#Bob Smith

[splooosh]

“We’re not dealing with our usual super-villain”

Rico Buckler - Bob Smith- Larry Mahlstedt

[edgarmoser]

bob smith, kris studio (chicago)

[cantsayidont]

March 1984. Poor Jason. Everyone knows it, but you can't just say it.

[all-action-all-picture]

The Flash No. 304, dated December 1981. Cover by Carmine Infantino. One More Blip...and You're Dead! splash page below. Colonel Computron showing off his state of the art computer graphics. DC Comics.

[because-batcat]

"You won't die, Selina-- I'll see to that! You can't die-- you're the woman Bruce Wayne loves!"

Batman (v1) #324 (June, 1980)

Written by Len Wein with art by Irv Novick, Bob Smith, and Glynis Oliver

[protytwo]

Twang! -- Bump. Cosmic Boy and Night Girl are stuck in the 20th century in Cosmic Boy #3 by Ernie Colon and Bob Smith.

[beyondthespheres]

The collaboration between Ernie Colón, Keith Giffen, and Bob Smith, beared some of the most delightful fruits ever to taste.

[tomoleary]

Joe Staton and Bob Smith Huntress #10 (1990) Source

Colorist uncredited

[dirtyriver]

Preview of "Archie: The Decision", written by Tom King, art by Dan Parent (pencils) and Bob Smith (inks)

[ultrameganicolaokay]

Black Canary #1 'Hero Worship Part 1' (1992) by Sarah Byam, Trevor Von Eeden, Bob Smith and Julia Lacquement. Edited by Mike Gold. Cover by Von Eeden.

[splooosh]

“Presents”

Alex Saviuk

[the-professional-cocomeloner]

art improvement is crazy

[cantsayidont]

July 1983 to October 1986. In 1983, DC lured Doug Moench away from Marvel and books like MASTER OF KUNG FU and MOON KNIGHT to take over BATMAN and DETECTIVE COMICS under the editorship of Len Wein. Their run, which lasted 40 months, was the final phase of the Bronze Age Batman continuity; although it continued for some months after the end of CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS, everything through DETECTIVE COMICS #566 and BATMAN #400 is functionally part of pre-Crisis continuity, in particular most anything to do with Jason Todd becoming the second Robin. (Jason debuted during the end of Gerry Conway's run in early 1983, but it was Moench and Wein who oversaw Jason's actually becoming Robin.)

From 1981 to 1986, there was a tight continuity between BATMAN and DETECTIVE COMICS: a story begun in one book would continue in the other two weeks later. This was something new for Batman; there had been occasional multi-issue storylines for years, and Steve Englehart and Len Wein had introduced a certain amount of Marvel-style continuity in the late '70s, but having around 40 story pages per month allowed more room for character-driven stories, supporting characters, and subplots. When Doug Moench arrived, a central focus was on leading up to Jason Todd becoming Robin, but there were also numerous other major and minor subplots, from Alfred's attempts to connect with his adult daughter, Julia Remarque (introduced by Conway in 1981), to Gotham's messy city politics and various deadly underworld power struggles.

In MASTER OF KUNG FU, Moench's signature storytelling preoccupation had been "kinky weirdos hurting each other's feelings," and his initial run on the Bat-books also featured a series of messy, sometimes bloody romantic triangles, the most important of which involved Batman; the now-reformed Catwoman; Nocturna (Natalia Knight), a pretentious Goth burglar who attempted to adopt Jason Todd; and Nocturna's adoptive brother Anton, who became a cat burglar out of deranged obsession with Natalia and later tried to kill her so no one else could have her. It was all very grandiose and inevitably somewhat florid, but then expecting gritty, understated realism from a comic book about a man who fights crime dressed as a bat is itself pretty silly.

The strongest story in this run actually has little to do with that soap opera: "What Price the Prize?" in BATMAN #372, is an intelligent, grounded drama about an up-and-coming young Irish boxer maneuvering for a bout with a Black champion obviously inspired by Muhammad Ali, featuring some of Don Newton's finest Batman art; the conclusion in DETECTIVE #539 isn't quite as sharp, but is still one of Moench's best. Other highlights include a clash with Catman (BATMAN #371/DETECTIVE #538) in which Thomas Blake's determined belief in the magical power of his costume nearly gets both him and Batman killed over and over; a wistful story about the private life and hidden depths of boorish Harvey Bullock (DETECTIVE #549); a delightful one-shot (BATMAN #383) in which Batman repeatedly tries and fails to get some sleep; the debut of Black Mask (BATMAN #385–386 and DETECTIVE #553); a comedic tale of Batman and Catwoman on an actual date, in costume (BATMAN #392); and a distinctly '80s-Bondian espionage adventure reuniting Moench and artist Paul Gulacy (BATMAN #393–394).

Artistically, the run got off to a good start with Don Newton on BATMAN (inked by Alfredo Alcala) and Gene Colan on DETECTIVE (generally inked by Bob Smith). Newton's departure in 1984 hurt, leading to a period of artistic musical chairs and some really bad early Pat Broderick art, followed by Tom Mandrake taking over BATMAN. Mandrake gets a bad rap in some quarters, mostly because his style is looser (and about two steps further in the direction of Gene Colan) than many comics fans care to tolerate, but his work here is mostly fine, and certainly an improvement over Broderick's. The Annual has some very nice early Denys Cowan pencils, inked by Alcala, and BATMAN #400 is an all-star extravaganza art-wise.

Maddeningly, DC has never properly reprinted a lot of this material, which I think is badly overdue. If it's not as epochal as some more familiar periods both before and after, the median level of quality is pretty decent (and certainly no worse than the 1987–1991 period, which has now been reprinted in its entirety); its emphasis on characterization wouldn't be matched again in the Batman titles for many years. Denny O'Neil supposedly hated much of what Moench had done (Moench has said O'Neil especially loathed Nocturna, whom he flatly refused to revive in any form), but Denny is dead now, and in any case, his Batman stories include their share of stinkers as well as gems. I don't know that DC has any kind of real reprint strategy anymore, but I hope they won't wait until Doug Moench is dead to properly remaster and collect these issues. Doing them all (BATMAN #360–400 and Annual #10, DETECTIVE #527–567) in something akin to Marvel's Epic Collection format would probably take four volumes — there's around 1,800 pages of material, more if you include Moench's Superman/Batman stories from WORLD'S FINEST — but why not?

[boanerges20]

Bob Smith

[because-batcat]

Batman (v1) #324 (June, 1980)

Written by Len Wein with art by Jim Aparo, Irv Novick, Bob Smith, and Glynis Oliver

[allflooby]

Rose City Comic Con purchase: DC Comics Presents 96. Cover by Paris Cullins and Bob Smith.