Detective 560 – Robin and Catwoman answer the call, and Green Arrow and Black Canary eat lunch

A very moody cover for Detective 660 (March 1986), and I was expecting a Batman solo story, but Moench and Colan go a different way.

Batman does, indeed, go off to sit by himself in a cave and brood, reflect on his origin and training, and look all solemn, sad and spooky. But he sets things up with Harvey Bullock to make Catwoman a true member of his team.

It’s also to force Robin to have to work with Catwoman, which Jason Todd is reluctant to do, feeling that he is betraying Nocturna.  But they track down some cop killing Savage Skulls, and bond.

The only problem is that Catwoman has been softened to such an open and accepting person that it hardly feels like it’s really her.

Black Canary shares the billing with Green Arrow on this excellent story lead off by Cavalieri and Moore.  The phrase, “does that make me a bad guy?” ends three different scenes in the tale, playing differently each time.

We meet Champion, who uses his powerful costume to help those who can pay for his services.  He compares himself to any other trained professional, arguing that he is not required to do heroics for free.

Dinah argues with Oliver over her idea to go undercover and fight crime from the inside, the way her mother had originally.  An odd way to go about breaking out of her mother’s shadow, but whatever.  The landlord comes by to raise the rent, and basic economics are the root of the second time the question is asked.

And finally, Steelclaw introduced, a powerful villain being hired by the mob, who turns the tables on them and demands a cut of the action.  He is definitely a bad guy.

Detective 558 – Nocturna’s deadly spell, and Green Arrow gets dumped on by an angry parent

The red rains buffet Gotham in Detective 558 (Jan. 86), as the Crisis stories come to a close, and a number of people hunt for Nocturna.

Batman brings the Night Slayer’s reign of terror to a close, finally.

But Moench and Colan spend far more of this story on the night watchman seduced away from his wife by Nocturna, who roams the city searching for her, as does Robin.  Harvey Bullock is also on the hunt, though the watchman himself is Harvey’s goal, after meeting his tormented wife.

Seeing Nocturna’s damaged balloon hanging from the spire of Gotham’s version of the Chrysler building, he climbs to the top and sends it flying away.  Although Batman and Robin try to save him, he falls and disappears into the red rains, and Bullock is left to try to explain things to the man’s wife.

The story ends with Batman being called by Commissioner Gordon about the Joker’s escape from Arkham, which leads Batman into the pages of Crisis on Infinite Earths 2.  But not before he and Catwoman profess their love again.

Dean Traven and Trevor Von Eeden helm this entertaining little story.

Green Arrow hears the words of a wounded man just before he passes out, and, interpreting them as a clue, seeks out those who attacked him.

By far the best page of the story is a bit of a digression.  Olive spills a child’s ice cream, and when he tries to pay for it, is attacked by the boy’s mother as a molestor.  The page almost feels like Giffen, and the Ambush Bug reference makes me certain that was the intent.

The ending brings a laugh as well.  Green Arrow visits in the man in the hospital, explaining his mistaken interpretation of his words, and how he really found the attacker, all the while devouring the man’s candy.

 

Detective 556 – Nocturna makes her move, and Green Arrow teams with Onyx

The cover for Detective 556 (Nov. 85) just incensed me when it came out. What was Batman doing killing Nocturna?  It’s Catwoman and Talia that he loves!

But the story, by Moench and Colan, did not anger me.  Rather, I was excited, for although the Crisis on Infinite Earths is not mentioned, the red rains that are falling clearly place this tale during that mini-series.  In fact, this and the next two issues of Detective must all take place during the first issue of Crisis.

With Black Mask out of the way, but his men still around, Nocturna makes her play to become their new leader, and control Gotham’s criminal element.  Bullock, meanwhile, shows he has the proper observational skills to be a cop, as he figures out that the current Robin is not the original one.  Although his guess at him being Nocturna’s son misses the bulls-eye.

With Robin and the gangs under her spell, she concludes the story by going after Batman, and he doesn’t seem to have any resistance left.

Green Arrow joins Onyx, as she brings him back to the retreat where she was trained, in this story by Joey Cavalieri, Jerome K Moore and Bruce Patterson.

Onyx was a good character to introduce.  A strong female, a capable fighter.  It just makes you wonder why Black Canary wasn’t treated as well in the same strip.

It turns out Oliver knows the place well.  It was the same place he went to after accidentally killing a child, a few years back. So technically, Connor Hawke could be in this story, if I can spot any young kids with mixed race skin and blond hair.

Detective 549 – Harvey Bullock gets the spotlight, and Black Canary finally appears

Detective 549 (April 1985) gives Harvey Bullock a starring role in a one issue tale by Doug Moench and Pat Broederick.

Bullock is a fan of classic movies,he has his apartment decorated with posters of them.  He envisions himself as a tough guy hero,along the lines of Bogart.  He narrates the story in a reflection of this.

He had been in minor confrontations with some punks who hung out on his street, but when he discovers that they broke into his place, and spray painted the walls, and the posters, he goes ballistic.

