It's actually wild thinking about the fact that, during the Bronze Age, DC actually let their characters progress. Robin goes off the collage and becomes his own superhero, Wayne Manor is boarded up because Bruce has grown past the need to haunt its halls, and even things like the Daily Planet making the very logical transition into being a tv station. I wish modern DC would do stuff like this and not make them revert back to status quo after that year's big summer event.
But then that would require the audience to accept change and the death of the old superheroes, and I don’t think losing Bruce Wayne Batman would be popular, along with other things. That also ignores other writters intent and cooperation across generations.
I love the "I am Bruce Wayne!" line because "I'm Batman!" is such an overused line by various incarnations of the character as bold and imposing, it makes a fun contrast with that.
The Joe Chill story was in the Brave and the Bold cartoon! They changed some details, the gang was replaced with Batman's rogues and Phantom Stranger and Spectre play a game for Bruce's soul, but wow it seems faithful down to Bruce's reveal.
Brave and the bold was (is?) a great show. Really fun well told stories. There is definitely a place for camp in batman stories. Doesn't always have too be dark and gritty
He totally should check out the show if he hasn’t already. With his love of the campy side of the Bat, he’s be down with a lot of the concepts and references within the show. How he voices Batman kinda reminds me of that show
I love the twist where it's Dick Grayson who saves Batman/Bruce. True, the pseudopsychology is *ahem* concerning. But the arc revealing itself as Bruce suffering from layers upon layers of trauma, Dick recognizing it and showing up at the last moment to rescue Batman is just *chefkiss*. For me, it's because all the DC herores are at their best when they're the most human, and Batman's narrative strength is his humanity. Considering what Bruce puts himself through to live as a vigilante, the Mental, Emotional, and Physical stress he's under, it's understandable that something, somewhere will give under all that pressure. For which the payoff is that Bruce has people who know him and can come to his aid. As much as the Batman is shown as a Lone Crusader of the Night, he'd have ended up a husk of a person long, long ago without his "Bat-Family".
Hearing that theme song made me vividly imagine Bruce Wayne walking into some night club in Gotham City and commissioning the house band to record it. They're reading over the lyric list and looking at this rich dweeb with a deep well of incredulity.
I got The Untold Legend of the Batman at my local grocery store around 1991 I think. It was collected into a single volume, printed the size of a standard paperback novel. I loved that book. I still have it, displayed with my Batman toys on my bookshelf.
I got this as a softcover book from a school book fair back when i was a kid. Around the same time a friend of mine got the tapes without the comics. We would take turns lending eachother the book or the tapes. I loved the artwork on this story, especially the design of Thomas Waynes costume. Its design has a bit of disneys night on bald mountain in it.
This was my favorite book as a kid! It was just what I was looking for after watching the Tim Burton _Batman_ movie, and as a 10 year old it was also the first time I'd seen Batman's origin story. The artwork is iconic, and it's wonderful to know that I'm not the only one who still loves it after all these years.
My first brush with Batman happened when I was five and the Adam West series first came on TV. I was spellbound. I'd watch the show at the same bat time on the same bat channel twice a week in all it's blazing technicolor glory (color TV was a new thing back then). My best friend and I would re-enact Batman's deadly serious adventures with towels pinned around our necks for capes, with my friend as Batman and I, being a year younger, as Robin. To say I was a huge fan would be an understatement. But then, eventually the series was cancelled, nobody in my broadcast area every showed it for reruns and Batman gradually faded from my mind. When I was about twelve, one of the local stations showed the Batman movie. I'd never seen it before and hadn't seen any Batman at all since the original series had been cancelled, so I eagerly tuned in. I was somewhat shocked. As I wrote above, the show had seem seemed deadly serious to me as a small child, yet here I was watching blatant, obvious camp. At first, I didn't know what to think, so I wracked by brain. I was finally forced to conclude that, yes, the tone of the show was the same as it had always been, but I had changed. I was catching things that had gone entirely over my head of my younger self. My personal identity had seemed solid to me before then. Every day I'd wake up and feel pretty much the same about the world and my place in it as I'd felt the day before and believed I'd still feel tomorrow. It felt like my persona was unchanging. The stark contrast between what I'd seen of Batman when I was a small child and what I was seeing of it when I was older showed me that I had changed, and I quickly deduced that I would continue to change. I feel like I learned something important that day, all thanks to The Batman.
I remember reading this in the 80s, and it really laid the groundwork for my understanding of Bruce Wayne as a character. All these years later, I think it's still the foundation of what I look for in a Batman origin. Apologies to Frank Miller.
A little over 10 years ago my mom found a black-and-white paperback of this at a garage sale, I read the hell out of that. Still have it somewhere, it was in surprisingly good condition...
Sometimes one can be very lucky at garage sales! Even more so at used book stores. They are the best. Paid $8.oo for something I was going to buy online for over a $100!
I absolutely had a print of this, but it was in black and white and did NOT include an audio cassette. It truly is a great introduction to Batman from that era.
I did not know about "The Untold Legend of the Batman" until now thanks to you Steve Shives. I now want to add "The Untold Legend of the Batman" to my collection if and when I can. I shall. Thanks Steve. Luv your vids here.
The Tales Of The Batman hardcover series has each volume dedicated to a certain Batman artist or writer. The Len Wein volume reprints the whole series plus other great Batman stories! I also recommend the Don Newton volume which has some of my favorite pre-Crisis Batman stories in it!
Jim Aparo is still my favorite Batman artist. Probably because it's what I grew up with, but any time I think of Joker or Penguin or Riddler, I think of them the way he drew them.
Along with Neal Adams, Marshall Rogers, Don Newton, John Calnan, and Irv Novick, Jim Aparo was undoubtedly one of the greatest Batman artists of the Bronze Age! May all of them continue to rest in peace!
Jim Aparo was THE Batman artist to me, growing up (special shout out to Tom Lyle. Never hear him mentiones but his Tim Drake was the coolest ever) P.S. i just googled Jim Aparo, i didnt know he was so old! He was still drawing Batman during the Knightfall storyline R.I.P.
I got this series when it was published each month. Byrne on #q was such a rare thing for DC, but Aparo’s always excellent and under appreciated art is at it’s best. This was Batman & Robin at its very best.
Oh my God I had 100% forgotten that cassette tape version of Batman, even when you started describing it I thought I was hearing it for the first time, until that THEME SONG started playing and I immediately sang along word-for-word!!! Thank you for unearthing this long-lost memory from my childhood!
I had/have these comics/mini-series. I had no idea there was a recording too. I recently retrieved all my old comics from my parents' house. But, from their house to my house, I can't locate these 3 issues. This was one of my all-time favorites back in my collecting days of the early 80's. Thanks for this video!
There is this podcast I enjoy called the Arkham Files. In it they split Batman’s identities into three facets. One is Batman, the stoic defender of Gotham meant to strike fear into hearts of criminals. When he’s in that suit he shows no fear and no compromise. Then there is Bruce Wayne, who is his public persona, the playboy who does what he wants when he wants. Finally there is Bruce Wayne. Which unlike the others, is not a mask. It’s the person Alfred and Robin see, what he shows when at his parents grave. A man doing what he thinks is best for his city and his loved ones
Agreed. After 1986 it was over! Still good Batman stories over the years since but rarer! Did absolutely love the stories by Grant Morrison in the hardcover collections Batman: The Black Glove and it's conclusion Batman: R.I.P. which brought back into canon so many of those Pre-Crisis stories! There was even a Trade Paperback tie in that reprinted those referred to 1950's and pre-New Look 1960's called Batman: The Black Casebook. These comics need to have a Best Batman Ever segment devoted to them. As far as I can tell a lot of these Morrison stories got "recycled" into the later Court Of Owls saga. Minus all the cool stuff of course!
