Batman Was Almost Canceled in the Silver Age
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- Опубликовано: 19 фев 2022
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The Silver Age of Comics gave DC Comics some of its most memorable characters: new versions of The Flash and Green Lantern proved enduring. But for Batman, they also inserted him into sci-fi stories every issue, meeting aliens, monsters, and giving Batman strange powers. In this episode, I argue that giving us Mummy Batman, Merman Batman, Baby Batman and more just fatigued the reader. They wanted a detective fighting criminals at night. The episode goes into many of the more bizarre stories Batman and Robin engaged in between 1957 and 1964, discusses the sagging sales numbers, and takes a close look at the people involved behind the scenes to figure out how this all happened. Because Batman was almost canceled due to its low sales. Creators and editors like Bill Finger, Sheldon Moldoff, Jack Schiff, Irwin Donenfeld, Julius Schwartz and Carmine Infantino all factor in. 
Развлечения
I always found it astonishing how the brave and the bold cartoon actually adapted the silver age Batman comics well and made it not bad
The final Episode where Ambush Bug tried to stop Bat Mite from getting the show canceled is still one of my favorite Batman episodes ever!
There comes a point where everything overstays its welcome and people become burned off the same type of content. The fact that they reinvented the character so many times it s astounsing
@@xyzz8722 imo that show made Jamie Blue Beetle super popular.
@@xyzz8722 ok ..
@@jiabryant533 *Jaime*
“He rode a giant robot cat”
Because when you live in Gotham there’s no such thing as half measures.
No more half measures, Wayne.
"...criminals dressed as gorillas...
Don't ask about that part."
Ok, the way you said that got a really good laugh out of me.😂
... but I want to! I really, *really* want to!
I'm guessing this was during the era thought they could sell more comics if they put apes on the cover. If yor not familiar with this trope, google: Strange Adventures #8 (1951)
He didn't want to kink shame lol
You mentioned it very briefly, but I think that the comics code had a lot more of an effect on Batman than mentioned in this video. The crackdown on "crime" books and anything that seemed too adult (and therefore could "warp" young children's brains) completely changed the industry and scared publishers from doing anything even mildly controversial. A book like Batman where he almost always dealt with gun-toting gangsters and criminals must have been completey flipped upside down by the strict morality rules of the Comics Code. I'm sure that was one of the most important reasons that the book moved away from it's original themes, and then moved towards sci-fi because that was the hot trend of the space-age 60s.
Yes,I was expecting that as well. The code and Wertham made comics corny.
Even vampires were phased out because of the time.
Crazy how we're still fighting the same fights they did back then. Now it's more focused on the gaming industry though. "Violent video games cause real world violence" is literally something Trump said 70 years after Wertham. We also still argue about books, movies, and games turning kids gay or trans. The only reason they didn't mention trans back then is because the vast majority of people didn't even know that was a thing.
Yeah, but if you pay attention to the timeline, that doesn't quite track. As mentioned, they added Robin only a year after Batman was created (1940) and the book started becoming less and less dark almost immediately. They toned it down so it would be more kid-friendly. They didn't have a hard time fitting in under the code by the time it came along 14 years later. You could still have gun toting bad guys, but crime couldn't be portrayed as glamorous or profitable. The discourse over Batman comics has gotten very weird over the past several years, mostly, I think, thanks to the "S-verse" DC movies. You see people who I'm pretty sure have no idea who Denny O'Neil is name-dropping Bill Finger. "Batman used to be a lot darker! Batman used to kill!" Yeah. Very briefly when he was first created. Finger apparently wasn't a fan of that and was happy to move away from it. It wasn't like Batman was really dark and brutal until the Comics Code was created, and then campy and silly until Frank MIller came along. I don't know why that narrative seems to be gaining traction.
Yeah, the comics code broke Batman's back. He survived, but never bounced back until Frank Miller. And that was no real advantage - perverse, leftist and apologetic is not an improvement, just a variation. Give me a pair of .45's and a bat- DeSoto any day.
