Today in Comics History, September 23: Happy birthday, El Santo!

Born on this date in 1917: probably the greatest Mexican hero and masked wrestler (luchador enmascarado) the world has never known: Rodolfo Guzmán Huerta! Hmm, that name not ringing a bell with you? That's because for decades he kept up a secret identity and and disguised himself with a silver mask, becoming known around the globe as the mighty El Santo! El Santo was not only a folk hero and wrestling icon but also a major movie action star who starred or co-starred in 52 movies between 1958 and 1982, only a handful of have been "discovered" by the general public of North America. (I myself was introduced to the Silver Maskman thanks to Mystery Science Theater 3000, which riffed Santo [aka Samson] vs. the Vampire Women in its original incarnation, and more recently, Santo in the Treasure of Dracula on the revamped Gizmoplex series.


excerpts from Mystery Science Theater 3000 season six, episode 24: "Samson vs. the Vampire Women" (best Brains, March 25, 1995), riffed by Michael J. Nelson, Trace Beaulieu, and Kevin Murphy

Today in Comics History, February 3: Happy birthday, Victor Buono!

Born on this day in 1938: actor Victor Buono, whose film and TV credits include What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (he was nominted for both an Oscar and a Golden Globe!), Beneath the Planet of the Apes, Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte, The Greatest Story Ever Told, The Silencers, Robin and the 7 Hoods, The Wild Wild West, Vega$, and many more, including the 1967 heist comedy Who's Minding the Mint?. Mint is a favorite of mine because it stars Jim Hutton (Ellery Queen), and also includes Milton Berle, Walter Brennan, Joey Bishop (it's his birthday today, too!) and Bob Denver, and is co-written by Batman's second-favorite cop, Harvey Bullock! Buono, as "The Captain," is pictured here on the cover (in the back of the boat) in Dell Comics's adaptation of Mint!


photo cover of Who's Minding the Mint? [Movie Comic #12-924-708] one-shot (Dell, August 1967). Yeah, I don't know what's up with that numbering system either.

Today in Comics History, September 9: Happy birthday, Neil Hamilton!

Born on this day in 1899, so he knows ALL about the Y1.9K virus: actor Neil Hamilton, star from stage to silents to movies to television, plus advertisement modeling and even a little song and dance!


from "Screen Scoops" in Movie Comics (1939 series) #2 (DC/Picture Publications, May 1939); text, pencils and inks by Walter Galli

Today in Comics History, July 6: Happy birthday, Burt Ward!

Holy birthday candles! Born on this day: actor, writer, and activist for animal causes Burt Ward!


from Fifty Who Made DC Great one-shot (DC, 1985)

Comics Do Shakespeare: All's Well That Ends Well, Act 5: And they didn't even need the help of Ireland Yard in Londinum to solve this one

from "To be or Not to Be" in Batman '66 digital #36 (DC, 2014), script by Art Baltazar and Franco, pencils and inks by Red Naifeh, colors by Tony Aviña, letters by Wes Abbott

Comics Do Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream, Act 6: When you do Batusi, I wish you a wave o' the sea

from "To be or Not to Be" in Batman '66 digital #36 (DC, 2014), script by Art Baltazar and Franco, pencils and inks by Red Naifeh, colors by Tony Aviña, letters by Wes Abbott

Today in Comics History, February 4: Reggie notes that Archie doesn't like coconuts, which eventually leads to him being murdered by the Riddler

from Archie Meets Batman '66 #2 (Archie, October 2018), script by Jeff Parker and Michael Moreci, pencils by Dan Parent, inks by J. Bone, colors by Kelly Fitzpatrick, letters by Jack Morelli

There Is No Hope in Crime Alley, Night 7: The My Parents Are Dead Affair

It's seldom that the Batman 1966 TV series addresses the death of the Waynes — Bruce mentions it once in the first episode, and I think that's the last we hear about it. Here's a rare flashback by comic book Batman '66 to the night of his parents' murder:


Panels from Batman '66 Meets the Man from UNCLE (digital comic) #10 (March 2016), script by Jeff Parker, pencils by David Hahn, inks by Karl Kesel, colors by Madpencil, letters by Wes Abbott

Election Day: The Zen of Batman: Politics

from Batman ['66]: "Hizzoner the Penguin" (Greenway Productions/ 20th Century Fox Television, November 2, 1966), script by Stanford Sherman, directed by Oscar Rudolph
Please make Batman proud of you by voting today* at your local polling place!

*Unless it's for the Penguin.

A Month of... Batman's Got a Gun, Day 15: Even Adam West

Panels from Batman '66 Meets the Green Hornet #11 (digital comic, October 2014), script by Kevin Smith and Ralph Garman, pencils and inks by Ty Templeton, colors by Tony Aviña, letters by Wes Abbott
Yes, the Batzooka! It looks like this in the live-action Batman '66 universe:


And it looks like this in the regular DC Universe.


