THE ACCELERATED GENTLEMEN by Dave Goode

 

One of the best remembered comics of my youth was The Brave and The Bold No.67 (Sept. 1966). And it wasn't just me. I remember a couple of years after the story was published and I was in junior high when comic book fans got together this comic often came up. Even a lot of non comic book fans remembered this specific teaming of Batman and the Flash written by Bob Haney , penciled by Carmine Infantino and inked by Charles Paris and Murphy Anderson. The cover was penciled by Infantino and inked by Joe Giella.

 

The story concerns a crime wave that's struck Gotham City by a group of super - speedsters in sneakers known as the "Speed Boys" that are running circles around Batman. Since this is an issue of B&B and not Batman or Detective, the caped crusader can't figure out how to stop them so he calls in his Justice League teammate the Flash. But here's the fly in the buttermilk. Years of running at super-speed has taken a toll on his body. And he's literally running himself to death. But hero that he is the Flash goes to Gotham (by train) to help his friend. Long story short the good guys win and the Flash is cured.

 

One thing I've wondered about for years is just how fast were the Speed Boys supposed to be? They are able to outrun the Batmobile. And a rocket propelled Batman. They seem to be on the same level as Silver Age speedsters Quicksilver and Lightning. Neither of who was on the level of the Silver Age Flash. The Flash had to be given a severe handicap to make this story believable. Up until the point Batman finds out what's ailing the scarlet speedster hasn't rounded the entire gang in a matter of seconds.

 

I always thought that what made this story so memorable was the image of the Speed Boys a.k.a the "Accelerated Gentlemen". They wore what appeared to be simple stocking masks with dress suits (tuxedos?) and high top sneakers. Simple. But striking.

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And As The Clown Prince Of Crime I Decline by Dave Goode

And As The Clown Prince Of Crime I Decline by Dave Goode

 

 

 

 

When the Batman television series premiered on ABC-TV, the 8 year old me thought it was cooler than the other side of the pillow. Largely because the pilot episodes Hi Diddle Riddle and Smack In The Middle were so much better than the comic book story The Remarkable Ruse Of The Riddler from Batman No. 171 (May 1965) they were based on. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

During the first season of the show a number of the episodes were adapted from the comic books. Of these my favorite was adapted from my favorite Joker story at the time...The Joker's Utility Belt from Batman No. 73 (Oct. 1952) .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A story that I first read in reprinted form in 80 Page Giant Batman No. 176 (Dec. 1965).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Joker Is Wild and Batman Is Riled that originally aired on January 26 and January 27 of 1966 were not a spot on adaptation of the comic book story. But the screenplay written by Robert Dozier (the nephew of the show's producer) is darn close. With things, like the Joker's escape from prison, a welcome addition. Dozier's screenplay captures the spirit of the original. Another welcome addition was Nancy Kovack as the Clown Prince of Crime's moll Queenie.

Also sometimes we also forget just how good Cesar Romero was as the Joker. Since Jack Nicholson played the role in the 1989 movie screenwriters have made the character more and more psychotic. And we forget just how scary Romero was in the role. Especially in this episode.

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BEWARE OF...POISON IVY! by Dave Goode

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the most imagined episodes of the Batman television series was an adaptation of a story that appeared in Batman No.181 (June 1966). Beware of Poison Ivy was a 12-pager written by Robert Kanigher and illustrated by Sheldon Moldoff (pencils) and Joe Giello (inks) "ghosting" for Bob Kane. This was the first of two Silver Age appearances of the villainess Poison Ivy. The character had no origin story back in the 60s. She was simply a comic book seductress. The embodiment of "Comic Book Cliche No.8"... the temptress that attempts to seduce the stalwart hero into a life of crime.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think the reason so many Silver Age fan-boys wanted to see an adaptation of this story is because the actress we imagine playing Poison Ivy is the one and only Ann-Margaret. One of the most famous sex symbols of the 1960s , Born Ann-Margaret Olsson in Sweden she came to America with her parents at age 6. She would study at Northwestern University before heading to Las Vegas to begin a career as a singer. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Discovered by George Burns she would go on to a triple threat career as a singer , dancer and actress. She would become a Top 10 Box-Office star appearing in movies like BYE, BYE BIRDIE, VIVA LAS VEGAS and KITTEN WITH A WHIP. Oddly enough Poison Ivy's creator Robert Kanigher reportedly modeled the character's look after legendary pin-up and fetish model Bettie Page.

Kanigher's original story was just as campy as anything that appeared on the television series. I can see it easily adapted to the small screen with a few minor tweaks. One of the things that needed to be kept in the story was the inclusion of Poison Ivy's rivals Dragon Fly, Silken Spider, and Tiger Moth. They could have been portrayed by Edy Williams, Marilyn Hanold, and Sivi Aberg who played Liberace's henchwomen in the Batman episodes The Devil's Fingers and Dead Ringers.

I myself imagine Burt Ward's second wife Kathy Kersh playing the Tiger Moth character. Miss Kersh would appear on the series in the episodes The Impractical Joker and The Joker's Provokers. Hmmm. Batman might have had to take Robin's advice from the comic book to "take a cold shower".










