Taking a step to the somber with Detective Comics #485, which is noteworthy for a couple of reasons. First, there was this clash between Batman and the Bronze Tiger:
I did not doctor or place these panels out of order. The Tiger soundly defeats Bats (who, don't get me wrong, is still one of my favorite characters) fair and square.
Which leads to this historic moment in comics:
Yup. It's the murder of the original Batwoman. Sort of. There's that whole multiverse thing that is way too complicated to explain to non-comic nerds. Anyway, Batwoman meets her unfortunate end:
It was off-panel, true. But I think that was more of a Comics Code issue. Back in the day, you couldn't be nearly as gross as comics are now.
A couple of issues later, I ran into the character of "Ma Murder":
Normally, I make fun of made-up names that suggest some sort of pre-destiny. You know, like "E. Nigma" became the Riddler. So, I got on The Google and looked to see if there was even a "Mhurder" surname. And, sure enough, there is! Well-played, Denny O'Neil. Well-played.
So, we get to Detective Comics #490, and our narrator seems to forget something:
Bats is "the ultimate martial artist"? Because it seems to me like, five issues earlier, the "ultimate martial artist" got his clock cleaned by the Bronze Tiger. I'm just saying. It's probably a little early to be proclaiming you're the baddest when you're coming off one of your few clean losses.
And John Ostrander's Suicide Squad rules.
See you tomorrow!
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2 comments:
And Ma Murder got an appearance in Batman: The Brave and the Bold. With her real name mentioned and everything.
A single stab wound, committed off-panel? That's downright genteel by the standards of current comics. I'd rather not imagine how this scene would be played out today...
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