#Cary Bate

[vintagegeekculture]

#dc comics #70s #flash #cary bates

[cantsayidont]

There are some things in DC's voluminous back catalog that they ought to properly reprint because they're good — gems of past eras. However, there are also some things they ought to properly reprint because they're delightfully stupid, like the Superman/Batman team-ups from WORLD'S FINEST COMICS. DC has actually reprinted all the stories from the '50s, through about 1961, but a lot of the '60s material has only been reprinted in the B&W SHOWCASE PRESENTS books, which is a shame.

The WORLD'S FINEST team-ups went through several distinct phases. Superman, Batman, and Robin had shared the covers of WORLD'S FINEST COMICS since 1941, but it wasn't until 1954 that shrinking page counts obliged them to actually share the lead feature. The '50s stories are pretty good of their time, with some lovely Dick Sprang art, and the presence of Superman meant the drift into science fiction was less jarring than in the contemporary Batman books. In 1964, editorial control of WORLD'S FINEST passed to Mort Weisinger and it became a Weisinger-era Superman book that happened to have Batman and Robin in it. Starting in 1967, though, things started to get stranger and stranger as Weisinger's stable of sci-fi veterans like Edmond Hamilton and Otto Binder gave way to Bob Kanigher, Cary Bates, and Bob Haney, who turned out some exceedingly weird material. Stories like the two-parter about Superman having died and willed his super-organs to various people (#189–190) aren't quite as ghoulish as the covers suggest, but their inexplicable weirdness is emblematic of the period.

For a little while in the early '70s, DC evicted Batman from the series, making WORLD'S FINEST a general-issue Superman team-up book. (DC reprinted those issues in trade paperback in 2020.) This apparently wasn't a big commercial success, but rather than immediately returning to the expected Superman/Batman format, WORLD'S FINEST began to feature the Super-Sons, the teenage sons of Superman and Batman in a hazily defined parallel reality — written by Bob Haney, whose stories consistently evoke the sensation of mild concussion. The "real" Superman and Batman also returned, although they had to alternate with their hypothetical future sons, appearing roughly every other issue through 1976. From 1976 to 1982, WORLD'S FINEST once again became an oversize anthology book, with a Superman/Batman main feature backed by a variety of other characters like Green Arrow and Hawkman. The stories in that period are not quite as ludicrous as the late '60s (although if you see Bob Haney's name in the credits, you know you're in for a wild ride), but even the soberer installments are consistently very silly, full of nonsense like Kryptonian lycanthropy and the return of some especially ridiculous older villains like the Gorilla Boss of Gotham City and Doctor Double-X.

It wasn't until issue #285 that Superman and Batman again had the book all to themselves. The late period dials back the zaniness and has mostly uninspired plots, but writers Doug Moench and David Anthony Kraft compensate with some eyebrow-raising and apparently deliberate "Superbat" ship-bait; my personal favorite is Kraft's "No Rest for Heroes!" (a short story in the back of WORLD'S FINEST #302), where Superman and Batman go to a dive bar in the middle of nowhere to talk about their relationship and Batman ends up throwing a knife at someone.

Very little of this stuff is actually good by any normal standard — although the 1964–1967 period is no more or less weird than any other Weisinger Silver Age Superman stories — and the artwork is only occasionally better than passable. However, it's so stupid and so ridiculous that it's consistently fun, in a way DC doesn't really do anymore, at least not on purpose. Assembling all the Superman/Batman stories (leaving the Super-Sons to their own TPB), omitting the various backup strips, and giving it decent color reproduction would make for a nice package, and the presence of Superman and Batman would make it more commercially viable than some of DC's more artistically worthy back catalog material. Low-hanging fruit, if you ask me.

#comics #world's finest comics #curt swan #neal adams #murphy anderson #superman #batman #robin #jimmy olsen #mort weisinger #cary bates #robert kanigher #bob haney #david anthony kraft #doug moench #superbat

[batmanonthecover]

World’s Finest #180 - November 1968 (DC Comics - USA)

Cover Art: Neal Adams

SUPERMAN'S PERFECT CRIME

Script: Cary Bates

Art: Ross Andru (Pencils), Mike Esposito (Inks) Bem Oda (Letters)

Characters: Superman [also as Nova]; Batman; Robin; Alfred Pennyworth; Horatio Socrates

Batman story #1,254

#comics #dc comics #world's finest #batman #superman #neal adams #cary bates #ross andru #mike esposito #ben oda #1968

[chernobog13]

Then there was that time in Superboy (vol. 1) #204 (October, 1974) that Brainiac 5 went a little coo-coo and built himself a Supergirl love android.

#Superboy #Legion of Super-Heroes #Brainiac 5 #Supergirl #DC Comics #Cary Bates #Mike Grell

[brevoorthistoryofcomics]

GH: SUPERMAN #382

By 1983, SUPERMAN was feeling a bit like a product of a different age. While some effort was being made to modernize the Man of Steel, including having Gil Kane provide covers as he does here, the actual contents of the magazine were still very much of a piece with the kinds of stories that were being run ten years previous when I had first read an issue. On a certain level, this did represent a…

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#Alan Moore #Cary Bates #Curt Swan #DC #Elliot S! Maggin #Gil Kane #John Byrne #Julie Schwartz #Marty Pasko #Superman

[comicarthistory]

Page from Action Comics #544. 1983. Art by Curt Swan and Murphy Anderson.