@@jeffzeiler346 id say modern/anomated batman is pretty much more than just bounced back
Batman always was a product of his time. During his earliest years, he was a film noir crimefighter. During World War II, he was selling war bonds and fighting Nazis. During the 50s, he had a whole family that included a mother and father figure, a son and daughter figure, a dog, and a butler. And during the 60s, it was all crazy sci-fi. Obviously, I'm simplifying and generalizing this immensely, but the larger point still stands.
Batman is America.
I thought superman was like another uncle sam
@@starkiller6tothe9gaming81 In his VERY early days (1938-39), Superman was pretty anti-establishment, for all intents and purposes. He was fighting corrupt politicians and corporate executives before he was fighting Nazis or Jimmy Olsen’s Father’s Day gifts. I remember an early story where Superman confronted an auto manufacturer who was selling cars with defective safety features, leading to fatal crashes. And when I say “confronted”, I mean burst into his office and pretty much threatened to murder him.
World War II turned Superman into the smiling face of the American government, but all superheroes were doing that at the time. There was a comic where Robin told Batman that the President called the Teen Titans into action for unknown reasons, and Batman’s like “Never question Uncle Sam”. Batman and Superman were on the cover of every comic book at the time, selling war bonds and standing patriotically in front of an American flag flanked by US servicemen.
The thing is that Superman stayed as this perfect sunny establishment figure while Batman.... had a few phases before he returned to his brooding shadow-dweller phase (the best phase).
[My mistake. It wasn’t the Teen Titans that Robin was talking about. But it was him and some young superhero team he was on, at least for that issue. Don’t know why I remember it being the Teen Titans.]
@@angryretailbanker5103 I remember the real uncle Sam in DC comics was I think was a god of American dream or spirit or something, superman embodieds hope and something about America, communist superman is the REAL OPPOSITE OF SUPER MAN
@T1122 it drastically change our entire lives and existence HELL the entire world too!
Don't forget in the 70s, Batman was portrayed as a proto Clint Eastwood or Charles Bronson, and the 80s and 90s, Batman went full dark and gritty, all thanks to Alan Moore, Frank Miller, Alan Grant and other creators at that time.
All respects to Bill Finger and no sympathy for Bob Kane.
I wonder if "Dick Sprang" is a pen name. Sounds like a funnier version of Ben Dover.
@@citizensguard3433 No, Richard W. Sprang was real.
F*** Bob Kane.
Bob Kane is one of the worst human beings in comics,if not THE worst.
@@A_RUclips_Commenter Stan Lee has entered the chat..
Neal Adams & Denny O’Neil saved Batman from the ashes of comic book history. They really don’t get enough credit for this.
Neal Adams was one of the first artists whose art looked realistically like life.
@@A_RUclips_Commenter 100% correct. His photo realistic art forever changed comic drawing.
Absolutely! While I watched the TV show I started reading the book in the 70s. That formed my idea of what Batman was and after that I just couldn't watch the show because it was just too silly to me.
Your right since I was young enough to remember that it was around 1970 .
Adams saved few titles from Green Lantern to X-men...
As goofy as those Silver Age Batman comics were, they were the source material for the TV show Batman: the Brave and the Bold. Batman: tBatB took these often ridiculous premises, like Bat-Mite or the Batman of Zurr En Arr, and made them entertaining. And it has the best Aquaman ever, John DiMaggio! Outrageous!
Of course, Grant Morrison LOVED this era, I believe.
9:18 I lost it at “Batman and Robin the Mummy Crime-Fighters!” (Thank you for going over the story on this one as it’s not normally covered)
Batman: The Brave and the Bold adapted this into 5 minute teaser where the Mummy Crime-Fighters fight (a legally couldn't be named) King Tut from the 60s show.
"A gang of criminals that happened to dress like gorillas"
Of course they are dressed up like gorillas, it wouldn't be DC if there wasn't at least one gorilla related character
Gorillas are scary af.
We need that Grodd movie.
Like how about some Flash/Thanos interaction drops Gorilla City into Wakanda..
@@RamManNo1 they're smarter than you. They don't waste time on stupid weapons or porn or building houses. They just tough up and if you mess with them you find out.
