Comics Within Comics Month, Day 29: Well, that solves the mystery of the missing comic book

Panels from Fanboy #5 (July 1999), script by Mark Evanier, pencils and inks by Sergio Aragones, colors by Tom Luth, letters by Todd Klein



Cover of Batman (1940 series) #1 (Spring 1940), pencils by Bob Kane
There lots of comics within comics in the six-issue miniseries Fanboy, which features great art by the always-wonderful Sergio Aragonés but also multiple fantasy sequences in each book drawn by other big-name comics artists: Dave Gibbons and HGil Kane in a Green Lantern pastiche, Jerry Ordway in a Superman parody, Wendy Pini does a take-off on Elfquest...and in this Batman-focused issue, Dick Sprang, Jim Mooney, Joe Giella, Neal Adams, Frank miller and Bruce Timm, all in the style of their own Batman era-comics! It's not just the all-star line-up that makes Fanboy #5 my fave issue of the limited series, though: it's also the fair-play, you-to-can-solve-it Adventure of the Burgled Batman!


It was a dark and stormy knight! Er, well, dark at least. When our hero Finster the comic store clerk returns to the shop after turning the lights back on, he discovers the crime of the century:


Let's let Finster examine the scene of the crime and see if there are any clues or impossible alibis:


It's an Ellery Queen-style classic locked room mystery! Nobody went in or out, and the comic can't be found on the scene, but it has clearly been stolen! Where's Jim Hutton when you need him?


You have all the clues now...can you solve the crime? Okay, we'll give you one more big clue in the next set of panels, and then match wits with Finster and see if you can find out...whodunnit!


We're just in time for the solution to the mystery...not to mention another Comic Within a Comic! And whadaya know...it's a new installment of Let's Destroy a Copy of Detective Comics #27!





Cover of Detective Comics #27 (May 1939), pencils and inks by Bob Kane
If this were a TV drama, this would be where we'd insert the "da-da-DAH!" musical stinger. Finster Explains It All For You™:

And, by the way, here's the cover of Fanboy #5. Look familiar?


Cover of Fanboy #5 (July 1999), pencils and inks by Bob Kane and Sergio Aragonés
My point, and I do have one, is that Fanboy is a pretty fun series and if you missed it, it's well worth picking up, especially if you're a fan of Sergio (and who isn't?...commies, that's who.). Check your local comic book store for the inexpensive back issues! If you want the trade paperback...well, it's out of print, but you can pick up used copies for pennies on the dollar at Amazon.com:

Comics Within Comics Month, Day 15: Let's destroy another copy of Detective Comics #27

Panel from The Boys #24 (June 2001), script by Garth Ennis, pencils and inks by Darick Robertson, colors by Tony Avina, letters by Simon Bowland



Cover of Detective Comics #27 (May 1939), pencils and inks by Bob Kane

Comics Within Comics Month, Day 14: Let's destroy a copy of Detective Comics #27

Panels from Batman: Hollywood Knight #3 (June 2001), script by Bob Layton, pencils and inks by Dick Giordano, colors by Glenn Whitmore, letters by Sean Konot



Cover of Detective Comics #27 (May 1939), pencils and inks by Bob Kane

Friday Night Fights: I just hope you understand sometimes the clothes do not make the man

As has been mentioned here and there, Batman is a master of timing:


Yowza! That's a pretty good sucka punch, Batman. And I could just leave that for my entry in Friday Night Fights, call it a good evening, and go make chocolate chip cookies. (Mmmmmmmm.) But there's more to the story than that punch, and b'lieve me, it makes the punch that much sweeter. Even sweeter than cookies!

You'll find the bat-punch in Scott Hampton's issue (#9) of the late lamented spotlight anthology series Solo. It's in the lead story of the issue, "Batman: 1947," written by John Hitchcock and illustrated by Hampton. As the story opens, a man heads out for his night job as Batman. Sounds like Bruce Wayne beginning his patrol, doesn't it? Not quite:


Panels from "Batman: 1947" in Solo #9 (April 2006), script by John Hitchcock, painted art by Scott Hampton, lettering by Jared K Fletcher
That's not Bruce Wayne—it's an actor who puts on a cloth Batman suit to appear for publicity purposes. He's worried his son will be disappointed when he finds the truth: that he's not really Batman. His wife comforts him and sends him on his way.

The suit in the story is remarkably like the Batman costume in the 1943 and 1949 movie serials...


...which is an appropriate art choice for Hampton, as the suit's being used to drum up publicity for a Saturday morning Batman movie serial to adoring fans, especially wide-eyed kids. Well, who wouldn't be wide-eyed to meet Batman? I know I would be!


It'd be a nice vignette but not much of a story if the whole comic consisted of our ersatz Batman standing around signing autographs and lowering the value of those copies of Detective #27, so of course Hampton ramps up the action by adding those ultimate nemeses of Batman: bad guys:


You got excuse me for printing that entire page there, but I just loves it so much. If I was to have any page of Scott Hampton original art—and there's a lot of great ones—I'd pick this very page. I love the wide-eyed expressions in the first panel, the middle-tier pleading and dilemma, and the instant shift to a wild sprint as Batman springs into action, unlike some other would-be heroes who step aside when robbers run past them (coughpeterparkercough).

Of course, this is a guy without spider- bat-strength or agility or dexterity, and what happens next is what you would expect to happen if you dress up as a bat and give chase to criminals: they pull a gun on you:


And that's when all heck breaks loose.


Here's where that Batman punch comes, and isn't it more satisfying now that you know the set-up? And Batman displays not only his uncanny sense of knowing when to strike with his fists but also the unparalleled comedic timing that is synonymous with the Dark Knight:


I'm not making fun of that, by the way. Batman should make a joke once in a while. It doesn't have to be a gutbuster. It can even be scary. But Batman oughta be fun. As usual, he's got the best lines. And how freakin' awesome is a Batman who gives you a thumb's up?!?:


The actor gets the credit as the Batman escapes to the rooftops. Actor returns home to his wife and son. End curtain to one of my favorite short Batman tales of many recent years. It's Hallowe'en this coming week, so I think this is the perfect tale to prep you for Wednesday night when you pull on your leather boots and strap on your foam-rubber muscle suit. Remember when you put on the costume it's an awesome responsibility and you might be called upon to defend and uphold the mantle of the Bat. And doing so is not just about the fighting and the punching, it's about believing and daring and doing what's right, in order to feel proud in what you do and feel supported by the love and respect of your family.

But of course, it's also all about the punching:

Bahlactus will autograph your copy of Fantastic Four #50, anywhere, anytime.