Randall Ries

It wouldn't be so bad if Ra's Al Ghul wasn't holding it up for the whole world to see. Still a killer cover. Sadly, I have noticed it since around 1973 when I got a copy as a ten year old. Even the adults couldn't explain it. Lame stuff like "Well now that Batman is dead, the man on the cover is going to be Batman!" Back then, there was no such thing as an emancipated minor, so I couldn't even divorce my parents. And my father had the same sense of humor as I do now, so when I tried scribbling the pants out with a ball point pen, he said "Now you have ruined your comic book AND you know deep down inside those bat-pants are still there." Many years later, in court ordered therapy, it finally spilled out. Why the life of crime and dysfunction, Randy? You are intelligent. You have a wife who loves you. You are a hard worker. Why the...." "The BAT PANTS, DAMMIT! YA HAPPY? THE G.D. BAT-PAAAAANTS!!!!" All that accomplished was another 30 days of court ordered therapy.

It's probably someone's favorite cover. I like it but I am not knocked out by it. It's neat that there have been several books cited as favorites that aren't especially well known.

I even made a game out of it. I bought "Batman: Hush" and bought them all as SS books. Then bought the hardcover. Great story. Just to address the "suck" part of NoMans comment: There is an awful lot of terrible writing in modern books I have found. The writing tries to reflect the parlance of today's "hip" youth but today's "hip" youth is nearly illiterate as illustrated by FB, IG and Twitter. For some good reading, try bronze age books written by Bob Haney, Denny O'Neil and others. I'm old now, so I forget who else. Batman 232 started the Ra's Al Ghul (I hate this word) "saga". Not only was the art superlative (I am NOT illiterate), but the writing was actually interesting. Written in 1971, they even managed to keep pop words of the day out of the text. Words like "Far out", "Right On", "Groovy, man!" and "Please pass me the heroin needle so I can overdose. Plunger first, please." At least out of the Batman stories. The "Robin goes to college" stories were loaded with that . I stopped reading those when Grayson offered to "rap" with a fellow "Cool cat" in his "digs" at the college "Dormitory". Peace, Ma-a-a-aan!

All I can say is I don't buy Batman stuff unless I already know I'm going to like it. Maybe you are thinking of the artist Jock who did the cover for Detective 880? I have never once bought a Batman book that "sucked". Not once. I already know which ones at least border on suck. Reviews are plentiful as are synopsis. Just do a bit of research and you can make up your own mind to the stuff that suits your tastes. I hate bad writing and implausible stories. I love Neal Adams art but his writing is - I am afraid - contemptible.

4.5-5.0

People can submit whatever they want. I am postulating they have created the very problem they are complaining about. And it's a pretty good guess most modern stuff that's being submitted is trash. Only looking for that 9.8. Yeah, it's a judgment call and I'm making it, see?

"Me not help flatten curve by flattening part of Mt Everest, not wear mask and not take vaccine! Me smart and helpful"

And this suck-fest. Like popsicle stick art. And those "-- --" are supposed to imitate pauses in conversation. Did he just pause and then yell his name at us?

Sorry, Frank. Klaus is a great beard. Give him a break.

Plus they live....WHERE?

Squinchy Leg II: The Return Of Longbodies

Giant Sized Batman.....

What I can't figure out is why someone would send the book in for grading, having it come back as 9.8, then leaving it out somewhere where the sun could get to it? I mean, wouldn't a savvy collector first of all freak out and say "It got a 9.8! I am sitting on a lot of money! I am going to put it away." If it were in a shop, one would have to wonder if even a customer might quip "Say, that's a stupid place to leave that book. In your front window, The suns hitting it. Plus, you are leaving yourself open to theft." Same with a glass case. I mean, how much fluorescent light would have to hit it to fade it like that? And for how long? I've seen books sit for years on the walls of LCS's and they never faded like that. So, let's see. I am smart enough to know what I have. I have an IH 181. I am smart enough to see it's pristine. I am smart enough to send it in for grading. I am smart enough to realize a 9.8 for this book is going to net me some change. I am smart enough to sell it via CL. I am smart enough to price it right in the zone for an IH 181. I am NOT smart enough to keep it out of the sun. Duh. And the blue label is a dead giveaway. That would have faded substantially as well. It would NOT look brand new while the rest of the book is trashed. It would have at least a moderate amount of fading. Thing to do I guess is to find out WHEN it was graded v the time it was put up on CL for sale.

