Geez, don't oversell his entrance, Johnny.

I hate this time of year: between getting up early for work, and the gloomy weather, I've been sleeping a ton. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, and I'm sure I'll be back to sleeping eight hours a night (or less) before too long. I'm sure it would help if I replaced my coffee maker at work, and started drinking a gallon of coffee a day again...But, I reread Infinity War and Infinity Crusade again last week, and my sleep habits reminded me of Sleepwalker. If I was his host, Sleepwalker would be a full-time hero...

I think I had only read Sleepwalker a time or two, but he's yet another character I'd probably buy a Marvel Legends version of, given a chance. (And Darkhawk as well, for that matter.) I know he appeared in Ms. Marvel some time back, with his human host a somewhat-reluctant member of her superhero strike team, only helpful when he fell asleep.

From Infinity Crusade #5, "Holy War!" Written by Jim Starlin, pencils by Ron Lim, inks by Al Milgrom. Earth's heroes still unaffected by the Goddess attack her sanctuary, coming into conflict with the "Faithful." (I had forgotten Daredevil was one of those swayed by the Goddess; and that he was in this part of the Infinity Trilogy.) For the most part, they're all pawns moving around the board...

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80-Page Thursdays: Marvel Super-Heroes #9, Spring 1992!

Three stories in today's 80-pager, so we'll run them from bad to good: from 1992, Marvel Super-Heroes #9, with stories from Dwayne McDuffie, Randall Frenz, and Kurt Busiek; with art by Ron Wilson, Kevin West, and James W. Fry III.

In the lead feature "Cupid's Error," the Greek god Cupid shows up at the Avengers West Coast headquarters, looking for his lost wife Psyche. He believes Mockingbird to be her reincarnation; but the whole thing is a trick from Aprhodite, who is herself controlled by another force. Hercules gets called in to deliver a spanking to Cupid and later a guide to Olympus; but the whole thing's not great. For example, USAgent thinks Cupid's a male stripper when he shows up at the mansion, but doesn't get to beat him senseless for referring to him as a eunuch.


Next, "Turnabout" continues from the backup feature in Thor Annual 15: Thor dumped the android Thermal Man in scenic Jotunheim, where it's been stomping the hell out of the Frost Giants. They try to reach Ymir for help, but get Loki instead, who takes over the android and attacks Asgard with the giants. Thor armors up in the outfit he wore towards the end of Walt Simonson's run, but it looks a little off without the beard. Oddly, although the Thermal Man had given Thor quite a hard time before, with Loki controlling it now Thor's able to beat it down.

The last story's the best: "The Applicant," a young Stark Enterprises employee who turns in an application (duh) every month or two...for the position of Iron Man. When Tony's regular chauffeurs are unavailable, the applicant gets the job, and an opportunity to ask Tony about it. He figures there has to be at least three guys running shifts as Iron Man, and probably a trainee program, since when one went rogue during the Armor Wars another one was immediately ready to go. (Tony is caught, if not in a lie, than his own web of lies.)

But, when an armored villain called Skullcrasher attacks, the applicant gets a first hand look at what being Iron Man means, and knows he isn't ready...yet. Not a bad one, and yet it's another from years before Busiek got to write Iron Man proper!


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"Catdate."

More of this next week...
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It's the nature of the character, but there aren't a lot of recurring Punisher villains. Which is fine, since usually they're complete monsters that you want to see Frank shoot in the face; and most of them aren't strong enough to carry more than an issue or two. Still, in the early nineties, Pat Mills gave it a shot with former vet, sadist, and snuff-film auteur "the legendary Colonel de Sade." Frank had a run-in with him the previous year's summer special, and left de Sade bound up with barbed wire in a house fire. Sadly for everyone involved, the cops pulled him out: de Sade thought he was going out on a high note, but no dice.

At a local training center, Frank plays a little too rough, as he thinks about killing de Sade, then gets a tape left for him of a murder. Tracking a lead to a talent agency, the Punisher finds several goons and a scam to recruit young women with no close ties...that won't be missed. He shakes down Alison, a ruthless agent who shows no qualms selling women to de Sade, even though she knows what he'll do to them. At this point in the Punisher's stories, it would've been considered 'too far,' for Frank to beat information out of a woman; so he lets Alison's potential victims do it, then lets her go so he can follow her to de Sade.

