No, you won't find the lead subject of this week's On The Shelf in a trade paperback just yet, but since they are reprinting all things Batman, they're bound to do so eventually.
What I'm referring to is The Mystery Analysts of Gotham City, a recurring backup feature in Batman (1st series), which bowed in 1964. The Analysts include Batman himself, as well as police commissioner James Gordon, who, at the time, retained his original appearance as a stout, mid-size fellow, which would explain why the similarly sized Pat Hingle was cast as Gordon 25 years later in Tim Burton's "Batman". Gordon would undergo a permanent change to his present appearance, thanks in large part to the casting of Neil Hamilton for the 1966-8 Batman series, shortly after Bat-mania took hold.
Anyway, these short stories deserve to be collected. Golden Age vet Sheldon Moldoff was the artist, and does a splendid job setting the mood. And, yes, Robin did appear in at least one installment.
Rating: A.
We took a look because this feature was in the back of a facsimile reprint of Batman (1st series) 181, marking the debut of Poison Ivy, back in 1966. At the time, she was just another costumed criminal with sex appeal, a la Catwoman, but the character has been tweaked and evolved and devolved over 53 years, to the point where Ivy, now co-starring with bestie Harley Quinn in a new miniseries, is now more plant than human, which, while internet shippers are having a field day with Harley & Ivy back together, could lead to something involving Swamp Thing down the road.
Back to 1966. While Carmine Infantino & Murphy Anderson did the cover, Moldoff was the interior artist bringing life to Ivy, whose first story was written by Robert Kanigher. Too short, but then, if it was a book lengther, we would not be discussing the Mystery Analysts.
Rating: B.
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Everyone knows that Spider-Woman made her debut in Marvel Spotlight (1st series), and Marvel didn't waste any time spinning her off into her own book, with only a slight tweak to her iconic costume, swapping out her cowled mask for one that allows her hair to stand out. Credit that to the aforementioned Carmine Infantino, who drew some of the character's earliest adventures during a stint at Marvel in the 70's where he also got to do at least an issue of their first run of Star Wars. I kid you not.
Unfortunately, Spider-Woman's relationship with secret agent Jerry Hunt didn't last too long. It just wasn't meant to be.
Rating: B.
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There was Batman Day a couple of weeks back, and DC trotted out a sneak peek of a forthcoming young adult graphic novel about Bruce Wayne as a youth.
Unfortunately, the first chapter of Nightwalker is but a portent of things to come, and doesn't give us a lot of incentive. Might be worth getting later, though. No rating.
On the other hand, for those who've wondered about the Batman Who Laughs, an alternate universe mashup of the Dark Knight and the Joker, the first issue of that miniseries was reissued for Batman Day. I'm sorry, but I don't dig. Some things just aren't meant to be messed with, and the chemistry between Batman and the Joker over 80 years is one of those things. And, in case you wonder, I turned up my nose at the current Batman-Superman book, which continues BWL's story, an epidemic of chaos I can do without.
Rating: D.
Oh, by the way, BWL's creator, James Tynion IV, will be the new writer on Batman come January.
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