Michael Cho delivers one of the best images this century of the Golden Age Superman.
Superman. In action. Happy and upbeat.
You’d be happy too if you were the most powerful human on earth — even if you had some serious crime to fight.
I’ve gone on the record that a grim and gritty, introspective (even mopey) Superman is not for me. In other words, most of the modern versions of the character.
Call me old school.
Michael says this early era of Superman is his favorite. It’s certainly among mine as well.
It’s a Superman week here on the blog as we celebrate the 80th anniversary of the debut of the amazing Paramount Fleischer Studios Superman cartoons. Those wonderfully produced animated shorts were the very first time Superman hit the big screen.
In a few days, the most recent filmed version of the character will appear in the re-edited “Snyder cut” of Justice League on HBO.
Don’t take any bets on which version I prefer.
Printed cover, digital prelim, and full-bleed litho version.
George Reeves and Christopher Reeve both knew it was (mostly) cool to be Superman.
Today concludes our special series celebrating Batman’s 80th birthday.
I’m not a child of the ’50s. Didn’t make the cut.
But… I was a little kid in the ’60s when DC published many great 25-cent annuals (80 pages!) and specials reprinting classic tales of classic characters.
Like Batman, for instance.
It was in these annuals that I learned abut Giant Batman, Rip Van Batman, Rainbow Batman and more. I had no idea when these stories first appeared, and I didn’t care. It also didn’t matter that they didn’t quite fit in with the “new-look” Batman. They were goofy fun, and I was a kid, and goofy fun was a job requirement.
I hadn’t thought much about those iterations of Batman in recent years. Many of those stories have yet to be reprinted in the current DC omnibus collections because of, well, pesky chronology.
Then at SDCC, Preview Night, Michael Cho’s art representative put this original of Detective #1000 on display while I was chatting with him.
It floored me.
Michael captured so many of those wondrous Batman moments in one stunning and giant (Its drawn on a double-size board) original. And as noted previously, I’m a passionate admirer of his art.
I asked the price. The dealer answered. I gulped. My art budget would be shredded.
But I understood the pricing — it’s obviously a one-of-a-kind piece. A classic cover for a milestone comic book.
I hesitated for one millisecond. And then I was smart enough to say: “Yes, I want it.”
Good thing too. Turned out there was another buyer literally right behind me. (Typically, I’m the collector who just misses out, so this was unusual.)
I confess that I didn’t recognize ALL the Batmen on the cover at first. (Some of course are covered by the final trade-dress.) But fortunately, with Michael’s help, it’s now sorted out:
17 visible front-facing Batmen surrounding “Conventional” (Regular? Traditional?) Batman and Robin, and seven additional Batmen with a back view to the reader. Below is the complete list, with the original appearances noted as well. The art gallery features the original covers, as wells Michael’s preliminary art, created digitally.
These are not all the odd versions of Batman. Michael himself laments that he couldn’t fit in Batman Jones (Batman #108) or Batman Creature (Batman #162), and a few others, but hey, there’s only so much room.
As for Invisible Batman? (Detective #199.) Who’s to say he’s not also on the cover somewhere? I’m certainly not ruling it out.
Detective 1000 by Michael Cho:
Front view (17):
Jungle Batman – Batman 72
Rainbow Batman (full) – Detective 241
Mummy Batman – Detective 320
Giant Batman (leg) – Detective 243
“First” Batman (Thomas Wayne costume) – Detective 235
Alien Batman (weird face & body) – Batman 140
Alien Batman (orange ears) – Detective 251
Bat-Baby – Batman 147
Genie Batman – Detective 322
Swindle Batman – Detective 222
Captive Planet Batman (weird helmet) – Detective 256
Rip Van Batman – Batman 119
Scuba Batman – Detective 253
Robot Batman – Detective 239
Dragon Society Batman (tunic with #1) – Detective 273
Scottish Batman (kilt bottom) – Detective 198
“Original” Batman (cape open like wings) – Detective 195
Back View (7):
Bronze Batman – Detective 302
Clayface Batman – Detective 312
Zebra Batman – Detective 275
Interplanetary (space helmet) Batman – Detective 165
White Snow Suit Batman – Detective 165
Luminous (radiation) Batman – Detective 165
Rainbow Batman (pink) — Detective 241
Young brains explode — at a bargain price of a quarter!
Michael’s cover jarred my memory into recalling this 1994 cover by Jon Bogdanove which features many different versions of “traditional” Batman in one place, and the matching “reverse” version featuring Batman surrounded by Supermen. I think that one appeared as a poster only. Not as cool, certainly, but fun in their own right.
Justice League of America: The Silver Age Vol. #3, 2017
Green Arrow is back on the air (CW) for its eighth and final season, so before the emerald archer fades into the TV sunset, our next few posts will feature a few Green Arrow originals.
Green Arrow, in his original incarnation was definitely not a cool cat. As Neal Adams points out, he was basically a poor man’s version of Batman, complete with a young ward sidekick (Speedy) and an “Arrow car”, his own version of the Batmobile. (Probably a souped-up Corvair. Look it up.)
Still, as noted by pretty much all fans of comic book history know, the entire DC universe of the early silver age — especially when compared to upstart Marvel Comics — was “square.”
And I say, so what? Lots of things in the Kennedy era were “square,” but simultaneously, super cool.
This JLA trade collection cover, by the incredibly talented Michael Cho, captures the exuberant spirit of “The New Frontier.” Green Arrow takes the lead with his fellow Justice League teammates right beside him. Here they can take on anything the world throws at them — and have fun doing it.
(This cover line-up represents the brief period in team history — Justice League of America #14 – #30 — after the Atom had joined, but before Hawkman had come aboard.)
This cover also embodies the energy and spirit of the late, great creator (and Michael’s good friend) Darwyn Cooke, while still very original in its own right.
I have yet to see a Michael Cho cover that I didn’t enjoy. And I doubt I will.
Printed Cover
Published Print
Above: Covers and Interior Title Splash Pages For The First Appearances of Green Arrow and The Atom in JLA.