Since de Sade's hideout is a fuel depot, Frank knows he can't go in guns blazing as usual. It's going to be knives, and he's got the tools for the job. But, de Sade knows Frank's coming, and welcomes it; since he's set up a series of damsels in distress for Frank to try and free. Still, de Sade makes one particularly egregious error: if your deathtraps revolve around the idea the Punisher is going to put himself in harm's way to try and rescue the damsel; don't use a damsel like Alison. Frank lets de Sade crush her with a storage container; then finishes him off. De Sade does go out on a movie line, though.

From Punisher Summer Special #2, "Rough Cut" Written by Pat Mills, pencils by Mike McKone, inks by Mark McKenna.
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They won't have prison movies where you're going, Ollie...

...namely TV, since it looks like a new Green Arrow TV show is more likely to happen than the proposed Super Max movie. The latter would've featured GA framed and thrown into a super prison full of super-villains. Super.

Today's issue has almost none of those: from World's Finest #276, "Bedlam in the Big House" Written by Mike W. Barr, pencils by Trevor von Eeden, inks by Larry Mahlstedt. Ollie isn't framed, but in prison for refusing to name his source in an organized crime story. (If you've forgotten Ollie used to be a newspaper columnist...yeah, me too.) Even if a reporter was charged with contempt on that one, I don't know that he would've been thrown into the federal pokey inside of two weeks, but here we are. (EDIT: Oh, duh, it says right there the city jail was under construction.)

This is a normal prison, as well; although Green Arrow is forced to mask up to stop a riot and a hit by the masked baddie Slingshot. You can debate among yourselves what is more unbelievable: Ollie putting a bow-and-arrow set together out of prison materials, Ollie somehow getting away with his 'disguise,' or that Ollie has a villain named Slingshot. Well, Super Max probably had a few drafts to work through, I guess.


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Talking to Dale the other day, this issue came up: DC Comics Presents: Mystery in Space #1, with stories from Grant Morrison and Eliot S! Maggin; art by J.H. Williams III and Jerry Ordway. This ish also featured an Alex Ross cover, and a Harlan Ellison tribute to renowned editor Julie Schwartz.

The first story is pretty good, but in eleven pages Morrison is able to tell a great Adam Strange story, that explains and refines a number of his traditional plot points; but also explains why Schwartz would choose a brainy archaeologist as an unlikely pulp sci-fi action hero. It's a nice piece of writing and perfect for a tribute book like this. Re-reading it again, I hope this version of Adam Strange (and Alanna, and Rann) make it into the new DC: instead of being gritty and pseudo-realistic, his Rann is fantastic and dangerous.

There were eight tribute issues to Schwartz, but I only recall two others off the top of my head. I'll have to look into that, but have a good weekend!

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80-Page Thursdays: Dark Horse Presents #2!

Since I got this issue for what worked out to...sixty-six cents, more than seven bucks off the cover price; I'm a little sad I didn't like this issue more. Dark Horse Presents #2, featuring work from Howard Chaykin, Neal Adams, Carla Speed McNeil, and more.


We checked out DHP #1 a while back; and this features the second part of several of the serials: Adam's Blood, which I'm not sure of. Chaykin's Marked Man, which isn't as charming as some of his older work, as the lead's home life with his terrible wife still seems like jail would be the lesser evil. McNeil's Finder isn't as strong as the first part, since the lead's delivery job is still sort of fun, but his old friends look down at him while they commit odd crimes. Another Chadwick Concrete, another Corben Murky World, another Gilbert Mr. Monster; all fine but not rockin' my face off.


I did get a chuckle out of Patrick Alexander's "Dark Whatsit of the Underworld: the Wraith." A violent, Batman-esque jerk wreaking amusingly senseless violence. Good for a few pages. Some of the rest of this issue may hold up better when re-reading with latter chapters, but so far...a mild disappointment. And I'm going to make a note here, so I don't forget, again: DHP#3 was 104 pages. That's why you haven't blogged it. Stop looking for it in the pile.
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"Flash Facts."

Click to enlarge!
There was an issue of JLA--looking it up, I think it was JLA #89, written by Joe Kelly--where Flash has to evacuate an entire city before it's destroyed so Dark J'onn J'onzz can reproduce. Yeah, anyway...Kelly has a line in there about Wally "sloughing off mass" afterwards, which would be a bit of technobabble to explain how he can achieve near-light speeds without being crushed by his own mass. But, it doesn't cover how skull-numbingly boring it must be to be the Flash sometimes. Just because he can do tedious, repetitive tasks in the blink of an eye; doesn't mean they aren't tedious and repetitive from his point of view.

