Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Carmine Infantino's Batman - Detective Comics 363


Detective Comics #363 (May 1967)
"The True-False Face of Batman!"
Gardner Fox-Carmine Infantino/Sidney Green

Doug: Saturday, the 7th of June was a day of anticipation -- the fine folks at Amazon.com told me that was the day the postal service would deliver my pre-ordered copy of Tales of the Batman: Carmine Infantino. And what a beautiful book it is -- well worth the wait. I'm one among you who have maligned Carmine's Bronze Age work, particularly at Marvel on some Avengers one-shots and on the second half of the Nova run. However, I've always admired his Silver Age work and was looking forward to having a decent stock of Batman stories. At 520 pages and a 31% discount off the $50 MSRP, I say "mission accomplished"! And speaking of the huge page count, you'll notice that today's scans are blurred on the edges. Sorry -- huge book + pretty tight spine = below-standard scans!

Doug: In past Open Forums, we've asked our readers about their trading coups and dismal defeats. I've remarked in those discussions of my 1989 flea market acquisition of a longbox of Batman comics -- Batman, Detective Comics, Brave and the Bold. Lots of boss stuff -- 'tec #400, B&B #59 (the first Batman team-up), and a whole lot of other cool issues. It's all been sold by now, but it was neat to leaf through the Infantino book and see some "old friends" again. The story I'm reviewing today wasn't one of them, but I chose it anyway. I wanted a Batgirl story, but didn't want to go with her origin; one of the follow-ups, "Batgirl's Costume Cut-Ups" (Detective Comics #371 -- one that I did have at one time) has only the cover included in the Infantino collection, and I'd forgotten that Gil Kane did the interiors. So this issue is the one I chose for a closer look. Shall we?

Doug: Detective Comics #363 is the second appearance of Batgirl. From that bastion of historical knowledge and truthfulness, Wikipedia (hyperlinks preserved):
Her creation came about as a joint project between DC Comics editor Julius Schwartz and the producers of the 1960s Batman television series. In order to boost ratings for the third season of Batman, the producers requested a new female character be introduced into publication that could be adapted into the television series. At Schwartz's direction, Barbara Gordon debuted in Detective Comics #359 titled, "The Million Dollar Debut of Batgirl!" (1967) by writer Gardner Fox and artist Carmine Infantino. Depicted as the daughter of Gotham City police commissioner James Gordon, her civilian identity is given a doctorate in library science and she is employed as head of Gotham City Public Library, as well as later being elected to the United States Congress. As Batgirl, the character operates primarily in Gotham City, allying herself with Batman and the original Robin Dick Grayson, as well as other prominent heroes in the DC Universe.
In her origin appearance, Batgirl coyly responds to Batman's request for her identity, "...I'll exchange mine for yours!" So we continue her career four months after her debut. It's all-out action right from the start, as we are dropped into a burglary at the Amerindian Museum in Gotham City. Batgirl is roughing up a couple of toughs who were intent on stealing some gold artifacts. Batgirl thinks to herself that the clues she'd tracked added up -- she had guessed right on the location of this particular crime. It's a classic group of baddies, some with jackets and khakis, others with suits and hats -- Carmine gives us a mash-up of criminal get-ups from the '40s through the '60s! Batgirl isn't really tested, even when one of the hoods levels a gun on her. As two crooks argue whether or not to shoot her, with a gun firing into the floor in the scuffle, she reaches into her bag of goodies and pulls a "laser-strafer" -- apparently it's a pocket version of Cyclops's eyebeams. The bad guys are on their heels when one of them musters enough balance and energy to grab Batgirl from behind and places a tracer on top of her cowl. As he tightens his grip in an effort to make her tell how she knew about their potential heist, the Dynamic Duo arrive.

Doug: Once Batman and Robin arrive, Carmine uses the next several panels to choreograph a fight scene torn right off your television. Again, glancing through the Infantino hardcover it is so obvious how his "new look" Batman really came to life on the small screen. Some of the mannerisms of the Bat-stable of characters became the movements of Adam West, Burt Ward, et al. As the fight ends (and one of the burglars gets away), Batgirl asks her would-be partners how they knew to come to the museum. Batman says that when the gun had gone off the Batmobile's sensors picked up on it and directed them to the site. Batman returns a question to Batgirl -- how did she know the burglary would take place? Batgirl won't divulge her sources. I don't think at this point Batman was frustrated, but he does immediately come up with a ploy: he steps outside to call Commissioner Gordon on the Batphone housed in the Batmobile, and then returns to tell Batgirl that they are taking her to the Batcave!