Panel from Batman Confidential #14 (April 2008), script by Tony Bedard, pencils by Rags Morales, inks by Mark Farmer, colors by I.L.L., letters by Travis Lanham
Advantage: Batman '66.

Today in Comics History, March 15, 44 BC: At 13th Dimension: 13 Comic Book Julius Caesars! Plus, Caesar in the Marvel Universe!

Today, it's all about Caesar! Caesar, everybody!


from Batman '66 #21 (DC digital comic, November 2013), script by Tom Peyer, pencils and inks by Derec Donovan, colors by Tony Avina
No, no, no, wrong Cesar. I've made another one of my silly mistakes. I meant Julius Caesar.


from "Julius Caesar at Yankee Stadium" in Hit Comics #30 (Quality, November 1943), pencils by Sheldon Moldoff
That's why today at 13th Dimension, my pal John celebrates the 2059th anniversary (2059? I think that's the gift of haggis) of the Death of Julius Caesar, the so-called Ides of March, with 13 Comic Book Julius Caesars! That includes the one that wore a toga. And twelve others! I helped out by clipping the panels out of comic books.

John didn't include, however, the vast history of Julius Caesar in the Marvel Universe, because it's just too darn big a story. Why, if you check his page in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe, Caesar chalks up an amazing one billion and three Earth-616 stories, including all those issues of Guardians where he was Rocket Raccoon's drinking buddy, his stint as a supporting cast member of Skrull Kill Krew, and the short-lived miniseries Julius Caesar: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.* But let's start with perhaps the first Marvel appearance of Caesar (if not his eponymous salad or birthing method), way back in the Golden Age of Timely Comics!


from Ideal #1 (Marvel/Timely, July 1948), creators unknown

Well, that's my night accounted for

(Back tomorrow!)

The Zen of Batman: Justice

from Batman '66: "The Thirteenth Hat" (February 23, 1966), written by Charles Hoffman, directed by Norman Foster

The Zen of Batman: Experience

from Batman "Tut's Case Is Shut" (January 4, 1968), written by Robert C. Dennis and Earl Barret; directed by Larry Peerce

Bear Attack! Month 2014, Day 3: Na na na na na na na na Bat-Bear

Panels from Batman '66 (digital series) #18 (March 2014), script by Jeff Parker, pencils and inks by Ted Naifeh, colors by Tony Aviña, letters by Wes Abbott

365 Days of DC House Ads, Day 171: DC Radio/TV/Movie Comics House Ads Week, Day 5: Well, that didn't happen

House ad for DC television and stage productions, printed in Swing with Scooter #1 (June-July 1966)
Sadly Batman did not fight Blockbuster on his 1966-1968 TV series, but can you spot another thing that didn't happen in this ad? Well, take a look at the bottom bar in that ad, promising animated Saturday morning cartoon versions of Wonder Woman, the Flash, Plastic Man and Metamorpho. While Aquaman did go on the air, the others never made it past the pitch stage. Here, along with some dandy Aquaman and Atom model art, is Filmation producer Lou Scheimer talking about it in his book Creating the Filmation Generation:


But if we don't have mid-1960s animated versions of Plastic Man, Wonder Woman and Metamorpho, we at least have all the other great, crazy, retro stuff. Here's a sample of each!:


Batman episode "Surf's Up, Joker's Under" (November 16/, 1967), starring Adam West, Burt Ward, Alan Napier, Neil Hamilton, Stafford Repp, Yvonne Craig and Cesar Romero


Opening titles to The Adventures of Superman (1952-1958), starring George Reeves, Noel Neill, and Jack Larson


The New Adventures of Superman episode "The Malevolent Mummy" (1967), starring the voices of Bud Collyer, Joan Alexander, Jackson Beck, and Jack Grimes


The Adventures of Superboy episode "Forget Me Not, Superdog" (1968), starring the voices of Bob Hastings, Janet Waldo, and Ted Knight


from It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's Superman (1975 television production of the 1966 musical), starring David Wilson and Lesley Ann Warren


Aquaman episode "The Rampaging Reptile-Men" from The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure (1967), starring the voices of Marvin Miller, Jerry Dexter, and Ted Knight

And even tho' Metamorpho, one of my fave DC characters, never made it to TV animation in the 1960s (but he appeared in Justice League and Batman: The Brave and the Bold in the 2000s), here's the song (from a Power Records story album), that shoulda been the theme song for his cartoon:

365 Days of DC House Ads, Day 170: DC Radio/TV/Movie Comics House Ads Week, Day 4: Some days you just can't get rid of a meme

House ad for the Batman comic strip and Batman movie (August 1967), printed in Detective Comics #356 (October 1966)


[British or Canadian?] ad for the Batman movie (1966)

The Zen of Batman: Snacking

From Batman: "The Joke's on Catwoman" (January 4, 1968), script by Stanley Ralph Ross, directed by Oscar Rudolph

365 Days of DC House Ads, Day 76: Go-Go Checks Week, Day 1

It's the swingin'est week of them all, cats and kittens! Because all this week i'll be posting two ads each: one general, and one specific, for the DC Universe's most infamous promotion of all time and all infinite (or 52) Earths! Get ready! Are you hip enough for...




