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Ah, yes, remember the good old days, when you could have a fun and goofy Batman comic and the fans wouldn’t act like some form of horrifying sacrilege had been committed? I mean, just look at that cover…Bat-Mite, riding Ace the Bat-Hound, while carrying a Batwoman sign. It’s downright beautiful.

I particularly like it as it focuses on three supporting characters from Batman history that are more or less forgotten now, what with being incompatible the whole “dark avenger of the night” thing. Well, Evan Dorkin did have the highly entertaining World’s Funnest which featured Bat-Mite, and there were a couple issues of Legends of the Dark Knight that had a “dark ‘n’ gritty” (but still funny) take on Bat-Mite drawn by Kevin O’Neill.

Ace the Bat-hound was put down…well, okay, not really, but he did just sorta up and vanish. I seem to recall Bruce Wayne having a dog named Ace in some of the Batman comics from a few years back, but it was just a fannish in-joke…this Ace didn’t fight crime and wear a cowl to protect his identity. I think.

And Batwoman? Well, gone forever, most likely, until someone gets the bright idea to revive her, put her in your standard super-heroine “cleavage ahoy!” costume, and build some kind of 12-part mini-series around the character. Or maybe they did revive her and I just missed it…it’s not like there haven’t been a couple dozen Bat-titles published each month — those pages have to be filled with something.

Anyway, here’s to you Bat-Mite, Ace, Batwoman, the original Bat-Girl (Betty Kane), a swashbuckling Batman that smiled, “Batman’s Time Travel Crimes on Venus” stories…to all the silly Batman stories that, I guess, are no longer in favor.

Augie De Blieck Jr. discusses the “comics blogosphere” in his latest column, and after he mentions some of my own favorite weblogs, he kinda sorta mentions mine as he makes reference to my microfiche post. Or, more likely, he’s making reference to Neilalien’s post that refers to my post. Posts that link to posts that link to posts…it gets a little confusing after a while. We’re all so polite, making sure everyone gets proper credit!

Anyway, De Blieck was one of the first online comics commentators I used to follow, and while I don’t read his column on much of a regular basis anymore (sorry!), it’s nice to see he’s still around. Besides, he likes Disney comics, so he’s jake with me.

Steve Bissette, one of my favorite comic artists, gives us the skinny on what he’s up to.

The eternal question of who’d win in a fight – Jesse Custer or Zatanna – is discussed here.

Yet another “this character is/isn’t gay” message board discussion – complete with charming thread title. Gentlemen (and ladies) – start your slash fiction!

The John Byrne forum discusses pan & scan vs. widescreen DVDs…I don’t know why, either, but at least they rightfully recognize pan & scan for the abomination it is.

I was just thinking about other comics DC Comics has published in the past that would make good material for “manga-style” trades and that wouldn’t necessarily be aimed at a superhero-reading audience. How about Amethyst (at least the stories prior to the character being shoehorned into the DC Universe), or Warlord, or Jonah Hex (yes, I realize a couple of those are somewhat superheroish)? How about all those horror stories from House of Secrets or House of Mystery? (My pal Dorian champions the reprinting of “I, Vampire” in particular.) Or how about the countless romance comics?

Or, if you are going to do superheroes, how about reprinting some that might actually attract a general audience, such as Plastic Man or Captain Marvel, or my aforementioned suggestion of the comics based on the Batman Adventures cartoon? Where are the cheap digest collections of New Teen Titans or Justice League of America, now that kids are interested in these characters again? (And, as the manager of a comic store that, believe it or not, does have a large clientele of younger people, I can tell you there is demand for such a thing…the Justice League Adventures and Teen Titans Go comics do help, however.)

Or how about going the other way, sizewise? Thin, oversized hardcovers aimed at children, reprinting Mayer’s Three Mouseketeers or Sugar & Spike?

Well, anyway, it’s just a thought…with a slight undercurrent of enlightened self-interest, as I’d want a lot of these things in cheap reprint editions.

• Here’s an online archive of Catatonic Comix, complete with annotations…this one is my favorite.
• What exactly is this person selling? Take a look at the seller’s other items…looks like an error with bulk listing to me.
• “gambit is NOT gay”

Well, images of the Marvel digests have been unleashed on Newsarama, and Fanboy Rampage and Grotesque Anatomy point out the concerns people have in the attached discussion board regarding the design similarity to Tokyopop books.

I find myself more concerned with the people who apparently have never seen the ubiquitous Tokyopop publications; representative quote: “Are they the same format as the ‘Archie’ ones?”

I’m going to chalk this up to “no decent comic shop and/or bookstore in the area.”

(Someone in the discussion does have a good idea, though…how about Batman Adventures in this format?)

Dorian lets the comics world have it with both barrels.

Comics Burrito points out an article in the Korea Herald about a comic shop just for women! Neat.

Marvel fans looking forward to Joss Whedon’s run on New X-Men had better hope he doesn’t have any other paying work at the same time (see also Kevin Smith, Fray).

Hey, some (mostly) reasonable posts in a Newsarama discussion for once. Who is buying these things? And honestly, who’s gonna want this grotesquery?

(…says the man with the Swamp Thing statue)

Anyway, I like the fellow in the discussion who says that he uses his life-sized Spider-Man head as a doorstop. Now there’s an untapped comics merchandise market.