BaD #12: Batman Chronicles

On 02/16/2016 at 04:54 PM by daftman

Another comic I've been reading lately is quite old. Batman Chronicles collects all the oldest Batman comics in chronological order. It's really interesting to see where the Dark Knight originally originated from (note: he has yet to be called the Dark Knight). Batman, as it turns out, was pretty different back then. The second issue describes Bruce Wayne as a "bored young socialite" and it's not until the seventh issue ("Batman Wars Against the Dirigible of Doom") that we learn about his parents getting murdered when he was a boy. He also uses a gun on occasion and has purposely killed several bad guys or done things that directly led to their deaths. Egads!

All the stories I've read so far (I'm about halfway through the book) are during Batman's initial run in Detective Comics, which last exactly one year before he got his own dedicated comics line. And so far they all fall into the sort of cheesy campiness you'd expect from pulp fiction at the time (1939). Everything is a little unbelievable and people tend to expound upon what they're doing as they're doing it too often. There are a lot of broad racial stereotypes, too, which was also typical for the time.

So far it has been fun to read these stories but more as historical curiosities than because they're such good stories. So far the only other well known series character to appear is Commisioner Gordon who was introduced in the second panel of the first issue. I have three more Detective Comics stories left, the last of which is called "Introducing Robin, the Boy Wonder." I'm curious if I'll see Alfred before the book runs out. Batman No. 2 introduces the Joker, so I am certainly excited to get to that story. Overall I've really enjoyed my time exploring Batman's past.

Matt Snee Staff Writer

02/16/2016 at 08:35 PM

That's awesome man. As u know I'm a huge batman fan and I have not read these. I'll put in my to read list.

Yeah it's funny how comic characters change over tIme and adapt to the now.

daftman

02/17/2016 at 05:34 AM

The sad thing is that most of the volumes in the Batman Chronicles series are now out of print. Volume 1 and a few others are still available at normal prices on Amazon but the others all range from $30 to well over $100 and that's for used copies! So while I'm glad I could get volume 1, it's probably the only one I'll be able to read

02/17/2016 at 05:44 AM

hmm, I'll have to check the local library system. Maybe they'll have one of them.

Super Step Contributing Writer

02/17/2016 at 12:47 AM

See, this is the stuff I'd like to read to really understand these comic book characters before, and I've had this exact book in an Amazon cart at some point but then the price and the fact idk if I'd actually like the stories turns me off as well as I I JUST want the "classic" stories every fan needs to read, rather than the whole kitten caboodle.

I have watched Year One and own Dark Knight Returns on Blu Ray, as well as having seen Under the Red Hood, so maybe I'll stick to watching adaptations mostly. I know Killing Joke comes out this year and I'm excited for Mark Hamil to star in it.

02/17/2016 at 05:45 AM

As I was telling Snee, the Batman Chronicles series is out of print now, so you should get this book now while it's still available at a reasonable price. That was the deciding factor for me. Some of the other volumes have already become very expensive.

I know I've said it before, but check your local library for those must-read stories. In addition to the ones who've been able to watch (cool that they're doing that), I'd suggest The Long Halloween and Dark Victory, both by Jeff Loeb.

Mark Hamil has retired from doing the Joker, like, 3 or 4 times at this point. He just can't seem to stay away lol

02/17/2016 at 03:14 PM

Yeah, I became interested in Long Halloween after Arkham Knight.

KnightDriver

02/17/2016 at 02:46 PM

I so want to get back into comics. I stopped because it was burning a hole in my pocket.

02/17/2016 at 06:52 PM

I know we've talked about libraries being such a good way to read older, well-known comics, but the new stuff? Yeah, I don't know any way of getting around the expense of that

PixlBit