Batman is drawn by the street fight, and helps Bullock.  It’s a nice male bonding moment for the two men, pounding the crap out of some kids.

Alan Moore scripts a 2-part Green Arrow story, beginning in this issue, with art by Klaus Janson.  The narrative voice for the two issues compares the situations occurring to events in an Olympics. It’s a good story, but not one of Alan Moore’s greats.

Green Arrow stops a thief who seems to have some major psychological problems, which keeps him busy.

Black Canary, making her first appearance in Green Arrow’s series since it moved to Detective, isn’t even recognized by the men she takes down.

The villain in the story isn’t named. But as he’s an obnoxious, treacherous, murdering bastard, who doesn’t want to be called Arrow-Man, I am going to call him Arrow-Man.

The first part ends as he sets his sights on Green Arrow and Black Canary.

Detective 546 – Hamilton Hill raises the stakes, and Onyx debuts

Things are spiraling downward quickly for Hamilton Hill in Detective 546 (Jan. 85), as Doug Moench and Gene Colan detail the mayor’s desperate actions.

After a confrontation with Batman, and in danger of having his schemes exposed, Hamilton Hill calls a press conference to announce that Batman attacked him for no reason, and orders the police to arrest him.

So Batman is once again forced to battle the police.  He’s used to it, and good at it, but it’s never the ideal situation.

The Night Slayer continues to use the blind girl, Tina, who still thinks he is Batman.  Nocturna takes Jason Todd out, and attempts to justify her life of getting men to steal for her, but her tortured reasoning does not impress the boy.  Her guilt trips and tears are more effective.

After another sniper takes a shot at Harvey Bullock, he goes to confront Mayor Hill on his games and lies.  Hill pulls out a gun and shoots Bullock.

Jerome K Moore and Bruce Patterson join Joey Cavalieri on this tale, which sees Olive Queen attending a high school reunion.

He feels very awkward and out of place until a vigilante bursts in, aiming to kill one of the alumni with criminal ties.  Oliver defeats him, but once cannot help but notice how very similar the character’s costume (and motivation) are to the recently introduced Vigilante, Adrian Chase.

Be that as it may, the more important thing in the story is the final page, which introduces a young woman in a place of retreat.  One of her mentors is dying, but before he does, he gives her the codename Onyx, and the mission to find Oliver Queen.

Detective 542 – Jason gets taken, and Green Arrow cons a killer

The Batman titles really become pure soap opera at this time.  Villains become secondary to Bruce Wayne’s relationships, and his difficulties in getting guardianship of Jason.

The stories are not awful, it’s still Moench and Colan, but it feels a bit more like Dallas than Batman.

Harvey Bullock accompanies the woman from child welfare, as she comes to take Jason away from Bruce.  I don’t know if they were expecting Bruce to pull out a gun or something, bringing Bullock seems excessive, especially as all Jason does is cry.

Bruce calls a meeting of the Wayne Foundation board – which means Lucius Fox and some unnamed others – and gives them a big speech about how getting Jason Todd back must be the main focus of the company.  They all look stunned, as they well might.

Jason, in an orphanage, sees the Bat-signal, and goes into action as Robin.  He catches up with Harvey Bullock, just in time to save him from a sniper.  Hamilton Hill, upset that Bullock became friends with Gordon rather than driving him out of the force, has hired a hit man to get rid of Harvey.

Batman is late to join the party, but he captures the sniper.  Jason tells him that they might split up him and Bruce, but no one can break up Batman and Robin.

Joey Cavalieri and Shawn McManus bring the Death Dealer story to a clever resolution in this issue.

Oliver gets the dj to start playing a pre-recorded show of his, and that makes the Death Dealer think that they put out the fire.  He returns to the studio, and when he opens it to enter, sees Green Arrow, who he believes managed to enter somehow.  Thanks to the recording, and the Dealer’s confusion, his surprise at seeing Green Arrow,and not connecting him to Oliver Queen, is actually plausible.

The explanation to the events is a bit lame though.  The dj in the witness protection program happened to work at a station run by ANOTHER guy in the witness protection program, who blamed the dj for him having to go through that.  And though the one recognized the other, neither was, apparently, being monitored in any way at all, to prevent them coming into contact.

Detective 538 – is the Cat-Man costume magic?, and Green Arrow, three years ago

Doug Moench and Gene Colan take the second half of this Cat-Man 2-parter in an interesting direction in Detective 538 (May 1984).

Thomas Blake, the Cat-Man was defeated by Batman in the first half of this story, but the news was spread that he had won, because of his costume.  This is all done in order to get a fellow con to lead Batman to where he stored his loot.

Thomas Blake has a small role, in protective custody with Harvey Bullock, but the man in cat suit for this story is Collins.

With Batman tailing, Collins breaks into Blake’s apartment, steals the suit, and heads out for his loot.  he takes crazy risks, because he believes in the suit’s magic, and Batman has to save his life, repeatedly, without being spotted, to keep the con going.

