Today in Comics History, July 21, 1969: All that super-research and he still got the date wrong

from Superman: The Last Family of Krypton #1 (DC/Elseworlds,October 2010), script by Cary Bates, pencils by Renato Arlem, inks by Renato Arlem, colors by Allen Passalaqua, letters by Pat Brosseau

Today in Comics History, June 24, 1999: Don't you dare spill that Super-Cola on my collectibles

back cover of Superman, Inc. one-shot (DC, December 1999), pencils by José Luis García-López, inks by Kevin Nowlan, colors by Dave Stewart, cover design by Steve Vance

There Is No Hope in Crime Alley, Night 9: All Of This Has Happened Before and Will Happen Again, 1492 edition

from Batman Annual #18 (DC, June 1994), script by Doug Moench, pencils by Frederico Cueva, inks by Alberto Pez, colors by Phil Allen, letters by Steve Haynie

Today in Comics History, April 14, 1960: New Amalgam comic blends Batman and the guy who says "Hee-haw!" to George Bailey

from Batman: Creature of the Night #3 (DC, June 2018); script by Kurt Busiek, pencils, inks, and colors by John Paul Leon, letters by Todd Klein

Liberty Bell March, Day 17: And Now for Something Completely Elseworlds

Superman: True Brit is a 2004 DC original graphic novel that poses the puzzling question: What if Baby Kal-El had landed in England instead of Kansas?


from Superman: True Brit graphic novel (DC, December 2004), script by Kim "Howard" Johnson "with some help by" John Cleese, pencils by John Byrne, inks by Mark Farmer, colors by Alex Bleyaert, letters by Bill Oakley and Jack Morelli
There's a lot of talent attached here: It's based on ideas by Python John Cleese, John Byrne's on art, and long-time Monty Python historian and biographer Kim "Howard" Johnson wrote the script. And with a pedigree like that you probably know right away that this is not going to be a staunch, serious Elseworlds like USSR Superman (plus Batman and his furry hat). No, it is...rather silly. Which is fun! We don't get enough of that silliness in a Superman story much anymore.

The book includes several verbal and visual nods to the Pythons, their sketches and movies, and their various side projects. I won't include videos for them, but I bet you can identify most of the references! Have fun, and remember: "The Universe consists of a billion, billion galaxies...77,000,000,000 miles across, and every galaxy is made up of a billion, zillion stars and around these stars circle a billion planets, and of all of these planets the greenest and the pleasantest is the planet Earth, in the system of Sol, in the Galaxy known as the Milky Way."










And that's just the ones I found on my recent re-read. I am pretty sure that in keeping with the theme of this month, this comic has the most Monty Python references ever in a single comic book. Including some copies of Monty Python's Two-in-One.

Today in Comics History, December 31, 1999, 11:51 PM, New Year's Eve: Y2K was caused by Two-Face!

from "Apocalypse Girl" in The Batman Chronicles #21 (DC, Summer 2000); script, pencils, and inks by The Pander Brothers; colors by Lee Loughridge; letters by Ken Lopez

365 Days of Defiance, Day 227: Willkommen, Bienvenue, Batman

What If...? (©1976 a completely different company) Bruce Wayne had become a hero in the Berlin, Germany of 1939? Well, he would be millionreichsmark playjunge Baruch Wane...but at night he would oppose the Nazi government as The Berlin Batman!


Panel from The Batman Chronicles #11 (Winter 1998); script, pencils, and inks by Paul Pope; colors by Ted McKeever; letters by Ken Lopez
This Batman fights not merely against crime but also the clampdown on intellectualism and artistry. Here he is fighting to prevent writings from a dissident Jewish economist (stored on a train) from falling into the hands of the Nazis. And when you've got actual Nazis, who needs the Joker?



By the way, that's Komissar Garten in the green trench coat. "You're only one man, what can you do?" taunts Garten. Why, he doesn't know Der Batman very well at all, does he?



And now you know about the legend of the Berlin Batman. In the heart of evil, may we all be so brave and dedicated.

There Is No Hope in Crime Alley, Night 4: What the El

Hey, What If... (copyright ©1977 Marvel Entertainment Group) Jor-El and Lara had emigrated (without papers!) to Earth alongside their little son? I think it would go a little...something like this:



Panels from Superman: The Last Family of Krypton #2 (November 2010), script by Cary Bates, pencils and inks by Renato Arlem, colors by Allen Passalaqua, letters b y Pat Brosseau
Answer: there would be no Batman origin! So who's gonna stop Clock King, huh? Didja ever thinka that, Lara?

Today in Comics History, March 22, 1993: Bruce Wayne is tricked by a pyramid scheme

from Batman: Book of the Dead #1 (DC, June 1999), script by Doug Moench, pencils by Barry Kitson, inks by Ray McCarthy, colors by Dave Stewart, letters by Kurt Hathaway

A Month of... There Is No Hope in Crime Alley, Night 12: Today, more than ever.

Panels from JLA: Act of God #2 (December 2000); script by Doug Moench, pencils by Dave Ross, inks by George Freeman, colors by Ben DiMagmaliw, letters by Kurt Hathaway

A Month of... There Is No Hope in Crime Alley, Night 2: Putting the "Nasty" Back in "Dynasty"

Panels from "Dark Present" in Dark Knight Dynasty graphic novel (November 1997); script by Mike W. Barr; pencils by Gary Frank; inks by Cam Smith; colors by Ian Hannin; color separations by Alex Bleyaert and Robert Ro; letters by Ken Lopez

Let's Kill Hitler: A short scene from the upcoming movie Man of Steel 2

How kick-butt is future bearded long-hair Superman?



Panels from Superman: At Earth's End one-shot (1995), script by Tom Veitch, pencils and inks by Frank Gomez, colors by Angus McKie, letters by Bill Oakley
So kick-butt he killed two Hitlers with a massive big-ass gun. Honestly, I can't figger out this crazy story, so let's just call it


…times two. That's our Superman!

There Is No Hope in Crime Alley, Night 24

Panels from "Worlds Apart" in Elseworlds 80-Page Giant one-shot (August 1999), script by Chuck Dixon, pencils by Trevor Von Eeden, inks by Joe Rubinstein, colors by Digital Chameleon, letters by Ken Bruzenak

There Is No Hope in Crime Alley, Night 17

Panels from Batman: Castle of the Bat one-shot (1994); script by Jack C. Harris,painted art by Bo Hampton, letters by Tracy Hampton-Munsey

There Is No Hope in Crime Alley, Night 12

Panels from JLA: Age of Wonder #1 (July 2003), script by Adisakdi Tantimedh, breakdowns by P. Craig Russell, finishes by Galen Showman, colors by Dave McCaig, letters by Bob Lappan

There Is No Hope in Crime Alley, Night 11

Panels from JLA: Shogun of Steel (one-shot) (2002), script by Ben Raab, pencils and inks by Justiniano, colors by Sherilyn Van Valkenburgh, letters by Bill Oakley

There Is No Hope in Crime Alley, Night 21

Pages from Superman: Speeding Bullets one-shot (1993), script by J. M. DeMatteis, pencils and inks by Eduardo Barreto, colors by Les Dorscheid

There Is No Hope in Crime Alley, Night 16

Panels from "Berlin Batman" in The Batman Chronicles #11 (Winter 1988); script, pencils, and inks by Paul Pope, colors by Ted McKeever, letters by Ken Lopez