Doug: On the ride to the backside of Wayne Manor, Gardner Fox gets us inside the head of Barbara Gordon so we can see just how she figured out the location of the museum heist. In her position as head librarian of the Gotham City Public Library, Barbara was privy to peculiar check-out patterns (talk about attention to detail!). A couple of days earlier she noticed that the same man had checked out a book that had to do with gold -- and there was a robbery of gold that night. A pattern formed, one that involved not only the man in front of her, but an accomplice as well, who would later check out the same books. Barbara knew something was up, so played a hunch and ended up at the Amerindian Museum and foiled the theft of some Inca gold. We get a virtual duplicate of a scene played out in Batgirl's first appearance -- that of how her normal clothes become her costume. It's a bit of a stretch, but I imagine it would have been fun for both boys and girls reading these comics 47 years ago.


Doug: At the Batcave, the Dynamic Trio emerge from the Batmobile. Before Batgirl's blindfold is removed, Batman begins to take off his mask. Robin is incredulous, as you might imagine -- he knows nothing of this plot. And how he contained himself when the cowl and the blindfold came off -- and Batgirl gazed on the face of... Bruce Wayne! But she immediately tells herself that he's lying. "Bruce" had some waxy residue on his face, and his hair looked freshly dyed. Nope -- this was some guy made up to look like Bruce Wayne in an attempt to throw her off. And no way she was going to trade her identity now! He asks, but she tells him it would be too easy for her to just tell. Nope -- he will need to use his detective skills to figure out who she really is. You can see Batman's explanation for this charade in a page sample towards the end of this review. Sketchy at best, at least to me. So it's back under the blindfold and back into the Batmobile. But once inside, Batman gives Robin the signal to be silent. Now the Boy Wonder is thoroughly baffled. But while they ride, the Dark Knight plucks the transmitter from Batgirl's cowl -- the one secretly planted (on the top of her head, no less) by one of the goons at the museum. Robin, an able detective in his own right, quickly deduces the who/what/where of the situation.

Doug: A short while later, the Caped Crusader and his youthful ward make their way through the woods to a cabin. Still not speaking aloud, we are let into Robin's thoughts: the heroes have come here to corral the bad guys, who will soon arrive, thinking that they will be corralling Batgirl. Ah, the trouble one little tracer can cause! Batman enters the cabin and seats himself low in a chair, facing the fireplace. Sure enough -- three thugs enter the building and attempt to sneak attack Batgirl. Only that ain't Batgirl in the chair, brochachos! In a fairly violent maneuver, Batman hurls his two attackers headlong into the brick fireplace. They'll get out of that with severe concussions, minimum. The third man was their ringleader, Paul Crowell, he of the checked out library books. Robin takes out Crowell moments before Crowell could get a shot off at Batman's back. With all three men down for the count, Batman moves to exit the building in order to raise Gordon on the Batphone. But little does he know that there are other men lurking just outside -- with machine guns trained on that door!


Doug: Of course we all would have assumed that Batgirl would not stay out of this as Batman had requested. And it's a good thing she followed, as she is able to swing through the two gunmen and ruin their attempt at murder. Now with five bad guys out of commission, and the Commissioner alerted, the Batman heads back inside to do his own interrogation of Crowell. Paul Crowell has no shame -- he's gonna spill it all in hopes of getting off easy. I've included the last two full pages of this story and exhibited them below -- you can see for yourself Crowell's explanation. And as you read that material, be awed at Gardner Fox's script. Holy disquisition, Batman! Bendis would have used at least six issues to handle the two pages below! And this thought occurs to me -- no wonder it took 20 minutes to read a comic book up until the last decade. There is some tender loving care put into the plot of this story, from beginning to middle to the very wordy (yet well-crafted) ending.


Doug: As I've commented during reviews of many of our DC subjects, it was not often that the reader got a full 21-22 page tale of the book's main character. In this era Ralph Dibny was holding serve in the back of Detective Comics, so our story above was only a 15-pager. But man -- as I just said, the creative team crammed a ton of action (and explanation) into this yarn. I found it very satisfying, and I'll admit to being a sucker for Batgirl stories. This was an interesting Batman: confident, smart, no one's stooge, rough-and-tumble, yet reserved, caring, and not at all dark. There was only a little bit of camp here and there, so I wouldn't say this version of the character was derived from the television show. It's there -- shoot, look at the top two panels on the page just above at right. Tell me that's not straight off the telly! So this was a wonderful slice of that Bat-era, landing somewhere between the Rainbow Batman in the high Silver Age and the O'Neil/Adams redo in the Bronze Age. Oh -- and how about Barbara Gordon channeling Leia Organa?