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Before There Was Bane..... by Dave Goode

Before Bane there was the Hooded Hangman. But unlike Bane who wore a luchador-styled mask and who I've often referred to as the penultimate rudo, the Hooded Hangman was an actual pro wrestler. He appeared in the Silver Age of Comic Books in a story from Detective Comics No. 355 (September 1966). Written by John Broome and illustrated by the tag-team of Carmine Infantino and Joe Giella "Hate Of The Hooded Hangman" was a 14 page story that had the Caped Crusader facing off against a cyclopean masked wrestler. The pair engage in a sort of two out of three falls mask vs. mask match. The Hangman actually wins two falls and unmasks Batman. But Batman preserves his secret identity with a trick he could have torn from Mil Mascaras playbook.

The story is pure Silver Age fun. It begins with Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson attending the wrestling matches where the Native-American wrestler the Arizona Apache is taking on the gargantuan grappler known only as the Hooded Hangman in the main event. The Hangman is filling the arena with the promise to unmask if anyone can defeat him. The masked man makes short work of his opponent using his signature move the  "Hangman's Knot" (a variation of the sleeper hold ). The fans leave the arena disgruntled. And Dick suggests to Bruce that they use their world renowned detective skills to discover the Hangman's true identity. Of course in a series of "this could only happen in a comic book" coincidences Batman and the Hangman find themselves at odds.

For my money the best scene in the story has Batman sitting ringside at the wrestling matches in full costume. Gosh but you had to love the Silver Age.

No way did anyone consider using this story for the 60s television series. Not

even for the anything goes final season. But if they had made an adaptation of this story my nomination for the actor to play the Hooded Hangman would have been the late Clint Walker. The former star of the CHEYENNE television western stood 6' 6" tall with the broadest shoulders and thickest traps to be found outside of a bodybuilding contest. One of the things I remember best from the CHEYENNE series was the writers finding some reason to have the star stripped to the waist to show off his physique. I've joked for years that Walker would have made a great Superman. But a pair of glasses could never disguise those shoulders

Image from Megomuseum

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You Would Think This Would Have Been A Given by Dave Goode

A couple of years back I came across the image of a Batman comic from Brazil with a photo cover. Interestingly enough though the comic was from the Batmania era of the 1960s, the actors were from the 1949 serial. Lyle Talbot as Commissioner Gordon, Robert Lowery as Batman and Johnny Duncan as Robin the Boy Wonder. I recently saw the image again on Facebook and it made me think of something I used to wonder about in my youth. Why exactly DC didn't use the occasional photo cover for their Superman , Batman and Wonder Woman titles ?

Imagine a Superman comic book cover during the 50s featuring George Reeves as the Man of Steel. Or during the 70s with Christopher Reeve.















Or how about one with Lynda Carter as Wonder Woman.

But what really made the most sense would have been ones featuring Adam West as the "caped crusader" and Burt Ward as the "Boy Wonder". The folks at DC could have used production stills from the show. Or better still they could have had the actors from the show who played the various Bat - Villains pose for staged photos with Adam and Burt.







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Alias... Dick Grayson by Dave Goode

I had just started reading Batman and Detective comics a couple of years before the Batman television series premiered. I was introduced to Batman through a crossover story in one of the Superman titles and thought the character was pretty cool. So I started picking up titles that featured this other " caped crusader ". When I did I discovered a character that over the years would become my favorite comic book/comic strip hero. Robin, the Boy Wonder...alias Dick Grayson. Actually I liked him as Robin, Nightwing, or just Dick Grayson. As a kid when playing Batman with friends I got to be Batman because I was the tallest. But I secretly wanted to be Robin.

Honor student, top athlete and wholesome boy next door. Dick Grayson was the ultimate big brother even if there was no Tim Drake or Jason Todd during the Silver Age to look up to him. Seriously I imagined Tony Dow portraying him.

That is until the Batman series premiered.

There is a certain gold standard when it comes to casting comic book /comic strip heroes and heroines. It starts with Buster Crabbe as Flash Gordon and continues with Irish McCalla (Sheena of the Jungle) , Lynda Carter (Wonder Woman) and Burt Ward as Robin , the Boy Wonder. Actor Burt Ward as Robin looked like artist Carmine Infantino's  Boy Wonder come to life. Burt Ward (born Bert Gervis Jr.) was a sort of " boy wonder " in real life. At age two he was billed as the world's youngest professional figure skater.








The publicity department for the Batman show had put out some press releases describing him as as a brown belt in karate. As part of his audition he demonstrated some ukemi and tameshiwari techniques so these claims might have had some validity.

The funny thing is that in a 3-part story that ran in Batman No.234 (Aug.1971) , Batman No.235 (Sept.1971) and Batman No.236 (Nov.1971) written by Gary Friedrich and illustrated by Irv Novick and Dick Giordano Robin gives a karate demo at a commune where writer Friedrich describes Robin as being a karate brown belt. Hold the phone! Robin was only a brown belt in karate? This was as bad as Barbara " Bat-Girl " Gordon in her first appearance in Detective Comics No.359 (Jan.1967) written by Julius Schwartz and drawn by Carmine Infantino and Murphy Anderson being described as a brown belt in judo.

I can't understand why any writer would depict someone fighting a guerrilla war against crime in the streets as being anything less than a 5th dan black belt. Perhaps this was writer Friedrich's way of of paying tribute to Burt Ward's martial arts skills. I wonder if there was some story during the Silver Age where Robin was described as a black belt?

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