A Month of... There Is No Hope in Crime Alley, Night 27: There Is No Hope at Haley's Circus

Let us never forget that June 27, the day after the anniversary of the death of Bruce Wayne's parents on June 26, is the anniversary of the death of Dick Grayson's parents. (See: There Is No Hope at Haley's Circus 2013 and There Is No Hope at Haley's Circus 2014.) And it occurs to me I've never actually shown you good folks the original Death O' the Flying Graysons. It's from, natch, Detective Comics #38, but the panels I'm showing you here are from a slightly recolored reprint in Secret Origins #7. Mainly because I can't get the plastic clamshell open on my copy of 'Tec #38. It's more difficult with hooves.


Panels from "Robin the Boy Wonder" in Detective Comics #38 (April 1940); script by Bill Finger, pencils by Bob Kane, inks and letters by Jerry Robinson; as reprinted in Secret Origins (1973 series) #7 (October-November 1974)
Here's another early version, this time by Dick Sprang, my very favorite Golden Age Batman artist:


Panels from "Dick Grayson, Boy Wonder!" in Batman #32 (December 1945-January 1946); script by Don Cameron, pencils and inks by Dick Sprang, letters by Pat Gordon (?)
And what would a triptych of acrobat-smashin' action be without this retelling of the same scene from my favorite Batman miniseries of all, The Untold Legend of the Batman? Answer: it would be incomplete.


Panels from The Untold Legend of the Batman #2 (August 1980); script by Len Wein, pencils, inks, and letters by Jim Aparo; colors by Glynis Wein/
Dick Grayson, Agent No. 37 of the mysterious organization known as Spyral* — and hey, why isn't he known as Agent No. 38? — has just politely informed me to stop showing you scenes of his parents' death, so let's wrap it up for 2016. Next year: The All Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder version! (You're welcome, Mike Sterling!)

* Suspicious Piñatas Yellow and Red Are Laminated