While the Flash could doubtless evacuate a city in seconds; he couldn't, as Superman suggests, "put them back." He'd never remember where they all go...

The Blob figure from the X-Men: Evolution line probably isn't the best bystander figure--well, maybe that depends on where you live. I know I have other 'bystanders' floating around, but I don't have them as organized as I do for the kids.
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Today: Conan vs. venereal disease.

That might be a snide way of putting it, but pretty much. From 1986, Conan Annual #11, "Bride of the Oculist!" Written by James C. Owsley (a.k.a. Priest) with art by Ernie Chan.

The story is told by the aforementioned oculist, Richel, as he has a drink and watches men construct "the machine." A gallows. Although he occasionally ran into trouble with yokels who considered him an evil warlock; in the dive town of Vesci the oculist could go about his practice in relative peace. His bedside manner might be a bit lacking, however.

His office hours interrupted by a scabrous wreck seeking vengeance, Richel thinks quickly and forces his former patient out of an upper-floor window; as his current one is still clutching his eye-stump. Still, a passing snitch gets the idea that an oculist might be flush with gold, and feeds the info to a certain barbarian-turned-thief. Conan rides out for a little B&E, but wasn't expecting to run into the oculist's wife, Narada. Or her lover, Tolkhan. Kung-fu kicking the barbarian from behind, Tolkhan knocks out Conan, but Narada has an idea: make off with Richel's gold, and pin the crime on Conan.

Days later, Richel visits Conan in jail: he knows Conan was trying to rob him, but his wife beat them both to the punch. He offers Conan his freedom, if he can find Narada and the gold; and will split the gold with Conan if he succeeds. (Taking for granted Conan being too honorable to take the money and run.) Still, Conan may have his work cut out for him:

Being both the most logical suspect and due for an asswhupping, Conan visits Tolkhan. Despite being almost twice his age, Conan still delivers a solid beating to the young whippersnapper; who is actually heartbroken since Narada left him, with the gold. Conan tracks down the next name, a local baron, and here's where things get weird: the baron has became a recluse, since he appears to have contracted a rotting disease, almost like leprosy. Narrating, Richel explains he treated Narada's perfumes with "an elixir" that would give the disease to any man who kissed his wife, rotting first their flesh, then their mind.

Tolkhan catches up to Conan, having realized he's been infected by the oculist's revenge, but wanting to see his love before he dies. Conan's been snowed by women before; but he's old enough to not be especially sympathetic. Especially when the trail leads them to a bar full of poxy faces, butchers, bakers, candlestick makers, a small company of the army, a shepherd, and a Pictish chief. At the latter, they find the gold, but no sign of Narada.

Enraged, Tolkhan goes back to Richel's, where the oculist was planning to leave town. Knowing the disease is driving Tolkhan mad, Richel takes pity and lets him know where his beloved is: in a big jar in the closet. Richel killed Narada right off, claiming she'd run away with his money. (This hinges on there being some authority in the town that cared if Richel murdered his wife; in a lot of Conan stories he probably could've done so in broad daylight.) After a gruesome embrace with the pickled corpse, Tolkhan tries to kill Richel, but Conan arrives to pummel him unconscious again, then forces Richel to cure the boy.


His tale concluded, Richel challenges you to find a moral, as he faces the gallows. But not for murdering his wife: the man who lost an eye at the start of his story, was a vengeful captain of the guard. The now one-eyed guard, Conan, and a recovering Tolkhan watch as the oculist is strung up.

I have to wonder if Priest wasn't going through a breakup when he wrote this one. A bad breakup.

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If "Build Character through Perversity" doesn't inspire you, I don't know how to help you...

I have to do this every couple of years: come back to something I said I was going to come back to, some years prior. I had to a while back with my favorite Ann Nocenti Daredevil comic; and about a year ago I mentioned my second-favorite Riddler story...but not my favorite. So, let's get to it, since I randomly stumbled back into it today: from 1993, The Batman Adventures #10, "The Last Riddler Story" Written by Kelley Puckett, pencils by Mike Parobeck, inks by Rick Burchett.

When a shipment of rare jewels bound for the Gotham Museum are nearly stolen by criminal genius Mastermind, Batman and Gordon know his cohorts Mr. Nice and the Perfessor will give it a shot as well. The timing is inconvenient, though, since one of Batman's most persistent villains is getting out of jail tomorrow.

