Superman Through the Ages! Forum

Folks here might enjoy this:

Scans Daily is a livejournal blog that posts classic comics.

Today its the issue of All Star Comics where Superman and Batman join the JSA:

http://community.livejournal.com/scans_daily/2726083.html

That's neat.. thanks for the link!

Nice.

I think we will enjoy it more than the posters on that site... ;D

That's safe to say!

Thanks for the link Telle!

They have a point.

There's also another problem with Batman's sudden appearance, and it's a behaviour I never cared for in the Batman comics because it doesn't make any sense at all.

He first shows up as Bruce:

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v203/Aldous1/A1.jpg)

Then he leaves the room momentarily to change from Bruce into Batman:

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v203/Aldous1/A2.jpg)

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v203/Aldous1/A3.jpg)

What's my problem with this?

Where (?) did he have all this:

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v203/Aldous1/A4.jpg)

Yes; long, thick cloak, gauntlets, utility belt with its various accoutrements, the face mask with its pointy ears... even the boots.

Bruce Wayne is not Clark Kent. Not only could he not have all that gear hidden on his person as Bruce, how long would it take Bruce Wayne to get undressed and suit up? Quite some time! This crops up even throughout my Batman comics from the 70s. Bruce cannot dash off to a phone booth to become Batman. The character only works for me if he goes back to his hideout and suits up for a night on the prowl. Maybe at a stretch he could have all of his Batman gear hidden in his car, but anything else is ridiculous.

I think it's silly to have Bruce show up, announce he has a friend that will sub for Atom, change and come back.  Why not just arrive as Batman?

I think it had a lot to do with the fact that it was the Golden Age and there were many things that didn't make a whole lotta sense.

you have to embrace the madness sometimes to enjoy these old comics, if you only like comics which are logical, then you will never like them.

Well said!  Couldn't agree more.

Well, no super-hero comics are logical, Super Monkey, but I agree completely; as long as you realise my post was about something that has always bothered me about Batman, whether Golden Age, Silver Age, or modern age. I think a fundamental flaw in the portrayal of the character -- which annoys me (see my post) -- doesn't take anything away from these charming old comics.

And it's also important to point out -- although I am not necessarily talking about the comic used as an example here -- that yes, there are plenty of Golden Age comics that are crap, the same as in any other era.

Michael, I was looking at your website and I realised I own that copy of Justice League with the 16-page preview of All-Star Squadron. I must dig that out and re-read it sometime.

It is dumb that he would risk that sort of announcement but I'm less bothered by the changing.  A bulky 40s jacket hides alot and Bruce could easily have left a briefcase in the hallway, a la Tony Stark, where he keeps his utility belt, cowl, etc.  If he is secure enough to change in a hallway, he is secure enough to leave his costume waiting as well.

It's a great adventure.  My favourite remains a story posted last week in which the girlfriends of the JSA dress up as their boyfriends tom tackle Brainwave along with Wonder Woman.  The costumes don't fool anyone (they can't disguise their feminine shapes) but its great to see a "team" of superhero women in the 40s.

It's a great little read.  Friday's update is going to have the entry for that issue with some interesting little tidbits I've gotten from the second volume of the All-Star Companion that came out last week.

Thanks for checking the site out.  It's in it's infancy but I hope to get it to something pretty special.

It's interesting that they remind the readers that Superman was an honorary member of the Justice Society all along, but Batman seems to be meeting them all for the first time (except for the Atom, who apparently knows his secret identity when none of the others do).

To be fair, they don't say Batman WASN'T already a member, but it sure seems that way. He (and Robin) were supposed to be JSA members in absentia from the very first meeting in ALL-STAR COMICS #3, though. Not that most kids reading the 37th issue would have been old enough to remember the third!

As for the changing clothes routine... it's just one of those conventions of super-hero comics that a hero's entire costume can be worn comfortably under their normal clothes, without any bulges or other dead giveaways. Try wearing two pairs of shoes, one over the other, in real life! Or a red and blue shirt under a white one without anyone noticing it's there. At least John Romita often had Spider-man stashing his street clothes in a "web pack" that he slung over his back or stuck to a wall somewhere.

I really liked that about Spider-Man. Once, his street clothes (which he'd stashed) got ripped during a fight, with the Vulture I think.

Even when I was little, I used to wonder where Flash hid his Barry Allen clothes while he was running around.

And of course Superman compressed his to superwafers that didn't poke through the pockets in his cape.

Continental Op, tomorrow I will try wearing two pairs of shoes and report back! :)

I don't think it's madness - it's just that these comics were written for kids.  A kid back then probably wouldn't have noticed any of this, but just found it exciting that while the JSA didn't know that Bruce Wayne was Batman, he knew it and was in on the gag along with Bruce.  That's what makes the story fun.

It's a figure of speech... :D

I know, but some people need these things explained to them.

sorry :P

I thought it was funnier how popular the personal column is, all the superheroes read it !

I've always wondered if Superman and Batman would've been able to SAVE All-Star Comics?  If they were looking for high-profile heroes, they could've gone with these two, considering Batman had just come out of his second serial, Superman had come out of a successful second serial, still had a radio show, and both heroes were still in the comic strips!  Superman was also about to hit the movie screens with "Superman And The Mole Men" and about to hit the small screen with Adventures Of Superman. 

I wonder why they didn't use these two heroes more? 

There is a theory that All-Star Comics and the Justice Society was a platform to spotlight heroes that didn't have their own titles.  By that time Superman and Batman had their own titles and soon after the formation of the Justice Society both Green Lantern and the Flash got their own series and became honaory members.  The only real exception to this rule was Wonder Woman, though this is why she was only the secretary and not a full member.

BTW- the JSA was also the first company crossover as some members of the JSA were part of DC (or National as it was known at the time) and others were part of All-American Comics.  This led to a rather loopy method of heroes becoming members, especially when All-American and National split.  If you want some really good info on this I recommend picking up both volumes of the All-Star Companion edited by Roy Thomas and published by TwoMorrows publishing.

Yeah, I knew pretty much of that, Michael, but I was talking about when they'd decided to cancel the book.  I'm wondering if Superman and Batman's FULL-TIME inclusion could've saved the book? 

Flash and Green Lantern had had their own books when they came back to the team.  Then, too, heroes like Aquaman, Green Arrow, Vigilante, Congo Bill, and Robotman only had one eight-page strip in Action and Adventure Comics.  If THEY'D been included, too (perhaps substituting for other heroes), might that not have helped the book?  :)

However, if it was never canceled, then we would had never gotten the Silver Age Flash and Green Lantern or Earth-2.

I honestly don't think so.  Considering how super-heroes were on such a decline at that point I don't think anything could have saved it.  The book was turned into a western.  I think that pretty much says it all.

Also, addressing Gernot's post, I think familiarity is/was key... overrunning a book with superhero characters gets to be a mess, at least for me a 41 year old man, let alone a 10 year old kid in the '40's