Collins leads Batman to his loot, in a cave, but a collapse opens a tunnel and Collins winds up in the Batcave.  He and Batman fight on the dinosaur and giant penny, as Alfred tries to explain the sounds to Julia, who has recently moved into Wayne Manor.

Collins is captured, and Batman explains the con, but Collins still believes it was the suit that saved his life, and lead him to the Batcave.

Thomas Blake returns as Cat-Man in a couple of years.  Collins is not seen again, doubtlessly shanked in prison by Blake.

Shawn McManus is now on the pencils for Green Arrow, with Pablo Marcos doing inks, and just in time as Joey Cavalieri tells a poignant story, reflecting back on a dead friend of Oliver Queen.

The story is split on each page, with the present, as Green Arrow hunts and captures gun runners, on the top.  On the bottom is the story of Oliver and his pop star musician friend.

When I first read this, when it came out, I couldn’t see any connection at all between the two stories, and it sort of irritated me, until I hit the page above, and realized that the pop star was meant to be John Lennon, and the upper story about the ease with which illegal guns are available in the US.

 

 

Detective 533 – Barbara saves her father

In Detective 533 (Dec. 83), Doug Moench and Gene Colan give Barbara Gordon her best, non-costumed, role to date.

Commissioner Gordon is in the hospital after suffering a heart attack a couple issues earlier, in the pages of Batman.  It was brought on largely by thirty years of smoking cigars, but happened while he was arguing with Harvey Bullock, so Bullock blames himself.

Four ex-cons decide to invade the hospital and murder Gordon.  Barbara contacts the police, who alert Batman, but spends much of the story hiding her father, and doing her best to keep him safe and alive.

Yes, Batman beats them up, and Bullock helps as well, but Barbara is the unsung heroine of the story.  It’s kind of sad that she is given far more emotional and impressive action in this story than she had in her own back-up series.

 

Detective 528 – the Savage Skull returns, and Green Arrow v Ozone

Doug Moench continues the return of the Savage Skull, the cop killer who had only appeared in Batman up to this point, in Detective 528 (July 1983), with art by Gene Colan and Klaus Janson.

Mayor Hamilton Hill brought Harvey Bullock back onto the force in the last Batman, and Commissioner Gordon goes to complain to him in this story, not realizing that the reason the mayor brought Bullock in was to annoy Gordon.

Bullock is quite a bit different than his first appearance in these pages in the mid-70s.  While his anti-Batman attitude is intact, he is slovenly, and does not appear a completely honest cop.

The mayor’s task is made easier when more dead police show up, despite Gordon, and Batman, insisting the Savage Skull was dead.  Harvey goes to track him on his own, and finds the killer.

Harvey is almost killer by the Skull, but Gordon intervenes and saves him.  Gordon had not trusted Bullock, and had been following him.  Batman also shows up, on the trail on his own, and defeats the Savage Skull.

Things seem patched up between Bullock and Gordon, until Bullock holds a press conference, lying about the capture of the Skull and denouncing Gordon.

Green Arrow shoots his way out of this deadly situation with a rope arrow, thanks to Joey Cavalieri, Paris Cullins and Pablo Marcos.

Green Arrow discovers that Ozone is somehow connected to a secret government science agency, Z.Z.Z.  Rick knows more about this organization than Oliver, although how much he is connected is not clear.

Ozone continues on his merry way, stealing at will.

The story does continue.  Just in case you thought it ended that way.

 

Detective 441 – Batman faces judgement, and Manhunter goes to church

Jim Aparo does the cover again, for Detective 441 (June/July 1974), but the Archie Goodwin Batman story inside has art by Howard Chaykin.

This story also features the debut of Harvey Bullock, a Gotham police lieutenant who is not impressed with Batman or his methods at all.  His role is quite small, just at the top of the story, the set-up that leads Batman to the house where he faces Robin’s kidnapper.  Bullock would not appear again for almost 10 years, but eventually become a solid supporting cast member for Batman.

The bulk of the story has Batman in a trap-filled house, facing a self-appointed judge who has passed sentence on Batman, blaming him for his daughter’s blindness as the result of a mugging, which he failed to prevent.

The daughter does not blame Batman, and tries to stop her father.  Unwittingly, she succeeds when her blindness leads her in to one of the traps, which kills her.  Heart-broken, her father gives up to Batman.

This issue contains absolutely the best chapter of Goodwin and Simonson’s Manhunter saga, taking place entirely within a crumbling church in Istanbul.  Every person I know who loves this series, picks this chapter as the high point.

Using information from Damon, Paul Kirk and Christine St. Clair come to Istanbul to infiltrate a gathering of the Council, but what makes this tale great is the American tourist family, exploring the same church at the same time, completely oblivious to the other plot.

We see that all is not well with the outer members of the Council, who find there always seem to be reasons to keep them out of the precious inner circle.  Christine St. Clair’s father is also introduced, a high ranking member of the outer circle, encouraged to stop his daughter’s investigations.

Of the tourist family, only the boy sees the battle that occurs between Manhunter and his clones.

The story has such a great ending, as the boy saves Paul with his toy gun, and his clueless parents drag him away, complaining that all churches are the same.