Persistent? Not this time. Even with the encouragement of his curiously familiar looking crew Eddie Nygma is hanging up the Riddler's derby hat. "I riddle my brains out and Batman catches me anyway! If only I could outsmart him just once..." A henchman points out Bats gets hit in the head a lot, so maybe he's dumber now. They manage to convince him by mangling the motto of the penitentiary he just got released from, so Riddler decides to give it one more shot, but if it doesn't work, that'll be the last riddles from him. He delivers the riddle via skywriting, but Batman's busy taking in the friendly armed robber, Mr. Nice.

The Riddler and his boys enjoy a pleasant afternoon, walking the streets and asking passersby their riddle, then bonking them on the head when they get it wrong. Admittedly, that does look fun; but one of the thugs is misty-eyed at the thought of never seeing their beloved boss this happy again. For his part, Batman admits to Alfred he really hasn't had time to look at the riddle, but he has to take care of the Perfessor first--Bats knows what the Perfessor is going to do, and has to take the sure thing. (I didn't scan it, but Bats is sharpening his Batarangs while he talks to Alfred, and if criminals saw that they'd be even more afraid of him.)

Sure enough, that night the Perfessor and his ungrateful little accomplice try for the jewels, but while Batman takes care of them, the Riddler and his gang make off with the prize! They get all the way to the sidewalk, before Batman beats the tar out of the gang. Riddler, though, is just crushed. How? How could Batman figure it out? Perhaps unwisely, Batman admits he didn't; he just happened to be there. And to the Riddler, that counts as a win, even as he's carted off to jail, the book literally thrown at him in court, and tossed back into prison...

You could read this issue just fine without noticing, but Mastermind, Mr. Nice, and the Perfessor were caricatured versions of DC editors Mike Carlin, Archie Goodwin, and Denny O'Neil. They would actually appear a few more times in the various incarnations of the book, until Goodwin's death in 1998.

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A project that I can safely say I probably won't get to anytime soon, is getting my pile of Nightcrawler stuff together for photos. I got this little figurine off eBay for $7.16 a couple weeks back; and while there apparently were other characters in this line, I have no idea how these were sold. Tomorrow, this will probably go on my desk at work!
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Playing with the recent DCUC Crime Syndicate five-pack (and making some snarky cracks) made me think how much I'd enjoy a similar Squadron Supreme set. Hyperion, Power Princess, Nightwing, Doctor Spectrum, and the Whizzer would be the obvious choices. Oddly, in continuity, that group was duplicated by the Grandmaster to make the villainous Squadron Sinister; where in reality the evil version appeared first. And they were both analogs of the Justice League, anyway; only Marvel would have the cheek to do it twice...

Unfortunately, the price point and relative obscurity of the Squadron notwithstanding, it would be a tough one to do, because which version should you make? Classic, Sal Buscema style? The maskless versions from Squadron Supreme #1 above? Or, heaven forfend, one of the modernized versions? I didn't read the Howard Chaykin one, but I read the J. Michael Straczynski/Gary Frank Supreme Power.

My main recollection of the latter was that it was less like any other incarnation of the Squadron, and more like "What if the Justice League were (almost) completely unlikable?" Straczynski's Whizzer and Dr. Spectrum seem OK, but Hyperion and Nightwing are more than a little insane; and his version of Power Princess, the Wonder Woman-analog, was straight-up eat-a-baby evil. What that says about anything, I don't know; but I gave it a couple years for some reason.


Scans from "The Utopia Principle" Written by Mark Gruenwald, pencils by Bob Hall, inks by John Beatty.

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80-Page Thursdays: Marvel Super-Heroes Spring Special #1!

Errr. I had this one next to my computer, and actually just double-checked to make sure I hadn't already written it up: Marvel Super-Heroes Spring Special #1. Featuring stories from Scott Lobdell, Fabian Nicieza, and others; and art from Steve Ditko, Ron Lim, and more. And it's got Moon Knight, Black Panther, Hercules, and more...in inventory stories. I think this incarnation of Marvel Super-Heroes was primarily for burning off unused fill-ins, so even if you get a story with name-brand creators, it was probably early work.

Over at Slay, Monstrobot of the Deep, they recently covered this issue's uncomfortably skeevy Brother Voodoo story, so we won't get back into that one. In the Moon Knight story, Marc follows up on his old supporting cast--good--but also appears in a mall, and fights a low-rent villain called the Raptor--bad. In fact, both the Moon Knight and Black Panther stories feature villains that are defeated by having their batteries taken out.

