There Is No Hope in Crime Alley 2024: Hand over those three rocks, lady

Long-time readers of this blog will know that pretty much everytime June 26 rolls around, I commemorate the death of Thomas and Martha Wayne by showing off panels of that iconic origin of Batman, because it's been portrayed in comic books two or three times.


from "The Batman Wars Against the Dirigible of Doom" in Detective Comics (1937 series) #33 (DC, November 1939), script by Bill Finger, figure pencils and inks by Bob Kane, background pencils and letters by Sheldon Moldoff
However, this year let's mix it up a little bit and show a happier ending to that trip through Crime Alley:


Nancy (United Feature Syndicate, October 10, 1953), by Ernie Bushmiller
I'm pretty sure Sluggo still got shot, but still...

There Is No Hope in Crime Alley 2023: Today in Comics History, June 26, 10:48 PM, One Hundred Million BC

Tonight, June 26, is when the shooting death of Bruce Wayne's parents, Martha and...um, John Wayne, right?...occurred. Every year for the past several I've been devoting the entire day to hourly examinations of different comics depicting that moment. (See here!) Except this year, because I've been a very busy little stuffed bull. But I can't let the night go by without mentioning it just this once, and what better way to show you than with the most bizarre version of Batman's origin story from, over the past year. May I present...the origin of...Bat-Saur!


from The Jurassic League #1 (DC, July 2022), script by Juan Gedeon and Daniel Warren Johnson, pencils and inks by Juan Gedeon, colors by Mike Spicer, letters by Ferran Delgado
The bitter memory of this is what spurs on Bat-Saur's raving reptile rampage of revenge when the killer Jokerzard taunts him!


from The Jurassic League #6 (DC, December 2022), script by Juan Gedeon and Daniel Warren Johnson, pencils and inks by Juan Gedeon, colors by Mike Spicer, letters by Ferran Delgado
Just remember: dinosaurs evolved into birds. And that's why Batman's sidekick is named Robin.

There Is No Hope in Crime Alley, Night 26

Cover of Batman #673 (March 2008), art by Tony Daniel

Today in Comics History, June 26: On That Fateful Night...

The Mark of Zorro (20th Century Fox, 1940), starring Tyrone Power, Linda Darnell, and Basil Rathbone, directed by Rouben Mamoulian

366 Days with Alfred Pennyworth, Day 178

Page from Batman: Death and the Maidens #1 (October 2003), script by Greg Rucka, pencils and inks by Klaus Janson, colors by Steve Buccellato, letters by Clem Robins

There Is No Hope in Crime Alley, Night 25

Panels from Batman/Lobo one-shot (April 2000), script by Alan Grant, pencils and inks by Simon Bisley, colors by Nathan Eyring, letters by Bill Oakley

There Is No Hope in Crime Alley, Night 24

Panels from "Night of the Stalker!" in Detective Comics #439 (February-March 1974), plot by Vin Amendola and Sal Amendola, script by Steve Englehart, pencils by Sal Amendola, inks by Dick Giordano

There Is No Hope in Crime Alley, Night 23

Page from Batman: Death of Innocents one-shot (December 1996), script by Dennis O'Neil, pencils by Joe Staton, inks by Bill Sienkiewicz, colors by Ian Laughlin, letters by John Costanza

There Is No Hope in Crime Alley, Night 22

Panels from "How to Be the Batman!" in Detective Comics #190 (December 1952), script by Bill Finger (?), pencils by Bob Kane [Batman & Robin figures] and Lew Sayre Schwartz [all other pencils], inks by Stan Kaye

There Is No Hope in Crime Alley, Night 21

Panel from Bruce Wayne: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.* #1 (April 1996), script by Chuck Dixon, pencils by Cary Nord, inks by Mark Pennington, colors by Steve Buccellato, separations by Malibu, letters by Richard Starkings


* Surely He Investigated Everybody Lower Down

There Is No Hope in Crime Alley, Night 20

Pages from Batman: Gotham by Gaslight graphic novel (February 1989), script by Brian Augustyn, pencils by Mike Mignola, inks by P. Craig Russell, colors by David Hornung, letters by John Workman

There Is No Hope in Crime Alley, Night 19

Panels from Batman: Digital Justice graphic novel (1990), story, art, and letters by script by Pepe Moreno; script by Doug Murray; art assistant: Bob Fingerman

There Is No Hope in Crime Alley, Night 18

Page from Justice League Adventures #34 (October 2004), script by Stuart Moore, pencils by Tim Levins, inks by Mick Gray, colors by Heroic Age, letters by Jared K. Fletcher

There Is No Hope in Crime Alley, Night 17

Page from Batman: Full Circle one-shot (May 1991), script by Mike W. Barr, pencils by Alan Davis, inks by Mark Farmer, colors by Tom Ziuko, letters by Todd Klein

There Is No Hope in Crime Alley, Night 16

Panels from Batman: In Darkest Knight one-shot (1994), script by Mike W. Barr, pencils and inks by Jerry Bingham, colors by Digital Chameleon, letters by Pat Brosseau

There Is No Hope in Crime Alley, Night 15

Page from Batman: The Story of the Dark Knight, (June 2008), written and illustrated by Ralph Cosentino

There Is No Hope in Crime Alley, Night 14

Panels from Secret Origins v.2 #6 (September 1986), script by Roy Thomas, pencils by Marshall Rogers, inks by Terry Austin, colors by Marshall Rogers, letters by Carrie Spiegle


#4,600.

There Is No Hope in Crime Alley, Night 13

Panels from Batman #232 (June 1971), script by Denny O'Neil, pencils by Neal Adams, inks by Dick Giordano, letters by John Costanza

There Is No Hope in Crime Alley, Night 12

Page from Batman: The Cult #4 (November 1988), script by Jim Starlin, pencils and inks by Berni Wrightson, colors by Bill Wray, letters by John Costanza
Man, Wrightson wanted to do The Dark Knight so very bad, didn't he?

There Is No Hope in Crime Alley, Night 11

Panels from Batman: The Dark Knight #1 (1986), script and pencils by Frank Miller, inks by Klaus Janson, colors by Lynn Varley, letters by John Costanza