It wouldn't be DC if it didn't have gorillas, cold based characters and speedsters.
@@williamwatson4354 Have they ever had a super intelligent gorilla speedster that used cryotechnology?
Ah the 50’s. What a hilarious approach to Batman.
I read about how comics fans in the 1960s bashed the camp rendering of Batman in the Adam West tv series, but it's hard to blame producer William Dozier for his approach and attitude toward the source when we review the Silver Age books at the time. It seems the show was way more "faithful" in its day than was given credit.
@@robvangessel3766 That show was more a more faithful adaptation than any screen adaptation that has been made since. Doesn't necessarily make it the best, but definitely the most faithful to the source material. I'll argue that til my last breath. 🤣
@@kevindavis3234 Well, the movies are mostly adapted from revisionists like Frank Miller (then, again, I guess it was Neal Adams who gave Batman his more dignified rebirth in the 1970s). For pure CLEVER laughs, however, nothing beats the best of the 60's show. The pilot episode exploits tunnel vision from the characters (notably, when Adam West enters a bar/nightclub and does the Batusi) much the way Jerry Zucker and Jim Abrahams did in their later Airplane and Naked Gun flicks.
@@kevindavis3234 ruclips.net/video/RsYA8Gr5NTY/видео.html
Julius Schwartz had no desire to take on the Batbooks, especially with the loss or Strange Adventures and Mystery in Space. In his first issue, he and John Broome (who Schwartz described as his "best friend, best writer and best man at my wedding") had Batman holding a gun on captured villains.
Jack Schiff, who Schwartz exchanges books with, had done some really good detective and superhero stories just before this. Many assume this Science Fiction tone came to match the sales Mort Weisinger was getting on Superman.
Agreed
robin scaring thugs with his “radiation” skin has to be the funniest shit i’ve ever seen
Robin - "Now I'm radioactive! That can't be good!"
Schiff was a Science Fiction fan and professional, he had for example, wrote some of the Captain Future stories for standard Magazines with Ed Hamilton. He took over Mystery In Space and Strange Adventures from Schwartz.
Jack Schiff is fondly remembered as the guy who put all the PSAs about tolerance into the books. On the other hand, he and Jack Kirby had a dispute over the Sky Masters newspaper stripe that resulted in Kirby being made "PNG" at DC from about 1960 . . . .
The soundtrack on this episode was a total banger! Congrats Chris!
AT LAST YOU HAVE MENTIONED THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES! Loved this episode, can never get enough of silver age wackiness
It's been decades since I last saw it, but I remember Batman: The Animated Series' treatment of Clayface being a very well-done and emotional tragedy, even by TAS' usual high standards. Same thing with their treatment of Mr. Freeze, for that matter.
Hell, the TAS version of Mr. Freeze was what created the modern version of the character.
It was genius of them to combine the Golden and Silver age Clayfaces. Golden Age clayface was a good character, good motivations, emotional origin, but uninteresting powers. Silver age clayface had interesting powers, but a 2D character.
Bob Kane is looking up at us from the afterlife with shame at his exposure.
Your review of the 1950's "Sci-fi Era" of Batman brought back so MANY vivid memories of childhood !!! The icing on the cake was your vivid explanations of the behind the scenes hard business decisions that shaped the history of Batman. Yours is the very BEST comics show I've ever seen. Keep up the good work !!! 😃👍
Sci-fi was all the rave back in the 50's and 60's. In fact, I think the films during those times highly influenced the creative direction of Batman and other books. Much in the same way the Noir films influenced Batman in the 30's and 40's.
It was also a reaction to the Comics Code restrictions--they couldn't do lurid, violent stories or use a lot of adult crime-story tropes, but weird science-fiction concepts were OK.
Yeah. If you look at what Atlas/Marvel were doing in the late 50s and early 60s, it was heavy on anthology space monster stories. It's not surprising that Batman would follow the trend as well.
What is surprising is that Batman kept on doing the space alien stories as late as 1964, when all Marvel's sci fi books had abruptly pivoted to super heroes.
