Happy Birthday Batmobile!

January 12, 1966 marked the debut of the TV series BATMAN and gave birth to the most widely recognized, popular, and fan-requested version of the Batmobile.

The stories of how George Barris purchased the 1955 Lincoln Futura concept car (for a $1) from a dust-bin and created a pop culture monster in three weeks are widely-known and oft-repeated.  Suffice to say there exists a generation of Batmaniacs who identify more with the TV car than any other edition of the Batmobile.

It's a unique car in it's garage, the first to add Cerise (fluroescent, no less) to the Batman palette (a brilliant innovation that would only work on film, in our opinion) and flooded Batculture with the influence of gadgetry mania.

Part of the lore of this car is that designer Dean Jeffries was first offered the job, but turned it down due to the time constraints.  Dean reportedly started with a 1959 Cadillac, although I've seen nary a concept sketch for proof.

The '66 Batmobile started my childhood obsession with this beautiful monster and in celebration, I grabbed a POLAR LIGHTS snap 1/25 model.  As you can see, they got it spot on.

Happy Birthday, old man.  I think your parents are very proud.  Without you, Batman would have spent a lot of time doing this:

GIVEAWAY: And then BRAVE AND BOLD created women!

All the cowpokes here at the Flying Batmobile Ranch are thrilled to announce our latest invention:

FEMALE BATMAN: BRAVE AND BOLD figures!

To celebrate this brilliant miracle of modern science, we're holding our very first GIVEAWAY-

GET YOUR OWN BATMAN BRAVE AND BOLD HEROINE/ VILLAINESS

WHAT TO DO:
1) Sign up and Follow this blog.
2) Post a comment to this thread, listing your favorite BATMAN BRAVE AND BOLD heroine or
villainess from an episode of the animated show.

On Valentine's Day, 15 February 2012, we'll pick one post at random AND MAKE YOU THAT ONE FIGURE, to send ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD!

Spread the word, share the Brave and Bold Love.

Vote early and often!

The Batmobile's Grandfather: Jerry Robinson

The sky ripped asunder and Gotham shook to it's foundation, as we learned of the passing of artist Jerry Robinson.

Jerry Robinson was the real deal.  I attend his lecture at the New York Big Apple Con a decade ago.  He was a precise and literate man and clearly articulated both his and Bill Finger's contributions to the Batman mythos of which artist Bob Kane staunchly maintained sole credit until his death.

We here at the Flying Batmobile Ranch salute Jerry Robinson.

Jerry created The Best Parts of Batman: as a teenager, Jerry contributed to the Batman mythos by creating Robin the Boy Wonder, The Joker, Bruce Wayne's faithful butler, Alfred, and Two-Face.  Many of these creations were made in an uncredited partnership with author Bill Finger and artist Bob Kane.  As my super-cool friends at Batmobile History learned when they interviewed Mr. Robinson last year, Jerry was the pivotal influence on Batmobile design.  Author Bill Finger decided that Batman should stop driving anonymous sedans and coined the term "Batmobile".  To wit:

The 1939 Batmobile, in it's first appearance, as envisioned by Bob Kane 

The 1939 Batmobile, as it next appeared in BATMAN #5, as drawn by Jerry Robinson.
Big difference!

Jerry Robinson the Humanitarian.   Mr. Robinson played a pivotal role in getting pensions for Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel, creators of SUPERMAN.  Further, he engineered the release of cartoonist/ satirist Francisco Laurenzo Pons who had languished as a political prisoner in Uruguay for six years.  Mr. Robinson wrote volumes on the history of comics and donated his personal collection of Golden Age comic art for a traveling museum exhibit on the subject.  Importantly, Mr. Robinson created a San Diego Comic-con International award for under-recognized comic writers, named after his unsung BATMAN collaborator, Bill Finger.

Bill Finger, as illustrated by Jerry Robinson

Thus, in many ways, Mr. Robinson brought credit to people who had been overlooked by a multi-million-dollar industry by giving them The Finger.

I'm thankful for *new* BRAVE AND BOLD Figures!

Hands down, BATMAN BRAVE AND BOLD is my favorite Batman comic and the show is at the top of my list, too!

