batman

Unless everyone’s speculating on the reprints.

filed under Categories batman, collecting, publishing, retailing 3 Comments

Thanks, pals, for being patient as my blogging batteries recharge. I plan to have another “My Fantastic Four-ay” post this week, and should have another installment of the Final ’90s Countdown coming along in short order.

In the meantime, let me address a question that came up in the last post, about the supposedly-damaged Absolute Batman #20s, from D:

“So are people buying 2 copies of AbBat every month, one to read & one to slab at 9.8 to flip? Or is no one actually reading the book at all and just having their issues encased?”

I’m reminded of that one creator, during the height of the pandemic-inspired comic speculation frenzy where every first appearance of anything was snapped up in desparation for making that big eBay killing, who was so excited at the huge jump in demand for their comic. “Wow! Sales are through the roof! Thanks everyone for your support!” and I just didn’t have the heart to tell ’em that this was only a speculation-fueled bump, that sales were going to drop right back down to where they were previously. And the book ended shortly thereafter (it was a Marvel book, so “ending shortly thereafter” is pretty much a given, what with current publishing stragegies).

I think the point I’m trying to make here is that if Absolute Batman was purely a title supported by speculators, I don’t think it would have lasted this long and at its current high sales volume. That said, speculation is part of the formula here, as most issues have something to generate that sort of interest (1st Absolute Catwoman! 1st Absolute Bane! 1st Absolute Robin(s)!), so that sort of investment behavior is certainly subsidizing the sales.

In general I order around the same numbers for each new issue of Absolute Batman, and I can tell the difference between the issues that have something Hot and Investable in them and those that do not, given on how many I have left over after the initial sales week. However, the amount of demand from people who seem to be actually interested in reading the comic is enough that even if the issue has extra remaining copies, they will continue to sell through the following weeks.

Here’s the thing…I haven’t back-issued any Absolute Batman. (Or any of the Absolute books, for that matter.) I keep every available issue up on the rack and for sale. DC seems intent on keeping the periodicals in print, even if they’ve been reprinted in hardcovers/trade paperbacks, which is unusual. But DC seems to recognize the strong continuing sales of the individual comics and their appeal to new readers, and keeping them in print is money in the bank for themselves and the retailers. I just placed a reorder for more reprints of the entire run, and expect to sell through those again. We’re up to an 11th printing on #1, if you can believe it.

I’m not a mind-reader, so I can’t say for certain that the majority of sales for Absolute Batman is by readers, and not by people immediately shipping them off to CGC to be slabbed and graded. But the general vibe that I’m getting is that they are being bought by readers, and said readers find the comics exciting and compelling. Nearly all my sales in the shop are single copies to customers. Only occasionally do I have someone picking up two or three copies for themselves.

Now, this is just my store. Maybe other stores that are more CGC-oriented than mine (which ain’t hard to achieve) are seeing people buy Absolute Batman by the handful for immediate flipping. I can’t deny that speculation isn’t rampant with this comic, because otherwise this recent controversy over the “damaged” copies of #20 wouldn’t have happened if a significant number of people weren’t upset about not being able to get their coveted “9.8s.” But my sense is that, given the continuing reprinting of the individual issues, given the sales patterns I see at the store, given the general buzz around the actual contents of the stories, this book is getting more reader-driven demand than speculator-driven.

And I didn’t mention my “and he kills the Joker at the end” theory once.

filed under Categories batman 17 Comments

So it all kinda started with this post on the Blooskees:


…which was just me doing a little light afternoon internet trolling, managing to appall at least one professional comic book artist who hadn’t heard about what the film adaptation did to the Alan Moore and Brian Bolland classic one-shot from 1988.

For those not familiar, the flick in question was this 2016 direct-to-disc release:


…which had the not-inconsiderable virtues of that Bolland cover, and Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill reprising their long-held roles as the Batman and Joker respectively, and the not-inconsiderable vice of adding an extra half-hour, 40 minutes, whatever, to the beginning of the film.

Why was that extra stuff added? To establish a sexual relationship between Barbara “Batgirl” Gordon and ol’ Bats. Is this unnecessarily creepy? Oh yes indeedy. But apparently it was needed to give Batman added incentive to go after the Joker in the second half which attempts to adapt the actual comic book. Because “you shot my crime-fighting partner” wasn’t enough a motivation for Batman to seek out the Joker, I guess.

Anyway, I didn’t really come here to bury, or praise, that movie. But what did happen as a result of that first post is that I started looking into some of the back history of Batman: The Killing Joke. Which I started to do when I was supposed to be working, so I put the kibosh on that after a bit and decided to save it for You, the Blog Reader.

I should note here the invaluable resource that is this ‘zine search engine. While I do have, for example, every Amazing Heroes and every Comics Journal, forcing my withering eyeballs to peer at every page via candlelight within my cavernous library is perhaps too much to ask.

