Batman Bites, and Dick Dates the Undead... Part 1

[icon_uk]

Whilst my esteemed associate thehefner has been dealing with some Batman stories from the early 1980's detailing Batman's battles with Hugo Strange, he mentioned in passing a vampire subplot which ran through the stories at around the same time, and I recalled I'd posted them way back on S_D 1.0, but a lot of folks might never have seen them, so it seemed time to do something about that.

Now this is from an odd era in Bat publishing history. Batman and Detective comics had their own stories, but had underlying elements spanning both, so this story features elements from them both. As one had the smooth art of Don Newton, and the other had the less smooth, but deeply atmospheric, art of Gene Colan, the switch can be a little jarring at times, but bear with it.

After a series of backup stories on the road to "find himself" Dick has come home to Gotham, and though he'd dropped out of Hudson University just before the New Teen Titans formed, he decides to re-enrol at Gotham College;



Aw, isn't he cute when he mopes... but still gets the admiring glances.



I believe the term commonly used is "Va va VOOOOM!"




Dick's all blushing an unsure of himself, isn't that adorable? :)

And in true Ed Wood fashion, I now cut to two pages of Dick fighting an octopus... for no real reason other than, well... it's got Robin, it's got tentacles, and it happens to be in this issue, as Robin faces the illusionary powers of Mirage...





Newton's anatomy is always luciously good isn't it? Anyway, Mirage was a villain with a great visual, but unimaginative powers (Spellbinder with better dress sense). This is his only appearance of note prior to being killed and eaten by Bruno Mannheim for no apparent reason in "52". Note that even in his Who's Who entry (By Bill Sienkiewicz no less), they could only focus on one thing...



And who can blame them.

Anyway, back at the plot....next issue (and courtesy of Colan on pencils and Klaus Janson on inks, hence ths shift in style) Dick and Dala make their first appearance as a couple...



I like Bruce quietly putting Vicki in her place here... He trusts Dick's judgement... which might not be such a good idea.



(Dick clearly DOES have a super-power, he can manage to make a grape coloured dinner jacket look sexy pretty much..)

Next issue there's only one panel of relevance...



I wonder what THAT might foreshadow...

Anyway, alas I can't find the next issue which features Dala casually dumping Dick with something like a "Well, it was nice but I'm moving on, don't make a big deal over it little boy", much to his confusion. As she speeds away from him accompanied by another man, we see that she's smiling at his discomfort and clearly has something mind...



Stalking, always a good way to get your ex's attention.



As mentioned in the past, I love the way Newton draws fabrics. And I like Dick not wanting to see her naked without her permission. Alfred would be very proud, but it's the whistling which sells it! :)



Yeah, someone's in trouble, but I get the feeling it's not her, Dickie boy... A floorbaord creaks in best mystery movie style....



And this seems a suitable point to end the first part of this little epic. A suspicious girlfriend who doesn't show up on camera film, a mysterious robed figure wielding a mean candlestick, and an unconscious, helpless Robin.... What COULD be coming next?
DUM-DUM-DUM!

Comments

[calvision]

Ah, for some reason I thought you supplemented today with that Superboy bondage. Evidently, I was mistaken.

I like Dick's gentlemanly code here. Apart from the stalking bit, but I guess there's a reason for that. ;)

[bradhanon]

"I was dating this girl a couple times, but she lost interest in me. Better trace her license plate number to get her address, shadow her at night, and break into her house."

With respect, I'm not sure we can get to "gentlemanly" from there. :)

[calvision]

Yup, which is why I said 'apart from the stalking bit'. :p

[icon_uk]

Not quite "Lost interest", which would be a fair enough situation and not one Dick would react like this to. She's actually elaborately and deliberately dismissive to Dick in the sort of way which would immediately make someone who did care about her, and who had been close to her (inviting her to meet Bruce etc) for some time, concerned.

There was an air to it that suggests that maybe she was acting against her will, and making it overabundantly clear for some unknown third party that she didn't want him around.