Well this is certainly something I never expected to see on RUclips. Haven't listened to those tapes since I was a kid, but I still know that amazing theme song. I can also hear the voices and sound effects that go along with those panels. Awesome job, and this is definitely the best Batman. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go see if I still have those cassettes...
This, the Earth-One Batman of the '70s/very early '80s, is MY Batman. I had really been interested in how he, his supporting cast and the late Golden Age Batman's surviving supporting cast (if any) were going to handle adjusting to the altered history of the post-Crisis New Earth. We got a glimps with his daughter Huntress' near breakdown over the her parents (Commissioner Bruce Wayne & former Catwoman's gravesite not existing anymore, and Senetor Grayson finding only a listing for a 19year-old college student veesion of himself). Unfortunately, they just rebooted Batman (and Robin in a sloppy way). Some day, I'd like at least a one-shot done showing the Pre-Crisis characters deal with being now on New Earth (hopefully with an artist from then, like Perez).
I just reread the series, and found something interesting in the first issue, that meant nothing when I first saw it in 1980. There are two full-page shoe ads featuring O.J. Simpson. One of them even has a coupon to get an autographed picture of Simpson.
Wow. What an awesome tribute to one of my absolute favorite Batman comics of all-time. To me, it is right there with Detective 500 as the greatest Batman tale of all. I didn't hold in that esteem when I first read it, but its one of those stories that got better with age. You did a great job summing up just what made it so awesome, it was cool to hear someone giving it the credit it deserves.
I like that Batman was essentially Robin before he decided on the Bat costume theme. That showed that he passed down to Dick Grayson and gives that costume an origin story. And as a history buff I like origin stories. Like people complained about the flashbacks in "The Book of Boba Fett". I loved them.
Favorite Batman mini series ever from childhood, loved it!! Crazy about this storyline. Jim Aparo, John Byrne, Tom Mandrake, Dick Giordano, Norm Breyfogle, among my favorite artists.
Oh man i had forgotten all about these. I only owned the first two growing up and I had no idea were I even got them cause mine didn't have the tapes with them. I never had the third one either so it's exciting to hear how this ended some 30 years after the fact. A sincere heartfelt thanks for the trip down memory lane. This was definitely something i didn't know i needed until i watched it.
I enjoy a lot of John Byrnes work, and have a real soft spot for his "Star Trek: Leonard McCoy Frontier Doctor" 20:22 The colour used for Lucius Fox's skin in this issue is certainly original.
I prefer a Batman who went to college; these days, people make like all Batman needed was fightin' skills, and just happened to accidentally learn everything about everything by ... watching Jeopardy, I guess. This was also a Batman who was slightly fallible, and I preferred that Batman. Smart and a planner, but he could still get injured by a street tough who got lucky. These days, the mere ability to land a hit on Batman is essentially proof of being an A-level villain. (The fact that Batman has armor these days is also a thing, but even so, it's pretty rare that you see a street tough poke Batman with a knife and then it just bounces off.)
yeah! I remember an interview with Bob Kane where he mentioned that the appeal of Batman was that he was NOT Superman. "He was mortal. If you cut him he would bleed, If you shot him he would die." Now there's such a focus on armor that he literally wades through a group shooting him point blank and MAYBE falls down and gets back up... but more likely just ignores it. Ughhh... Not nearly as interesting or exciting as seeing batman dive behind some crates as bullet holes burst through his cape, and using a batarang to disarm the thug before closing in to get him... I hate the body armor so much...
@@phantom1592 I kind of like the notion that he might wear a bullet-resistant plastron, but not much else; it would protect him from thoracic or abdominal hits, but the rest of his body would remain vulnerable.
Thanks for sharing this! It brought back memories. I remember getting a reprint of these stories in the 90s (I think it was in a small black and white paperback book). It was my introduction into the character as well and I had almost forgotten it.
This is by and far my all time favorite Batman origin. Possibly my favorite Batman story. It just.... WORKS so much better than any other version. Completely cuts out the stupid stuff that makes him TOO dark and Too... 'insane'. Actually makes him a 'hero'. Things I love.... 1) Did not intend to become a vigilante. As a child and young man, he wanted to fight crime as either a cop or FBI or something 'legit'. Trained himself hard, physically and mentally to be the BEST COP EVER!!!! Until he realized in college that the 'official' route was tied up in red tape and too many criminals escaped on technicallities and too many innocent got caught up. THAT's what caused him to 'find a different path'. Absolutely loved that. Modern Batman is just a nutcase in a cape. 2) Teaming up with Gordon by explaining that he wasn't interested in the Law... he was concerned about Justice. Such a great line that I can see swaying a career cop into allowing a vigilante. 3) NOT obsessed about finding his parents killer. He's more obsessed in seeing that what happened to him does NOT happen to anyone else's kids. 4) Alfred Not being there from the beginning. Alfred being 'a surrogate father' does not work with a Batman who's so psychologically scarred as Modern Batman. Either he plotted his own path.... or Alfred fell down as a parent... there's no middle ground there. 5) Most of all... Batman NOT being superhuman. He was an olympic level athlete and fighter... He was trained in psychology, (Which yeah... he would have trained Robin in too. Psychology was VERY important when dealing with guys like Two-face, Joker, and Riddler...) criminology, chemistry, fingerprint, lockpicking... stuff of that nature that a man dedicated to becoming the best crime fighter would do.... but there were no Darkseid busting mech suits, no space stations, no nanotech OMAC stuff or teleporters. It was a very 'reality' based knowledge base that helped him stay ahead of and understand the utterly insane criminals that the other cops were just scratching their heads at. It's really the perfect Batman. Year one, Zero Year, the movies... none of them come close to the Untold Legend of the Batman.
Agreed. Newer interpretations of Batman (even in the 80s) give people this weird cognitive dissonance between "he'll walk again, so who cares if I broke his spine" and "wait but Batman doesn't *kill* people though" when someone that violent, irrational and uncompassionate inevitably would, even if he later regretted it. THIS version of Batman is sane enough, reasonable enough, and, y'know, *moral* enough to believably embody the morals people usually attribute to Batman.
This was a favorite of mine growing up although I didn't get the context. Thanks for this analysis. I think I'll give this a new flip through this week!
Untold Legends was a great series. Interesting story by Len Wein and great artwork by legends Jim Aparo, John Byrne (first DC work?) and Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez. Ahead of its time - I really enjoyed this series when it came out in 1980.
I enthusiastically concur! Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez's covers on The Untold Legend Of The Batman--particularly on issue #3--are absolutely beautiful! And if I'm not mistaken, The Untold Legend Of The Batman did indeed mark John Byrne's first published work for DC Comics; it's a low down dirty crying shame Byrne abruptly departed after the first issue, though (luckily, Jim Aparo completed the last two issues, so it's all good in the 'hood)!
I have to disagree with you about the Lew Moxon angle. Joey Chill kills Thomas Wayne and also Martha Wayne but leaves young Bruce alive to potentially identify him? This only makes sense that Lew Moxon wanted revenge on Thomas but didn't want the trail of a hired killer. By having Joe Chill leave Bruce Wayne alive to testify that it was a robbery the Police wouldn't even look at Moxon. As Dick Grayson said, "Bruce, Moxon used you as his alibi!" Absolutely brilliant!