One of the topics I was trying to determine early one was the idea that The Killing Joke was originally intended as an out-of-continuity story, like the “Elseworlds” imprint that would being shortly after this comics release. I have a vague memory of that being so, many people online have a similar memory, and I suspect that may have been said at one point or another by someone associated with DC. However, in my extensive searching via that database, I can find no reference to such a thing.

Now, that doesn’t mean such evidence doesn’t exist…I could be missing references to early news stories about “UNTITLED BATMAN PROJECT” or passing references by Moore or Bolland to “this ‘What If’ story I’m doing.” But if anyone’s got an official reference from DC, or the creators, to the story being out-of-continuity, or even a news story along those lines, please send it my way.

I did find what may very well be the earliest reference to Killing Joke, from this Alan Moore interview in Amazing Heroes #71 (1985). Apparently, this all started as a proposed Batman/Judge Dredd crossover. Moore says:


Moore describes this deal not working out, then adds:


Okay, clearly Moore references an earlier Comics Interview article with Bolland, which was in #19 and doesn’t mention the “alternative Batman” project. (He does end the interview saying he’d like to do a Batman story.) Anyway, Moore’s comments are obviously light on details but I think it’s pretty clear this is the embryonic state of Killing Joke.

One thing I noticed in my searches were a couple of blurbs noting that the forthcoming Killing Joke was going to be colored by Bolland himself. For example, here’s one from Amazing Heroes #133 (1988):


Now, obviously the final product was not colored by Bolland, but by John Higgins. More recent editions have been recolored by Bolland (to a minor level of chagrin by some folks), so that’s been a long time coming, it seems.

Back to the continuity issue, it was pretty clearly in official DC continuity by the time it was released, given that DC preceded its release with a Batgirl Special:


As you can see in the above blurb from Amazing Heroes #137, and as I saw here in there in other things that came up in my searches, it was promoted as a Killing Joke tie-in. I mean, I read that special at the time, then Killing Joke, and frankly there was barely a thematic or artistic connection between the two (though the Mike Mignola/Karl Kesel cover is nice). It was pointed out to me that it was there to give some kind of happy ended to Batgirl’s story, given what happens to her, which, you know, fair enough.

And as we all know, the events of Killing Joke, specifically what happened to Batgirl, plays into later DC Universe shenanigans (specifically her stint as Oracle). We also had the story in…Legends of the Dark Knight which incorporates elements from Killing Joke. Plus, there’s that Three Jokers story from a couple of years back that ties into it as well, despite Three Joker‘s own questionable status of whether or not it’s in official continuity (despite the story’s impetus being in-universe and technically still unresolved).

There are probably other references I’m missing here, but the question of what is or is not in “continuity” can be bit of a chump’s game given DC’s history of rebootery. But however it may have began, Killing Joke remains in DC’s official history mix.

A couple other things i turned up: this bit from a Brian Bolland article in Comics Scene Spectacular #3 (1990):


Well, that would have been interesting. Never happened, but we got some swell Joker covers out of him, though.

Here, in Comics Interview #77 (1990), Yvonne Craig, 1960s Batman‘s Batgirl, talks about Killing Joke:


Oh c’mon, why would you do that to this poor woman.

Another thing because you guys are gonna bring it up: this new wild edition of Killing Joke, presented on the manufacturer’s site, but you might have an easier time looking at it here.

And finally, if you’re a Killing Joke completist, friend, you need a copy of Web of Spider-Man #50 (1989) by Gerry Conway, Alex Saviuk, and Keith Williams:

Batman, absolutely.

filed under Categories batman, collecting, retailing 16 Comments

Hi pals. First off, I’ve shut down the comments on Friday’s post, and I’m going to consider the matter closed here for the time being. So, please don’t revive the discussion/debate in today’s comments. If something changes, I’ll put up a new post and start a new thread, but I think the topic has been covered sufficiently for the time being. Thanks to everyone for participating, and to Matthew for being a trooper.

Second, I’ll be returning to responding to your queries from the last Question Time post, as well as continuing the Final ’90s Countdown, in short order. I promise to finish both series sometime in 2026. Well, at least I’ll try with the Final ’90s Countdown.

Third, I know it’s an unpleasant world out there right now, and people are rightfully upset and afraid and angry at what’s happening. It may seem a bit silly focusing on comics like I am, but it helps to relax and center myself and escape from the world at least momentarily, at least for my mental health and yours as well. I’m not ignoring current events, but doing something quiet that I can control and enjoy really recharges the ol’ brain batteries. I hope everyone can find some similar respite.

• • •

Okay, I’m letting Wayne skip the question line a bit to answer this inquiry of his from last Wednesday:

“What is the deal with ABSOLUTE BATMAN?

[…]

“What is the main selling point? Is it violent like I’m the goddamn Batman? Is it Batman with no [other] bad guys or girls yet? I’m not checking Wikipedia.

“I want YOU to tell me why YOU buy so many copies and WHY it sells for you.You are in the middle of a desert, yet you sell more than the comic shop in downtown Chicago.”

