Happy 70th Anniversary, Batman! If you're wondering why you didn't hear much of that outside of a few comics blogs, it's probably because of news like this:
Then in "Detective Comics," which was one of our mainstays of Batman, there's actually going to be no Batman in it -- it's going to feature the character Batwoman.
Simply amazing. DC has a hot property in Batman with two very successful movies in the last few years, and yet in the comics they've effectively killed off the character, and given his signature magazine over to his (as yet un-introduced in the new movie series) sidekick while his long-running spot in Detective is given to a character who just returned 3 years ago after 42 years in exile. How the heck does DC figure they're going to pick up readers from the Batman movies?
Since we're on the topic of how comics companies can screw up great properties, Four Color Media Monitor has a solid post on Marvel's tentantive reintroduction of Mary Jane in the comics (but not as Peter Parker's spouse, but as an "ex" (ex-what being unspecified but apparently meaning ex-girlfriend). It's funny, because I spent all those years from 1977-1997 hardly ever reading comics, I tend to think of MJ as Peter's bride as a bit weird, but I certainly understand the anger at the "oh, that never happened" aspect. And here's a detail I didn't want to hear about:
At least it tells why there's no reason to waste time on the 600th issue, which probably furthers that shock tactic affair between Aunt May and JJJ's father.
Bill Jourdain covers the problem with the Famous First Editions of the 1970s often being sold as the original comics they were based on. As I noted in the comments on that post, I often see copies of the FFE Action #1 posted on ebay (without the outer cover identifying it as a replica) as "something I found in my grandfathers attic." The replica is actually inexact; One of the ways you could tell an original from a reprint was that the original had some white "glare" on the front fender.
I continue to be impressed by Jacque Nodell's approach to the romance comics genre, although now that I see she has mentioned that her occupation is as a museum curator it fits. In this post, she covers the fashions for bridal gowns in the 1970s. You know how it is; being a guy I seldom stop to look at the clothes people are wearing as cultural indicators, unless it's something really outre like Harry Osborne's Nehru jacket.
