Today in Comics History, December 24, 1985, Christmas Eve: Oh no, the SpaceX rocket exploded

...fa la la la la


from Batman and the Outsiders (1983 series) #31 (March 1986), script by Mike W. Barr, pencils and inks by Alan Davis, colors by Adrienne Roy, letters by John Workman

Today in Comics History, August 16: Happy birthday, Madonna!

Born on this day: singer, songwriter, and (ahem) actor Madonna! Marvel shoulda given her a series in the '80s, doncha think?


from Madonna #1 (Personality Comics, September 1991), script by Steven Spire III, pencils and inks by Jimmy Palmiotti, letters by Dave Sharpe

365 Days of Defiance, Day 124: Your inside is out when your outside is in

Mike W. Barr has written some fantastic comics, especially within the Batman family, but one thing he's never been accused of is being a regular cast member on She's the Sheriff. Also frequently, his supervillains are a little bit corny, but I don't care. I love love love his (and Jim Aparo's) run on the original Batman and the Outsiders series. Here's their first annual, a 1984 parable adapted to the world of the DC Universe.


Cover of Batman and the Outsiders Annual (1984 series) #1 (1984), pencils by Frank Miller, inks by Jim Aparo
Villain Eric Blairman not only has a green suit (where did he get it?) but a red, white, an' blue patriotic super-team all his own, the aptly-if-goofily-named (prepare to groan) Force of July!


Panels from Batman and the Outsiders Annual (1984 series) #1 (1984); script by Mike W. Barr; pencils by Jerome Moore, Alex Saviuk, Jan Duursema, and Rick Hoberg; inks and letters by Jim Aparo; colors by Adrienne Roy
Blairman sees the diverse Outsiders as enemies of the American people, so of course he very patriotically strings them up. (Like fascists do.) Please note that altho' title-checked, the Batman will not be appearing in this annual. So there's no expecting for him to leap in and release the Outsiders! I guess we'll have to place all our faith in Halo and Geo-Force...Oh man, we're boned.


Like all good villains who have their good-guy nemeses completely at their mercy, Blairman can't help himself from speechifying, explaining for those of us who didn't get the reference on page two that he renamed himself after Eric Blair, the birth name of George Orwell, author of 1984. Also: you can tell his sister is a really really smart scientist, because she has glasses. Thank you, comic book visual shortcuts!


She's so smart (how smart is she?) she's invested the Omni-Cast, a new system of ordering pay-per-view special events over your cable, and also of monitoring what everyday Americans do and say. Oh, it's the 1984's version of The Internet!


Suddenly, the Outsiders escape! As if you had any doubt. And guess what: Halo and Geo-Force really do save the day! Makes you feel bad for laughing at them earlier in the post and/or since their creation almost 35 years ago, huh?


GO GO OUTSIDERS! ATTACK THAT GIANT SHOE!


Blairman's evil satellite crashes to earth and all's well that ends well as the Outsiders reflect on their victory and Mike W. Barr reaches for his copy of Bartlett's Familiar Quotations. Meanwhile, Batman is tapping his fingers on the table in the Outsidercave, impatiently waiting for everybody else to show up for their regular weekly meeting.

365 Days of Defiance, Day 35: Until issue 32, at least

Panels from Batman and the Outsiders (1983 series) #3 (October 1983); script by Mike W. Barr; pencils, inks, and letters by Jim Aparo; colors by Adrienne Roy

There Is No Hope in Crime Alley, Night 11

Panels from Batman and the Outsiders (1983 series) #1 (August 1983); script by Mike W. Barr;
pencils, inks, and letters by Jim Aparo

There Is No Hope in Crime Alley, Night 3

Panels from Batman and the Outsiders (1983 series) #13 (August 1984), script by Mike W. Barr, pencils by Dan Day, inks by Pablo Marcos, colors by Adrienne Roy, letters by Ben Oda