Ever since Marvel hit it big with its fresh-start, continuity-lite (’til it wasn’t) Ultimate line, DC’s been trying to find a way to do something similar with their own titles. Essentially, “rebooting” their big characters with new hopefully-new-audience-grabbing titles and stories while still keeping the regular versions around in order to not alienate their already-existing readers. Sort of a have-your-cake-and-eat-it-too situation.

The initial two attempts were the All-Star line, started in 2005, which resulted in one genuine classic (All-Star Superman), and one still-as-yet-uncompleted run that received slightly more…mixed reviews (All-Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder). Both were not part of “official” DC continuity (however that usually stands), and were not connected to each other in any way. And while they both sold very well, the “All-Star” line faded out once the Superman story was done, and it became apparent that the Batman series had stalled out. Other series, like All-Star Batgirl and All-Star Wonder Woman, were planned but never released.

DC’s next attempt at an Ultimate-esque imprint as the “Earth One” line, a series of graphic novels aimed at the book market. And while a number of these were released, some with multiple volumes (like Superman: Earth One, have three volumes so far). I think, technically, this imprint may still be A Thing, even though the last graphic novel in the line, Green Lantern: Earth One volume 2, came out in 2020. (And Wonder Woman Earth One received a Compact Comics paperback edition within the last year.)

DC’s newest attempt at Ultimizing their comics, the “Absolute” imprint, certainly seems to have the most traction out, with current titles selling well, and new titles on the way. Unlike the previous imprints, “Absolute” has its origin in the regular DC Universe, via various Darkseid-related shenanigans that began in the DC All-In Special and are now coming to some kind of head in the DC K.O. event, currently running in a comic shop near you.

It’s possible, that at least for some readers, that connection means the comics “count” in their ongoing investment into the DC Comics Universe at large. And that pays off, in its way, with that current crossover I mentioned. I don’t know if that’s a significant factor in the Absolute line’s current popularity, but it’s not not one.

But when it comes specifically to the Absolute Batman series and why it’s popular, the biggest reason is that…


…it’s Batman.

And I know that sounds like a facile answer, but it’s really the big one. Batman is arguably the most popular superhero character of all time — or at least in the top three, behind Swamp Thing and Krypto — and having him headline the brand new imprint of comics is usually going to lead to big sales. Absolute Batman was first out of the gate with a comic book series, it showed everyone how this new line was going to work, and remains the flagship title of the imprint. It is the face of this publishing endeavor.

It helps that it stands alone, with (so far) only some minor crossing over with Absolute Wonder Woman, even though all the “Absolute” titles exist in the same world and the characters certainly will all meet each other. (Not counting whatever’s going to happen in DC K.O., of course.)

The quality of the art and writing is top notch, drawn by Nick Dragotta and written by Scott Snyder, with Snyder being already generally well-regarded for previous Batman work. I know when Absolute Batman was first announced, and the art was released, many fan reacted with “uh, Batman looks weird” but now that everyone’s seen it in action, those same fans are now “we love our chonky boy.”

But the two of them together have produced a work that is dense with information, both textually and visually. And given issue of Absolute Batman feels like it contains the equivalent of two other comics, and in these days of high prices and concern over cost-versus-content, it makes for an appealing buy. It feels…modern, taking these nearly 90-year-old characters and reinventing them via current sensibilities and storytelling techniques.

Now, I’m trying not to step too much on what WizarDru and William have already said in their correct and valuable responses regarding the actual contents of the books. These are new takes on old characters, from Batman/Bruce Wayne himself, all the way to his rogue’s gallery (many of who are, at least at first, friends of Bruce and privy to his secret). As William notes, emotion plays more into the proceedings, supporting the previous be-all Batman tropes of problem solving and punch-outs. And making Bruce poor, or at least not rich, puts paid to all the criticisms of “why doesn’t he stop crime with money” and “rich guy punching down, literally, on the underprivileged.” Every battle Bruce has is an uphill one.

And in concession to our online meme-full world, there are more cool elements in each story. More examples of pure radness and badassery that makes for lively discussion and scanned images on TikTok or Instagram or wherever. “Look at Absolute Batman just wiping out these white supremacists” sells more people on how cool a comic this is, making more people look for it, meaning more sales, more sell-outs, more reprints, so on and so forth. Making comics cool again, or at least these “Absolute” comics, can’t be underestimated as a factor, especially wit younger people not in the habit of buying physical media.

Another reason Absolute Batman sells well is for a reason that may not immediately come to mind unless you’re a comic shop owner observing comic sales. Or if you’re participating in this yourself…but investment. Not the kind of “investment” I mentioned previously, but “buy multiple copies, get ’em CGCed and put on eBay” kind of investment. The comic sells well, therefore there’s demand, therefore there’s opportunities. First appearances of Absolute Catwoman, Absolute Harley Quinn (that one kinda slipped past people), and of course Absolute Joker, that gets the investors excited.

