Dudes in Distress Week - Oh come on, you MUST have known I'd be doing something like this (Pt2)

[icon_uk]

As promised, this is the second mega-posting to celebrate the end of "Dude(s) in Distress Week", dealing with published images... (This is sort of a "Greatest Hits", as much of it has been posted before)

The history of the "Dude in Distress" in graphical literature is a long and noble one... there are probably medieval woodcuts showing that sort of thing, but as that slightly predates most of the usual area of scans_daily, we'll skip to something vaguely more recent... well, relatively speaking.

LOTS of scans under the cut, but I've used smallish thumbnails so as not to kill your broadband completely! Just stun it slightly...


Sometimes it was just the front cover, used to entice the reader into wanting to read the text stories inside... such as these covers featuring Bowery Billy from the early 1900's.



To the Hardy Boys novel's from 1920 onwards







Which stood them in good stead for their more recent translation to the graphic novel format...




And then in the 1940's came the definite article so to speak, as we move into the realms of Robin-dom, who was always getting into trouble, as these covers highlight





But, and this is a point to stress, was nearly always instrumental in his own survival and escape, regardless of the bad guy...

Be it the Golden Age Joker


The Cavalier



Or guys dressed like gorillas...



Okay, when it came to the Gorilla Gang he was pretty ineffective at escaping, but the only reason he'd been captured in the first place was that Batman had been put out of action and he went out on patrol on Gotham ON HIS OWN.. aged about 12 or 13 or so! (From the classic "Robin Dies at Dawn")

Though sometimes one is quite glad that splash page images weren't actually traps in the story



It got to the point he couldn't even do his homework in peace



In the more modern era he was still out there, getting into scrapes, being imperilled to frustrate or manipulate Batman...





Except sometimes now he could be imperilled as one of the Teen Titans



(Oooh, tentacles... for those who like such things.)





But then, that was the sort of life he led. Dick couldn't even hitch-hike without becoming an almost sacrificed by a Kentucky cult of devil worshippers (Whilst attempting to rescue a damsel of course)



He frees her but when he tries to deliver her to a hospital it happened AGAIN... presumably on the same NIGHT!



I mean, this is an encapsulation of his dating life at the time




I guess the guy was just born to have a life like this...



And he continued in that sort of role right up until he stopped being Robin



Even as Nightwing it hasn't got THAT much better for him... though the first cover scan might be something he has little dreams about now and again....



And ditto for Sylph, still his perfect nemesis



And consider that THIS was the first glimpse the New Teen Titans had of their new leader in New Teen Titans Annual #3. I suspect they recognised it was Dick more because he was securely shackled than anything else



Say what you like about the Disco!Wing costume, it got him through some tough times, like Titans Hunt.



Meanwhile... Jason Todd wasn't around to have that many instances, but there were a couple, notably of Jason 1.0... (I can;'t find the one where Man-Bat kidnaps Jason because he doesn't think Batman should HAVE kids, and then ties him hanging upside down whilst he prepares a new batch of Man-Bat serum to make Jason HIS kid instead... freaky stuff)

He did find himself in trouble with Cat-Man on one occasion though



I also leave the Freudian impact on having his surrogate mother's demented lover tying them both up so he could make them watch him beat the crap out of Jason's surrogate father (Batman), then strip him naked to swap clothes and take on the Batman identity to those better qualified, but it's nice Alfred Alcala art...



Compared to which, being the Scarecrows prisoner was probably a walk in the park.



Jason 2.0's most memorable example was in perhaps his second or third revamped origin which showcases how Bruce inducted him into the role of Robin...



And Tim... ahhh Tim, determined, and usually written, NOT to be the Boy Hostage, but still managing it a time or two...







Though is perhaps his finest hour... as both hostage and escapee.



And as for the future... well there's always Damian (Though he's too young to appeal... I appreciate Golden Age Dick wasn't that much older, but because I first read about Robin when he was at college, my head sort of edits things and reverse engineers a suitably older Dick into the same situations... weird I know, but if I could explain this kink of mine life would be a lot simpler....

Oh, and as regards his big brother, well we already know that the DCnU uses the same Universal Constant of Grayson Imperilment from this preview cover...



So to paraphrase an annoying mobile phone advert here in the UK; "The future's bright, the future's in peril"

And in my next, and probably final post for the week, my favourite example of a Dude in Distress!

Comments

[katzedecimal]

I betcha Dick spent years wondering if he was actually the reincarnation of Harry Houdini. It would explain so much.