365 Days of DC House Ads, Day 257: Alphabet Antics House Ads Week, Day 7

DC Comics alphabet house ads
Y: from Action Comics #114 (November 1947)
Z: from Detective Comics #130 (December 1947)


Bonus Saturday week-end Alphabet Antics wrap-up feature!:

Two-page house ad for Batman and the Outsiders in DC Sampler #3 (Late Fall 1984); script by Mike W. Barr; pencils, inks, and letters by Jim Aparo

(Click picture to Duke of Oil-size)

Bonus Saturday week-end Alphabet Antics wrap-up feature, Part 2! Here's some animals DC didn't think of for their ads:


Splash page from "The Alphabetical Animal Adventure" in World's Finest Comics #42 (September-October 1949), pencils and inks by Al Plastino

Bonus Saturday week-end Alphabet Antics wrap-up feature, Part the Third! And here's the Mystery Science Theater 3000 short that's been running through my mind all week and inspired the title of this feature. Watch out for the plagiarism from Ogden Nash!





Now we know our ABC,
Thank you for the ads, DC.

365 Days of DC House Ads, Day 139

House ad for Batman and the Outsiders #1 (August 1983); printed in World's Finest Comics #294 (August 1983)
Ad art: pencils and inks by Jim Aparo

365 Days of DC House Ads, Day 21

House ad for Batman and the Outsiders v.1 #32 (April 1986); printed in Detective Comics #560 (March 1986)
Art pencilled and inked by Alan Davis, reversed from the cover of BATO #32:


Note that in the ad Halo's aura is yellow, her "brilliant light" power, but on the cover it's blue, her "holographic distortion effect" aura. Which means

1. On the cover, Halo can't be bothered to show up for Batman's leave-taking and instead just sends a halo-graphic image;
2. I know waaaaaay too much about Halo.

366 Days with Alfred Pennyworth, Day 362

Two-page spread from Batman and the Outsiders Special one-shot (March 2009) script by Peter J. Tomasi, pencils by Adam Kubert, inks by John Dell and Sandu Florea, colors by Chris Chuckry, letters by Steve Wands
(Click picture to tearjerker-size)

366 Days with Alfred Pennyworth, Day 212

Panels from DC Comics Presents #83 (July 1985), script by Mike W. Barr (who else?), pencils by Irv Novick, inks by Dave Hunt, colors by Gene D'Angelo, letters by Albert DeGuzman

366 Days with Alfred Pennyworth, Day 181

Panels from Batman and the Outsiders #3 (October 1983), script by Mike W. Barr; pencils, inks, and letters by Jim Aparo

366 Days with Alfred Pennyworth, Day 132

Panels from Batman and the Outsiders v.1 #1 (August 1983), script by Mike W. Barr; pencils, inks, and letters by Jim Aparo

Tis the Season to Duck Out Early

At this time of year, we're often told to reflect upon our friends and family. Which is a wonderful thing to do.

And then, there's the people we work with. And at this time of year, we're often corralled into that most perilous and dicey of holiday events: the company Christmas party.

So take a clue from Clark Kent: make a quick appearance and then duck out the back door. By that point everybody will be so sloshed they'll never notice you've gone!



If you're lucky you'll escape the Secret Santa ceremony completely! Because who needs another Lex Luthor bobblehead doll to put on your desk?



I actually like this scene an awful lot, and it loses something in the reformatting. So here's my secret Santa gift to you, the full page in the altogether!:

Page from Batman and the Outsiders #19 (March 1985), script by Mike W. Barr, pencils, inks and letters by Jim Aparo, colors by Adrienne Roy
(Click image to super-size)

Coming up soon: Batman shows you how to get out of Christmas dinner with your parents, Aquaman explains the best method of avoiding being roped into Christmas caroling, and Mister Miracle escapes from a flaming locked firetrap and also from the consequences of not being able to find the sold-out Barnes and Noble "Nook" that Barda put on her Christmas list.

Ten of a Kind: Hold Me Closer, Tiny Batman

(More Ten of a Kind here.)