There were no Noir films in the 30s.
@@JoinMeInDeathBaby do your research! Look up Noir Films. The Wikipedia has films listed from the 1920's to the 1950's.
@@chriskuneman3310 first film noir is Maltese falcon (1940). Film noir were wartime b-movies. Wiki is not an authority.
The first comics I read, 9 or 10 years old then, were the early Silver age Superman books somewhat after Whitney Ellsworth stopped putting his name as editor and Mort Weisinger took credit. That's when Mort started the "Superman Mythos" system of adding a new continuing facet every every few months (red kryptonite, Supergirl,, the "LL" thing (Luthor suddenly had a first name), Bizarro, Krypto, Kandor (Krypton itself was previously rarely ever mentioned before this) the psuedo-sci fi "yellow sun" explanation of the powers, Pete Ross, Mon-El, etc.; even green kryptonite (originally red!) wasn't the near-monthly occurrence it became). The Superman books sold like crazy, top of the line, so it was natural that other editors would try to copy what they thought was the "secret": sci-fi and an entire in-story "universe" (Stan Lee is often credited for starting continuity in comics, but he just modified what DC was doing, just doing it much more overtly with a soap opera feel and without the "every comic is someone's first comic" dictate: of course Mort just copied Captain Marvel, especially when Otto Binder came over from Fawcett). Schwartz was just way better at SF (which he liked) than Schiff (who didn't), hence the change in editorial.
I was in 5th grade primary school in 1960 USA when I discovered Batman comic books. Me and my friends shared each others' comics and we took the sci-fi/monster/transformation plots seriously. I remember once explaining to my Mom that aliens aren't always green-skinned, which I no doubt learned from Batman and Superman's outer space adventures. It was The Space Age when US and Soviet orbital flights were constantly in the news. No one had yet seen actual photos of other planets and the idea they might be populated with UFO-flying aliens didn't seem outlandish at all.
What broke the ice for me was the Batman TV show. I was a teenager at that point and it was my introduction to camp tongue-in-cheek humor. I'd been watching TV shows like Rocky and Bulwinkle, Man from Uncle, and My Favorite Martian, which leaned heavily on the same 50's sci-fi tropes as Silver Age Batman, and Adam West's Batman had a genuinely subversive influence on me. One thing led to another, and I wound up watching the Moon Landing live on TV in my best friend's basement stoned on acid. By that time I'd discovered Spiderman, The Hulk, and Iron Man, and considered DC comics simplistic kid stuff. But they were all blown away by Zap Comix, Mr. Natural, and the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers. After that counter-culture trip, I don't think I even glanced at a superhero comic book until Frank Miller's Dark Knight Returns in the 80's.
The animated series Batman Brave and the Bold took inspiration from many of the themes you speak about in this video. I loved all of them in animated form. Batman even meets Space Ghost in one episode. Batmans history certainly is interesting, thanks for breaking it down.
I generally figured that the sci-fi turn for all comic books came as a result of the Sputnik panic of 1957, when the US government suddenly pushed for science education for children as a way of responding to the perceived giant leap in technical achievement of the Soviet Union. I assumed that comic books were actually not only part of this trend, but has somehow been asked by the government to join this Cold War effort. Of course, I have no data to back this up.
That makes a lot of sense actually.
I always figured that the sci-fi direction that a lot of media took around that time was just people following a trend but that's an interesting theory
I think you nailed it. TV space shows for kids were huge till cowboys took over everything on TV. Culture always oversaturates trends. Adam West saved Batman and made it as big as the Beatles and James Bond for a bit.
The bloopers at the end was a very nice touch. Keep ‘em coming!
Just found out about your channel a few weeks ago and I’m absolutely amazed with your content. So much stuff I remember seeing from my childhood but never actually knew what it was. Thank you for doing your thing! 🤘🏼
My cousin just told me about this channel and it's fantastic. Chris's work will ensure that all these details are not lost to antiquity but will live on for new generations of fans
Chris, could you do a show on what was going on at DC during the first ten years or so of Marvel? It would be very interesting, because the rise of Marvel was based in part on doing everything differently from DC and not being shy about trashing DC in the process. When DC openly insisted that their way was better, did they really believe it? DC had been publishing self-contained little 13 page ditties with no real character development or continuity. Why did they believe that was better, or were they just putting on a good face to the predicament they found themselves in?