Plus, the multiple printings each issue receives (#1 just had its tenth) attracts not just readers trying to catch up, but investment collectors who think the lower print runs on some of these may lead to a financial boon. And the more readers part = more demand for issues = more chances of higher prices on the secondary market.

I’m sure that’s not all the reasons, and that the sales on this book will continue like this forever. I’ve said a number of times that some days at the shop, I feel like I’m an Absolute Batman store and nothing else, as I get customer after customer, new customer after new customer, passing through my doors and asking where the new issue is, or where any issues are. And anything that’s getting new readers in is a good thing.

Yes, I eventually link to where you can read the theory yourself, be patient.

filed under Categories batman, watchmen 60 Comments

So a long time ago on this site, when my blog was just barely four months old, I wrote a post outlining why the ending of Alan Moore and Brian Bolland’s Batman: The Killing Joke could be interpreted as Batman killing the Joker. I laid out my reasons, got a few comments (on the now-defunct Haloscan service I used to have on my site), with some folks thinking it was interesting, some others fully onboard, and a few who thought I was way off base. And, fair enough — I said right there in the body of that post “I may be reading too much into this,” and that’s fine. We’re all just having fun.

About nine years later, in an interview, Grant Morrison comes out and says “Batman kills Joker at the end of The Killing Joke,” and because they’re a person who had slightly more fame and influence than a comic shop employee with a blog, everyone was all over this “sudden revelation” that I also had like a decade earlier.

In fairness, a few kind persons here and there piped up and said “hey, this Mike guy said the same thing a long time ago,” but again, comic shop dude, blog, no traction. But it was nice to be remembered.

I didn’t see at the time of the Morrison thing this solid refutation of the “Batman Kills Joker” idea, written by my now-pal-on-Bluesky John. Had I seen it back in 2013, would I have jumped into his comments and declared “NO, YOU’RE WRONG, BATMAN TOTALLY KILLED JOKER! READ MY POST!”

No, of course not. As I said above, we’re all just having fun, and as I note in my 2013 post, it’s just an interpretation, and not any sort of “proof” of authorial intent.

And besides, in a recent Bluesky discussion on a related topic, comics artist Chris Weston reveals


Thus does the long “Killing Joke‘s ending” saga come to its…well, end. Brian Bolland, literal Co-Creator of the Story, sez “negatory.”

Does that mean we can no longer read the ending of Killing Joke as the Joker’s death? No, of course not. Once art is out there, its meaning can be unmoored (er, so to speak) from the creators’ intentions, and anyone can see whatever they want to see in it. Even if it’s entirely…well, I hate to use the word “wrong,” but…wrong. Not all ideas are equally supported or of equal merit, but you can’t stop people from seeing what they see, feeling what they feel.

And that’s kinda that. I had a wild idea about Killing Joke, threw it out into the universe, and it met either approval, disapproval, or indifference. I felt no need to run around defending the idea against every naysayer, because I knew full well it was just an interesting way to read the end of that story. Plus, it’s not like I was necessarily the first to come up with it in 2004, 14 years after the comic originally came out. (And it’s coming out again in a fancy new facsimile edition on the 28th of this month, so you can read it yourself and see if me ‘n’ Grant are right!)

Why do I bring all this up? I mean, other to show off how great and clever I am?

It’s because another of my Bluesky pals mentioned in passing that there was someone out there challenging people who dared not to take his Watchmen theory seriously. That caught my attention, because as longtime readers of this site know, I do love me some ancillary Watchmen stuff, the sillier the better.

Well, said pal explained the theory to me, to which I reacted “huh, interesting, not really supported by the text, but whatever.” My ultimate conclusion in my response was that this was proof of the comic’s complexity and depth, allowing for such differing interpretations. No, I didn’t agree with the theory’s conclusions, but I believed I was even-handed enough in my reply.

In what is now an unsurprising turn of events, the proponent of this theory appeared in our discussion after presumably term-searching, initially thanking me for calling the theory “interesting,” but telling me to spend for than five seconds thinking about it to see that he’s right. Then the challenges began, demanding that anyone who denies his theory “prove him wrong.” The interactions become increasingly offputting, with his continual assertions that only he sees the truth and everyone saying otherwise just hasn’t put the proper effort into reading the comic.

I’m paraphrasing and generalizing, but the arguments come down to “he’s right, everyone else is wrong, debate me.” I eventually told him straight out “your theory isn’t the reason no one wants to talk to you about this.”

And that’s kind of the point of all this. Not that the theory is “wild and out there.” I’m perfectly fine with this guy having this interpretation of Watchmen. Like I noted on Bluesky, the text does not support it, and in fact almost explicitly counters the idea, but whatever, man. We’re all just trying to have fun, and as I said above, art is there for personal interpretation, even if it can be way off base.