Sadly, the show is at it's end, with only a few new episodes left to air in the States.  Sadder still, the final BRAVE AND BOLD figures of The Flash, Captain Marvel, and others, never saw distribution.  The curtain is closing on a wonderful era of Bat-creativity...

... or is it?

The batphone here at the Flying B Ranch was off the hook with calls that two new figures were hitting the shelves:

Riddler and Bruce Wayne Batman Figures (2011)

Yes! A wonderful, Dick Sprang-inspired Riddler and Batman, with removable cowl.  Sure enough, Batmaniacs, we can now see the grim avenger underneath those pointy ears...

Bruce Wayne, with cowl, along side custom Robin!

... hurmm, perhaps it's best if that mask went back on.  Kidding aside, Bruce looks wonderful but needed   pupils.  I drool at the potential future figures that Bruce head will beget...

Riddle me this: What's up with the holes in my arms and legs?  

  ... and of course, that Riddler head is great.  It's nice to see a belt sculpt that can be so versatile.  I look at E. Nygma and see a million options, including Zebra Man!

Zebra Batman, baby!

... wrong Zebra Man!  How can anyone resist such spectacularly silly nonsense?  Eventually, the plan is to fill in the holes on all of these villains.  Eventually.

Hallowe'en went horribly wrong, when a rogue ice storm devastated the Flying Batmobile Ranch.  Repairs are still on-going, but at least the Atomic Turbines are back on line.  Sadly, the party is likely cancelled for safety reasons, but I had worked so hard on my Brave & Bold "costume" that I had to reveal it here:

Some of the best B&B team-ups were with Deadman!

Sir Neal of Adams (him again) did the best Deadman stuff, including his team-ups with Batman.  My figure was a modified Plastic Man, with sculpted head.  I painted Deadman in greys and white and then gave the figure a light coat of Italian Red to give the contrasting shades of red.  I did the head with a grey wash, which brought out the details of the sculpt, but I wonder if it's "toy line accurate".  A matte coat finished him off. 

The completed Brave & Bold line so far!

 Next up: a crazy guest appearance, two classic comic friends, two show friends that *should* have been in the comic, and then...

... the big surprise.

Keeping the Batusi on "GO"

Hooray for Jordi Bernet!

Well, all the owlhoots here at the The Flying B Ranch got out of the dust to celebrate DC Comic's latest ALL STAR WESTERN issue 2.  The main attraction of this month's missive?

Jordi Bernet drawing the legendary lethal phantasm of the west: El Diablo!

Making this even better is the fact that story telling bushwackers Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti have rolled out zombies into the frontier!

You get eight pages of masterfully-coloured terror by Rob Schwager, all for 399 pesetas (299 if you know the barkeep).

A great first chapter.

Oh yeah, and a Jonah Hex story, too...

Gracias por todos, El Mejor!

Happy 70th BIrthday, Green Arrow!

What kid didn't grab a bow and arrow and pretend to be Robin Hood?  

That's the hook to the best Batman knock-off ever: Green Arrow!

A Silver Age MEGO Party for the big 7-0!

70 years ago today, Mort Weisinger needed more Batman success.  Rich Playboy Bruce Wayne Oliver Queen and his ward Dick Grayson Roy Harper fought crime with the scientific marvels in the Batcave Arrowcave, with his high-powered Batmobile Arrowcar and a utility belt quiver filled with gadgets, most notably the batarang boxing glove arrow!  It was the Batman Green Arrow and Robin Speedy Adventure hour!

Ed Hannigan channeled classic ARROW artist
Lee Elias for this 2006 commission!

Sadly, Mort failed to capture the true zest of Bat-mania, as Green Arrow really had no meaningful rogues gallery, or raison d'etre for that matter.  His costume was simple and could have been taken from any ROBIN HOOD book cover.  

My first Green Arrow comic?  In the big SUPER FRIENDS Treasury comic, Alex Toth illustrated beats in between Justice League reprints, including one in which every League member dressed up as Green Arrow, including Wonder Woman!  That sort of thing scars leaves an impression, and I was hooked.  It also helped that he made a guest appearance on SUPER FRIENDS, even if he had another costume by then.