He touches on this a tiny bit in his video on Jim Shooter. As a 14-year-old in 1966, Jim Shooter is hired by DC by basically promising to copy Marvel's style. But your idea sounds very interesting. I picture DC at the time as being on cruise control with their brains turned off. But they are credited with starting the Silver Age, so they weren't completely out to lunch.
@@michaellee4276 Well, they had a formula that sold comics, and their niche was probably different from Marvel's. Marvel was getting the young adults and older teens, whereas DC was still catering mainly to children, or so they thought. They were feisty about their way being better and even made some self-damning remarks about kids not being interested in the high brow stuff that Marvel was pitching. I wonder if they REALLY felt the ground shifting under them, but didn't have any way of dealing with it. Meanwhile, on the Marvel news page that appeared in every comic and on the letters pages, Stan was jabbing and mocking DC every which, putting them in a position where they couldn't exactly say "hey, you're right, we'll do it your way too."
@@michaellee4276 DC eventually "grew up" a bit with their grittier Batman stories and the drug epic in GL/GA, but I think it was when Wolfman and Perez took over Teen Titans that DC had pretty much given up the bluster and confessed (not by word, but by action) that Marvel's way was better, and in fact, the only way to go, if they were to remain respectable and competitive.
@@__Luke__ That's what got me more onto Marvel than DC in the late 70s. I would have been 9 at the time. Even then I found DC patronising to kids.
@@56postoffice At one time, DC had some storytelling chops, with some of the better ones coming from their so-called "imaginary stories" (such as the original Super Sons), but by the time Marvel came into existence, most DC stories were just little pointless ditties, as Luke said. The villain was never stronger than the hero, and DC even said that it would make no sense for the villain to be stronger than the hero because the hero would never win. Meanwhile, at Marvel, the villain was always stronger than the hero, giving the reader a sense of real danger and thrill. Also, Marvel always seemed to move, to change, to do the unexpected, such as kill off pivotal characters, whereas DC always remained stagnant.
I always admire how much effort and research you put into these videos; they're always so educational and entertaining.
I enjoy this channel more than all the channels obsessed with how rich they are going to get buying and flipping spec comics.
Wouldn't expect anything less from Omega, still being a hero to this day ;p
@@CelestialWoodway i *HATE* spec comic people.
Bot comment
I currently have almost all the Batman and Detective comics from 1961 onwards, but most of those pre new look stories only got one reading because of their absurdity. There were some good stories in the new look era (anybody remember the single appearance of the Hangman masked wrestler?) but it was the O’Neal and Adams era that really grabbed me.
The Hate of the Hooded Hangman. Classic Batman Story.
Silver age batman was gold, without all that craziness batman wouldn't be the same today. Great video!
Batman in oUTEr sPACe !!!!.
" I'm only comfortable in a freezer., plenty of good food here."
Mr.Freeze.
Bob Kane was a fake.
It wasnt it was really, really bad, even at the time everyone criticized it but now posers try to rewrite history because they think "quirky"=automatic good, only cringe-worthy poser zoomers who fake like things over them being safe and censored pretend otherwise
yoy5 I agree
I love learning about the early era of comics and their quirks
You have to admit the writers were probably having no end of fun writing these stories
I wonder just how much the existence of the comic code also contributed to this. Think about it, the comic code made realistic stories more dangerous to try and publish. But no one cares if you are fighting robots with rayguns.
Honestly you’re probably-definitely on to something (kinda wish the Code came up more in the video).
@@slopa-pow2193 But this was also the time frame (1960s on) when Marvel came into existence and rapidly expanded, without any of that silliness.
It just goes to show you why regulation sucks. Look how the FCC effected many tv shows back in the day as well. Government always ruins everything in the end.
@@fishin4bass2002 Comics Cod Authority wasn't government, but your general sentiment is correct.