19 comments:

david_b said...

I'd agree that this was Carmine's Batman at his pinnacle, just before the tide turned away from the camp. Fox's story definitely was a few steps above the normal Detective Comics/Batman titles (I know, I was on a '60s Batman kick about 10yrs ago, collecting a couple dozen issues with those great covers...).

I bought this particular one a few years back for both the cover and of course, Batgirl. I still have it and read it every so often. I love the length of dialog in these stories, much more talking than you'd normally equate to DC Comics, especially one of the hugest characters with a national television show which by this time (in it's final year) was focused more on the 'theatre of the absurd' as Adam West has described it.

Also it was interesting to note that while the final year of the show focused more on action/little dialog/see-Batman-in-his-surfing shorts shitck, at least the namesake comic titles strove to keep some level of writing standard more comparable to the show's first year. You can still pull nice innovative tidbits out of it, and as mentioned it's also a very enjoyable 20 minute 'detective story' read.

Awesome comic, awesome review.

Humanbelly said...

This comes from me not knowing my deeper history very well, but did Carmine Infantino & Gil Kane have some common artistic background or influence? There are moments in the Silver Age when I feel like I'm seeing one of them in the other's work, y'know? That's definitely the case for me in this story.

HB

Doug said...

HB -

I can definitely see the connection between Kane and Infantino. I think it's only true of their Silver Age art, though. Kane's Bronze Age art, at least to me, seems elongated and evocative of what some have called "rigor mortis fingers". Infantino's form stayed the same, but I felt he lost a step in his depiction of faces, which could seem very flat from multiple turns. But in these samples, there is a similar vibe between the two artists.

David, thank you for the compliment!

Doug

Anonymous said...

Hold up, hold my phone!!! The Batman deduces the bad guys' plot when he spots the hidden microphone on Batgirl. So he quickly assembles this ruse de guerre to allow Batgirl to think she's seeing his identity but in a way that makes her think his identity is false so that she won't in turn reveal her identity which would have been transmitted through the hidden microphone to the bad guys waiting to learn the secret identity of The Batman and Batgirl. Did he wake up with the wax and bad dye job in place or hastily excuse himself when they first arrived at The Batcave!?!

The one word that comes to mind: INCONCEIVABLE!!!!

The Prowler (I know you know that I'm not telling the truth, I know you know they just don't have any proof).

Doug said...

Ol' chum --

You have to click the two full-pagers near the bottom of the post for Bruce's explanation of the wax/dye. He spells it out for the dumbfounded Dick Grayson. And for you, son.

Doug

Garett said...

Infantino's '60s art intrigues me, after seeing the quality work he did on Flash. Thanks for the review! This does remind me of Kane's art at the time. I haven't read any Batman from this era, but now I want to check out this book, see if this Infantino volume is worth picking up.

Also, thanks to those here who recommended Power Man and Iron Fist 61-79 last week, the Jo Duffy/Kerry Gammill issues. I picked up and read a few, and they're great! Gammill's art looks fantastic and the stories are an enjoyable read. I had read some PM+IF comics from this era back in the day, but I think I saw more the issues after this drawn by Denys Cowan.

Anonymous said...

This Batgirl story looks like Infantino at his best. Like Doug, I do think he lost a step in his later career,but here his art looks good.

- Mike 'batarang' from Trinidad & Tobago.

Anonymous said...

Holy Maybelline! The old "apply the disguise during the phone call trick"!!! How could I have missed that!!! (I've got a million !!!) Which brings to mind my favorite "non Batgirl" Batman TV show moment. Bruce Wayne and Batman had to be somewhere simultaneously so they dressed Alfred in the Batsuit and gave him a special microphone that changed his voice to match The Batman's. Then Robin told everyone that Batman had a cold so he had to keep his distance. It was actually Alan Napier in a bat costume!!!

Loved it.

The Prowler (embrace the deception learn how to bend your worst inhibitions tend to psych you out in the end).

Dr. Oyola said...

This is definitely of an era I am not that interested in, but I do appreciate its kiddy-friendly tone and clean art.

A friend's young son LOVES superheroes and comics and I have been sending him care packages of old stuff I don't want anymore (Superman Family, Marvel Tales, and the like), but it is so difficult to find appropriate material. :(

Anyway, is this post #23000? ;)

KevinFermoyle said...

Some of the similarities in the art of Infantino and Kane during this period may have been due to the inkers - Joe Giella, Murphy Anderson and Sid Greene - all of whom worked with both pencillers at about the same time.

I wonder if the fall off in the quality of Infantino's art was the result of his stepping away from regular art assignments to be a DC exec from 1967 to 1975.