[btravage]

I disagree, this kind of behavior most definitely suits a gentleman. It just so turns out however, that gentlemen are creeps.

[icon_uk]

It should be noted it's not the stalking which is being described as gentlemanly, but the fact he chooses not to take advantage of his stalking position to ogle a woman (especially a possible ex) taking her clothes off.

[thehefner]

Yay! It's fascinating seeing this second introduction of Dala and the Monk. I suppose the original Golden Age version would be Earth-Two Batman's version at this point.

I'm looking forward to seeing how it wraps up, not to mention seeing those panels we talked about earlier.

[calvision]

Oh, and the first page after Dala dumps him has a panel with Dick crouching in the dark that really made me think of the Hardy Boys. Heh.

[icon_uk]

I like the way your mind works, and given what happens next, that's a very apt comparison... :)

[sistermagpie]

I want him to wear that grape colored suit again.

[nezchan]

"I can't shake the notion she's in trouble....oh wait, that's me."

[pyrotwilight]

Hmm, she herself can't be a vampire she walked around in daylight at the start and she does have a picture on film if only faintly, a vampire's would be invisible.

[psychopathicus_rex]

You're assuming that this version of vampirism is consistent with the usual portrayal, which isn't necessarily the case - if I recall correctly, the vampirism in question is of a slightly exotic type, though give away spoilers will I not.

[pyrotwilight]

An exotic vampire? She's from Brazil?! :D

It's always interesting to see how different people portray vampires all the time I just assume they'd be like I...Vampire who seemed to have all the regular vampire weakness'

[psychopathicus_rex]

Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever encountered a Brazilian vampire in fiction. Eastern-European, French, English, African, yes - but no Brazilians. A little weird in a way, since vampires often tap into the whole 'seductive foreigner' thing, and Brazil has some verrrrrry sexy ladies...

[icon_uk]

There are no clear cut definitions of what abilities or disabilities a vampire has, Bram Stoker and Universal Studios have a lot to answer for in terms of making up folklore to suit themselves.

And as noted, Dala has an unusual history for a vampire.

[psychopathicus_rex]

Dr. Karl Hellfern, eh? Alias Dr. Death. What's he doing there? Does anything come of his appearance, or is it just a cameo?
If what I remember about this story is true, it's far from my favorite treatment of Dala and the Monk - still a good story, though.

[icon_uk]

No, he gets a story too. Gerry Conway had a "Back to the earliest Batvillains" vibe going

[psychopathicus_rex]

Dare I ask if you happen to have a scannable copy of it handy?

[icon_uk]

I might do somewhere...

[thehefner]

I'd like to second this request, as I've been curious about how Conway introduced Dr. Death here. Especially now that it looks like we're getting a new look at the character in Dini's "House of Hush"...

[psychopathicus_rex]

A positive answer! This pleases me!

[randyripoff]

Hmm...doesn't seem like Colan and Janson were the best match. This is interesting though.

[icon_uk]

Indeed, Gene Colan's pencils are so.. textured, that it's a rare inker who doesn't trample all over them, or make them scratchier. Alcala was a better match for him IMHO, but Newton and Alcala is a particular joy.

[aelflar]

That anatomy is GORGEOUS! And I love how natural the fabrics feel, even his cape has a sense of weight to it!

[icon_uk]

The ability to get "cape-drape" right is always a selling point for me in terms of superhero attire. :)

[aelflar]

The page 20 scan, last panel is particularly great in this regard! <3 And Robin looks like cute all wrapped up in the cape - I`d imagine that`d happen in real life more than once.

[recognitions]

Lol @ Batman saying it's none of their business. You know he had a tracer put on her and had Alfred pull up any information on her he could find on the Batcave computer.

[jlroberson]

I have to wonder how much damage Dr. Hurt's bullet could have done, even a weak one, to a head that's endured this many concussions. Just like his wrists must have CALLUSES.