13 COVERS!
Unless it’s the occasional “slice of Gotham” story, Batman these days only fights his city’s most notorious, horrific villains — a larger-than-life figure dueling other larger-than-life figures.
The idea of having a Big Time Bad Guy every time out dates to the 1966 Batman TV show, with its villain-of-the week formula. For years before that, however, the Caped Crusader battled a litany of colorless thugs and malefactors, mixed in with the Joker, Penguin and Catwoman stories.
Found this online. Not sure who created it, but if it’s you, let me know! — Dan
But those fedora-wearing mobsters weren’t pushovers: They frequently got the jump on our heroes, even if, in the end, the Dynamic Duo always prevailed.
The everyday crook made something of a comeback once Batmania ended, but by the mid-’70s, the Darknight Detective was increasingly menaced again by his colorful rogues gallery, as well as costumed pretenders. Today, almost every Batman story tries to be an opera of epic proportions, with the gunsels and gangsters generally relegated to cannon fodder.
Alex Ross
But let’s return to the Golden Age, when Batman and Robin were as likely (if not more so) to fight random gangsters as they were the likes of the Scarecrow or Two-Face — even on the front of the book.
Dig these 13 COVERS, from 1939 to 1949:
Bob Kane
Dick Sprang pencils, Charles Paris inks
Kane pencils, Jerry Robinson inks
Sprang
Fred Ray pencils, Robinson inks
Sprang
Kane pencils and inks, with Robinson inks
Win Mortimer pencils, Paris inks
Sprang
Jack Burnley
Kane and Robinson
Paul Cooper pencils, Ray Burnley inks
Jack Burnley and Paris
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MORE
— HOLY POP-TARTS! WAYNE BORING’s Rare Foray Into BATMAN. Click here.
— CINCO DE MAYO: Dig These 13 Muy Bueno NEAL ADAMS MEXICAN BATMAN COVERS. Click here.
