BATMAN’S HOT-LINE | 13th Dimension, Comics, Creators, Culture

Nov05

PAUL KUPPERBERG: My 13 Favorite Comic Book Back-Up Stories

Posted by Dan Greenfield on Nov 5, 2026

PAUL KUPPERBERG: My 13 Favorite Comic Book Back-Up Stories

The celebrated Mr. K finds that sometimes the real hits are on the B side… — UPDATED 11/5/26: Diggin’ in the vault time — when we go deep into the recesses of the shadowy subterranean 13th Dimension headquarters for great columns that deserve another look. Just for kicks! This one first ran in May 2021. Right on! — Dan — Columnist Paul Kupperberg takes up a big challenge with this one — and I’m sure you have your faves too. (Mine is Batman #250’s “The Batman Nobody Knows!” by Frank Robbins and Dick Giordano. So dig Paul’s list, then feel free to add your own favorites in the comments. Oh! And check out Paul’s latest project too: Son of the Unpublished Comic Book Scripts of Paul Kupperberg. (Click here to order!) — Dan — By PAUL KUPPERBERG Back-up stories in mainstream comics used to be a lot more common than they are today. There were entire titles that were nothing but back-up stories, mostly genre books like House of Mystery, Strange Adventures, and just about everything Charlton Comics published. Back-ups were called that because they backed up the title slot in short stories that generally ran five to eight, sometimes 10 pages. I always loved a good done-in-one back-up story. As a reader, they are the icing on the comic book cake, a sweet little bit of something extra topping an already delicious treat. As a writer, they’re an opportunity to do fun or interesting little one-off stories that focus on a single character or situation, capturing a moment or an event without any strings attached. They can also be a challenge to write; a six-pager runs about three dozen or so panels (assuming six panels per page), which doesn’t allow for wasted space or poorly paced storytelling. On the other hand, when creators get it right, that’s when the magic happens. These are a few of the stories that stuck in my memory from my decades of comic book reading. There are dozens, likely hundreds, more if I did a really deep dive into different anthology comics, but for this week’s selections I’m sticking with superhero and action/adventure stories featuring ongoing characters. The only exception to the back-up feature rule I’ve allowed is the Will Eisner Spirit story because even though it headlined the publication in which it...

Nov04

BATMAN CONTINUES: The 1989 JERRY ORDWAY Series That Should Have Been

Posted by Dan Greenfield on Nov 4, 2026

BATMAN CONTINUES: The 1989 JERRY ORDWAY Series That Should Have Been

Welcome to the first WALT WEDNESDAYS! — Welcome to our newest feature here at 13th Dimension — WALT WEDNESDAYS, a weekly spotlight on the work of longtime contributor Walt Grogan! Click here for more on this new smash hit! — Dan — By WALT GROGAN Jerry Ordway is well known for his stints on both Superman and the original Captain Marvel But he’s also connected to the Darknight Detective as the artist behind the comic book adaptation of the Tim Burton-directed 1989 Batman movie. The film, produced by Benjamin Melniker and former DC Woodchuck Michael Uslan, was a distinct departure from the Pow—Bam—Zap days of Adam West’s 1966 TV show and ushered into popular culture a more serious Batman. The movie’s comic-book adaptation, written by Denny O’Neil and penciled and inked by Ordway, was a master class in bringing a movie to life on the four-color page, with a taut translation of the story, compelling layouts and spot-on likenesses of the main cast. In the 35-plus years since the adaptation’s release, Jerry has produced multiple Batman commissions based on his interpretation of the film’s Dark Knight. Check this one out: My favorite aspect is how he draws the Masked Manhunter’s cape. His shading produces such realistic folds, and really brings the costume to life! It’s almost like the cape is a character in its own right. Which is why I’ll never understand why Jerry didn’t get the nod to do an extended run on Batman or Detective Comics, or why DC didn’t continue the movie as an ongoing monthly after the film’s release. Well, to see what might have been, I colored and trade-dressed the image above and — Holy Missed Opportunity! — I would have bought the heck out of it! As a bonus, here’s a faux house ad promoting the series! I would be remiss if I didn’t point out that DC came around back in 2021, and published a six-issue Batman ’89 miniseries by original movie screenwriter Sam Hamm and artist Joe Quinones (with an Ordway variant cover for the first issue), and a follow-up, Batman ’89: Echoes, in 2024. — Want more WALT WEDNESDAYS? Come back next week! — MORE — Introducing… WALT WEDNESDAYS! Click here. — THE SUPERNATURAL SOIREE: Dig This DC WHO’S WHO Halloween Jam Piece — a WALT WEDNESDAYS Preview. Click here. —...

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