That’s all well and good. But being pushy and aggressive about it is not the way to sell it to anyone. Here’s the theory (NOTE: please don’t harass the fella there or in the comments here), with illustrations, as he outlines it on Bluesky. He kicked it off with “Am I delusional? You tell me!” and then people told him and he didn’t like it. You can see his response to skeptics in his main feed, accusing others of “running away” when they dismiss his idea, thinking it’s because they can’t challenge his logic, when actually those folks didn’t see any need to deal with him.

Here’s a Reddit thread from some months earlier where presumably the same person got a better reaction to his ideas. You can see, though, the anger at the deniers creeping in there, and if this is the same person, I can imagine months of his theory not going over becoming more and more of a burden on him, resulting in his behavior on Bluesky.

And like me not being the first person with my Killing Joke idea, when I presented this theory to a friend who actually wrote a book on Watchmen, his reaction was 1) nah, and 2) he’d actually heard this years ago. Now was it from the same guy, or just parallel evolution in Watchmen theories? I don’t know.

Ultimately, I’m sympathetic to the guy, at least regarding this topic. I’m all for new ways to look at established works. I even particularly like his thought that maybe Moore was trying to prove that a “secret identity” in a comic could work on fooling readers in The Real World. Except, first, this level of theorized effort would seem to run contrary to Watchman’s ultimate metatextual purpose. Second, Moore already kinda does this with Rorschach in the early issues.

What was missing from all this is a little humility. Saying that only you know the truth and everyone else has missed it, and being kinda weird about it, doesn’t inspire debate. It inspires abandonment. Nobody wants to be browbeat about not reading comics the “right” way. To repeat a piece of advice I offered to this gentleman, one that I benefited from given my earlier more-uptight-about-my-hobby days: mellow out, dude.

Also, Superman should still be able to push around the bones and muscles in his face to disguise himself, like he did in the Golden Age.

filed under Categories batman, superman, this week's comics 6 Comments

[SPOILERS AHEAD]


The new Superman Red and Blue 2025 Special was certainly a welcome arrival this week, given the Red and Blue mini-series from a couple of years back was about 95% great (there’s that unpleasant story in the first issue where Superman is captured and tortured, which does not sit well).

This special has four stories presented in the limited palette gimmick, each tale colored with only shades of red and blue and somehow manages to look great anyway. The story I specifically want to note is “Out of the Ordinary” written by Dan Abnett, drawn by Caitlin Yarsky, and colored by Alex Guimaraes. And just so I’m clear, I liked this entire comic, and I enjoyed seeing Superman doing super things and being nice without having to worry about the continuity of the DC Universe at large.

And I liked “Out of the Ordinary.” But I did get stopped short at one point when Superman just up and admits to this small town reporter he befriends that, oh, yeah, I have a secret identity. Here’s a little piece of that:


Now here’s the problem. It’s me, I’m the guy who’s been reading Superman comics since the John Byrne relaunch in 1986 and have picked up every issue of Superman and Action and the other ongoings. That’s spitting distance within 40 years, which clearly no sane person should have done.

Stuck in my head from the promotion for the ’80s Superman relaunch was Byrne’s insistence that in this new version of the mythos, the fact that Superman even has a double identity wouldn’t be common knowledge. You can read more about that here. Prior to this, Superman having a secret identity was known by the general public, and often a major plot point as bad guys (or Lois) try to get Supes to spill the beans or trick him into revealing it.

That little bit of knowledge is always there, whenever I read a modern Superman comic, whether or not it’s still an active thing or if it’s gone the way of the fancy cuffs that were the last remnants of Jim Lee’s terrible redesign of Supes’ costume. Realistically, I know in the nearly four decades since the relaunch happened, some storytelling choice made way back when, by someone who doesn’t even work in comics anymore, is not going to be enforced.

But that didn’t keep your pal Mike from being tripped up by Superman telling this young lady “oh, yeah, I grew up in a place like this, and I have a regular job when I’m not Superman, etc.” Then again, he was just telling one person, not, like, announcing it on TV or anything. And she probably knows “oh, yeah, I should keep this to myself.”

I am reminded by that story where Jimmy Olsen gets a photo of Superman’s hand, showing a wedding ring (which he neglected to remove before going into action, as he usually would). After some shenanigans regarding that photo getting out to the public, and getting explained away as a Justice League thing, Superman does confide to Jimmy that he is married, but his private life is private. And Jimmy, being Superman’s Pal, of course keeps that under his hat.

Okay, that’s a lot of typing that’s basically “Mike can’t let things go,” but I do want to add this story is still a fun and pleasant one. As are all the stories in this comic.

• • •


Normally, in current comics, especially with the limited page counts and occasionally sparse storytelling, I can find myself resenting any full-page illustrations, or God help us, two-page spreads that aren’t the opening splash pages. That usually just feels like wasted space, eating up valuable real estate.

Daniel Warren Johnson’s story in Absolute Batman Annual #1 delivers multiple full-page splashes and two two-page spreads, and they are earned and fantastic.

