Long, long, long overdue… Every so often, we post lists of 13 Facsimile Editions we’d like to see, whether from DC or Marvel. A lot of the issues have come to fruition, so we’re probably due for another list or two. But before we even go down that road, I want to make a special plea for an issue that just happens to be celebrating its 75th anniversary this month: 1950’s Detective Comics #168, featuring the revelation that the Joker began his career as a mysterious criminal called the Red Hood. The story — by Bill Finger, Lew Sayre Schwartz, George Roussos, with a minor assist by Win Mortimer — has been reprinted many times but the issue itself is absolutely crying out for the Facsimile treatment, especially when you consider how many Bat-first issues we’ve gotten to date. Off the top of my head, the lineup includes the first appearances of Batman, Robin, the Joker, Catwoman, the Penguin, the Riddler, Two-Face, the original Clayface, Poison Ivy, Man-Bat, Talia, Ra’s al Ghul, Jason Todd, his guise as the modern Red Hood, and Damian Wayne, not to mention vehicles — even the Batarang! There have also been Facsimiles just to highlight famous covers. Detective Comics #168 has you covered on both points — its memorable cover was recreated some years back by Mike Mignola as a DC 75th Anniversary variant. (That art could even be used again as a variant for a Facsimile.) I have to imagine it’s only a matter of time before this happens. I’m just surprised it hasn’t happened yet: As I noted, the ish just celebrated 75 years on Dec. 20; further, the Joker is a franchise in his own right. (Two Oscars!) There have been plenty of opportunities — hell, the Joker and Red Hood just faced off in the event DC K.O. And Matt Fraction and Jorge Jimenez will be tackling a very different kind of Joker in March. The original Red Hood also has at least four action figures that I know of. And still… nothing. Perhaps there’s something objectionable in one of the ads or one of the back-ups? Or maybe DC doesn’t have a copy suitable for reproduction? (The issue isn’t on DC Universe Infinite.) All I can do is speculate. And all I can do is ask that DC right...
BRONZE AGE BONANZA completes another year with the best of the best… — Welcome to BRONZE AGE BONANZA — our monthly series that looks at the greatest covers of the Bronze Age — exactly 50 years later. For more info on this feature, click here. — Welcome to our sixth BRONZE AGE BONANZA annual wrap-up! That’s right, BAB has been a 13th Dimension staple for six years now, and for the third year in a row, our TOP 13 COVERS of the year were voted upon by the site’s regular (and recurring) contributors, via weighted ballots. (I used to do it all by my lonesome.) Anyway, here’s how the vote worked: I took the winners of each month and included a couple of wild-card picks, as we do every year. (Gotta have 13, right?) One monthly winner didn’t make the final cut simply because some months were stronger than others. For example, a No. 2 in Month A might be a better pick than a No. 1 in Month B. It’s all subjective but it gives a better survey of the year overall. Here, by the way, is the No. 1 pick that missed the final cut, from February: Great cover, to be sure, with an outstanding pedigree. It’s the just that, to me, the Conan magazine covers start to look samey after a while, so it fell just short. But, hey, 14th out of an entire year of covers is no shame. OK, so who voted, besides me? A Murderer’s Row of comics writers, artists, experts and superfans: Paul “The Celebrated Mr. K” Kupperberg; Mighty Jim Beard; Prolific Peter Bosch; Merry Kerry Callen; the singularly named Franco; Cavortin’ Chris Franklin; Wallopin’ Walt Grogan; Ramblin’ Rob Kelly; Bill “The Thrill” Morrison; Pistol Pete Stone; Dapper Des Taylor, Scrappy Scott Tipton; Fab Freddy Van Lente; and newbies Dakota Alexander and Jason Czernich, who haven’t earned their nicknames yet. Each voter listed their preferences in order, with 13 points going to the top pick, 12 points to the No. 2 pick, and so forth. The max number of points, then, was 208. (There were a record 16 of us this year!) For each entry, you’ll see the point total, overall observations, whether someone picked the cover as No. 1, plus the comments (slightly edited) I made in the monthly BRONZE AGE...
EXCLUSIVE GUEST COLUMN: It’s the Daughter of the Demon’s 50th anniversary – and nobody has drawn her better…
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The mighty JIM BEARD pays a birthday tribute to a Bronze Age stalwart…