The fact that this miniseries STILL hasn't been published as a trade paperback (which should also include its sequel by the same creative team, "To Kill A Legend" from Detective Comics #500) is an absolute crime in itself. That and "Batman: Bat-Murderer?" from Detective Comics #444-448.
Like The Untold Legend Of The Batman, the Batman: Bat-Murderer series was reprinted in the Len Wein volume of Tales Of The Batman. And lots of other great Batman stories by Len Wein. Professor Milo! Cat-Man meets Catwoman! Much more!
The line you said, "When I close my eyes, and picture Batman, it's as Jim Aparo drew him!" actually brought tears to my eyes. I rediscovered Batman in the mid to late 80's, while away at college, and when I started buying some comics, Aparo was THE artist at that time. I gathered a lot of great stuff, since, in those days, you could walk in a comic shop and Silver age comics and some Golden ages, were still sitting in the bins. Along with the new stuff of course! But yeah, recently I have rediscovered the artists yet again, though figure collecting, and am loving the great commentaries on RUclips, including your's! Keep 'em up! And thanks!
This story is basically the origin of the Batman of the Pre-Crisis version of Earth-One (the Earth of the Pre-Crisis Justice League of America, btw), in case you're wondering. Just sayin'.
When I was a kid I had that first comic in that series and ever since then the only Batman theme song is the one from that stupid tape. When you played the clip near the beginning of the video I was singing along because I also still remember every single word of that trash song. It is BY FAR the best Batman theme. Also the voice acting on the tape is absolutely hilarious. I loved that they included music and sound effects. Just wonderful cheesiness.
I loved this series as a kid, even with the funky reveal at the end. I also LOVE that Dick puts on the Thomas Wayne COSTUME and DOMINO MASK over his Robin COSTUME and DOMINO MASK. 😄
I started collecting in the early/mid80s, around the time of Batman and The Outsiders #13, and filled-in a lot of (then) recent past by hitting the comic-book fairs to get back issues of Brave & Bold and things like Untold Legend of The Batman. Jim Aparo -sigh.....
Take your time with the Best Superman series, just knowing it's coming eventually is good enough for me. I'd rather you take the time and do it right than rush something out you aren't happy with. And i have read most of this origin story through various older comics in compilation books like "Batman: The Greatest Stories Ever Told" always loved the way Joe Chill died in that story. I DIDN'T know about him wearing the Robin suit though, that's really cool. I gotta see if i can find a copy of this version though, i love 70s Batman and the idea of them using that era to retell older stories is an idea i just LOVE.
Somewhere, I have a version of Untold Legend of Batman. I have no idea where I got it, but like you, I think it was my introduction to his origin story. There's something about it that keeps drawing me back to it. It definitely is the best Batman ever, well, if we're going by your Grant Morrison-esque definition of that. "Hey, Grant, if you had to pick one version of Batman to say is the best, which would it be?" "Yes." "Yes, what?" "It would be one version of him, right, but it's all the versions in one, they're all the best Batmen." "Including the Snyderverse one?" "Bollocks, you got me." And then Grant Morrison tosses a smoke bomb and they disappear leaving only the smell of brimstone and psychedelic drugs.
I had that mini-series; something that stuck with me was Gordon recalling that Babs had a "Brown Belt in the Martial Arts", and how oddly phrased that it was (she had twin Brown Belts in Karate and Judo); aan element of the Zeitgeist, I suppose...
I remember back then Judo was very popular with the women fighters. I guess something about throws that use your opponents superior strength against them was all the rage. Batgirl and Black Canary were expert 'Judo' masters.
I recall her saying in a 1970's story that she uses Jiu Jitsu when she has to because it was more effective than Judo. Her words though I agree with her. Now the very first days of Judo it wasn't all sport. In fact it was called Kano Jiu-Jitsu before it was given the name Judo!
LOL at 15:46 that zoom in on Hawkman(?). I have no idea what the story behind the reference, but the intention and timing of the zoom was very clear and hilarious.
I honestly like the part about Thomas Wayne's encounter with Lew Moxon. If you take out the part about him hiring Joe Chill to assassinate The Waynes it can still work. It can serve as one of Bruce's inspirations for becoming a costumed crime fighter in the first place. I would even add the fact that when asked to operate on Moxon Thomas agrees. It could help impart Bruce with the lesson that even the lives of criminals are worth saving.
IF you are going to talk about Byrne, you'll need to spend time talking of his FF run. Also, a personal history: I basically molded my nephews's cultural outlook in life, raised them on a stready diet of SF books, games and comics. They are as nerdy as I could get away with it. They don't know who Claremont is, or what his contribution to comics was. I wouldn't mind a video discussing his career.
I think the more detailed origin story actually makes it more realistic. Not that the simpler version is unrealistic but life is usually a bit more complicated. It's a story from Bruce Wayne' perspective as he knows a simpler version of events as a child but learns more complex details, the whys and wherefores, as he grows into adulthood. I've read both the Untold Legend of the Batman and the original versions of the stories they are re-telling from Batman and Detective Comics from the 40's and 50's and they just help flesh out a fuller and richer story and characters. This is the good stuff that made Batman a great character, a real Detective and not a semi psychotic character. Plus I'm not sure that there's a lot of great writers these days as there use to be. If your lucky enough to have all the back issues or at least buy the omnibus' I would consider it all cannon. It's what makes Batman who he is.
I would love to see this version of Batman as a movie or mini-series and maybe use a non-villain as the protagonist, like Waverider. Scratch that, make it a movie trilogy with the two sequels having Batman to needing the new stability to save the world and take over as a new Waverider (Elseworlds movies) and when he asks the question about The Joker at the end of the first sequel he gets a different answer concerning the multiverse.
This was also the first Batman that I read, though I already had a healthy dose of Adam West reruns. I had (and still have) the black & white trade paperback, and I still remember the day I bought it. For me, this was the definitive Batman for a long time, and I loved having an authoritative retelling of his past exploits. And "Untold Legends" reveals that Dick drinks Dr. Pepper. I felt my soft drink preference validated.
i went from from "this is familiar" to immediately singing the theme song from memory. I remember another batman comic on tape that featured him meeting superman for the first time, i dont remember much about it but I know Magpie was one of the villains.
The story you mention was from an issue of The Man Of Steel miniseries that John Byrne revamped Superman in. I heard the MLJ hero Steel Sterling boycotted it because he was called the "Man Of Steel" before Superman who was referred to as "The Man Of Tommorow"!
whoa! I had the smaller versions of these comics! I got them from sending in something from the Batman: The Movie: The Cereal. They were my first legit comics.
STEVE, you beautiful bearded hunk of Trekkie goodness that you are, thank you for bringing this old series up. THIS was my first Batman comic. The very first. TO this day, even after the post crisis/Frank Miller/ YEAR ONE/ GRIM AND GRITTY ERA, this was a reminder of some of the legendary tales of the Batman canon, even the Bruce Wayne was the first Robin, which is an odd little tale, but this series made it make some kind of sense. Len Wein, John Byrne and the criminally underated Batman artist, Jim Aparo, who does Batman on par with Jose Luis Garcia Lopez (praise his name!) and Neal Adams.
Also I'm thankful that the "Pearls falling on the blood soaked filthy alley!" cliche didnt get used and that's a relief. And yes, this Batman had closure that the Post crisis Bats would never have.
Oh Steve, a recommendation, Secret Origins 6, from 1986 which takes all the Golden age elements of the Batman Origin, including things like Martha Wayne not dying from a gun shot but a Heart attack after wathing Thomas getting shot.
