Despite being an unabashed fan of gritty film noir, moody gothic horror, and even some of the dark superhero sub-genre (so far, the Marvel Netflix shows have all kicked serious butt!), every so often I find myself ranting in this blog about the need for comics that tell wacky, rollicking stories, comics that make you smile and fill you with joy, comics that proudly appeal to all ages, comics that are not afraid to look silly while cramming each page with wild ideas and visuals. You know, fun comics. And, in particular, fun Batman comics.
Here are five wonderful tales that encapsulate the kind of cheerful, anything-goes attitude I’m talking about:
‘The Doomsday Book’ (1987)
Detective Comics #572
This classic mystery adventure stars Batman and Robin (a happy-go-lucky Jason Todd) as well as the hardboiled private eye Slam Bradley and the stretchy superhero Ralph Dibney (the Elongated Man) in one of those yarns where the stakes keep escalating – it starts with a missing girl, then you find out the IRA is involved, then there turns out to be a conspiracy to assassinate the British royal family, and before you know it the Boy Wonder is riding a damn nuclear missile!
With ‘The Doomsday Book,’ writer Mike W. Barr seems to have crafted not just a celebration of the 50th anniversary of Detective Comics, but a celebration of the detective genre in general, with nods to different mystery formulas and archetypes, such as Sam Spade, Ellery Queen, and, of course, Sherlock Holmes. As if this wasn’t cool enough, the issue features the work of some of the most talented people in DC Comics at the time, including lively pencils and inks by Alan Davis, Paul Neary, Terry Beatty, Dick Giordano, Carmine Infantino, Al Vey, and E.R. Cruz, plus colors by Adrienne Roy and Carl Gafford.
Moreover, in its own way ‘The Doomsday Book’ is also a Christmas story, making this an ideal read for the upcoming holiday season.
’The Last Riddler Story’ (1993)
The Batman Adventures #10
In this laugh-out-loud issue, writer Kelley Puckett and penciller Mike Parobeck (vigorously inked by Rick Burchett) pit the Dark Knight against no less than four hilariously dysfunctional villains. There is Mastermind, whose planning is so meticulous that he even brings his own handcuffs just in case he gets caught, Mr. Nice, who is such a swell guy that he is guilt-tripped into sharing his loot with the people he is robbing, the Perfesser, who is more interested in lecturing pedantically to his accomplice than in completing the actual crimes, and the Riddler himself, for whom actually getting away scot-free is much less important than coming up with a riddle Batman cannot solve.
Besides the over-the-top comedy, chock-full of one-liners and sight gags, the issue deserves credit for telling a great Riddler story, one that has a lot of fun with this villain’s eccentric personality. Moreover – as a bonus for comic book geeks – there is a neat metafictional angle, as each of the remaining foes is based on a senior DC editor, namely Mike Carlin, Denny O’Neil, and Archie Goodwin.
‘The Impossible Escape’ (1974)
The Brave and the Bold #112
From the slam-bang opening in which Batman faces suicidal raiders at the Gotham Art Museum to the climatic chase in an ancient, maze-like Egyptian tomb, this comic never lets go. ‘The Impossible Escape’ keeps adding one off-kilter twist after another at a hell-for-leather, feverishly brisk pace, as is typical of Bob Haney’s and Jim Aparo’s exhilarating run on The Brave and the Bold.
Along the way, the Caped Crusader finds himself in a trap-filled pulp adventure that may lead him to the elusive secret of immortality. He also teams up with Mr. Miracle, the alien escape artist created by the legendary Jack Kirby. What a blast!
‘Final Christmas’ (2009)
Batman: The Brave and the Bold #12
Another holiday tale and another team-up, now with the jet pack-wearing, laser pistol-carrying interplanetary couple of Alana and Adam Strange. When an anti-matter wave generated by reptilian beings jeopardizes the cosmos on Christmas Eve, Batman takes his battle against injustice into outer space!
To say that this is the greatest Batman Christmas story is selling it short – this is one of the best Christmas books ever (it deserves a place on your shelf next to Terry Pratchett’s Hogfather). Landry Q. Walker and Eric Jones capture the relentless, playful style of the Batman: The Brave and the Bold animated show (the Earth actually blows up on the third page!) while spinning a brilliant sci-fi yarn bursting with wit and heroism and an absolutely killer ending.
‘The Mystery of the $1,000,000 Treasure Hunt’ (1963)
Detective Comics #313
The thing about the era known as the Silver Age is that, although the art was crude, the dialogues goofy, and the plots as contrived as they come, there was a lot of creativity, both visually and narratively. People often point to the stories with aliens and thematic villains as examples of the period’s silliness, but even tales about the less colorful side of Gotham City’s underworld could turn into priceless madcap romps.
Take ‘The Mystery of the $1,000,000 Treasure Hunt,’ in which the Dynamic Duo try to outrun various gangsters in a treasure hunt for the loot of a recently deceased crime boss. On the surface, this story by Dave Wood and Sheldon Moldoff may sound like a classically constructed Batman adventure, with the Dynamic Duo beating up criminals (while exchanging groan-inducing puns), putting together riddle-like clues, and outsmarting the villain in a last-minute plot twist. Yet it is also full of delightfully ludicrous ideas, including a cuckoo clock trap, a showdown on a submarine, Robin (a young Dick Grayson) imprisoned in a giant bottle, the Caped Crusader caught in a flying music record-shaped electrified jail cell, and an exploding robot.