Ten of a Kind: That Sinking Feeling

(More Ten of a Kind here.)

366 Days with Alfred Pennyworth, Day 105

Panel from Detective Comics v.1 #96 (February 1945), script by Don Cameron, pencils, inks, and letters by Dick Sprang

Mr. Peanut Sings the Hits of Tom Jones

366 Days with Alfred Pennyworth, Day 104

Panels from Batman: Gotham Knights #60 (February 2005), script by A. J. Lieberman, pencils by Javi Pina, inks by Francis Portela, colors by Brad Anderson, letters by Clem Robins

366 Days with Alfred Pennyworth, Day 103

Panels from Batman Annual #13 (1989), script by James Owsley, pencils by Michael Bair, inks by Gray Morrow, colors by Adrienne Roy, letters by Agustin Mas

Today in Comics History, April 12: The Horrible Shopping List is invented

from Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #73 (July 1995), script by James Robinson, pencils and inks by John Watkiss, colors by Digital Chameleon, letters by Willie Schubert

366 Days with Alfred Pennyworth, Day 102

Panels from Detective Comics #75 (May 1943), script by Don Cameron, pencils by Jack Burnley, inks and letters by George Roussos,

Today in Comics History, April 11: Bruce Wayne Has This Whole Section of the Lab Sealed Off Day (Observed)

from Detective Comics #598 (DC, March 1989), script by Sam Hamm, pencils by Denys Cowan, inks by Dick Giordano and Frank McLaughlin, colors by Adrienne Roy, letters by Todd Klein

Today in Comics History, April 10: Batman chases Denny O'Neil and Mike Carlin for some reason

from Batman Adventures (1992 series) #20 (DC, May 1994), script by Kelley Puckett, pencils by Mike Parobeck, inks by Rick Burchett, colors by Rick Taylor, letters by Rick Starkings

Today in Comics History, April 10: Scientific Method Dies, Aged 1,012

from Detective Comics #598 (DC, March 1989), script by Sam Hamm, pencils by Denys Cowan, inks by Dick Giordano and Frank McLaughlin, colors by Adrienne Roy, letters by Todd Klein

Take a look at that poor little empty spot on my third finger

Now, as we all remember, Batman is very good about taking Green Lantern rings away from...well, Green Lanterns. He's got an entire display case of them in the Batcave, and he puts ten of them on when he wants to really get his point across with the Riddler or Clayface. We've seen the Dark knight take a power ring away from Hal Jordan:


Panels from Justice League v.2 #1 (November 2011), script by Geoff Johns, pencils by Jim Lee, inks by Scott Williams, colors by Alex Sinclair, letters by Patrick Brosseau

He's grabbed one off the tightly clenched yet silky soft knuckle of Kyle Rayner:


Panel from The Batman Chronicles #15 (Winter 1998), script by Kelley Puckett, pencils by Joe Staton, inks by Bill Sienkiewicz, colors by Rob Schwager, letters by Ken Lopez

He even stole my Green Lantern ring! Boo! Bad Batman! Sniffle!



So, I believe my point has been made: Batman is very very good at stealing Green Lantern rings. (And he probably even has a red one too, possibly with a severed finger inside it.) But the question we must ask...really, it must be asked...is "Can anybody and everybody just grab a Green Lantern ring whenever the heck they want?

And the answer is, yeah, probably yes they can.

Of course, Superman can do it...especially Comrade Russkie "What If Superman's Rocket Landed in the USSR?" Red Son Superman:


Panels from Superman: Red Son #3 (August 2003), script by Mark Millar, pencils by Kilian Plunkett, inks by Walden Wong, colors by Paul Mounts, letters by Ken Lopez

Sure, but he's Superman. He's the Man of Steel! (Oh wait, no, that was Josef Stalin.) But how about if somebody else tries to take a Green Lantern ring away from the greatest Green Lantern of them all (no, no, not G'nort!)? How about if it's Apokalyps's top press agent...Glorious Godfrey?


Panels from Adventures in the DC Universe #4 (July 1997), script by Steve Vance, pencils by John Delaney, inks by Ron Boyd, colors by Tim Harkins, letters by Bob Le Rose

Well, sure, he's Glorious Godfrey. He's a minion of Robert B. Darkseid. Now, does that mean that just around anybody can take a Green Lantern ring, even from the toughest of their warriors, Guy Gardner?



Panels from Justice League Quarterly #5 (Winter 1991), script by Mark Waid, pencils by Mike McKone, inks by Andrew Pepoy, colors by Gene D'Angelo, letters by Bob Pinaha

Yep! Yes, she can. So, the moral of the story? If you have a Green Lantern ring...it's probably best left in your safety deposit box.

366 Days with Alfred Pennyworth, Day 101

Panel from Detective Comics #648 (Late August 1992), script by Chuck Dixon, pencils by Tom Lyle, inks by Scott Hanna, colors by Adrienne Roy, letters by John Costanza

On his days off from the FF, Ben Grimm enjoyed working at the East Rockaway Trader Joe's.

366 Days with Alfred Pennyworth, Day 100

Page from Batman: Dark Victory #9 (August 2000), script by Jeph Loeb, pencils and inks by Tim Sale, colors by Gregory Wright, separations by Heroic Age, letters by Richard Starkings

Today in Comics History, April 9: The day they ran out of dead bodies

from Detective Comics #598 (DC, March 1989), script by Sam Hamm, pencils by Denys Cowan, inks by Dick Giordano and Frank McLaughlin, colors by Adrienne Roy, letters by Todd Klein

Ten of a Kind #323 and Today in Comics History, Easter: How'd You Like to Spend Easter on Easter Island?

(More Ten of a Kind here.)

366 Days with Alfred Pennyworth, Day 99 and Today in Comics History, April 8: Happy Birthday, Alfred!

from Super DC Calendar 1976 (DC, 1975)
According to that fount of information about birthdays and anniversaries in the DCU, the 1976 Super DC Calendar, today is the (Pre-Crisis*) birthday of that greatest gentleman's gentleman, the battling butler, the one and only Alfred Thaddeus Pennyworth! Let's hope Bruce, Dick, Tim, Barbara and Damien take him out for a nice brunch at one of the finer Gotham City restaurants, and not one of those shaped like a giant typewriter or an oversized penguin.

I don't have any panels showing Alfred's birthday or childhood at hand (Hey DC! Do a Teen Alfred comic book, huh? It'll sell a million copies!), so here's a retelling of his very first pre-Crisis appearance to a bewildered and baffled Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson. Let's call it "Alfred: Who He IS and How He Came to be (At Wayne Manor!)":


from Untold Legend of the Batman #2 (DC, August 1980), script by Len Wein, pencils and inks by Jim Aparo, colors by Tatjana Wood
Happy Birthday, Alfred!

*Alfred's birthday has also been listed in a non-canon comic as August 16. As far as I'm concerned, though, today's the day!