Be Our Guest Writer: It Was Just My Imagination...

Martinex1:  We have a real treat for all today, as we welcome Doug (who many recognize from the ol' Bronze Age Babies site) and enjoy his brand new review.   I have many great things to say about Doug and all of the help he gave us getting started here at BitBA, but that would take a week of posts at least, so without further ado let's just turn it over to our guest for the day.  Take it away Doug...

World's Finest #153 (November 1965)

"The Clash of Cape and Cowl!"

Edmond Hamilton-Curt Swan/George Klein (cover by Curt Swan and Sheldon Moldoff)

Superman's Girlfriend Lois Lane #89 (January 1969)

"The Bride of Batman!"

Leo Dorfman-Curt Swan/Mike Esposito (cover by Neal Adams and Carmine Infantino)

Superboy #182 (February 1972)

"The Forging of Young Batman!"

Leo Dorfman-Bob Brown/Murphy Anderson (cover by Nick Cardy)

Doug: Have you watched Batman v Superman? To this day I have not. And honestly, I do not plan to. Largely, the DC cinematic offerings just leave me cold. I paid to see Man of Steel, and upon exiting the theater wished I'd held onto the money I'd paid. Sorry -- the present takes on these characters aren't in line with how I view them. Of course my preferences are grounded heavily in my memories of Superman, Batman, et al. as depicted in the Silver and Bronze Ages. Time often makes us think the past was perhaps rosier than it really was. I'm sure we've all thought at one time or another, "Well, that didn't hold up." But what happens when we peel back a cover and expect to get a tale that's just a bit outside our normal slam/bang tastes? What happens when we've properly set our sights on 20 minutes of enjoyment, letting the story come to us? As has been said by one of our blogging contemporaries, with the right mindset, you can have a lot of fun. Even if reading an imaginary story.

Doug: Today, using Batman v Superman as a sort of theme, I want to discuss that trope as evidenced in the years surrounding the beginning of the Bronze Age. Yup -- this has been going on for quite some time! First up will be a yarn from World's Finest, then we'll move on to a story told in Superman's Girlfriend Lois Lane. We'll round things out with "the adventures of Superman when he was a teen" and check out a pre-Legion takeover issue of Superboy. My resources today are DC's Greatest Imaginary Stories, volume 2 and The Greatest Superboy Team-Up Stories Ever Told (I did, however, at one time own today's Superboy issue). For the most part the accompanying images go in that order -- if you get confused, try to sort them by the artists!

Did I hear you request a few 100-Word Reviews? I thought I did...

World's Finest #153

Would you believe a world where Superman killed Thomas Wayne, setting in motion events that would lead young Bruce Wayne to become the Batman? Convinced that Superboy murdered Dr. Wayne in order to steal a formula for a Kryptonite antidote, Batman committed his life to bringing the Man of Steel to justice. But when Luthor is involved, things will certainly not turn out as they seem. Detective work, the Fortress of Solitude, and a Superboy robot all figure in the resolution of the crime… and the ultimate karmic experience for the Batman, who makes amends through the supreme sacrifice.

Superman's Girlfriend Lois Lane #89
Sooner or later a girl is going to get tired of waiting. And when that “girl” is a woman as strong-willed and independent – who also knows what she wants – as Lois Lane, and you’re Superman… You might end up disappointed. And that’s where the Batman comes in. Long holding a secret crush on Lois, opportunity presented itself and the Caped Crusader took full advantage. Eventually marrying Lois and having a son, Batman finds he cannot protect her. Later kidnapped, she’s manipulated into giving up the Batman’s secret ID – Clark Kent? But what will happen when an attempt is made on Clark’s life?

Superboy #182
What if a young Superboy had the opportunity to mentor a hurting Bruce Wayne in the months after the murder of Thomas and Martha Wayne? Our story is framed by a DC editorial meeting – “We have to tell our readers the real story!” In Smallville, Superboy sees a headline touting the Wayne murders. Speeding to Gotham City to see if young Wayne needs his help, Superboy gets involved in a crime spree by the Zodiac Killer. But it’s Bruce Wayne who is training to bring the Killer to justice, convinced he was the Waynes’ murderer. But was he?

So what to make of all that? I'll start by saying there's some hall-of-fame talent on display in these three tales. Just the covers alone! Curt Swan, Shelly Moldoff, Neal Adams, Carmine Infantino, and Nick Cardy... all-time greats in any discussion. The interior credits are also noteworthy, but I'll confess that I didn't recall the work of Leo Dorfman. And then darned if he didn't show up as the scripter of both of the latter stories! But let's break things down a bit to make a better critique:

The Good: Concerning the first of today's stories, I absolutely loved the canon on display in World's Finest #153: Batman as driven to become the World's Greatest Detective, Superman's Fortress of Solitude, Superman as the eternally-altruistic problem solver, and Luthor ever getting his come-uppance. In the Silver Age this may have been somewhat formulaic or cliche', but let's face it -- we recognized these characters and situations. There were rules of general behavior and they were followed.