Dickie’s got a gun.

filed under Categories batman, End of Civilization, this week's comics 10 Comments

So as a funnybook-readin’ adult, there are very few times where I’ve had a direct, visceral reaction to something in a comic book. Like, a literal shock to an event or, well, something else. I mean, I’ve enjoyed comics, I’ve been in suspense, I’ve found things funny, but rarely have I encountered a comic that really gave me a jolt.

One of them was Superman: American Alien, which, yeah, I know, that writer, that series, etc., but there’s a page-turn jumpscare where Clark is just sitting there calmly, and then on the next page there’s Batman just crashing violently through a window at him. Don’t know why that was so effective on me, but this generated actual frission.

Another was, in of all things, Doomsday Clock, where at the back of the book you will happen upon a reproduction of a photo that plays an important part in the story (and its presence actually fits thematically). Totally unexpected, totally surprised me.

The latest example is a brief bit from the beginning of this week’s Batman and Robin: Year One #8, in which Robin disarms a thug, grabs the gun, and immediately points it back at his opponent:


This struck me as…wildly wrong, an image that just gets hit with the “REJECT” stamp by my brain. Of course, moments later Batman slaps the weapon out of Robin’s hand and admonishes his sidekick about never using guns. But that panel was a real “oh shit” moment that I physically felt.

I tried to share this observation on the War Rocket Ajax Discord message board, and got a real sense that I was, like, the one person to feel that way. Of course, I don’t participate too much (mostly I’m on there to talk to the show hosts Chris ‘n’ Matt) and the whole ecosystem that’s built up feels like I’m reading someone else’s mail, despite the fact I’ve listened to every episode of that podcast. At any rate, I got no back-up on my particular feeling about this panel, but it’s not the first time I’ve died on a hill occupied by nobody else.

• • •

So with the the news that Diamond is ending its print edition of the Previews catalog, let me send it off when one last End of Civilization entry:

p. 127-131: various Boom! Studios titles:


“Cover to be revealed” — by Penguin Random House, I presume!

Still salty about the Jason Todd thing.

filed under Categories batman, dc comics, publishing, retailing 17 Comments

Okay, I ultimately decided not to continue the search for the most ’90s comic for the moment, as picking up from where I left off there was…well, weird. But I do have more 1990s comics content in the works, so check back next week for that.

But, speaking of the 1990s…here’s DC Comics with a big ol’ announcement regarding the forthcoming variant-laden first issue of Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee’s “Hush 2” storyline:


So here’s what Batman #158 entails.

Cover A – the main cover.

Covers B, C, D, E, F, G – cardstock cover artist variants

Cover H – the blank sketch cover

Cover I – foil cover by Jim Lee and Scott Williams

Cover J – a connecting fold-out cover by Jim Lee

Cover K – wraparound foil cover by Sean Gordon Murphy

Cover L – the 1 in 25 ratio variant

Cover M – the 1 in 50 ratio variant

Cover N – the 1 in 100 ratio variant

Cover O – the 1 in 250 Jim Lee pencils “virgin” cover

Cover P – the 1 in 608 (get it?) black and white variant signed by Jim Lee

Cover Q – the 1 in 608 black and white variant signed by Jeph Loeb

Cover R – the 1 in 1000 signed by Lee and Loeb

Then there are the Giant Size (probably Treasury Size) editions, with a regular cover edition and a foil one, as well as the Glow-in-the-Dark foil “Launch Party” variant. And this doesn’t count stuff like a special bundle of ashcans for sale/giveaway, or whatever retailer-specific variants there may be for this comic.

Obviously that 400,000+ copies are divided up amongst all these variants, and I wonder what the print run per comic would be…probably 125,000 or so for the main cover, and the balance spread out over the rest of the covers.

Now, it seems unlikely that Batman is suddenly going to quintuple in sales for this comic, and dumping 400,000+ into the current state of the direct market does seem like quite a lot. Retailer orders does not always equal sales (no matter how much the Rob may brag about the order numbers on X-Force #1 back in the 1990s, a solid chunk of those went directly into stores’ back rooms), but I suspect this particuilar Batman comic will do reasonably well. It really depends on how many different covers any one customer may end up buying.

In its favor, there have been a couple of decades’ worth of sales of the original “Hush” story in trade paperback building up an audience for it. (Never read it myself, beyond flipping through an issue or two, but people seem to really like it.) Can DC get people who read this as a trade initially to come back to pick up a comic book series for six consecutive months, or will that specific audience just wait for the eventual hardcover/paperback release?

Will customers already buying single issues in the direct market suddenly flock to “Hush 2” pushing the already (relatively-speaking for today’s market) high numbers on Batman even higher? Maybe for a while, and orders may be up there for the first couple of issues, but I imagine we’ll see a huge correction in orders by part 3.

Another point in its favor is the artist, Jim Lee. He’s been a popular artist for decades, but the extra push of “THE PRESIDENT AND PUBLISHER OF DC COMICS IS DOING A RARE ART JOB” will probably grab eyes. “Hush” has always been a Jim Lee art showcase, the story being relatively superfluous beyond “Batman fights all his villains,” and the prospect of new Lee art is a big sales pitch. Whether it’s 400,000+ copies big, we’ll find out soon enough.