ALSO....isnt it crazy Batman had a REPLICA BATCAVE, Stalagmites etc included built under the Wayne Foundation Building. I mean when DICK was the Batman in 2009 he had a similar Batbunker but he never made it a cave. Can you imagine the annoyance when Bruce decided to move back the manor to the cave Alfred and Dick had? Time to pack up the giant coin and Robot Dinosaur.
One of the old Batman giants had among the reprints a redrawn version of Robin's origin and had Bruce reflect on when he wore the Robin outfit first. Hope he washed it before he gave it to Grayson!
Have always loved this version of the story. Got the black and white reprint of the miniseries in 1982 when I saw it on a revolving paperback rack. Have it to this day.That scene with the ghosts was pretty trippy for 13-year-old me. I think it vies with "To Kill a Legend" (the Phantom Stranger gives Batman the chance to prevent the murder of his parents in an alternate universe) as my favorite re-telling of Batman's origin. Only watching this video now do I wonder about how Robin could wear the original Bat-Man costume when it had been ripped to shreds and mailed to Batman the beginning of the tale...
"To Kill A Legend" was a good read. Even one of the little throw-away bits was a classic - combining Robin humor with contemporary culture (well... advertising) references: Phantom Stranger grabs B & R from separate locations to transplant them to Earth-unspecified. Batman was chasing a mugger, but feels disoriented and the crook is starting to gain a little distance on him. From off-panel, a word balloon: "Look! The Goodrich Blimp!" Mugger turns, goes "huh?", Robin steps in and decks him, saying "Dummy - Goodrich doesn't have a blimp!"
I remember when these comics were free. They did not come with the cassettes though. Also, I recently was given some comics and these were some of them.
What you said about Batman identity I think has to do with the fact he doesn't actually have a duality but rather a trinity of personalities, all faces of the same person: Batman, the dark brooding vigilante, the fake Bruce Wayne, the playboy billionarie he pretends to be in the eyes of the public and finally the real Bruce Wayne, who only few people like Alfred and Robin actually know.
Being a little older I bought this when it came out (when I had a paper route, which was the peak of my comic-buying as a kid) and sold it along with all my other significant Batman comics at the time the movie came out. Still have the older 20 and 25 cent comics because I had them way before I knew to keep things in good condition.
Oh man, this video is bringing back memories. In fact, I just looked in one of my boxes of stuff and found the original cassettes from when I got them as a child. I recall getting them individually and not in a set of all three together. I also want to say this book/cassette combo was first released in the middle of the 80s, with the collected sets popping up in '89 to promote the movie.
Did you ever see "The Super Cops"? This was an early-1970s police drama movie based on a book, which in turn was meant to cash in on "Serpico" and real-life-cop stories of the day. This was about two NYC narcotics squad police officers who were so good at their jobs, they got the nicknames "Batman and Robin."
I love the call back for Thomas Wayne wearing the original design of the Batman costume from Bob Kane. I would love to see the Flashpoint Thomas Wayne Batman in the upcoming Flash movie.
As we all know The Flash movie was a huge disappointment. When the much complained about CGI sequences of the alternate earths is the best part of the movie you know it is in trouble! Still enjoyed the Christopher Reeve Superman side by side with the Helen Slater Supergirl. They were in the same continuity after all! Wonder if she protected earth while he was away prior to Superman Returns?
Loved UNTOLD LEGEND. I bought it as it was coming out in '80. Then Marvel stalwart and superstar John Byrne pencilling a DC book was a little mini-event! Would have loved to see more of his work inked by Aparo but, alas...
The plotline with Mrs. Chilton was somewhat recycled in an odd place. The novel anthology Further Adventures Of The Joker had Joker terrorizing Leslie Thompkins - only to 'reveal' (even in the story, ya know, Joker) that he was her own long-lost son. The story never disproved it per se. I also always remember Harvey Harris for two reasons: Him being the third Harvey in Batman's lore, and for the semi-canon status of Harvey's niece Wendy Harris, aka of Marvin and Wendy of the Super Friends - Marvin being the son of the real Diana Prince, back when there was one. I don't recall if this series brought up Alfred's time as The Outsider, following his death and rebirth. Of course, the whole Thomas-as-first-Batman got brought up when the Moxon/Chill storyline was redone in a shockingly serious episode of The Brave And The Bold. Thanks so much for bringing attention to this series.
Joe Chill's mom was introduced in an 80 Page Giant Batman that mixed some new pages amongst the reprints and excerpts. The theme was "The Women In Batman's Life"!
My grandmother has some comics around for us kids...99% archie comics, but Untold Legends of the Batman #1 was among them. I read it over and over, and when I grew up I bought the complete 3 part series.
The first series I really got into as a teen! It went to crap after he left for the Incredible Hulk but that original team and his two-plus-year run always holds a place in my heart.
I have this as a black and white in a small paperback like one you would get a regular novel. Not tiny panels but reformatted with less panels per page.
i got the version of this comic from the Batman cereal and I also have the full size comic of the 3 part series as well . I still like this orgin story the best the artwork the storyline is my all time favorite .
This is such a weird coincidence, as the second issue of this was one of the first comics I ever bought (I went to a small local comic con as a kid and there was a booth selling comics that were either in rough shape or absolutely worthless for fifty cents; I bought this and a bunch of other comics, and that was what got me into comics)
It's actually wild thinking about the fact that, during the Bronze Age, DC actually let their characters progress. Robin goes off the collage and becomes his own superhero, Wayne Manor is boarded up because Bruce has grown past the need to haunt its halls, and even things like the Daily Planet making the very logical transition into being a tv station. I wish modern DC would do stuff like this and not make them revert back to status quo after that year's big summer event.
But then that would require the audience to accept change and the death of the old superheroes, and I don’t think losing Bruce Wayne Batman would be popular, along with other things. That also ignores other writters intent and cooperation across generations.
@@iswitchedsidesforthiscatit's a shame. You look at JoJo's Bizarre Adventures and the change of every Joestar per series allowing it to stay fresh.
Pre-Crisis Bronze Age Batman is my favorite incarnation of the character.
I love the "I am Bruce Wayne!" line because "I'm Batman!" is such an overused line by various incarnations of the character as bold and imposing, it makes a fun contrast with that.
The Joe Chill story was in the Brave and the Bold cartoon! They changed some details, the gang was replaced with Batman's rogues and Phantom Stranger and Spectre play a game for Bruce's soul, but wow it seems faithful down to Bruce's reveal.
Damn, I KNEW I had seen that story before! It's from the Brave and Bold. Thank you!
Love how they got Kevin Conroy to play the Stranger and Mark Hammill to play the Spectre.
Brave and the bold was (is?) a great show. Really fun well told stories. There is definitely a place for camp in batman stories. Doesn't always have too be dark and gritty
That was my favorite episode of the show!
He totally should check out the show if he hasn’t already. With his love of the campy side of the Bat, he’s be down with a lot of the concepts and references within the show. How he voices Batman kinda reminds me of that show
I love the twist where it's Dick Grayson who saves Batman/Bruce. True, the pseudopsychology is *ahem* concerning. But the arc revealing itself as Bruce suffering from layers upon layers of trauma, Dick recognizing it and showing up at the last moment to rescue Batman is just *chefkiss*. For me, it's because all the DC herores are at their best when they're the most human, and Batman's narrative strength is his humanity. Considering what Bruce puts himself through to live as a vigilante, the Mental, Emotional, and Physical stress he's under, it's understandable that something, somewhere will give under all that pressure. For which the payoff is that Bruce has people who know him and can come to his aid. As much as the Batman is shown as a Lone Crusader of the Night, he'd have ended up a husk of a person long, long ago without his "Bat-Family".