At the end of the WF tale, Batman does sacrifice his life to save Superman. Thinking since he'd been a teenager that Superboy had broken into Dr. Wayne's lab in order to steal the Kryptonite antidote, he's snapped from his manic revenge motivation when Luthor makes a statement only Dr. Wayne's killer could have known. At that moment, Luthor is also able to get off a shot at Superman with a "Z-ray". Batman takes the brunt of the blast, succumbing to its power. In dying, he apologizes to Superman and remarks that they might have made a great team. Indeed.

The combination of Curt Swan and Mike Esposito produces some beautiful women in the Lois Lane story. Not only is Lois a scene-stealer on every page, but a 3-panel appearance by the de-powered Wonder Woman is also noteworthy. And I really like the way Bruce Wayne is depicted -- strong, heroic, and not in any way foppish or moody. This is a really nice version.

Robin was written appropriately, showing his uncertainty and even jealousy at Bruce's wedding to Lois and followed shortly by the birth of Bruce Jr. Like many a royal heir through time, young Master Dick sees his mantle passing him by.

I don't know how you feel about Bob Brown. He was the penciler on Daredevil when I latched onto that book -- we all know how we feel about entry-point creators. You know, though, I didn't really care for the Brown-drawn chapters of the "Avengers-Defenders War". But, when matched against Sal Buscema every other installment, that's tough on anyone. Here in the Superboy story, though, Brown really benefits from the brush of Murphy Anderson. For me, Anderson is somewhat akin to Jim Mooney in that you can usually spot his work by the faces of the story's characters. That's true here. This is a nice combination.

And we should probably make mention of Leo Dorfman's scripts. Again, I'm pretty sure I've had little experience with Dorfman over the long course of my reading pleasure. But he does a nice job. I enjoyed the plots of both of his stories, and the dialogue was solid.

The Bad: Batman was a jerk in that World's Finest story! Wow... I thought, in his treatment of Robin, he was the prototype for the 21st century's "I'm the @$*&# Batman!" I suppose it was necessary to establish a dichotomy between the ever-good Superman and the fiercely driven, madly blind Batman. Scribe Edmond Hamilton accomplished that.

I thought author Leo Dorfman whiffed on Lois' personality in the SGLL story. Are we to believe that she'd been so preoccupied with Superman that she'd never given a thought to Batman's true identity? And even when they began dating, where was the over-the-top inquisitiveness that was inherent to her character? Yes, the romance with Bruce was somewhat rushed to fit into the available page count (ah, yes -- the pre-decompression days), but there really was no hint of those traits. I'd have enjoyed at least a panel or two of her snooping around Wayne Manor.

Stop it already with the "Batman, Jr." stuff! Is that really what the next generation wants to be called? I'm thinking not. It's no better, and may be worse, than the names used in the other imaginary stories I've read: Batman II and Robin II. And with that on their chests, no less. Ugh...

In the Superboy story, I felt young Bruce Wayne got a raw deal. Yes, we are to understand that the story takes place only weeks after his parents' deaths. Yet this seems to be a Bruce Wayne who is very impulsive, to the point of recklessness. Understood -- it could happen. But there doesn't seem to be any redemption for Bruce by the end of the story. It ends with Superboy clearly holding the upper hand in all aspects of superheroing. I guess if I'd written the plot, I'd have allowed Bruce a small victory at the end. Oh, we see the blueprint for all that he will become. It seemed to me that his mistakes and general hotheadedness outweighed that.

Additionally, I didn't care for Superboy's ability to see into the future. My biggest problem with it, and it's one of those "I can suspend my disbelief for this, but not for that" sort of things, is how in the world does one actually "see" these scenes? But also the fact that Superboy knew not only his future but that of Bruce Wayne opens up all sort of potential temporal hijinks.

Purple seemed an odd choice for "the Executioner's" outfit. And I did like "Batlad" better...

The Ugly: Some of you may be familiar with a popular Batman meme that shows the Batman striking Robin in the face. That panel actually originates in this WF issue, and is displayed here. Personally, I find it distasteful, imaginary story or not.

Overall verdict? I read a story where a driven-out-of-his-mind Batman would stop at all costs to take down Superman, a tale where Batman got the girl over Superman because Superman wouldn't relinquish his obligations to help people, and a young Batman made nearly inept by his obsession with revenge, saved by a do-no-wrong Superboy. Both heroes had their moments of triumph and of regret. Both were generally written within the parameters of their assumed characteristics. But I have to tell you what I came away with at the end of each of the three stories, and that's a feeling of unrest that these two icons couldn't get along. The middle story was the most palatable in that regard; Superman had no one to blame but himself for Batman's opportunism. But the bookend tales were indeed tragedies in their own right. So rather than the prevalent mindset that these two heroes need to be at each other's throats, I wanted resolutions where they parted as comrades if not friends.

I want to thank our hosts for allowing me this opportunity today to get back into the writer's chair for the first time in six months. I can safely say I haven't missed the feeling of a deadline every 24 hours. I'll reiterate my great respect to the boys, and to all other bloggers who maintain the schedule our readers are used to. It ain't easy! But I felt like there had been enough distance that I wanted to try my hand at it again. So my gratitude is extended to all for humoring me. Hopefully we managed to have a bit of fun together.