That’s the first appearance of Mogo, friends, a Hot Key Investable Issue!

filed under Categories batman, dc comics, indies, publishing, supergirl, superman 15 Comments


So I done dood it…I got myself a copy of the nigh-legendary Time Beavers graphic novel by Tim Truman, published by First Comics in 1985. Now I haven’t had the time to read it yet, but read it I shall, oh yes. I’m just a tiny bit miffed with myself in that copies of this were just all over the place at my previous place of employment. I mean, I could have bought one of these from there on the day of release, but alas, I thumbed my nose at Time Beavers and headed straight to the rack to grab Green Lantern #188 with its Alan Moore/Dave Gibbons back-up instead. Thus, I have to resort to the eBays and other nefarious means instead.

Anyhoo, there were plenty of comics I had easy access to back then, but didn’t think about acquiring until, oh, say, ten-something years after I stopped working there and three years after that shop closed. Ah, well, What Can You Do™? I’ve got my Time Beavers now, so my decades-old oversight has been corrected. I’ll get it read soon and let you Dingbats of ProgRuin Street know what I think.

• • •

Some interesting news from DC Comics over at the 2025 Comicspro event, such as:

  • Krypto: The Last Dog of Krypton by Ryan North and artist Mike Norton, which sounds amazing. No thought balloons here, North promises, but if you’ve ever seen Norton’s artwork, I suspect there’ll be expression enough from the Dog of Steel.

  • Supergirl written and drawn by Sophie Campbell…good, there should always be a solid and accessible Supergirl title on the stands.

  • Action Comics, which isn’t a new ongoing, obviously, but the new regular team of Mark Waid and Skylar Patridge will be effectively making it into a new Superboy series with a young Clark Kent. After years and years of DC either not having “Superboy” in Clark’s history after the Byrne reboot, and then kinda sorta waffling about it over the last decade of in-flux continuity, it’ll be interesting to see a modern take on the “Adventures of Superman When He Was a Boy.”

  • Batman by Matt Fraction and Jorge Jiménez – YAY! Restarting the main Batman series with a new #1 – BOO! I saw a news site state that “this is only the fourth time the Batman series has been renumbered,” and c’mon, that’s like five times too many. Batman will sell just fine without renumbering. Yes, we’ll get a boost in sales for the first few issues, which is the reason they do this, but then it’ll be back to its normal sales level soon enough. …I mean, the comic sounds good, I’ll definitely be reading it, I’ll just sigh heavily every time I look at the issue number.

I didn’t see any new Swamp Thing comic news, so all this Super/Bat stuff will have to do.

And yes, that is one chunky Bat-emblem.

filed under Categories batman, this week's comics 6 Comments


Well, after getting only the slightest taste of what’s to come with DC’s new Absolute Comics imprint in last week’s DC All-In, we are getting the first official title this week with Absolute Batman.

Which is smart, of course, since of The Big Three at DC (Batman, Superman, and Swamp Thing Wonder Woman), Batman is the easiest sell. Much like the Black Label imprint, kicked off by a Batman mini (goosed a bit by some small controversy) grab the fans with the Caped Crusader, then once you have their eyeballs, try to sell ’em on, like, Absolute Elongated Man or whatever.

Demand is sky-high for Absolute Batman #1, so much so that even the exorbitant number I ordered has me thinking “wellll, should have ordered more, maybe.” I haven’t had quite as many queries into the following Superman and Wonder Woman launches, though I did have my fair share of “add all Absolute titles to my pull list, please” so I guess that counts.

As to the book itself, without getting into spoilers I’ll say the comic is fine, a drastically different Batman with many of the key aspects of the character altered or gone entirely. Advanced publicity was heavy on this Batman having no money, no butler, no Batcave, etc., but there is at least one other change to the core concept I wasn’t expecting, and I’m hoping it’s not just a set-up for…how can I say thins, pushing that core concept back into place in an issue or two. Ugh, I know, that makes no sense to you right now, assuming you’re reading this before getting your filthy mitts on the comic, but you should get what I mean once you cast your peepers upon it.

Much internet hay has been made about Batman’s…physique (much like that first Black Label book, har har) and in context it looks perfectly fine. It’s an exaggerated superhero body, just like how Mom used to make, and it gives a little bit of a goofy vibe to a comic that potentially could be too dark given the general tone and setting.

(Speaking of which, it was noted by writer Scott Snyder that this version of Earth was centered around “Darkseid energy” versus the “Superman energy” of Earth…One, or Prime, or whatever the mainline DC Universe is set. This seems like one of the very few explicit references to the conceit set up in Doomsday Clock #12, where the DC Universe centers itself, and rebuilds itself as required, around Superman.)