Doug said...

Osvaldo (and all) --

Edo was the lucky winner of nothing (sounds like a Seinfeld plot) with a comment in yesterday's post. He rang in about an hour ago with a missive about leftover school supplies -- you'd have to go over there to see how the conversation segued that way. Totally organic flow...

But concerning the all-ages access to comics material: I could not agree more! I've thought about just ditching some of my 90s-00s comics, but where to put them? I wouldn't donate them to any library, church, or to the Salvation Army, because I'd be so self-conscious about the preponderance of "butt-floss" (thanks, Karen -- that's such a great term!) that I could never just leave a couple of longboxes of that stuff. No, I do not mind today's type of story at all, not one bit.

Doug

Dr. Oyola said...

Doug, I think a library would be fine (if they want them). People should have access to even terrible stuff. ;)

Sure, a kid might get their hands on them, but 1) that is true anyway, 2) that is on their guardians and the library staff.

P.S. Damn that EDO!

Anonymous said...

Wait!!! It can't be nothing!!! The nothing has to be something!!! This blog has gone too long and too well for it to be nothing.

I nominate either a favor from Frank Moses or shotgun on a shuttle flight to blow up an asteroid that's threatening Earth.

The Prowler (once won a combo salt and pepper shaker with the radio station's logo on it).

david_b said...

Congrats EDO.

Doug as for those '90s-00s comics, despite what Shooter wisely reflected that every comic is someone's 'first'..,


Eh, burn them, wrap fish in them (especially the gimic sparkly covers..), just keep them away from children.

Seriously, give them something they'd cherish. See if the local Recycling Center has a need for them.

Humanbelly said...

If I were to try to pinpoint what seemed to go missing from Infantino's work in his later years, I would say that it was his eye for foreshortening and forced perspective-- which, as mentioned, was particularly noticeable problem in his heads and faces. And I can well imagine that his years away from the daily drawing grind while an exec at DC would have taken a toll, yes. An artist in almost any field does need to keep using and working with his gifts, or they get 'way out of whack. The raw talent may remain, but it's the refinement that takes soooo much work to master and maintain.

Boy, how to responsibly dispose of those 90's comics? That's a pickle. Even Goodwill has trouble moving stuff like that. I do know that once in awhile our local library's used book store will get a stack, and they do eventually sell (if the price gets low enough)-- so something like that might have a most benefit/least harm advantage. I agree, though-- there's something unseemly about seeing a blood-soaked Cable shooting at a mostly-naked Psylock on the cover of X-Something in a quiet, respectful library bookstore. . .

HB

Humanbelly said...

If I were to try to pinpoint what seemed to go missing from Infantino's work in his later years, I would say that it was his eye for foreshortening and forced perspective-- which, as mentioned, was particularly noticeable problem in his heads and faces. And I can well imagine that his years away from the daily drawing grind while an exec at DC would have taken a toll, yes. An artist in almost any field does need to keep using and working with his gifts, or they get 'way out of whack. The raw talent may remain, but it's the refinement that takes soooo much work to master and maintain.

Boy, how to responsibly dispose of those 90's comics? That's a pickle. Even Goodwill has trouble moving stuff like that. I do know that once in awhile our local library's used book store will get a stack, and they do eventually sell (if the price gets low enough)-- so something like that might have a most benefit/least harm advantage. I agree, though-- there's something unseemly about seeing a blood-soaked Cable shooting at a mostly-naked Psylock on the cover of X-Something in a quiet, respectful library bookstore. . .

HB

Edo Bosnar said...

Winner of nothing - I love it! It sounds like something one of those angsty, beret-wearing Left Bank intellectuals would lament about for hours while burning through a pack of cigarettes and nursing a single espresso.

As for the actual topic: yet another enjoyable review, Doug. And wow, all that exposition on those two pages - although I agree, it doesn't seem to bog the story down.
As for the art, well, it's no secret I'm not a big fan of Infantino, and I'm afraid that applies to his work on Batman. I know this era is quite popular with a lot of fans, but I remember never really liking when, say, one of those DC digests dedicated to Batman had reprints of stories from the Infantino years.

J.A. Morris said...

If you live near a university library, you may want to see if their Special Collections department will take some 90s comics off your hands. They may not like them, but they'll add to the numbers in the collection.

B Smith said...

"Winner of nothing - I love it! It sounds like something one of those angsty, beret-wearing Left Bank intellectuals would lament about for hours while burning through a pack of cigarettes and nursing a single espresso."

I take it the term "no-prize" has long vanished from the Marvel vocabulary...?

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