Top: Go-Go Checks house ad, printed in Detective Comics #348 (February 1966)
Bottom: Go-Go Checks house ad for Flash #163 (August 1966) and Batman #183 (August 1966),
printed in Teen Titans #4 (July-August 1966)

Both comic book covers: pencils by Carmine Infantino, inks by Joe Giella

Ads designed and lettered by Ira Schnapp
Go-Go Checks designed by Irwin Donenfeld and Sol Harrison

366 Days with Alfred Pennyworth, Day 366

If you've been reading Comics Oughta Be Fun! for any time now, you know that I'm a diehard Marvel Fanbull. I've pretty much read everything Marvel has ever published (and I'm working my way through Atlas and Timely). My first DC comics were issues of The New Adventures of Superboy and Adventure Comics featuring "Dial H for Hero," and I wasn't, to put it gently, impressed. It took The New Teen Titans to get me on board the DC Bullet Train, and although I never sampled as broad a range of comics from DC at that time, there was still plenty I became fast-fascinated by: Batman and the Outsiders, Camelot 3000, Crisis on Infinite Earths, Saga of the Swamp Thing, Batman: The Dark Knight...

Oh yes. The Dark Knight, Frank Miller's now-infamous, endlessly influential uber-Batman, a grand opera on the printed page.

What I remember most about the lead-up to Batman: The Dark Knight is perhaps not what we've taken from it (the gritty grim apocalyptic tone, the movement to new glossy paper and thicker formatted comic books, the seemingly interminable waiting between issues), but an anticipatory write-up in an Amazing Heroes Preview Special (remember those?), the second of those wonderful bi-annual Fantagraphics productions showcasing pretty nearly every comic book coming out in the next year. In the days before the internet (gosh, did those ever exist?), the Amazing Heroes Preview Special was the single best source for finding out the scoop on upcoming issues and new series. (And occasionally, like the infamous Thriller Special, some books that would never, ever come out at all). It had the below amazing cover, scanned from my own personal collection. (Yes, I've kept them all—they make dandy nostalgic and fun reading. One day I will do a feature on some of the great write-ups within 'em.)


Cover of Amazing Heroes Preview Special #2 (January 1, 1985), cover art by Jaime Hernandez
And here, from when it was just titled "BATMAN Special Project" (catchy, huh?) is the preview for what became That Big Thing That Changed Comics and Especially Batman Forever™:



from Amazing Heroes Preview Special #2 (January 1, 1985), written by A. G. James
You may have suspected that the pertinent paragraph I'm pointing you precipitously po...I mean to...is


Why, I thought this was brilliant. Altho' I didn't know it at the time, Alfred had been treated with a comedy touch before, but more in the manner of Nigel Bruce's Doctor Watson from the Sherlock Holmes film series. Alfred Pennyworth was never boring (okay, the Outsider storyline strained credibility), but he'd lost his luster and sparkle from the Golden Age, and here was a brilliant new take on the faithful retainer. I think sometimes we forget how much we owe Frank Miller credit for the modern-day portrayal of Alfred: not only quick with a bandage and a sandwich, but with an exceedingly dry quip indeed.

And altho' I hadn't read the vast majority of his appearances until this past year, I came to consider Alfred Pennyworth one of my favorite comic book characters. Except for the "Alfred is dead!" era and give or take a few leaves-of-absence with annoyance at Master Bruce during events like Knightfall, he's been a pretty constant figure in the Batcave and both Batman and Detective Comics...and indeed, any comic that regularly features Batman, like The Brave and the Bold, World's Finest Comics, Batman and the Outsiders, and, as Gilligan's Island would put it, "the rest."


Pin-up from Batman Annual #2 (Winter 1961)
It took me only a little while, thanks to the wonder of reprints, that Alfred had once been quite a different character. Golden Age Alfred Beagle: he wobbled but he won't fall down.


