Friday, November 5, 2010

"You Heard the Man, Charley!" Friday!

For those of you who (rightly) assume I have no pull in the comics industry and that the big-shots like to ignore me, allow me to present to you this panel from Detective Comics #366:


Remember what I said yesterday about what a dullard Robin was becoming because we rarely saw him actively participating in his own education?  Apparently, someone very high up in the DC Editorial Department reads my blog, acknowledged my insightful wisdom, built a time machine, went back to the sixties, and started correcting this mistake.

That's right, Eisner Award Committee members!  It's spelled B-A-R-N-E-T-T!  I'll try to look surprised when you nominate me next year.

Hey!  It's a Moment of Comic Book Greatness (tm!) from Detective #365!:


I don't know why I found that so funny, but I did.  I think it's because Robin is trying to be so badass.  "You heard the man, Charley!"  This from the kid wearing little green elf shoes and short pants.

Here's a very rare moment in Batman history from Detective #368!:


That's right... Batman is acting like he actually gives a rip about Due Process and the Constitutional Rights of the Accused!  Of course, there were cops standing right there at the time, which probably explains everything.

Don't worry.... I doubt we'll see him do it again.  Ever.

From Detective #369, it's not that Ralph was up to his usual shenanigans, but we see a rather significant artist's error that I'm surprised no one noticed:


Yup.  He's hitting the guy with his right hand, but that's clearly a left fist.  I think making that kind of mistake with stretchy guys is some sort of requirement with the big publishers.

I guess the argument can be made that if Ralph can stretch his own forehead, he could shape his right hand to look like his left, but we all know that was simply a mistake.  I remember noticing that when I first read the story as a kid, and believe me - I was not a particularly sharp kid.  I'm even less attentive as an adult, but I certainly wasn't known for my observation or logic skills, and I saw it, so how it got past a committee of a penciler, inker, colorist, and editor, I'll never know.

See you Monday!

7 comments:

Britt Reid said...

"He's hitting the guy with his right hand, but that's clearly a left fist."

It was an easy thing to correct, too. Just photostat the fist, flop it, and paste it in!
What's even more surprising is that the artist is Neal Adams, a guy noted for his realism and detail work!
To be fair, this was his first superhero work, before even his run on Spectre or any of the numerous covers he did for DC from late 1967 on. (In fact, he was still working on DC's Bob Hope and Jerry Lewis titles at the time!)

D.B. Echo said...

Even with the error, it's still Neal Adams, so it's still gorgeous!

Sad fact: I never heard of Ralph Dibney until about ten years ago. Even as a knockoff of a second-tier character with a goofy origin story, he's still pretty awesome.

Adam Barnett said...

I read about Ralph as a relatively young child because a lot of these stories showed up in later issues of Detective Comics as part of the 100 Page issues (for only 50 or 60 cents! Good times, good times....). I bought them because Batman was in it, but then developed a fondness for the Creeper, Deadman, Dr. Mid-Nite and Ralph because of those reprints.

I *love* Neal Adams and everything he does/did/ever will do. I'm a total Neal Adams fanboy. He and Cockrum just had a raw-yet-smooth style that I could stare at all day.

SallyP said...

I don't CARE about which hand he's using! For one glorious moment I thought that Ralph was punching Hal Jordan instead of some probably nameless thug, and my heart was just singing.

David said...

Reed Richards will always win this one: He was once drawn with a hand at the end of his LEG!

MarvelX42 said...

That is so small, how do you see a hand?

Also you should just be glad that Ralph is actually punching someone with his fist instead of stretching out the skin on the back of his left shin or something.

MarvelX42 said...

BTW is that elevator operator supposed to be Vietnamese? I don't see a name tag. Just sayin'