Batman Illustrated By Neal Adams Volume Three!

The focus of Batman Illustrated by Neal Adams Volume Three is without a doubt Ra's Al Ghul and his "Demon Daughter" Talia. I'm going to spend a post next week focusing on this conflict, so I'll just give that epic struggle slight attention here. But there's still plenty to dig into. 

This is the first story in which Neal Adams gets to render Ra's al Ghul, the Demon's Head. I'll have more to say about this tomorrow when I look at the whole Demon's Head saga. 

Batman has to get to the bottom of some peculiar crimes in Batman #234. When a balloon is stolen from a parade he's called in and soon enough he finds himself up against a clown-faced gang who work for Two-Face. Two-Face's scheme in this one is pretty ingenious is implausible. Neal Adams and Dick Giordano really unwind in this one with some great action pages. "Half an Evil" was written of course by Denny O'Neil. 

Batman #237 is a holiday treat. It's Halloween and Batman and Robin attend the Rutland Halloween Parade which back in the early Bronze Age of comics was a strange location where characters and creators could mingle. It's "The Night of the Reaper!" and Batman and Robin are hunting a Nazi war criminal but in all those costumes he's hard to find, especially when someone is swinging a scythe at your head. 

I love the Rutland Halloween comics, wish someone would gather them up sometime from the various publishers. In this issue which is written by Denny O'Neil with help from the likes of Berni Wrightson and Harlan Ellison, we get to meet comic book versions of Wrightson, as well as Alan Lee Weiss, and Gerry Conway. Neal Adams as usual does a great job rendering this one with the aid of Dick Giordano. 

Both Batman #243 and #244 form the climax to the first fantastic Ra's al Ghul story. Much more on this saga in tomorrow's post. It's a doozy though for sure. 

Batman #245 features "The Bruce Wayne Murder Case" in which a politician seek to use Bruce Wayne's disappearance in South America into a murder perpetrated by his opponent. Batman has to intercede and by the end Bruce Wayne is back among the living. Written by O'Neil and drawn by Adams and Giordano, this one seems to exist largely to return the status quo and rip on politicians a bit. (Which is fine by me by the way.)

The Joker might have been deadlier in other stories, but I don't know if he was ever crazier than this one. Neal Adams drew a slew of covers for Batman books and this one might be the best. It knocked me out when I saw it on the stands back in the day. Batman #251's "The Joker's Five-Way Revenge" is written by O'Neil and drawn by Adams. He inks his own stuff this time. The Joker returns to Gotham after a four-year absence (in the pages of the Justice League no less), and begins murdering the former members of his gang in an effort to get the one who squealed on him to the cops. This one has fantastic visuals, and the story is pretty good. 

"Moon of the Wolf" in Batman #255 by writer Len Wein brings the Batman into conflict with a legit werewolf. Neal Adams draws a mean werewolf, and this one is shaggy and violent. Dick Giordano is back on inks. The story is about a man who has lycanthropy who falls into the clutches of former Bat-villain Professor Milo, not seen since 1957 who then turns the unfortunate man into a full-blown howling creature of the night. It's a pretty good story with a great ending. It's the last Neal Adams Batman story for quite some time, at least for DC proper. 

Neal Adams wrote and drew the "Stacked Cards" for Peter Pan's Power Book and Record series from 1975. Once again Batman and Robin are on the Joker's trail as he attempts to steal a Picasso painting. It has a pretty fun ending and more is a tad more blood thirsty than I expected. To enjoy this savory adventure record, check out this link. 

Adams and Giordano get the help of writer Frank Robbins when they meet up with Man-Bat a second offering from Peter Pan's Robin Meets Man-Bat! We get a full reprise of Man-Bat's origin (likely the Robbins contribution) and then we see how the Dynamic Duo can match up against not one but two bat creatures when She-Bat appears. I find it remarkable that this story seems to fit in well with the overall continuity of the DC comics of the time. And that's the last story in this handsome volume. To give the record a listen, check out to this link. 

I've included this cover for debut issue of Comic Book Artist from Twomorrows because the 1980's Batman art used as a cover is included in this collection. It's a dandy. 

The impact of Neal Adams cannot be overstated. He redefined one of the greatest comic book icons in our culture. His muscular style rescued the hero from the once successful but stifling camp presentation developed in harmony with the TV show. There's no way to imagine our modern images of Batman without giving a nod to Adams. And I'm not done with Neal Adams quite yet. More tomorrow when I focus on Batman's epic struggle against Ra's al Ghul. 

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