Panels from "Bruce Wayne Loses the Guardianship of Dick Grayson" in Batman #20 (December 1943-January 1944), script by Bill Finger, pencils by Bob Kane, inks by Jerry Robinson, letters by George Roussos
Rotund, bumbling Alfred soon gave way to a slimmed-down Alfred who desperately wanted to be a detective—and often succeeded, sometimes even without the knowledge of the Dynamic Duo:


Panels from "Alfred, Private Detective" in Detective Comics #96 (February 1945); script by Don Cameron; pencils, inks, and letters by Dick Sprang
There's no letter columns in the Golden Age DC comics, but it certainly looks like the character of Alfred was a hit. He begins to receive his own (comedic) back-up stories in Batman...


Title panel from "Recipe for Revenge!" in Batman #26 (December 1944-January 1945), script by Jack Schiff, pencils and inks by Jerry Robinson, letters by George Roussos
...and he's probably one of the first non-hero regular supporting characters to appear with frequency on the cover of comic books.


Cover of Detective Comics #101 (July 1945), pencils and inks by Dick Sprang
At some point (and despite all my Batman-reading this year, I still haven't determined the exact comic or range of issues in which the change takes place), Alfred's backstory changes. He goes from being the butler who arrived at Wayne Manor after Bruce and Dick became Batman and Robin, to the Wayne family's faithful servant (following in the steps of his father Jarvis). He was present...and ever-so-influential...while Bruce was growing up:



Pages from "Of Mice and Men" in The Batman Chronicles #5 (Summer 1996), script by Alan Grant, pencils by Scott McDaniel, inks by Ray McCarthy, colors by Roberta Tewes, letters by John Costanza
It's Alfred, not an orphanage or a Wayne relative (Golden Age Bruce had tons of 'em) who raises Bruce Wayne. Yes, Bruce has always, will always love and revere his parents, but it is Alfred...surnamed Pennyworth once this story switch begins...who raises the boy, to the man, to the Batman.


Page from "Gazing Back: The Secret Origin of the Batman" in Batman Secret Files one-shot (October 1997), script by Devin K. Grayson, layouts by Staz Johnson, finishes by James A. Hodgkins, colors by Gloria Vasquez, color separations by Digital Chameleon, letters by Bill Oakley
In the post-Dark Knight world Alfred becomes even more important to the Bat-Family. he takes on a role of mentor to the young Tim Drake when the first-ever solo Robin series begins:


Panels from Robin II: The Joker's Wild! #4 (December 1991), script by Chuck Dixon, pencils by Tom Lyle, inks by Bob Smith, colors by Adrienne Roy, letters by Tim Harkins
We see that Alfred is not just a dandy butler but an efficient and accomplished espionage agent, as suits his new backstory as World War II British agent. All of Batman's proteges from Jason Todd to Cassandra Cain benefit from his knowledge and skill, and he becomes one of the most respected persons in the DC Universe. Who else in the DCU do such varying personalities as Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman and Booster Gold look up to with respect and admiration?


Panel from Robin #27 (March 1996), script by Chuck Dixon, pencils by Mike Wieringo, inks by Stan Woch, colors by Adrienne Roy, letters by Tim Harkins
He's also been a television and movie star. I think it's a credit that regardless of the quality of the Batman stars or script, an Alfred on the screen is always a treat, from Eric Wilton in the Batman serials to Academy Award-winning Greatest Actor in the World™ Michael Caine, and my personal favorite Alfred or all, the unflappable Alan Napier from the Batman '66 TV series. Even the much-ridiculed Batman and Robin movie contains a touching and effective series of scenes between Alfred and Bruce. And Alfred gets the last word in that movie.


I think it's pretty clear to all that I love Alfred Pennyworth. It's a credit to Bob Kane and Jerry Robinson's creation, shaped by so many Batman writers and artists, that he never seems out of character or out of place, no matter the story or style.


Panel from Tiny Titans #3 (June 2008); script by Art Baltazar and Franco Aureliani; pencils, inks, colors and letters by Art Baltazar
The testament to the timelessness of the character is best expressed, I think, in the Zero Hour story in which plump, detective-wannabe Alfred Beagle crosses over from another dimension to aid Batman and Robin. He's bumbling, yes, but once again he helps save the day. He's gone again within an issue, and never have I so sorely missed an Earth-2 character than reading that story.


Page from Batman: Shadow of the Bat #31 (September 1994), script by Alan Grant, pencils and inks by Bret Blevins, colors by Adrienne Roy, letters by Todd Klein
So, let's raise a glass of the Wayne family port from the very-well-kept wine cellar in a toast to Alfred Thaddeus Pennyworth. He's not just a fine gentleman's gentleman, he not even also a fine gentleman...he is a fine man. Where ever Batman's adventures take him into the future, I hope that Alfred will be right there, darning Bruce's costume, bringing him tea, and giving him the care of a friend and a father.

Vivat Alfred!


Panels from "Fourth Face: The Man: Perspectives!" in Batman Annual #9 (July 1985), script by Mike W. Barr, pencils and inks by Paul Smith, colors by Adrienne Roy, letters by John Costanza