Hearing that theme song made me vividly imagine Bruce Wayne walking into some night club in Gotham City and commissioning the house band to record it. They're reading over the lyric list and looking at this rich dweeb with a deep well of incredulity.
I got The Untold Legend of the Batman at my local grocery store around 1991 I think. It was collected into a single volume, printed the size of a standard paperback novel. I loved that book. I still have it, displayed with my Batman toys on my bookshelf.
If it's black and white.. then I have the same book. SEVERELY beat up from a LOT of readings... but I LOVE that book.
I had the same paperback. I have no idea how I got it but I was about the same age as Steve.
In the hardcover series "Tales Of The Batman" the Len Wein volume includes the whole series in it with a lot of other great stories as well!
I got this as a softcover book from a school book fair back when i was a kid. Around the same time a friend of mine got the tapes without the comics. We would take turns lending eachother the book or the tapes. I loved the artwork on this story, especially the design of Thomas Waynes costume. Its design has a bit of disneys night on bald mountain in it.
This was my favorite book as a kid! It was just what I was looking for after watching the Tim Burton _Batman_ movie, and as a 10 year old it was also the first time I'd seen Batman's origin story. The artwork is iconic, and it's wonderful to know that I'm not the only one who still loves it after all these years.
My first brush with Batman happened when I was five and the Adam West series first came on TV. I was spellbound. I'd watch the show at the same bat time on the same bat channel twice a week in all it's blazing technicolor glory (color TV was a new thing back then). My best friend and I would re-enact Batman's deadly serious adventures with towels pinned around our necks for capes, with my friend as Batman and I, being a year younger, as Robin. To say I was a huge fan would be an understatement. But then, eventually the series was cancelled, nobody in my broadcast area every showed it for reruns and Batman gradually faded from my mind.
When I was about twelve, one of the local stations showed the Batman movie. I'd never seen it before and hadn't seen any Batman at all since the original series had been cancelled, so I eagerly tuned in.
I was somewhat shocked. As I wrote above, the show had seem seemed deadly serious to me as a small child, yet here I was watching blatant, obvious camp.
At first, I didn't know what to think, so I wracked by brain. I was finally forced to conclude that, yes, the tone of the show was the same as it had always been, but I had changed. I was catching things that had gone entirely over my head of my younger self.
My personal identity had seemed solid to me before then. Every day I'd wake up and feel pretty much the same about the world and my place in it as I'd felt the day before and believed I'd still feel tomorrow. It felt like my persona was unchanging. The stark contrast between what I'd seen of Batman when I was a small child and what I was seeing of it when I was older showed me that I had changed, and I quickly deduced that I would continue to change.
I feel like I learned something important that day, all thanks to The Batman.
I remember reading this in the 80s, and it really laid the groundwork for my understanding of Bruce Wayne as a character. All these years later, I think it's still the foundation of what I look for in a Batman origin. Apologies to Frank Miller.
A little over 10 years ago my mom found a black-and-white paperback of this at a garage sale, I read the hell out of that. Still have it somewhere, it was in surprisingly good condition...
Sometimes one can be very lucky at garage sales! Even more so at used book stores. They are the best. Paid $8.oo for something I was going to buy online for over a $100!
I absolutely had a print of this, but it was in black and white and did NOT include an audio cassette.
It truly is a great introduction to Batman from that era.
I did not know about "The Untold Legend of the Batman" until now thanks to you Steve Shives. I now want to add "The Untold Legend of the Batman" to my collection if and when I can. I shall. Thanks Steve. Luv your vids here.
The Tales Of The Batman hardcover series has each volume dedicated to a certain Batman artist or writer. The Len Wein volume reprints the whole series plus other great Batman stories! I also recommend the Don Newton volume which has some of my favorite pre-Crisis Batman stories in it!
Jim Aparo is still my favorite Batman artist. Probably because it's what I grew up with, but any time I think of Joker or Penguin or Riddler, I think of them the way he drew them.
Aparo was one of the best Batman artists of all time! I also like Don Newton's take on The Batman. Very underrated!
Irv Novick did some real good Batman art in the late 60s-early 70s.
Along with Neal Adams, Marshall Rogers, Don Newton, John Calnan, and Irv Novick, Jim Aparo was undoubtedly one of the greatest Batman artists of the Bronze Age! May all of them continue to rest in peace!
Jim Aparo was THE Batman artist to me, growing up (special shout out to Tom Lyle. Never hear him mentiones but his Tim Drake was the coolest ever)
P.S. i just googled Jim Aparo, i didnt know he was so old! He was still drawing Batman during the Knightfall storyline R.I.P.
I got this series when it was published each month. Byrne on #q was such a rare thing for DC, but Aparo’s always excellent and under appreciated art is at it’s best. This was Batman & Robin at its very best.
I still get tons of comments and emails on this work, especially the theme song. Thanks for keeping it alive. Scott Canfield, composer/producer
Oh my God I had 100% forgotten that cassette tape version of Batman, even when you started describing it I thought I was hearing it for the first time, until that THEME SONG started playing and I immediately sang along word-for-word!!!
Thank you for unearthing this long-lost memory from my childhood!
Well, now...
Unearthing long-lost memories from childhood is kinda what "The Untold Legend" is all about. You're in good company.
I had/have these comics/mini-series. I had no idea there was a recording too. I recently retrieved all my old comics from my parents' house. But, from their house to my house, I can't locate these 3 issues. This was one of my all-time favorites back in my collecting days of the early 80's.
Thanks for this video!
There is this podcast I enjoy called the Arkham Files. In it they split Batman’s identities into three facets. One is Batman, the stoic defender of Gotham meant to strike fear into hearts of criminals. When he’s in that suit he shows no fear and no compromise.
Then there is Bruce Wayne, who is his public persona, the playboy who does what he wants when he wants.
Finally there is Bruce Wayne. Which unlike the others, is not a mask. It’s the person Alfred and Robin see, what he shows when at his parents grave. A man doing what he thinks is best for his city and his loved ones
Your Batman vids made me a fan of your channel
I just loved this mini-series when I was 13 and I still love it just as much today! ❤️ ☺️
The 1970s and early 80s Batman was my favorite, he went back to his roots of being a detective.
Agreed. After 1986 it was over! Still good Batman stories over the years since but rarer! Did absolutely love the stories by Grant Morrison in the hardcover collections Batman: The Black Glove and it's conclusion Batman: R.I.P. which brought back into canon so many of those Pre-Crisis stories! There was even a Trade Paperback tie in that reprinted those referred to 1950's and pre-New Look 1960's called Batman: The Black Casebook. These comics need to have a Best Batman Ever segment devoted to them. As far as I can tell a lot of these Morrison stories got "recycled" into the later Court Of Owls saga. Minus all the cool stuff of course!
Well this is certainly something I never expected to see on RUclips. Haven't listened to those tapes since I was a kid, but I still know that amazing theme song. I can also hear the voices and sound effects that go along with those panels. Awesome job, and this is definitely the best Batman. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go see if I still have those cassettes...
