{World of Bats] CRISIS ON INFINITE CLUBS -- Batman (1940) #389-391, Detective Comics (1939) #556-558

[JLWWSM]

Still reading:

Had to post - Batman is having an identity Crisis Poor Bruce.

[Jay_Kay]

Batman at his most emo.

Crawling in my Skin intensifies

[JLWWSM]

Poor Batman (continued)

[Jay_Kay]

He just can’t compete with the shared love of jazzercise.

[JLWWSM]

ok, this entire scene is just so entertaining!

He can’t catch a break!

[Jay_Kay]

Now I’m thinking of Closer by NNN – which fits those two very well, actually.

[AlexanderKnox]

Sadman Returns.

[Jay_Kay]

Though speaking of Batman and Nine Inch Nails, I think some of the stuff he’s going through here feels more like Something I Can Never Have.

[JLWWSM]

I think she’s still bitter about the stalagmite comparison (I would be too ) and of course other things.

[JLWWSM]

@Jay_Kay

• Unlike many stories going on during this time of Crisis, this story is decidedly much more grounded. Do you like how Moench handles the crossover here, or would you have rather read of Batman’s adventures in the grander, cosmic events of this event?

I think it makes sense. It’s the end of worlds. If Batman doesn’t figure himself out now, he never will. It shows a lot of humanity and personal growth for Batman.

@Jay_Kay

• For some of you, this may be your first exposure to Pre-Crisis Jason Todd, the kinder, more innocent Jason before he tried to jack the hubcaps off the Batmobile. What did you think of this kindler, gentler version of Jason?

I like the one who jacks the hubcaps more. Nothing’s wrong with this one though. He’s just a bit mild.

@Jay_Kay

• To say that Batman in this story is dealing with some girl problems would be…putting it mildly. Who do you think Batman loves the most? Does he love Nocturna, the woman who has Jason’s affection? Or Catwoman, the woman who has been the biggest constant in his life? Maybe even Vicki Vale, the jazzercising journalist? Or is Batman’s worst fear true, and he only loves those who are dangerous and therefore unattainable?

He loves Catwoman it just took almost losing her for him to figure that out (why does it always take that for folks to “get it”?)!

Vicki just isn’t the one - at least not long-term. And I don’t know what to think of Nocturna.

I enjoyed this! Thanks @Jay_Kay

[Jay_Kay]

@JLWWSM

(why does it always take that for folks to “get it”?)!

Because it’s what makes for the most dramatic storytelling possible.

And thanks for reading it with us, @JLWWSM!

[JLWWSM]

Glad I could join It was fun!

[ralphsix]

Man, I enjoyed reading these issues. These were some of my fittest Batman comics so easily nostalgic for me. I loved Jason’s relationship with Bullock and Nocturna back in the day.

Regarding the melodrama, I will there was a bit more of that these days, where there’s as much going on on a personal level for the heroes and supporting cast as there is with whatever battle is happening at the moment. Characters were just more fleshed out and complex back then.

I liked the way these issues crossed over with Crisis, where that event was happening all around them but the plot wasn’t dependent on the Crisis series. They didn’t even refer to these as Crisis crossovers on the covers which I thought was cool, too.

[msgtv]

Cat taking her Bat frustrations out on Bird.

[Harpysister.49301]

Late as always… one day i will be on time… probably

@Jay_Kay

• Unlike many stories going on during this time of Crisis, this story is decidedly much more grounded. Do you like how Moench handles the crossover here, or would you have rather read of Batman’s adventures in the grander, cosmic events of this event?
  i liked the stories but i feel like it was dragged out a bit to much, for what was actually presented i feel it could have been told in 3 issues and should have been in either Detective comics or Batman not both. there just wasnt enough going on. Although i liked Batman having to confront how he wants things both ways between Bruce and the Bat when it comes to the women and relationships in his life ( i wish they did this a little more with his actual family/kids and not just his various girlfriends). If you had not told me it was related to Crisis i wouldn’t have known so to have any impact it probably should have had more to do with the main parts of Crisis.

• For some of you, this may be your first exposure to Pre-Crisis Jason Todd, the kinder, more innocent Jason before he tried to jack the hubcaps off the Batmobile. What did you think of this kindler, gentler version of Jason?
  i liked him a lot, he was considered a rip off of Dick early on and its easy to see why but the really soft personality in my opinion made him pretty different. although this panel spells out how i kinda feel about him with Nocturna:

  
  
  he is definitely portrayed as easily trusting and quick to like/get attached which is interesting when compared with the post-crisis version im familiar with.

• To say that Batman in this story is dealing with some girl problems would be…putting it mildly. Who do you think Batman loves the most? Does he love Nocturna, the woman who has Jason’s affection? Or Catwoman, the woman who has been the biggest constant in his life? Maybe even Vicki Vale, the jazzercising journalist? Or is Batman’s worst fear true, and he only loves those who are dangerous and therefore unattainable?
  I feel like its Catwoman for the fact that she has been such a constant, a lot of the others were really only love interests to further a plot or to facilitate story telling. And if im being honest, i did not care for Nocturna past her design, waxing poetic the whole time does not make her more interesting to me unfortunately.

Thanks for another great week!

[Jay_Kay]

I definitely get what you mean about the weird back and forth between the titles. Very irregular to what we get nowadays, though from reading more of this era for the Jason Todd Book Club it seems like this was the norm for the book back then.

Thanks for participating!