And despite the “no butler” thing, Alfred is in the book, setting up what I think will be quite a different professional relationship between him and Bruce Wayne. There’s also this other thing, where…well, I was kind of hoping they’d not introduce that already, letting the series settle a bit before bringing this in. I guess that was too much to hope given everything. Not that I don’t think it’ll be interesting.

It’s a very dense book, lots of pages full of panels and text, which still flows smoothly and never feels cramped. This 48 page first issue is going to give way to the standard 32 page format with #2, with no attendant drop in priceHopefully the storytelling will continue at this level and keeping giving folks their money’s worth.

It’s a compelling start, I’ll give it that. And yes, it’s “dark,” though oppressively so. The tone may work for Batman, and we’ll just have to see how well this new dark Absolute Universe fits with the upcoming Superman and Wonder Woman titles.

Anyway, this publisher can’t be thrilled about the new line.

“Gordon’s aware?”

filed under Categories batman 24 Comments

So the last time I was talking about the whole “Does Commissioner Gordon Know?” thing, I brought it up in the context of the Batman: Arkham Knight video game that’s like, nearly a decade old at this point but I’m still trying to plow through it after an extended break.

Specifically (again, SPOILERS for the game) Gordon removes Batman’s mask, revealing Bruce Wayne beneath. I thought this was the initial reveal to Gordon, and wondered about the lack of depiction of his reaction. Over on Bluesky, Steven K noted to me that Gordon had known Batman’s secret ID prior to this in the game. Now, in my defense, I did have, as I told you all last time, there was a four year gap in my playing of Arkham Knight, so it’s not surprising if I didn’t remember that.

Given the nature of video games, I can’t exactly rewind and rewatch those moments. I could hie myself hither to YouTube where I’m sure the whole story has been stitched together into a standalone “movie,” but I’m trying to avoid Arkham Knight content there ’til I have more the game completed.

Anyway, back to the comics, where apparently there are a lot more instances of suggestions re: Gordon’s knowledge than I was recalling. Supposedly there are a few in Scott Snyder’s New 52 Batman run, and boy howdy I don’t know if I’m ready to reread all that. I may crowdsource that bit and ask you folks to point me in the right direction there.

Actually, earlier Thursday evening I reread, for the first time in probably decades, the initial appearance of Batman (or “The Bat-Man”) in Detective Comics #27 from 1939. Featuring the work of Bill Finger and, uh, what’shisname, “Rob’t Kane” it says here, we get the crude beginnings of the property that will eventually peak with this. The story involves Commissioner Gordon and his friend, lackadaisical wealthy socialite Bruce Wayne, and a series of murders being investigated by the mysterous Bat-Man. At the end of the story, Gordon ponders


But of course at the end of the story, we get the big reveal:


And it’s really hard to imagine a time when we didn’t know Bruce Wayne was Batman. Well, I mean, sure, this debut adventure ain’t exactly a brain-twister, and it’s pretty obvious Bruce is going to be revealed as being this costumed vigilante. Still, it’s neat to think at least for a few pages, like Commissioner Gordon above, we didn’t know that Bruce and Batman were the same person.

Now let’s jump ahead a few decades to Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #125, cover dated January 2000, by Greg Rucka, Rick Burchett and James Hodgkins. We’re nearing the end of the lengthy “No Man’s Land” storyline here, where Gotham, cut off from the rest of the country following an immense earthquake, has descended into even more lawlessness than usual. This event is mostly noted for the debuts of the Cassandra Cain version of Batgirl and the mainstream DC Universe version of Harley Quinn. But on top of that, I especially remember this particular sequence, where Batman tries to regain Gordon’s trust following some acrimony between the two over the course of the previous months:


Well, that’s a lot to chew on, certainly. I really think this as close as we come in regular DC continuity (post-Crisis, pre-Flashpoint) of nailing down the specific ambiguity (how’s that for a phrase) of Gordon vis-à-vis Batman’s secret identity. Maybe he knows, maybe he has his suspicions, maybe he could find out if he really wanted to.

If DC Comics came to me and said “okay, you’re in charge of Batman now,” the first thing I’d do, after publishing a new version of this story, is nail down this as absolutely the status quo of Gordon’s relationship with Batman. Gordon probably knows, but refused to confirm his suspicions for plausible deniability. How well that would hold up in court, even superhero comic book court, I have no idea, but it’s that fine line that keeps Gordon from busting into Wayne Manor and arresting Bruce Wayne for illegal vigilantism.

And I like that. I like that in the superhero genre, where the instinct is to pull more people in on the secret, there’s one guy who honestly just doesn’t want to know, at least for sure.

As I stated above, I’ve been informed that there may be more to this in the New 52 era of Batman, and hopefully I can track down some of this instances in the near future. There may be also some bit of business in Frank Miller’s Dark Knight Returns, which would bookend nicely with the bits of Miller’s Batman: Year One I discussed last time. And yes, I know about the sequence in one of the animated shows where Gordon finds out and raids the Batcave…should probably mention that as well.

It looks like I have a little more research to do, and if you have any suggestions, feel free to let me know!