This, the Earth-One Batman of the '70s/very early '80s, is MY Batman. I had really been interested in how he, his supporting cast and the late Golden Age Batman's surviving supporting cast (if any) were going to handle adjusting to the altered history of the post-Crisis New Earth. We got a glimps with his daughter Huntress' near breakdown over the her parents (Commissioner Bruce Wayne & former Catwoman's gravesite not existing anymore, and Senetor Grayson finding only a listing for a 19year-old college student veesion of himself). Unfortunately, they just rebooted Batman (and Robin in a sloppy way). Some day, I'd like at least a one-shot done showing the Pre-Crisis characters deal with being now on New Earth (hopefully with an artist from then, like Perez).
I just reread the series, and found something interesting in the first issue, that meant nothing when I first saw it in 1980. There are two full-page shoe ads featuring O.J. Simpson. One of them even has a coupon to get an autographed picture of Simpson.
Wow. What an awesome tribute to one of my absolute favorite Batman comics of all-time. To me, it is right there with Detective 500 as the greatest Batman tale of all. I didn't hold in that esteem when I first read it, but its one of those stories that got better with age. You did a great job summing up just what made it so awesome, it was cool to hear someone giving it the credit it deserves.
I like that Batman was essentially Robin before he decided on the Bat costume theme. That showed that he passed down to Dick Grayson and gives that costume an origin story. And as a history buff I like origin stories. Like people complained about the flashbacks in "The Book of Boba Fett". I loved them.
i love this story, its one of my favorite batman comics ever.i also loved the audio play too.
Favorite Batman mini series ever from childhood, loved it!! Crazy about this storyline. Jim Aparo, John Byrne, Tom Mandrake, Dick Giordano, Norm Breyfogle, among my favorite artists.
Oh man i had forgotten all about these. I only owned the first two growing up and I had no idea were I even got them cause mine didn't have the tapes with them. I never had the third one either so it's exciting to hear how this ended some 30 years after the fact.
A sincere heartfelt thanks for the trip down memory lane. This was definitely something i didn't know i needed until i watched it.
Did we have the exact same childhood, man? Great video. This is exactly what I tell people about Untold Legends.
I enjoy a lot of John Byrnes work, and have a real soft spot for his "Star Trek: Leonard McCoy Frontier Doctor"
20:22 The colour used for Lucius Fox's skin in this issue is certainly original.
Thanks Steve. Now that song is stuck in my head*).
I prefer a Batman who went to college; these days, people make like all Batman needed was fightin' skills, and just happened to accidentally learn everything about everything by ... watching Jeopardy, I guess.
This was also a Batman who was slightly fallible, and I preferred that Batman. Smart and a planner, but he could still get injured by a street tough who got lucky. These days, the mere ability to land a hit on Batman is essentially proof of being an A-level villain. (The fact that Batman has armor these days is also a thing, but even so, it's pretty rare that you see a street tough poke Batman with a knife and then it just bounces off.)
yeah! I remember an interview with Bob Kane where he mentioned that the appeal of Batman was that he was NOT Superman. "He was mortal. If you cut him he would bleed, If you shot him he would die." Now there's such a focus on armor that he literally wades through a group shooting him point blank and MAYBE falls down and gets back up... but more likely just ignores it. Ughhh... Not nearly as interesting or exciting as seeing batman dive behind some crates as bullet holes burst through his cape, and using a batarang to disarm the thug before closing in to get him...
I hate the body armor so much...
@@phantom1592 I kind of like the notion that he might wear a bullet-resistant plastron, but not much else; it would protect him from thoracic or abdominal hits, but the rest of his body would remain vulnerable.
Thanks for sharing this! It brought back memories. I remember getting a reprint of these stories in the 90s (I think it was in a small black and white paperback book). It was my introduction into the character as well and I had almost forgotten it.
This is by and far my all time favorite Batman origin. Possibly my favorite Batman story. It just.... WORKS so much better than any other version. Completely cuts out the stupid stuff that makes him TOO dark and Too... 'insane'. Actually makes him a 'hero'.
Things I love....
1) Did not intend to become a vigilante. As a child and young man, he wanted to fight crime as either a cop or FBI or something 'legit'. Trained himself hard, physically and mentally to be the BEST COP EVER!!!! Until he realized in college that the 'official' route was tied up in red tape and too many criminals escaped on technicallities and too many innocent got caught up. THAT's what caused him to 'find a different path'. Absolutely loved that. Modern Batman is just a nutcase in a cape.
2) Teaming up with Gordon by explaining that he wasn't interested in the Law... he was concerned about Justice. Such a great line that I can see swaying a career cop into allowing a vigilante.
3) NOT obsessed about finding his parents killer. He's more obsessed in seeing that what happened to him does NOT happen to anyone else's kids.
4) Alfred Not being there from the beginning. Alfred being 'a surrogate father' does not work with a Batman who's so psychologically scarred as Modern Batman. Either he plotted his own path.... or Alfred fell down as a parent... there's no middle ground there.
5) Most of all... Batman NOT being superhuman. He was an olympic level athlete and fighter... He was trained in psychology, (Which yeah... he would have trained Robin in too. Psychology was VERY important when dealing with guys like Two-face, Joker, and Riddler...) criminology, chemistry, fingerprint, lockpicking... stuff of that nature that a man dedicated to becoming the best crime fighter would do.... but there were no Darkseid busting mech suits, no space stations, no nanotech OMAC stuff or teleporters. It was a very 'reality' based knowledge base that helped him stay ahead of and understand the utterly insane criminals that the other cops were just scratching their heads at.
It's really the perfect Batman. Year one, Zero Year, the movies... none of them come close to the Untold Legend of the Batman.
Agreed. Newer interpretations of Batman (even in the 80s) give people this weird cognitive dissonance between "he'll walk again, so who cares if I broke his spine" and "wait but Batman doesn't *kill* people though" when someone that violent, irrational and uncompassionate inevitably would, even if he later regretted it.
THIS version of Batman is sane enough, reasonable enough, and, y'know, *moral* enough to believably embody the morals people usually attribute to Batman.
You leave me absolutely no room to argue because I totally agree with every thing you say here!
This was a favorite of mine growing up although I didn't get the context. Thanks for this analysis. I think I'll give this a new flip through this week!
I actually bought this comic series off the rack, back in 1980,. How did I miss the fact that it had an audio soundtrack? This is complete news to me!
Great video. I do love the Jim Aparo Batman but my all time favorite is the Neal Adams Batman.
Untold Legends was a great series. Interesting story by Len Wein and great artwork by legends Jim Aparo, John Byrne (first DC work?) and Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez. Ahead of its time - I really enjoyed this series when it came out in 1980.
I enthusiastically concur! Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez's covers on The Untold Legend Of The Batman--particularly on issue #3--are absolutely beautiful! And if I'm not mistaken, The Untold Legend Of The Batman did indeed mark John Byrne's first published work for DC Comics; it's a low down dirty crying shame Byrne abruptly departed after the first issue, though (luckily, Jim Aparo completed the last two issues, so it's all good in the 'hood)!
I have to disagree with you about the Lew Moxon angle. Joey Chill kills Thomas Wayne and also Martha Wayne but leaves young Bruce alive to potentially identify him? This only makes sense that Lew Moxon wanted revenge on Thomas but didn't want the trail of a hired killer. By having Joe Chill leave Bruce Wayne alive to testify that it was a robbery the Police wouldn't even look at Moxon. As Dick Grayson said, "Bruce, Moxon used you as his alibi!" Absolutely brilliant!
The fact that this miniseries STILL hasn't been published as a trade paperback (which should also include its sequel by the same creative team, "To Kill A Legend" from Detective Comics #500) is an absolute crime in itself.
That and "Batman: Bat-Murderer?" from Detective Comics #444-448.