[agharta75]

When Dick wasn't practicing trapeze, he was learning escape tricks from the magician. (Or he should have been.)

[icon_uk]

I like to think he picked up a lot of his skills there; acrobatics, escapology, contortionism, mimicry.

[gerardotejada]

In the 90 Tim was better Robin that Dick ever was, way funnier than Dick ever was, etc. Dick was very Dark as Nightwing. Now both characters are inversed

[icon_uk]

Different Robin's for different times I think.

Dick being "dark" should always be verboten. Serious yes, committed yes, but "dark" should never be part of his nature.

Nor should it be in Tim's, though he's naturally less light-hearted than Dick was.

Tim was the better detective as Robin than Dick had been at his age, but Dick was the better fighter and acrobat (and eventually learned the detective smarts, though he's never been as manipulative as Tim tends to be). Tim also had much more of a chance to grow and be independent than Dick had at the equivalent

There's a nice Zero Hour issue where young Dick is displaced in time and meets with Tim. Tim notes that though has had a longer Robin career than this version of Dick (relatively speaking) Dick was capable of casually performing moves that Tim would break his neck trying, but it's Tim's smarts that solve the case itself.

[kurenai-tenka.livejournal.com]

That really is an amazing amount of bondage you have there.


(I can;'t find the one where Man-Bat kidnaps Jason because he doesn't think Batman should HAVE kids, and then ties him hanging upside down whilst he prepares a new batch of Man-Bat serum to make Jason HIS kid instead... freaky stuff)

Do you have an issue number for that by any chance?

[icon_uk]

That really is an amazing amount of bondage you have there.

It was either that, or get a life! ;)

Oh, and it's Batman 361, and that tells me where to look for it in my long boxes, I'll see if I can dig it up.

[kurenai-tenka.livejournal.com]

It was either that, or get a life! ;)

Eh, I think you made the right choice. ;)


And awesome, thanks. :)

[icon_uk]

Thanks, me too! :)

[crinos]

Man, Paul Bunyan is a dick.

[whitesycamore]

That cover to the Hardy Boys: Mystery of the Melted Coins... tell me they didn't know what they were doing there. TELL ME.

Also, do you happen to have anyone lined up to bequeath this precious collection? You know, if anything unfortuitous were to happen. >_>

[icon_uk]

Oh I think they HAD to know at some level...

Most of the stuff has been posted here on on CAF.... the originals will probably be divided between some very surprised relatives at some point.

[icon_uk]

Oh, and if you think the UK or American covers are weird, consider the RUSSIAN cover of "While the Clock Ticked"



Not sure what it's saying, but it beats the hell out of me!

[whitesycamore]

It's saying that the Hardy Boys are about to become entangled - possibly literally - in a mystery involving a clock! Makes sense to me.

And I never said the UK/american covers were weird, I said they were hot. :P

If it's not too invasive a question, when did you first become aware of your atypical interest in peril? Because I was really young. Like, *three.*

[icon_uk]

And I never said the UK/american covers were weird, I said they were hot. :P

Sorry, being quite aware of my own tastes I often conflate the terms! ;)

Gosh, that is quite a question... from early on I know, most likely based on exposure to the old Batman TV series on reruns. Probably around the time I started school, so five or six. This scene in particular stuck in my memory from an early age for reasons I couldn't begin to articulate at the time;

[whitesycamore]

I suppose you're lucky you didn't fixate on horses!

I don't really know what prompted my interest. All I know is that it seemed very natural and normal to me, and I was considerably older before it 'clicked' that not everyone felt the same way.

The hero's in peril all the time because *everyone* gets a tingly feeling when he's tied up and squirming, right?

[icon_uk]

I suppose you're lucky you didn't fixate on horses!

:D

Yeah, I suppose it's never something I thought about, it was just always... there. I did tend to notice that there were certain characters I was interested in seeing in peril more than others (So the Hardy Boys sure, but not their dad, etc)

[lieut_kettch]

That first Hardy Boys cover: what's Canadian Guy doing there?

And you might want to include some Shazam! scans: I know Billy Batson gets bound and gagged quite frequently as it's the most effective way to keep him from accessing his powers.

[icon_uk]

He's laughing!

I did ponder putting some Batson scans in there, maybe I'll pop a few in, but I did include an example during the week.

[star_of_airdrie]

And don't forget the toy market... Sure, they'd say they were keeping him safe with that extra zip-tie, but I know better!!!

[icon_uk]

Very true! :)