[World of Bats] Batman Book Club: Bronze Age Bats! January-July 1970

Oh, I’ve still got two more and I’m terrified of them, but thanks!

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Wishing the both of you best of luck with your finals. :slight_smile:

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That’s what is standing out for me in most of these stories, that Batman is being portrayed as a actual man wearing a suit, whereas nowadays he’s pretty much superhuman.

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Detective #399 – Decent issue, solid enough premise. The introduction of Arthur Reeves, who’s a good foil/twerp for Batman to have to deal with.

Detective #400 – Introduction of Man Bat, definitely a neat way to celebrate a milestone. I find it interesting here that unlike in other media that introduces the character, the Man Bat in his first story is far less villainous and more sympathetic. Makes me feel good that he’s currently doing good as a hero over in JLD.

Detective #401 – Another okay issue. Villain feels like a really bland Kraven the Hunter clone with none of the menace/camp that comes with him.

Also, nice to see Batgirl and Robin share the spotlight together in the back-ups for #400 and 401, though sadly it seems like O’Neil kind of nerfs Babs a bit.

So having read all of them, I’ll say that overall these are all pretty decent at least, though I think there is definitely a stronger magic in the O’Neil/Adams issues.

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Animal gland serum does not sound like something I will partake in, thank you very much.

This was a interesting combination of stories in the combination of a Batman I’m familiar with and sporadic campiness. I like these for the most part, especially where Neil Adams was concerned, but some I could do without. That Batman costume pop-up in the plane was a bit silly, and 401 was just…no. Batman gets ego-hurt so it’s off to battle we go! Oh, the pride. And some of the dialogue in that take was very Adam-West-y.

But, still, fun stuff overall.

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Note: The next installment is going to be late… But only if you live on the East Coast like a loser.

Also maybe the Midwest. But it’ll almost certainly be up before midnight Pacific!

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Can confirm, am in midwest and loser.

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