TRIPLE FEATURE: A classic is revisited… — UPDATED 10/24/26: It’s our yearly Batman #237 triple feature — celebrating tonight’s annual Rutland, Vermont, Halloween Parade! There’s the piece below; a look at Adams’ spooky cover color guide; and a wonderfully warm feature on the parade itself. Far out! — Dan — There are a gazillion Halloween-themed comics out there but there’s one that stands above them all: Batman #237 — 1971’s Night of the Reaper! by Denny O’Neil and Neal Adams. It’s probably the first cover I can remember seeing on the spinner rack: And the story itself is a high point in the celebrated O’Neil-Adams collaboration: Batman and Robin (and some of Dick Grayson’s very familiar-looking friends) find themselves in Rutland, Vermont, for the annual Halloween Parade. A killer dressed as the Grim Reaper stalks the town — and it’s revealed (SPOILER ALERT) that he’s a Holocaust survivor bent on revenge. It’s a story that begins with a lot of atmospheric humor and ends in poignant tragedy. It’s the best Halloween comic I’ve ever read — and it’s not even close. Adams himself called it “one of Denny’s richest and fullest stories.” And that’s saying something. I spoke to the late O’Neil and Adams about Batman #237 separately years ago as I was launching 13th Dimension. Each interview was a part of THE NEAL ADAMS INTERVIEWS and THE DENNY O’NEIL INTERVIEWS, respectively. I like to highlight those discussions every Halloween, so here they are, once again: — DENNY O’NEIL Talks About the Genesis of Batman #237. Click here. — NEAL ADAMS Talks About Creating the Classic Cover. Click here. — MORE — Neal Adams’ BATMAN #237 Color Guide Is Even Spookier Than the Final Cover. Click here. — A BATMANIA Tribute to TOM FAGAN and the Famed RUTLAND HALLOWEEN PARADE. Click...
TRIPLE FEATURE: A Halloween classic… — UPDATED 10/24/26: It’s our yearly Batman #237 triple feature — celebrating tonight’s annual Rutland, Vermont, Halloween Parade! There’s the 2022 piece, below; an INSIDE LOOK at the issue with insightful commentary by the late Denny O’Neil and Neal Adams; and a wonderfully warm feature on the parade itself. Not, boo! Yay! — Dan — Every year, I post a tribute of Batman #237, the greatest Halloween comic book of all time — and this year we’ve got a bit of curve for you. For one thing, there’s this week’s RETRO HOT PICKS, which covers the week in 1971 when the comic came out. Catch it here; you’ll be stunned by what other O’Neil-Adams classic came out the same day, Oct. 21. (And, of course, you can click here for what the late Denny O’Neil and Neal Adams had to say about this brilliant story.) But now, check this out — the color guide for the cover, which in its own way is even scarier than the final version: The guide, along with the cover proof, were sold at Heritage Auctions in 2021 for $576, including buyer’s premium. Dig the site’s description: “Batman #237 Cover Proof and Color Guide Signed by Neal Adams (DC, 1971). This group includes the 1-to-1 scale 1-sided printed cover proof, and the watercolor printer’s color guide. Both are signed by Neal Adams just below the 7″ x 10.25″ image areas. The color guide was created in watercolor over a print of the line art. Both are in Excellent condition and come with a COA stating they were part of the Jack Adler collection.” This says to me that Adler was the cover’s colorist but I do believe that it was Adams who did the guide, based in part on his comment to me in 2013: “We are surrounding him with red and now making him scary. Yeah, and you look at that dark space in the middle and you go like, ‘F—, what is that?’ You know, it’s not just the sides, you go into the black space there and you get sucked up in there. … It’s amazing how these things relate back to one another. Red is the color. Red, that’s the big one.” The big one indeed. As great as the illustration is, it’s that shocking red...
A BIRTHDAY SALUTE: The best of the greatest Boy Wonder…
McFarlane’s so-called “Villain’s Lair” is set for pre-order…
Happy Father’s Day, you Dads — and surrogate Dads!
