#golden age batman

[one-bat-day]

Getting some early bat in here

[magnetothemagnificent]

The only thing I edited was the text bubble. (Batman 1940 #13)

[id in alt text]

[batbabydaily]

batman #17 (1943): the penguin goes a-hunting

[cantsayidont]

July–August 1969. Although it's a reasonable inference, the idea that Bruce Wayne was legally unable to formally adopt Dick Grayson was actually a Silver Age retcon, added by E. Nelson Bridwell in a recap of Robin's origin in BATMAN #213. (Bridwell also makes a point of excising the various of Boss Zucco's men that Robin apparently kills in the first version of the story — which by my count may have been as many as five — but we won't dwell on that.)

The reference to obtaining "the consent of his nearest relatives" brings to mind the very interesting alternate version of Robin's origin that appeared on the ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN radio show in the fall of 1946. (It's recounted in the latter part of the episode for September 25, 1946, kicking off a serial called "The Dead Voice" that ran from September 26 through October 16, 1946.)

In the radio version, Bruce Wayne had been friends with Dick's parents (who in this version were named John and Yvonne), and knew Dick prior to his parents' murders, since Bruce would hang around with the circus acrobats to practice his own acrobatic skills. After the Flying Graysons' fatal fall, John survived long enough to ask Bruce to take care of Dick — Yvonne's family was at that time trapped in occupied France, and as the storyline subsequently reveals, John was estranged from his own family for joining the circus (and I guess for marrying Yvonne, although I don't think that's stated outright).

So, in the radio version, Bruce taking custody of Dick is not a matter of his arbitrarily scooping up a random orphan, but rather Bruce taking charge of the son of his dead friends at their express request, as a kind of godfather. This is so much more logical, and so much more reasonable, than the comics version that I'm mildly surprised that it's never been picked up by the comics or other media, particularly since post-Crisis Batman stories made such a big deal out of Bruce's odyssey to develop the various skills needed to become Batman; his having befriended some circus acrobats during that journey would fit in pretty seamlessly, I think.

[wellzofyouth]

[truthjusticeandcomics]

Batman #78

So in this issue Batman has to enlist the help of a Martian manhunter (no not THAT one), some postage stamps come to life and Batman & Robin must also team up with Canadian mounties to apprehend some crooks.

[wanderingmind867]

Some of the Justice Society had actual birthdates, which I think makes things interesting. Jay Garrick was born in 1918, Bruce Wayne was born in 1915, Rex Tyler was born in 1913, Johnny Thunder was born in 1917 and Jim Corrigan was apparently born in 1900. Now I just wish we had birthdates for other characters. I headcanon that Al Pratt was born in 1921 (and that Terry Sloane was born the same year), but I struggle with some of the others.

I wish there was more definitive birth dates for characters like Alan Scott, Charles Mcnider, Ted Knight, Ma Hunkel, etc. If you want me to believe in Infinity Inc, it'd go a long way for me to have birthdates for these characters, so I know when they became heroes, when they had kids, when their kids reached maturity, etc. It's the one form of math I understand: calculating age. From a year, I can get all the possible ages. It's a bit dark when I apply the math to people in real life, but it's a boring sort of fun when applied to characters in comics.

[aburdthatdraws]

Batober Day 6:

Alliance

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[fastestmanalive333]

And so completes the trinity and their love interests... I did slack off a bit, these are all based mostly on the golden age as you can see..

[dianaof-themyscira]

Batman by Sheldon Moldoff

[twixnmix]

Gina Lollobrigida sitting by the pool during her stay at the Beverly Hills hotel in Los Angeles on May 10, 1959.

[one-bat-day]

A few robins because I think more people need to know where Dick came from he’s so cute I’m sobbing

[nefarious-616-necromancer]

[batbabydaily]

world's finest comics #8: brothers in law

[cantsayidont]

April 1983. How the Earth-2 Batman and Catwoman finally worked it out, in Alan Brennert's exceptionally poignant "The Autobiography of Bruce Wayne" in THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD #197.

[goldenboyreturns]

REVEAL! (trying to beat my 2021 record of 14 posts before surrendering to October craziness)