@@__Luke__ no it wasn’t but it was still regulating it, which is why I also brought up the fcc. Still I think you can kinda blame the government for the comics code to a degree because of how the government did all those hearings about comics which scared the comic industry. So although they weren’t being regulated by the government they were scared to do certain things because they thought the government might get involved.
I had a tough time with black casebook parts of Morrison's run but they were definitely memorable
Love the show, not sure about the background music this time round though, I thought it was coming from my neighbours!
The art looks really good on some of those wacky stories.
I recognize the Atomic Comics rack. I was standing behind you in line at Stargazer a year or so ago. I was too star struck to say anything and didn’t want to bother or annoy (it was still early in the pandemic too) Love your videos! Always learn new stuff and I love how you cover anything and everything. I know it’s generic but, KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK. 😁🙌🏽👏🏽
I always appreciate how much work and research you put into these videos. They're always so informative and interesting.
i love silver age batman, it's so ridiculous that i can't help but have fun while reading. I love that Peacemaker made Batmite canon to the DCEU.
Also i agree, Robin Dies at Dawn is excellent. Its included in The Greatest Batman Stories Ever Told volume 2, a compilation book i've had since i was a kid, and read many times.
Can i just ask, what is the music you use in the background of this video? I like it lol
the only good thing about SILVER AGE BATMAN was Batman The Brave and Bold Cartoon (BATMAN DOES NOT EAT NACHOS)
...you def have to have a sense of humor for comics of silver age era
Imagine if this happened, would we look at Batman like one looks at the dart or the alan scott green lantern? An old outdated super hero not fit for modern interpretations
I think he would have eventually been reimagined in the bronze age or something. But a lot of things would be different.
Hey don’t blast Polka-Dot Man, that guy’s SICK. 😂
Love the Silver Age sci-fi stuff even to this day. Batman's 50's run was definitely a favorite of mine. Thomas and Ordway's portrayal of him in All-Star Squadron showed that the older look and time period still has a lot of milage in it. But this video gives me two thoughts: I wonder if he'd have been more successful with Kirby's more edgy style of sci-fi? I also wonder what other JSA members woukdve looked like given the Silver Age revamp, like GL and Flash got?
I think it’s nice that Batman had his goofy moments in the comics. It’s good to have the light stuff to balance out the dark stuff. Also, without those comics in the 50’s we never would’ve gotten the Adam West show in the 60’s
Its not, even for the time they were hated and considered bad and unfitting for the character to the point it almost ended it. And you only fake to like the Adam West show to poseur up and fake nerd cred by copying people with blind nostalgia(youre the type to fake like the shumacher movies too), even then, his campy show didnt adapted a lot of that period. Not to mention a run that kept his golden age streak could mean theyd just create a better batman show at the time and in this timeline people would scoff at the campy idea.
Also this isnt "goofy" just because you are some redditor who got potty trained by meme culture to only accept things if they are "ironic" and babified and to fake like things over them being "wholesome" (safe and censored) and hate all else, they were just straigh up rubbish compared to lots of other comics of the time and caused by extremist zealots creating the c.a.a. it says a lot about how vile you are that you agree with a wertham and similars as long as there isnt a night scene or a noir character to make you scared.
@@bbbsharank4667 bro, get a life.
@@bbbsharank4667 How dare someone like something that you don't?
@@bbbsharank4667 You don’t know me. It’s just an opinion dude. I’m sorry not everybody shares the same views as you do. My opinion shouldn’t affect you so much that you would go out of your way to tell me that I’m objectively wrong about something you don’t like.
By the way, I do like the dark stuff too. People can enjoy both you know.
Have a nice life.
I watched the the TV show when I was a child. In the 70s I started reading the books by o'neal/adams and my opinion of the character was totally changed. I saw a Batman that wasn't silly campy or goofy. I know people love being nostalgic about their childhood experiences but they saved the book by going back to the roots of the character. Batman today wouldn't be here today if it weren't for them.