Like The Untold Legend Of The Batman, the Batman: Bat-Murderer series was reprinted in the Len Wein volume of Tales Of The Batman. And lots of other great Batman stories by Len Wein. Professor Milo! Cat-Man meets Catwoman! Much more!
The algorithm brought me here, but the quality of the content made me subscribe…
The line you said, "When I close my eyes, and picture Batman, it's as Jim Aparo drew him!" actually brought tears to my eyes. I rediscovered Batman in the mid to late 80's, while away at college, and when I started buying some comics, Aparo was THE artist at that time. I gathered a lot of great stuff, since, in those days, you could walk in a comic shop and Silver age comics and some Golden ages, were still sitting in the bins. Along with the new stuff of course! But yeah, recently I have rediscovered the artists yet again, though figure collecting, and am loving the great commentaries on RUclips, including your's! Keep 'em up! And thanks!
This story is basically the origin of the Batman of the Pre-Crisis version of Earth-One (the Earth of the Pre-Crisis Justice League of America, btw), in case you're wondering. Just sayin'.
When I was a kid I had that first comic in that series and ever since then the only Batman theme song is the one from that stupid tape. When you played the clip near the beginning of the video I was singing along because I also still remember every single word of that trash song. It is BY FAR the best Batman theme. Also the voice acting on the tape is absolutely hilarious. I loved that they included music and sound effects. Just wonderful cheesiness.
I loved this series as a kid, even with the funky reveal at the end. I also LOVE that Dick puts on the Thomas Wayne COSTUME and DOMINO MASK over his Robin COSTUME and DOMINO MASK. 😄
🤣👍
I love this series. Read it as a 9 - year old in 1981. It had a profound impact. Thanks for covering this much underrated but wonderful book.
Thank you for playing the theme song for this set! Have not heard it in over 20 years.
I started collecting in the early/mid80s, around the time of Batman and The Outsiders #13, and filled-in a lot of (then) recent past by hitting the comic-book fairs to get back issues of Brave & Bold and things like Untold Legend of The Batman. Jim Aparo -sigh.....
Take your time with the Best Superman series, just knowing it's coming eventually is good enough for me. I'd rather you take the time and do it right than rush something out you aren't happy with. And i have read most of this origin story through various older comics in compilation books like "Batman: The Greatest Stories Ever Told" always loved the way Joe Chill died in that story. I DIDN'T know about him wearing the Robin suit though, that's really cool. I gotta see if i can find a copy of this version though, i love 70s Batman and the idea of them using that era to retell older stories is an idea i just LOVE.
Somewhere, I have a version of Untold Legend of Batman. I have no idea where I got it, but like you, I think it was my introduction to his origin story. There's something about it that keeps drawing me back to it. It definitely is the best Batman ever, well, if we're going by your Grant Morrison-esque definition of that.
"Hey, Grant, if you had to pick one version of Batman to say is the best, which would it be?"
"Yes."
"Yes, what?"
"It would be one version of him, right, but it's all the versions in one, they're all the best Batmen."
"Including the Snyderverse one?"
"Bollocks, you got me."
And then Grant Morrison tosses a smoke bomb and they disappear leaving only the smell of brimstone and psychedelic drugs.
I had that mini-series; something that stuck with me was Gordon recalling that Babs had a "Brown Belt in the Martial Arts", and how oddly phrased that it was (she had twin Brown Belts in Karate and Judo); aan element of the Zeitgeist, I suppose...
I remember back then Judo was very popular with the women fighters. I guess something about throws that use your opponents superior strength against them was all the rage. Batgirl and Black Canary were expert 'Judo' masters.
I recall her saying in a 1970's story that she uses Jiu Jitsu when she has to because it was more effective than Judo. Her words though I agree with her. Now the very first days of Judo it wasn't all sport. In fact it was called Kano Jiu-Jitsu before it was given the name Judo!
I can't wait for the Jim Aparo episode.
Should also include a lot of Brave and Bold work Jim did!
Oh man. I had a black and white paperback novel sized edition of this. Got it at the Scholastic book fair at school if I'm remembering correctly .
LOL at 15:46 that zoom in on Hawkman(?). I have no idea what the story behind the reference, but the intention and timing of the zoom was very clear and hilarious.
I honestly like the part about Thomas Wayne's encounter with Lew Moxon. If you take out the part about him hiring Joe Chill to assassinate The Waynes it can still work. It can serve as one of Bruce's inspirations for becoming a costumed crime fighter in the first place. I would even add the fact that when asked to operate on Moxon Thomas agrees. It could help impart Bruce with the lesson that even the lives of criminals are worth saving.
Some criminals more than others!
That is a Batman that actually has something like closure.
IF you are going to talk about Byrne, you'll need to spend time talking of his FF run.
Also, a personal history: I basically molded my nephews's cultural outlook in life, raised them on a stready diet of SF books, games and comics. They are as nerdy as I could get away with it. They don't know who Claremont is, or what his contribution to comics was. I wouldn't mind a video discussing his career.
I picked up a version of this from the scholastic book fair one year. It was a small paperback book though.
I had that edition, too! And I probably got it from the book fair, as well.
I think the more detailed origin story actually makes it more realistic. Not that the simpler version is unrealistic but life is usually a bit more complicated. It's a story from Bruce Wayne' perspective as he knows a simpler version of events as a child but learns more complex details, the whys and wherefores, as he grows into adulthood. I've read both the Untold Legend of the Batman and the original versions of the stories they are re-telling from Batman and Detective Comics from the 40's and 50's and they just help flesh out a fuller and richer story and characters. This is the good stuff that made Batman a great character, a real Detective and not a semi psychotic character. Plus I'm not sure that there's a lot of great writers these days as there use to be. If your lucky enough to have all the back issues or at least buy the omnibus' I would consider it all cannon.
It's what makes Batman who he is.
Great Video!
I will always be a fan of DC. Superman and Batman the finest super heroes,
I think you meant to say "The World's Finest Heroes"!
I had read this as a kid and loved it.
This would actually make an interesting movie or miniseries. Though I’m thinking the culprit should be Hush or the Court of Owls, or something.
I would love to see this version of Batman as a movie or mini-series and maybe use a non-villain as the protagonist, like Waverider. Scratch that, make it a movie trilogy with the two sequels having Batman to needing the new stability to save the world and take over as a new Waverider (Elseworlds movies) and when he asks the question about The Joker at the end of the first sequel he gets a different answer concerning the multiverse.
This was also the first Batman that I read, though I already had a healthy dose of Adam West reruns. I had (and still have) the black & white trade paperback, and I still remember the day I bought it. For me, this was the definitive Batman for a long time, and I loved having an authoritative retelling of his past exploits.
And "Untold Legends" reveals that Dick drinks Dr. Pepper. I felt my soft drink preference validated.
i went from from "this is familiar" to immediately singing the theme song from memory.
I remember another batman comic on tape that featured him meeting superman for the first time, i dont remember much about it but I know Magpie was one of the villains.
The story you mention was from an issue of The Man Of Steel miniseries that John Byrne revamped Superman in. I heard the MLJ hero Steel Sterling boycotted it because he was called the "Man Of Steel" before Superman who was referred to as "The Man Of Tommorow"!
The audio version is up on youtube
whoa! I had the smaller versions of these comics! I got them from sending in something from the Batman: The Movie: The Cereal. They were my first legit comics.
"John Byrne.... Do I..."
Brilliant, great videos and options shared in a mature, intelligent way. Appreciate your work.
