Friday, March 22, 2013
BATMAN FRIDAY
Why We Love Detective Comics
Mr. Polka-Dot
Yes, this is a real guy! I mean, he's a real guy in a comic book! As in, not someone I made up!
Here's the proof, the cover to Detective Comics #300:
That was back in the early 1960s, when the comic book publishers didn't see any reason to make a big deal out of anniversary issues. You see, this here is Detective Comics #300, and not only did they not make a big deal out of it, they sort of did the reverse by putting Mr. Polka Dot in it! (Though, to be fair, it's not really any worse than a lot of the stories in Detective Comics at this time. I mean, they can't all have Batwoman or Bat-Mite or Clayface or Professor Arnold Hugo or aliens that turn Batman into a Zebra-Batman! Be fair!)
I used to have this one, in the late 1970s, when it was about 15 years old. (And this is one of those stories that seemed just as ancient then (when it was 15 years old) as it does now (when it's just passed the half-century mark).) I don't remember it very well, even after reading the synopsis in the Batman encyclopedia (which is an actual book, not a Web site, and I can't figure out how to link to it).
But just look at it! The dude is wearing a white suit with pollka dots on it and he can turn each dot into a weapon! And he rides a giant floating dot! And his gang is probably full of guys with names like Circle Sam and Roundy. And you know his crimes are all based around dots and round things! (The Batman encyclopedia says he steals a black pearl from a foreign dignitary who has a leopard for a pet.)
Yeah, in the early 1960s, there were times when the J'onn J'onzz story was the highlight of Detective.
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Mr. Polka-Dot
Yes, this is a real guy! I mean, he's a real guy in a comic book! As in, not someone I made up!
Here's the proof, the cover to Detective Comics #300:
That was back in the early 1960s, when the comic book publishers didn't see any reason to make a big deal out of anniversary issues. You see, this here is Detective Comics #300, and not only did they not make a big deal out of it, they sort of did the reverse by putting Mr. Polka Dot in it! (Though, to be fair, it's not really any worse than a lot of the stories in Detective Comics at this time. I mean, they can't all have Batwoman or Bat-Mite or Clayface or Professor Arnold Hugo or aliens that turn Batman into a Zebra-Batman! Be fair!)
I used to have this one, in the late 1970s, when it was about 15 years old. (And this is one of those stories that seemed just as ancient then (when it was 15 years old) as it does now (when it's just passed the half-century mark).) I don't remember it very well, even after reading the synopsis in the Batman encyclopedia (which is an actual book, not a Web site, and I can't figure out how to link to it).
But just look at it! The dude is wearing a white suit with pollka dots on it and he can turn each dot into a weapon! And he rides a giant floating dot! And his gang is probably full of guys with names like Circle Sam and Roundy. And you know his crimes are all based around dots and round things! (The Batman encyclopedia says he steals a black pearl from a foreign dignitary who has a leopard for a pet.)
Yeah, in the early 1960s, there were times when the J'onn J'onzz story was the highlight of Detective.