According to editor JACK SCHIFF, sales were trending upward once they started bringing back the super villains and cutting back on the sci fi stuff! I simply can't remember who said it but they theorized Kane was told about possible cancellation to get him to go along with JULIUS SCHWARTZ' revamp approach, which was a proven success with other series!
The Beast from Koba Bay actually did appear in the Batman Manga from the 60s
Thanks for adding those bloopers. Your laugh raised my spirits.
You know what, the 2008 animated series Batman the Brave and the Bold found the balance that many of these writers didn't do, it's the good balance of goofy and serious and I do believe it's because they kept Batman being the serious one of the show and the rest of the universe kept itself goofy.
good point.
He was the least goofy but he still had his moments.
Wow. You have so much knowledge. Thanks for your work. I love the bloopers and the fan art
Terrific video man, perhaps the best of 2022 so far.
Putting a background song in loop without intent in the editing phase doesn’t add anything but distraction
I can’t even finish it
Robin kills fish Batman because the sprinkler was fresh water not salt water.
Chris, I can tell you that the Batman of Zurr-En-Arrh was FAR from "forgotten" by the time Grant Morrison retconned it in "Batman R.I.P." I'm not even a huge Batman/DC fan, and I was well aware of it as one of those goofy Silver-Age things along with Bat-Mite, the rainbow suit, the "Batmen of All Nations" (esp. Chief Man-of-Bats), etc.
The idea that it's somehow less absurd for Batman to meet an alien inspired by him than for him to regularly team up with a godlike alien (Superman), character born of Greek mythology (Wonder Woman), King of Atlantis (Aquaman), another godlike alien (Martian Manhunter), practically magical space cops (any given Green Lantern), etc. I mean that's just drawing the line kind of randomly isn't it? Some people loved Morrison revisiting that stuff, but for me, it just seemed like it was turning fun stuff and making it grimdark for no good reason.
To quote Robin in a Texts from Superheroes comedic Tumblr post after being questioned by Batman about believing in the Easter Bunny: "Your best friend is an alien, I lead a team of kids with superpowers and we just fought a guy made of clay. If someone tells me a giant bunny is bringing me chocolate every year why would I not believe that?"
There are some who WISHED it would be forgotten, but the strangeness of the Silver Age is well-remembered and enshrined across the geek-o-sphere whether via Superdickery and other sites like it, or just through comic shop arguments over the dumbest or most so-bad-it's-good Silver Age nonsense (which sometimes stretches to the Bronze age for the introduction of stuff like Cap-Wolf over in Marvel).
The stories characters face in their own books are often quite different and fit a different tone from the one they have in the team book.
Superman canonically exist in a world where Greek Gods are a thing, but he'll rarely fight a ancient Greek god in his own book.
Batman still have some light sci-fi elements, but he's more about detective work and crime fighting.
Nothing against silver age silliness, btw.
Great information and beautifully presented, as always, Chris... but the music is very unnecessary and deeply annoying!
Thank you so much for all of these and your clear love of comics.
This was a *wonderful* commentary. This 60 year old learned a tremendous amount about a topic I had always wondered about. Thank you!
Thank you so much for making these videos Chris. I discovered your channel a few years ago, and I'm certain that without your videos I wouldn't have gotten into comics. Because of you and your passion for the medium, I've discovered some of the best stories I've ever read. Thank you.
Great episode Chris! I really enjoyed it!
LOL love your bloopers!
Both informative and fun, great job!
This is a topic I've wondered. Thanks for the video.
Bloopers! I always wondered if you were able to go through some the silliness without cracking up! Love the vid!
Loved the whimsical music under the episode. Brilliantly sets the tone for the bizarre issues. Well done, Chris.
Turns out the 60's camp series was VERY loyal to its Silver Age source.
Sick and tired of all the gritty realism hardcore batman movies, someone needs to make a Bat Human Fish full motion picture immediately.
Well, that was my final point. No matter how good or bad something is, people need variety. I also wouldn’t mind a lighter Batman if the execution was good.