In another Treasury volume, Green Arrow magically lost his arms and had to fire his bow using his feet and teeth!  Yup, I tried that in the backyard a couple of times with the Suction Cup bow and arrow set...

Mike Grell has to be the best GA artist of all time!

Green Arrow made his most significant mark in my most favorite comic, BRAVE AND THE BOLD.  Creator team Denny O'Neil and Neal Adams had Oliver Queen losing his fortune, chucking the sidekick, getting new fighting togs, and growing a beard!  Green Arrow than went on to befriend Green Lantern, court Black Canary, and argue with Hawkman.  He became the first member to quit the Justice League over political differences.

My favorite Green Arrow comics were by Mike Grell, who took the Emerald Archer to Seattle, kicked off the goofy trick arrows and flashy super buddies and became a force of social justice.  In the late Eighties, when comics were supposed to be focused on "dark realism", Mike Grell's work focused on a middle-aged man coming to grips with idealism, mortality, and justice.  The term "Green Arrow" was never used in the book. 

Happy Birthday, Green Arrow! 

 

Brave & Blog Team Up: We Review Barbara Gordon and BATGIRL #1

Pop Vivant GCM of Firefrorefiddle and the lads here at When Batmobiles Fly decided to celebrate this week's relaunch of DC COMICS' Batgirl character by a brief trans-continental pub chat and look at the strange lives of Barbara Gordon.

WBF: I don’t think we’d have Batgirl today without Yvonne Craig.

Boy Wonder who?  The delightful Ms. Craig sold a
generation on girl power and lace motorcycles

In 1967, the tail wagged the dog and the Producers of the BATMAN TV show asked for a female companion to add to their mix of Adam West and Burt Ward.  DC COMICS sent Carmine Infantino off to his room et viola: The Million Dollar Debut of the Batman Family.

GCM: Though the tail wagged the dog, Batgirl had a unreleased pilot film, which also starred Tim Herbert (he occasionally played criminal ‘stooges’ in other episodes of Batman) as Killer Moth, which ties in with (The Million Dollar) Debut in the comics, where we see Batgirl take down the Killer Moth himself (and his many larvae and pupae.)

WBF: Man, I'd love to see that.  I thought Infantino's costume was great for comics.  Lots of black!

With apologies to Mr. Bruckner, Karen Palinko's
BATGIRL captures the essence of the comic art! 

It’s funny, with all the teeth gnashing and ironic pundits who characterize contemporary DC Comics and their beholden relationship to Hollywood, but I think it did them well in Batgirl’s case.  In the comics, Batman and Robin suck their teeth and rattle on about “ass kicking is no place for a girl” whilst in the show, the boys can’t scrape their chins off the pavement watching the purple-spandex high kicks.  Yvonne Craig and the show Producers made Batgirl a mystery to the Dynamic Duo and it worked: Clearly, the best moment of Season 3.

GCM: Yvonne Craig was a symbol to girls worldwide; she was cool and kept pace with Batman and Robin while involved in something that was really looked upon predominantly as a ‘boys’ game in the playground. Batman had the Batmobile, but Batgirl had her own answer with the Batcycle, which added that extra dash of dare and finess. One difference we did see: Barbara Gordon, the well-known redhead in the comix was actually dark haired in the show, and she would use a wig for the red locks when she was Batgirl.

WBF: After the fall of the show, did DC COMICS know what to do with the Dominoed Dare-Doll?  Isn’t that statement self evident enough?  Bronze Age writer Frank Robbins had Batgirl all but retire in the early Seventies, as she confronted her father with her identity and won a seat in the US Congress. 

With the exception of these Super-Fun Seventies
MEGO dolls, we prefer our Batgirls in black

GCM: Elliot S! Maggin and Bob Rozakis than spun some fun yarns with Barbara resuming her Bat career and flustering Robin The Teen Wonder.  Barbara Gordon in congress was all about social revelence; and it did put her in Washington for the battle with the spirit of Benedict Arnold in Batman Family #1 in 1975, which was a strike for the feminist movement (even though she was far too young to be a Congresswoman).