STEVE, you beautiful bearded hunk of Trekkie goodness that you are, thank you for bringing this old series up. THIS was my first Batman comic. The very first. TO this day, even after the post crisis/Frank Miller/ YEAR ONE/ GRIM AND GRITTY ERA, this was a reminder of some of the legendary tales of the Batman canon, even the Bruce Wayne was the first Robin, which is an odd little tale, but this series made it make some kind of sense. Len Wein, John Byrne and the criminally underated Batman artist, Jim Aparo, who does Batman on par with Jose Luis Garcia Lopez (praise his name!) and Neal Adams.
Also I'm thankful that the "Pearls falling on the blood soaked filthy alley!" cliche didnt get used and that's a relief. And yes, this Batman had closure that the Post crisis Bats would never have.
Oh Steve, a recommendation, Secret Origins 6, from 1986 which takes all the Golden age elements of the Batman Origin, including things like Martha Wayne not dying from a gun shot but a Heart attack after wathing Thomas getting shot.
ALSO....isnt it crazy Batman had a REPLICA BATCAVE, Stalagmites etc included built under the Wayne Foundation Building. I mean when DICK was the Batman in 2009 he had a similar Batbunker but he never made it a cave. Can you imagine the annoyance when Bruce decided to move back the manor to the cave Alfred and Dick had? Time to pack up the giant coin and Robot Dinosaur.
One of the old Batman giants had among the reprints a redrawn version of Robin's origin and had Bruce reflect on when he wore the Robin outfit first. Hope he washed it before he gave it to Grayson!
03:51 The Human Torch, The Thing, The Invisible Girl, Jon Stewart
Have always loved this version of the story. Got the black and white reprint of the miniseries in 1982 when I saw it on a revolving paperback rack. Have it to this day.That scene with the ghosts was pretty trippy for 13-year-old me. I think it vies with "To Kill a Legend" (the Phantom Stranger gives Batman the chance to prevent the murder of his parents in an alternate universe) as my favorite re-telling of Batman's origin.
Only watching this video now do I wonder about how Robin could wear the original Bat-Man costume when it had been ripped to shreds and mailed to Batman the beginning of the tale...
"To Kill A Legend" was a good read.
Even one of the little throw-away bits was a classic - combining Robin humor with contemporary culture (well... advertising) references: Phantom Stranger grabs B & R from separate locations to transplant them to Earth-unspecified. Batman was chasing a mugger, but feels disoriented and the crook is starting to gain a little distance on him. From off-panel, a word balloon: "Look! The Goodrich Blimp!" Mugger turns, goes "huh?", Robin steps in and decks him, saying "Dummy - Goodrich doesn't have a blimp!"
Alfred repaired the costume as best he could is my guess!
I remember when these comics were free. They did not come with the cassettes though.
Also, I recently was given some comics and these were some of them.
What you said about Batman identity I think has to do with the fact he doesn't actually have a duality but rather a trinity of personalities, all faces of the same person: Batman, the dark brooding vigilante, the fake Bruce Wayne, the playboy billionarie he pretends to be in the eyes of the public and finally the real Bruce Wayne, who only few people like Alfred and Robin actually know.
I had part 1 as a tape as a kid. I absolutely love it. The theme is an absolute banger.
Being a little older I bought this when it came out (when I had a paper route, which was the peak of my comic-buying as a kid) and sold it along with all my other significant Batman comics at the time the movie came out. Still have the older 20 and 25 cent comics because I had them way before I knew to keep things in good condition.
Oh man, this video is bringing back memories. In fact, I just looked in one of my boxes of stuff and found the original cassettes from when I got them as a child. I recall getting them individually and not in a set of all three together. I also want to say this book/cassette combo was first released in the middle of the 80s, with the collected sets popping up in '89 to promote the movie.
Jim Aparo is such a legend.
I always wanted to read this as a kid. I remember seeing the ads but I never found it. I’ll have to change that!
Did you ever see "The Super Cops"? This was an early-1970s police drama movie based on a book, which in turn was meant to cash in on "Serpico" and real-life-cop stories of the day. This was about two NYC narcotics squad police officers who were so good at their jobs, they got the nicknames "Batman and Robin."
There was also a comic book adaptation as well.
Wow, that theme song! That hits me right in my childhood.
I love these historic comic book icons videos. I'm absolutely looking forward to Superman.
Zooming in on Hawkman literally cracked me up
I love the call back for Thomas Wayne wearing the original design of the Batman costume from Bob Kane. I would love to see the Flashpoint Thomas Wayne Batman in the upcoming Flash movie.
As we all know The Flash movie was a huge disappointment. When the much complained about CGI sequences of the alternate earths is the best part of the movie you know it is in trouble! Still enjoyed the Christopher Reeve Superman side by side with the Helen Slater Supergirl. They were in the same continuity after all! Wonder if she protected earth while he was away prior to Superman Returns?
Loved UNTOLD LEGEND. I bought it as it was coming out in '80. Then Marvel stalwart and superstar John Byrne pencilling a DC book was a little mini-event! Would have loved to see more of his work inked by Aparo but, alas...
The plotline with Mrs. Chilton was somewhat recycled in an odd place. The novel anthology Further Adventures Of The Joker had Joker terrorizing Leslie Thompkins - only to 'reveal' (even in the story, ya know, Joker) that he was her own long-lost son. The story never disproved it per se. I also always remember Harvey Harris for two reasons: Him being the third Harvey in Batman's lore, and for the semi-canon status of Harvey's niece Wendy Harris, aka of Marvin and Wendy of the Super Friends - Marvin being the son of the real Diana Prince, back when there was one. I don't recall if this series brought up Alfred's time as The Outsider, following his death and rebirth. Of course, the whole Thomas-as-first-Batman got brought up when the Moxon/Chill storyline was redone in a shockingly serious episode of The Brave And The Bold. Thanks so much for bringing attention to this series.
Joe Chill's mom was introduced in an 80 Page Giant Batman that mixed some new pages amongst the reprints and excerpts. The theme was "The Women In Batman's Life"!
I have the black and white paperback. It is one of my favorite stories!
Know it? I own it. It's been a while since I picked it up, but I remember it being fantastic.
Dude... that Batman song made my day.
My grandmother has some comics around for us kids...99% archie comics, but Untold Legends of the Batman #1 was among them. I read it over and over, and when I grew up I bought the complete 3 part series.
This story and the art are siiick!!! I'm definitely going to look into buying Untold Legends of Batman🥰🥰👍🏾👍🏾
Oh wow
I remember seeing this cover advertised and really wanting to read this as a kid
I have the book as a digest-sized book. I loved it!
You forgot John Byrne created and wrote Alpha Flight for Marvel. A vastly underrated series IMO
The first series I really got into as a teen! It went to crap after he left for the Incredible Hulk but that original team and his two-plus-year run always holds a place in my heart.
I swear, that theme song, I was waiting for the "Ducktails! Awooo-oooo" to drop at the end there.
Your Batman videos rock pretty hard. I would love to hear your comments on Knightfall…
I have this as a black and white in a small paperback like one you would get a regular novel. Not tiny panels but reformatted with less panels per page.
i got the version of this comic from the Batman cereal and I also have the full size comic of the 3 part series as well . I still like this orgin story the best the artwork the storyline is my all time favorite .
This is such a weird coincidence, as the second issue of this was one of the first comics I ever bought (I went to a small local comic con as a kid and there was a booth selling comics that were either in rough shape or absolutely worthless for fifty cents; I bought this and a bunch of other comics, and that was what got me into comics)