@@ComicTropes A lighter Batman??? Have you ever seen the movies "Batman Forever" or "Batman and Robin?" It's been about 20 years since those "films" and I still want my money back! The 60s Batman TV series lost me during the first season...and I was just a kid who, I guess, was supposed to like that stuff. I'd watch re-runs of "The Untouchables" and wonder why they couldn't make an updated Batman series like that...rough and gritty. Though I didn't think "The Green Hornet" was very good (no Joker,etc), I did notice it wasn't a comedy! Bring back a "brighter" Batman and you can do an episode on "where did all the Batman fans go??" Loved your presentation, though.
Because I'm a Marvel fan, I never knew about the Bob Kane scandal until this channel. Worse, it went back decades. I'll never look at the history of the Batman comic the same way again.
Stellar content! I could listen to you for hours.
Great content as always. I love the weird silver age superhero stories! 😊👌
Ah, so even back in the Silver Age DC had the urge to erase popular characters
the background music adds more than i think it would to this video, nicely done!
This was great! I had a lot of fun watching it! Thanks, Chris!
Chris, I missed this video when you first upload it, my apologies!! I've just watched it 4 times over... you continue to make great videos!! Your fan👍👍👍
Love this channel. Great work, as always. SUBSCRIBED.
Great video as always, Chris!
I discovered your channel recently, and immediately subscribed. You've clearly done a lot of research, and the pacing kept me for the whole video. (but maybe turn the music down a bit? slightly distracting) Thanks so much for this, keep it up!
Another excellent episode! I thought the music was fitting and hilarious :D
I loved the "Space Olympics" clip from SNL at 5:57. The song popped into my head the second you said the words. Great stuff!
Adore the music choice, you always have awesome music for your videos
I assume someone already mentioned this but The Fairly Odd Parents cartoon had an occasional character called Catman and his outfit pretty much looked the same as the 1950s comic, and he was voiced by Adam West.
There was a Catman comic book that ran in the 40s. Pretty much the same outfit. His sidekick was a girl named Kitten. I believe the comic ended in 1946.
Great video and great way to teach us a portion of the history of Batman!! Grant Morrison’s run is so genius!! Ties everything in a fantastical way but grounded in the universe he crafted 👍🏼
great work Chris!
You always do an awesome job on these videos.
You da man Chris.
Love this! Your explanations are awesome. Subscribing!
I love the Silver Age Batman because it really illustrates the fludity of comic characters and how people who talk about Batman like he's not open to interpretation and has a set characterization are appealing to a characterization they like.
Fantastic episode, Chris!
Great episode! I love the silliness of the silver age!
I don’t know how you do it, but somehow you capture the nostalgic old-fashioned whimsy of these stories in your voice. I feel like I’m a kid in a time when I wasn’t born yet when I listen to you talk about these fun stories.
Thanks this is another great episode!
Loved the outtakes! Many of us couldn’t read that stuff today with a straight face either. Part of it’s charm.
14:00- How did Robin die?
Killer Croc: "It was a big rock."
Excellent episode. Really interesting
You never cease to keep me engaged my dude.
These are so batshit crazy, but honestly I think I prefer these to the ultra grim dark modern Batman stuff. Also, that crystal monster was "borrowed" for Adventure Time, and I love that.
*batshit*
Me too. I mean Batman dresses like... this, let's have a little bit of levity and humor again.
Batman: oh no my roses are dying! Quickly Robin, the Bat-Shit!
Was the guano pun intentional?
A well researched video!
So Negative man from doom patrol is basically mummy batman without the cowl
It's so amazing that any character is able to be told in stories serious while also being in stories about meeting aliens. Truly Batman is a great and fascinating character.
Thank you your videos are informative and fun
I must admit, I really admired Grant Morrison's endearing attempts to legitimatise and canonise all that batty silver age stuff in his Bats run. Even as a casual Bats fan I had fun with that and it even made me go read those old stories. fun fun fun.
i find the music in this one kind of distracting, i think i preferred these episodes without it. makes it better to focus on the information being given
I liked it, but it took some getting used to. I thought I was playing something else in the background.
Absolutely.
Agreed
Love the bloopers at the end!
Great episode love your content!
I will say the music was distracting