WBF:  I never liked the Bat Family out of Gotham, but the best moments of these stories are the interplay between Batgirl and Robin in a dozen issues of BATMAN FAMILY.  Barbara tolerated Robin's sexism with an appropriate degree of rolled eyes.  Vietnam Veteran-turned-Private Investigator Jason Bard was equally likely as a partner for her than the boy in a bright yellow cape.

GCM: BATMAN FAMILY is where she also got her own rogues gallery; even though most are forgettable, we do see the Earth-One Huntress and Sportsmaster.   As far as the bad guys go, The Power-Sower and Madame Zodiac weren’t too bad I suppose.  The best villain is certainly not Captain Aero,  although the story featuring that particular foe was narrated by Babs’ long-lost brother, the shadowy Tony Gordon. 

WBF: I liked that one!  Recently DETECTIVE COMICS had the return of Barbara's half-brother, in a super-creepy nod to THE KILLING JOKE.

And because of that AEROSMITH video, we shall never
speak of this again, Miss Silverstone...

GCM: Ahh, THE KILLING JOKE...

WBF: The Eighties were unkind to Barbara Gordon, to say the least.  THE KILLING JOKE is treated like the end-all moment for Batgirl.  More and more, I see it as the story that Brian Bolland really wanted Alan Moore to write for him.  In retrospect, it has nothing to do with Barbara Gordon- she’s a prop.

GCM: For what KILLING JOKE was, it has some good touches; where the idea was that the sanest man possible is but one bad day away from being a lunatic, so the Clown Prince of Crime set out to give Commissioner James Gordon that bad day.

WBF: John Higgins did a nice job on the colours, though.  So it wasn't that bad a day.

GCM: Things didn't start looking up for my girl until Kim Yale.

Bruce Timm et al made a brilliant
BAT FAMILY in a post-Alan Moore world

WBF: Right!  Kim Yale was really the second coming of Barbara Gordon.  DC COMICS had taken THE KILLING JOKE as the final say for the character and suddenly there’s this ubiquitous computer presence in the DC Universe.  It’s all knowing, like it’s Oracle Grecian namesake.  It’s street smart, taking on the Black Ops world of the SUICIDE SQUAD.  Of course, it’s Barbara Gordon.  Suddenly, the cripple in the wheelchair is now the smartest thing on the block, who just happens to be in a wheelchair.  And I think that’s even what it said on her new membership card to the Justice League of America, an auspicious event that never happened to Batgirl, to be sure.

GCM: We see Grant Morrison bring Barbara Gordon into the JLA, as Oracle; she was a positive role model to handicapped comic fans.  Within Birds Of Prey she became the brains behind the battlers, a la Professor X or the Doom Patrol’s the Chief.  First lady to do that.

Second time was the charm for an amazing
array of character designs

WBF: As for the all-new BATGIRL#1?  In a sentence, it appears Miss Gordon just “got better”.  She’s dialed back to post-college grad, a few years post-THE KILLING JOKE and just starting back out on the Batcycle.  

GCM: In this new book, we are introduced to new villain, The Mirror; and a new supporting cast as we see Barbara move out of her dad’s and get a new apartment. 

WBF: Smartly, Gail Simone is hard at work developing her own coterie of rogues.  Clearly Chapter One of a bigger story, so much for self-contained books.  

GCM: THE KILLING JOKE still plays a role in this story, which for a so-called “reboot” is a little confusing, as we take off touching upon the lasting effects of the shooting which paralysed her; which are obviously going to play a significant role within the storyline.

WBF: Right.  There's a moment where the trauma of what the Joker did to her has a huge impact.  Gail Simone is trying her best to make a lot out of this moment from 20 years ago, perhaps to appease die-hard fans entering this strange new world.  The book certainly looks pretty, even if the costume is a tad Bryan Hitch of 10 years ago.  I think Bruce Timm's redesign of her costume is still the best.

GCM: That's because yellow is one of the few colours you can see. 

WBF: I always admire your candor, Mrs. Peel.

GCM: And I adore your blower Bentley, Mr. Steed. 

TUNE IN NEXT WEEK WHEN WE CO-BLOG ABOUT BATWOMAN#1: LESBIANS AND BATARANGS!

Barbara Gordon: A Girl of TRUE GRIT