some days, you just can’t get rid of a bomb!”
Legendary Comic-Book Writer – Alan Grant – Passes Away At 73
It is with great sadness that we relay the tragic news that legendary British comic-book writer – Alan Grant passed away on July 20, 2022, at the age of 73.
Alan is one of my absolute favourite comic-book authors of all time, I first discovered his inordinate writing talent through Brit comic anthology – 2000AD, where he regaled the readers with his stunning takes on legendary characters such as Judge Dredd and Strontium Dog. But it was his acclaimed run on DC Comics’ Batman and Detective Comics that sealed him as a personal fave in the wonderful world of comics, alongside mainstay artist, the late Norm Breyfogle, Alan produced some of the my favourite tales of the Caped Crusader, it was during this run that he also co-created the rogues gallery characters – Anarky, Victor Zsasz and The Ventriloquist.
Alan was born in Bristol in 1949, but grew up in Scotland. After fleetingly working in a bank, Alan took a trainee position at a local newspaper. At 18 he joined publisher – DC Thomson, home to another classic Brit anthology comic – The Beano, it was during this tenure that he met lifelong comic-book cohorts – Pat Mills and John Wagner.
He moved to London in 1970, and joined publishing giant – IPC, where he worked as a writer and sub-editor, it was here that he was offered an editorial position on 2000AD. Going forward he became one of 2000AD’s most prolific writers with hard edged, anti-authoritarian tales like – “John Cassavetes Is Dead” and “Letter To A Democrat” his writing was inspired by left wing ideology, anarchism and Eastern philosophy. It was in the late 80s’ and throughout most of the 90s’ that Alan worked for DC Comics on their venerable Bat titles and also wrote the celebrated – Judgement On Gotham, the awesome Judge Dredd/Batman crossover alongside Scottish artist – Simon Bisley.
Our thoughts go out to Alan’s family and friends at this very sad time.
Daily Dose Of DC…
When the Batmobile runs out of fuel and you’ve misplaced your grapnel gun…
(Daily dose of DC is a brand new series of posts where we’ll share our per diem adoration for DC Comics through a lighthearted and occasionally poignant quotidian of illustrious images featuring the world’s greatest superheroes. So, we’ll meet you here again on the morrow for even more levity and laughs, my lovelies!)
Precinct1313 Breaking News: Batman Caught Walloping Wildlife!
Yep, it appears that The Batman is such a bad-arse that when he isn’t out fighting crime he spends his day punching tigers… PUNCHING TIGERS!
Now, look here Bats, we love ya man but is it absolutely necessary to pick on those poor defenceless tigers?
Oh, after a little digging around it appears that this isn’t a single time incident, the dark and surly one has been whomping wildlife since the beginning, and apparently even found a way to go back in time for some dinosaur dunking!!
Ye Gods Man! Can You Stop Already!!
!!!
(Disclaimer – I’m sure there was a very good reason ol’ Batsy had for these ( ever so slightly) out of context actions… oh, and I’m a member of PETA and love their work)
Eight Years In Precinct1313 – An Anniversary Special
Welcome, fellow agents of Precinct1313, to our ebullient eighth anniversary! That’s right, the majestic mansion of mystery first materialised unto this plane of existence in 2014, it’s mission (which we absolutely chose to accept) was to provide you with some decidedly delectable DC Comics documentation, whilst behind the scenes we continued to map out the convoluted corridors, herculean hallways and colossal comic crypts that compose this recondite residence.
Shortly, as is our tradition, we shall be making our merry way down to the Precinct’s fabled – Great Halls Of Quaffing – to celebrate in style, along the way though, we shall take a short excursion and visit the abstruse anomaly known as the – Scrying Chamber – whence sits, upon a single stone table, a stygian black crystal ball. So why not join me, fellow fans of fantastic fiction, as we stare deep into its sanguine depths and re-live some of our favourite posts from the past eight enthralling years…
World’s Finest – Interview Series
A mainstay of of the Precinct over the years (and my absolute favourite posts to write) was the – Worlds’ Finest: Interview – series, where each episode we would invite our most treasured – Superheroes, SuperVillains, Costumed Crimefighters, Dimension Dwelling Demons, and, of course, Super-Pets to answer a quotient of quintessentialy quirky questions about life, the universe and cake (’cause everyone loves cake!)
Classic characters such as – Circe, Harley Quinn, and Cheetah have darkened the Precinct’s media studio, and have – harassed, bludgeoned, nibbled and vexed our poor hapless interviewer, with his deadly denouement happening at a final, fatal interview with Judge Death, almost two years past. I’m very happy to announce the imminent return of World’s Finest and, also, our original interviewer! thanks to Ra’s al Ghul’s much appreciated offer to plonk him in his Lazarus pit! So keep your eyes peeled for World’s Finest: Series 2, which will include interviews with the likes of Rorschach, Zatanna, and The Scarecrow!