While the Hercules story does feature his terrible 80's costume, it does contrast his party-going doofus exterior with some of his mythological history and past tragedies. Although, it makes a pretty good argument for Herc having an aversion to archery; which does make me question his close friendship with Hawkeye. Anyway, that one's not a bad fill-in, which is kind of the best you can hope for here.
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"X-Forced."

We might come back to them, but I'm not sure how I feel about the current Uncanny X-Force book. I was lured into trying it since they brought in the Nightcrawler from the Age of Apocalypse--which was previously an alternate timeline, but somehow upgraded to an alternate universe. Anyway, the Nightcrawler from "Over There" (I'm a big Fringe fan.) stays in the 616, because he needs to murder the other immigrants from the AoA, like the Dark Beast and an evil Iceman, I think. So, he's not so much the friendly Kurt we lost for a plot beat in Second Coming; and he as much as tells Kitty that.

Since I came late to the book, I'm also not sure on Deadpool's involvement with the team. Or, if the caption boxes/voices in his head from his regular book follow him over there. I think Wolverine knew Wade wants to do good, and decided to use that...on his murder squad. Near as I can figure, X-Force is a straight-up wetworks team; which Logan runs along with his school. And his time on the Avengers. Actually, I don't really have a problem with Wolverine appearing in every third Marvel comic, even though I'm not a huge fan. It only seems like he's everywhere; the events of three or four comics can often take place in the same week. To be honest, even though he's getting to have it both ways, I do like the idea of Headmaster or Principal or Professor Logan: he's been through some hard times and done some bad things, and he's trying to make things better. Although it does underline my problem with Marvel lately, since Wolverine is somehow less of a dick than most of the Avengers right now.

Ugh. And as usual, the yellow balloons for Deadpool killed me again...
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Remember that time Guy tried to murder Hal?

"Which time," might be a fair question there; but today we're looking at Green Lantern #198, "1" Written by Steve Englehart, pencils by Joe Staton, inks by Bruce Patterson. As usual, I was looking for something else, but here we are, and I had this issue in mind a while back anyway.

Set smack-dab in the middle of the original Crisis, this issue also recaps a ton of Green Lantern history, from Sinestro's origin to the anti-matter universe of Qward. The Guardian that gave Guy Gardner his ring (and gave the then-ringless Hal a new one) has gathered an army of criminals to attempt to destroy Qward, by destroying "the white spot" of positive matter in the negative universe. (Or something like that.)

Sinestro gets John to go to Oa, hitching a ride so he can try to destroy the black spot on Oa's moon and cripple the positive universe. He is stopped by the Guardians, but the power battery then speaks through Lantern Tomar-Re to explain if Guy and Hal succeed, they will make the Anti-Monitor even more powerful. Three Guardians are pictured arguing about three different possibilities: let them try to destroy the anti-matter universe, do nothing and accept their fate, or send the Lanterns to stop Guy and Hal. They finally decide to trust their battery and send the Lanterns.


Meanwhile, Guy's army fights their way through the Qwardian Weaponers, and when Hal refuses to kill in battle, Guy sucker-punches (or sucker-beams) him and takes his ring, leaving him to die in space. Hal survives by taking a dead Qwardian's life-support rig. John stops Guy from destroying the spot, or at least stalls him until they realize the Crisis is over.

The cost is pretty high for the Corps, though: among others, Tomar Re and grasshopper Xax die. I keep getting Xax confused with the wasp-like Bzzd. Who is also dead. I maintain, the GLC needs less fragile bug or squirrel Lanterns, and more Cthulhu-style monstrosities.
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(One-twelfth of) a Review: DCUC Timber Wolf!

MattyCollector.com released the Legion of Super-Heroes 12-pack a while back. Twelve figures for $180 isn't bad (plus a Legion flight ring, Proty, and case shaped like the Legion's rocket accident of a headquarters) but I couldn't drop the cash for that.


But, I did get a loose Timber Wolf from eBay...and China. He was a little cheaper than you would expect: discounting postage, the LSH set was $15 a figure (maybe less, if you figure in the extras somehow) and I paid $13. With free postage! Then, the question is, how did he turn out; and did I get one from a broken-up set sold piecemeal; or a figure that...fell off a truck, we'll say? Let's see!