That's sort of how I have been looking at it as well. But then I started thinking about the profiteers who send in 1,000 books per month. What I imagine to be pretty valueless books just so they can sell them for x10 of what they are worth because they are graded. So, if these sellers are doing THAT and there are a LOT of them doing it, they really have no room to complain about TAT. It's them who are creating the problem. If I have a raw Batman #230 and I would like to have it graded, this situation is something I would avoid. I get to sit and wait months for one book while a profiteer sends in 1k books, then the same people complain about TAT? They are the problem. CGC isn't going to turn business away, obviously. But isn't it reasonable to assume that books with actual value are being damaged because everyone has to step up the pace to accommodate dealers selling worthless modern books? I always felt like the grading process SHOULD take a little time. So books don't get mishandled and damaged. Or lost. But if they have to process 10,000 useless books to every 100 books that are actually relevant and worth a good deal of money, I can see why the people involved in the process might start to get a little jaded.

Haha! Yes. Just happened to show up with 2 of the most recognizable examples of collectible silver and bronze age books and say "Deeeehhhh I denno whut dese are WURF! Kinnya tell me? Cuz I sure dunn NO!!!" LOL!

I don't give the fuzzy crack of a rat's heinie if they are furious. They are their own problem. They have created the problem for themselves and other collectors who only submit one or two books.

What are you submitting? Modern junk to get your 9.8's? Or books that are actually worth something? There seems to be a clash of cultures going on here. You seem to have sent in almost 1,000 books that are likely worth zip while someone else sent in one Avengers #4 he would like to get back before he dies. That is certainly your privilege, but I would postulate it is dealers that send in 1,000 books at a time per month that probably aren't important to anyone except them and their income while actually valuable and collectable books are getting damaged, suffering interminable wait times or both just so dealers don't have to go get a real job. I guess I don't have too much sympathy for dealers who flood a grading company with brand new drek that will never be worth diddly at 1,000 submissions per month per dealer. It would seem as though they are the main problem with TAT if this is actually the case.

Rosaylnn Carter. Hal Linden. Lucille Ball. Lex Luthor. Batman. Sonny Bono. Tons of people. There is a key on the inner cover outlining everyone Adams drew into the crowd.

Ali won. Superman's powers were nullified and without those? Well, Superman is a shlub.

That cover IS a wowser. I remember buying it from the factory outlet store we used to go to. Muhammed Ali was at his zenith then. Just about ready to start into his descent. We had fun trying to identify the people in the audience. Values on this have gotten out of control. Shoulda coulda woulda bought one in 2019.

They could have just left it alone after Crisis. But by now - since that was 1985-1986, if Batman was 20 when the single universe was the only universe, he would be 55 by now. Or much more realistically at least 60. Time to kill the universe again. Although there was little to like about Batman: DK III The Master Race, I liked the simple solution of The Lazarus Pit and having Clark dunk Bruce into it after Bruce was killed by the Kandorians. There. Takes care of that. Bruce is young again.

Kryptonite went inert due to some ridiculous chain reaction causing ALL of it everywhere to be neutralized. So, the cover was a riff on that. And the title "Kryptonite Nevermore". That didn't last long. Nothing ever does in the DC world. Let's write a long, drawn out multiverse story for decades, culminated with Crisis On Infinite Earths, reset the universe, then undo it all and try to do it again.

I always thought the cover artists did the whole cover. Maybe not.

I always associated it with a publicity stunt. Like a circus trick for the kiddies. Superman 11 was the first cover to do the chains thing, I believe. Or actually the early Action Comics upper left corner thingy.