Ace, Krypto and Streaky Too!
One of our more recent posts, and one that was without a doubt absolutely massive fun to write was this post dedicated to the awesomely adorable animals that populate the DC Universe. These super-powered pets include such dynamic delights as – flying felines, detective deducing dogs and, yep, even a Bat-Cow!! You can peruse (and pet) this perky post – Right Here.
Wonder Woman: Tempest Tossed
As you’re all probably bored of hearing right now , ’cause we never, ever shut up about it (and never shall!) we love Wondy here in Precinct1313, she is our favourite comic book creation of all time! And just recently the glorious gods of Olympus once more bestowed upon us mere mortals yet another thrilling tale of the Themysciran Titan with the fabulous Laurie Halse Anderson penned opus – Tempest Tossed – a sublime celebration of the wondrous one, and you can read our rapturous review of this titanic tome – Right Here.
The Bat Loves The Cat
The Bat most assuredly does love the cat, in fact they’ve been dancing around each other emotionally for the past eight decades! Yep, that’s eighty years of perfect passion procrastination! No character has had a more emotive impact on the Dark Knight’s melancholic life than sultry Selina Kyle aka -Catwoman! Why not re-live their tender tale of romance – Right Here.
Phew, thanks for sticking with us as we shared some of our personal favourite posts we have submitted to the WordPress world over the past eight years, and as we near the great Halls of Quaffing for mucho merriment, allow me to say a massive THANK YOU to all of the Precinct’s followers, readers and fellow bloggers… it is YOU that makes this joyous journey worthwhile.
Oh, And As Ever – Make Mine DC!
DC Comics Unveil June Pride Issues
Well hey there, fellow fans of fantastic fiction, and welcome to the very first day of the 2022 Pride Month celebrations, it’s lovely to see you all gathered here in the Precinct’s legendary Comic Crypts to help us celebrate diversity and inclusion.
Pride Month is imperative in raising awareness of the LGBTQ+ community and other societal implications. The month of June was originally chosen for it’s context to the 1969 Stonewall riots, where the LGBT community of the time held a series of protests and demonstrations against an unjust raid at the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich village.
DC Comics themselves have a long standing within the LGBTQ+ community, with a number of their heroes and villains being gay, trans and bisexual, beginning with their first ever gay character – Extrano – the magical based Superhero created by Joe Staton and Steve Englehart in 1987. Since that time DC have led the way for inclusionary characters with, quite possibly, their most famous being Kate Kane aka – Batwoman.
From the 7th of June you’ll be able to get your majestic mitts on a variety of outstanding proud comic cover classics from a perfect plethora of DC’s very best artistic auteurs, featuring a compelling cast of DC’s leading LGBTQ+ characters including Nubia, Jon Kent, Harley and Ivy, Jackson Hyde and many more…
Plus, alongside all this comic cover loveliness, DC will also be releasing a 100 page anthology comic featuring 13 all new stories spotlighting their LGBTQ fan favourite characters written and illustrated by some of the very best writers and artists in the comic-book field including – Devin Grayson, Stephanie Phillips, Alyssa Wong, Zoe Thorogood Jen Bartel, Phil Jimenez and even ol’ Batsy himself, the awesome – Kevin Conroy (legendary voice artist for the Dark Knight in Batman: The Animated Series)
DC Comics’ Pride 2022 #1 Will Be Available At Your Local Comic-Book Emporium From June 7th.
DC Comics Showcase Summer Swimsuit Specials!
Merciful Minerva! DC Comics, that bodacious bastion of superlative superheroics, has (literally!) unveiled it’s pantheon of costume clad crimefighters, and villains, in an upcoming comic cover event that sees their finest heroes and enemies peel off their spandex and show some skin in a sassy, sinewy summer swimsuit showcase special!
That’s right, fellow fans of fantastic flirty fiction, some of DC’s most popular characters will be donning their saucy speedos and bodacious bikinis in a new variant cover series releasing this August. Yep, even the notorious curmudgeonly creature of the night known as The Batman will don his bat-trunks to kick sand in the face of The Joker! alongside another nine naughty but nice heroes and villains including Nightwing, Nubia, Supergirl and Deathstroke.
These vivacious variants are brought to you by some of the very best artists working in the wonderful world of comics today including – Nicola Scott (Nightwing #95 variant), Derek Chew (Nubia #3) Mikel Janin (Batman #126), Emanuela Lupacchino (Black Adam #3) and many more.
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