Oddly, although Timber Wolf is my favorite Legionnaire, if you go back through that tag I'm not sure you see him wearing this particular outfit: it's very much his seventies outfit. (On this post on a Legion election, you can see him wearing it!) The logo and brown-black color scheme he would keep for some time, although he'd lose the Wolverine-style hair around the time Keith Giffen came on the book.

T-Wolf is based on the smaller DCUC base body, since the Legionnaires are teenagers. The articulation is pretty good on mine, except for the hips: they seem a little stiff, and I'm not going to push it. Both his fists are closed, which is fine; and the Legion flight ring on his right looks pretty good. His paint is pretty good, with just a few marks on the head, like what looks like a missed touch on the eyebrows. The head sculpt is great, though: he's got just a hint of a grin, like he knows a joke the other Legionnaires wouldn't get.

Even though I think I'm about to get soaked for some cash for an unforeseen expense, I am going to keep a beady eye on getting another loose Legionnaire or two. You might figure some might be more available than others, but it seems a bit of a crapshoot: I've seen more of the oversized Colossal Boy than I have Wildfire. That may well be because Wildfire is cooler, but still.




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I can't decide if beating a snitch is torture or not...

From the recent Secret Avengers #21, "Final Level" Written by Warren Ellis, pencils by Stuart Immonen, inks by Wade Von Grawbadger. Steve Rogers, Captain America, seems to turn over three suspects to Black Widow and Moon Knight for torture. The Widow shoots one with her sting, and MK stabs a guy through the hand before threatening to skin his face; which gets the mole to confess, since she had planned on saving her unknowing friends.

Is this what Ellis thinks of America, or is it a misstep in a pretty good book up to now? (This being his last of a six issue run.) I do think when he's out of his Captain America uniform, Steve has a little more leeway for dirt: he can do things he never would as a symbol. But while I don't think Steve would be in for waterboarding or hooking someone's genitals to a car battery; I know I've seen him at least threaten to get rough before. (In an old Mark Gruenwald issue, Cap tells a terrorist he'll break his wrist, but the terrorist doesn't buy it.) So, I tend to read this as Steve talking tougher than he would actually go through with, or allow to happen.

Beast and War Machine both stay humane here, though: Beast refusing to kill, and War Machine offering aid before opening fire. Even excluding the subtext of torture, this issue isn't the best of Ellis's run, but the single issues will make a good trade.

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80-Page Thursdays: Batman Family #19!

For the next stretch, as long as I can find them, every Thursday we'll check out an 80-page comic! Not 64, not 100, 80-page giants only! Today, a doozy! From 1978, Batman Family #19! Featuring Huntress, Man-Bat, Batgirl, Robin, and duhr, Batman; in the lead with a twenty-page Denny O'Neil, Michael Golden, and (P.) Craig Russell story, "The Tomb of the White Bat!" Which we won't go into much, since although Batman gets trapped in and escapes from a clever homemade pit in the mountains, he also only triumphs because of the intervention of said white bat!

In the next story, Congresswoman Batgirl faces off against "The Sino-Supermen!" (Written by Bob Rozakis, art by Juan Ortiz and Vince Colletta.) Oddly enough, it ties into Firestorm continuity: the Chinese government, believing super-heroes like Superman or Firestorm to be creations of American scientists, work to create their own super-powered operatives. Batgirl points out to a federal agent that they both know damn well the U.S. didn't create Superman, but is told it's better to let the Chinese believe that, which seems somewhat dangerous. Batgirl busts up the spy ring, but gets a clue that her brother Tony may still be alive. (Where that fits in any sort of continuity, you'd have to tell me.)

Then, in "The Crime Rate is Earth-Shaking!" Robin faces a number of crimes and personal problems at Hudson University, none of which should be that big of a deal, since we see photographic proof Robin can punch a thug so hard his head explodes.


See? And there's also Man-Bat, and a Huntress story, which oddly appears to be the only one here to have been reprinted. ("Gotham Town is Burning Down!" Written by Paul Levitz, pencils by Joe Staton, inks by Bob Layton.)



All for a dollar, which according to this inflation calculator provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, had in 1978 the same buying power as $3.47 in 2011. If you find an 80-pager for that price today--ha!--buy it. That said, I know I didn't buy this issue in 1978--I'm pretty sure I paid fifty cents for it in the 90's, and I bought a couple other Batman Family issues around then as well...
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