#dc comics #dc universe #superman #justice league #action comics #lex luthor #curt swan #murphy anderson #cary bates #brainiac

[evilhorse]

Would you believe…more hats?

#zatanna #zatanna zatara #magic #more hats #trick #dat rack #cary bates #don heck #dc comics #comics #70s comics #bronze age comics #supergirl

[blorb-el]

incredibly brave of superman to defend metropolis while going into labor

#superman 249 for those of you who would like. context #truly one of the comic book of all time. highest recommendation #made me see shrimp colors #bronze age bullshit i love you. cary bates i love you... #clark kent

[nickmarino]

#zatanna #dc #comics #cary bates #don heck

[balu8]

Legion of Super-Heroes

Superboy #195: The One-Shot Hero

by Cary Bates (W.); Dave Cockrum (P./I.) and Ben Oda (L.)

DC

#dc comics #Legion of Super-Heroes #ERG-1 #wildfire #Dave Cockrum #Ben Oda #Cary Bates #comic book

[gargoylespodcast]

Cary Bates returns to discuss “Revelations”! A film noir-ish story featuring Elisa Maza’s partner, Matt Bluestone, front and center as he finally tracks down the infamous gangster, Mace Malone and, through him… the Illuminati! A variety of topics are covered, such as the show’s use of the Illuminati versus modern day conspiracy theories. The excellent guest cast: Tom Wilson, Michael Bell, and Efrem Zimbalist Jr.! Disney’s desire to use the show to promote their Tower of Terror ride in Walt Disney World… before suddenly changing their minds! Elisa keeping the clan a secret to their detriment, and so much more! Available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Amazon Audible, Spotify, and your podcatcher of choice! And join us on Patreon at SpideydudeNetwork for the Exclusive Video Edition! https://spidey-dude.com/voices-from-the-eyrie-34-revelations/

Follow us on Twitter at: @FromEyrie Visit Jennifer L. Anderson’s online stores at: Angel Wings and Demon Tails Visit Greg Weisman at: Ask Greg Everything you ever wanted to know about Gargoyles at: GargWiki

#gargoyles #disney gargoyles #Voices From the Eyrie #podcasts #podcast #greg weisman #cary bates

[beyondthespheres]

Stephen DeStefano & Dave Hunt for Video Jack #6, by Cary Bates & Keith Giffen, 1988

#comics #epic #marvel #stephen destefano #dave hunt #cary bates #keith giffen #video jack

[cantsayidont]

July 1983. Accidentally transported to the 30th Century, Ambush Bug runs amok in the Superman Museum as the Legion of Substitute Heroes tries and fails to stop him. The ridiculous thing about the above exchange from DC COMICS PRESENTS #59 (which has been stuck in my head for years) is that it's not even a joke: The girl with the antennae is Infectious Lass (Drura Sehpt of Somahtur), and that really is her power, as explained in her first appearance in 1974:

Not the hero we need, surely, but perhaps the hero we deserve.

#comics #dc comics presents #superboy #keith giffen #paul levitz #kurt schaffenberger #cary bates #dave cockrum #legion of super heroes #legion of superheroes #legion of substitute heroes #infectious lass #ambush bug #i like her '70s outfit #the snot wings are really something

[batmanonthecover]

World’s Finest #182 - February 1969 (DC Comics - USA)

Cover Art: Curt Swan & Neal Adams

THE MAD MANHUNTER

Script: Cary Bates

Art: Ross Andru (Pencils), Mike Esposito (Inks) Joe Letterse (Letters)

Characters: Superman; Batman

Batman story #1,265

#comics #dc comics #world's finest #batman #superman #curt swan #neal adams #cary bates #ross andru #mike esposito #joe letterse #1969

[chernobog13]

From Superman (vol1.) #297 (March, 1976). Written by Car Bates and Elliot S! Maggin; art by Curt Swan and Bob Oskner.

Wherein it is STRONGLY implied that Lois spent the night at Clark's apartment. How that got past the Comic Code Authority, or the powers that be at DC editorial, I'll never know.

According to many staffers at DC at the time, this was more than an implication - Clark and Lois did have sex. "Beef bourguignon" became more than just Clark's favorite meal; whenever he or Lois would mention it to each other it was their version of "Netflix and chill."

Unfortunately, at the time, the Clark and Lois relationship never really progressed. By 1983, when Lois had been replaced as the love interest in the film Superman lll, DC editorial decided to follow suit and have Lana Lang take her place as Clark's love interest in the comics.

#Superman #Clark Kent #Lois Lane #Steve Lombrad #beef bourguignon #DC Comics #Cary Bates #Elliot S! Maggin #Curt Swan #Bob Oskner

[brevoorthistoryofcomics]

WC: ACTION COMICS #354

This issue of ACTION COMICS is noteworthy in that it contains one of the first Superman story written by Cary Bates, who would go on to become a regular contributor to the Man of Steel’s adventures in the 1970s. Bates broke into the field by submitting ideas for catchy cover images to editors such as Julie Schwartz and ACTION’s Mort Weisinger. At this time, a grabber of a cover is what sold the…

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#Action Comics #Al Plastino #Cary Bates #DC #E. Nelson Bridwell #Jim Mooney #Leo Dorfman #Mort Weisinger #Supergirl #Superman