Batman: The Dark Knight Archives Vol. 6 [Hardcover]

This 228 page archive reprints 5 Batman issues (#21-#25) instead of the usual 4. After Batman #21 the page count was dropped from 60 to 52. Instead of 4 11-13 page Batman stories per issue there were now 3 such stories supplement by a 4 page "Adventures of Alfred" comedy short. One hopes the next volume can squeeze in 6 issues.

The stories collected here are a mixed bag. Many are inventory stories which had been around for a few years. As such one does not see much in the way of more sophisticated artwork or stories as compared to previous volumes. Many of the stories, and the ones that come closest to being acceptable by modern standards, are drawn by long time Batman artist Dick Sprang. Classic Batman villains make a few appearances - Catwoman, Cavalier, Tweedledee/Tweedledum once apiece, Penguin and Joker twice (once in the same story). None are particularly memorable. A very nice touch was 6 pages of creator biographies including many I haven't seen before and many that have been expanded from previous volumes.

I'm happy to report that in this volume reproduction was done in the traditional archive manner. The scanned reproduction in other Golden Age archives have not been well received. The retail price has been raised to $[...], a move that was probably inevitable.

All in all a fine volume and highly recommended to any readers willing to accept that Golden Age story and art were definitely somewhat on the crude side. I find reading one issue at a sitting is about my limit.

The reconstruction and cleanup of artwork is very good in the "Batman: The Dark Knight Archives Vol. 6". For a while in 2009 DC Comics was trying to save money by selling very poor reconstructions of their old stories. See my and other people's reviews of "Golden Age Starman Archives Vol. 2" and "Sandman by Kirby and Simon". This book does not have the past art reconstruction problem.

The stories in this book are from the 1944 #21-25 Batman comics. I gave the book a "5" star, but I gave allowances for comic book writing in 1944 was for kids aged between 7 and 15. If you prefer writing style and the more mature stories of today's comics, I would then give this book a "1" or "2" star rating.
My "5" star rating for book really was a rating better than "4.5" stars, but not a full "5". For me there were some really good stories, and a couple of so-so ones (like the "Knights of Knavery"). An example of a good story was "The Duped Domestics!".

The story starts with Alfred neglecting his butler duties for Bruce and Dick. The reason for this is Alfred has gotten the love bug for a new maid, named Belinda, who works at a neighboring mansion. The "bug" has bitten hard enough that Alfred has been having secret meetings with her where he tries to procure her feminine charms. What really surprised me, Alfred has a real playboy side to him. Here is a guy that looks like he is in his 50's making time with Belinda who looks like she is in her mid to late 20's.
Unfortunately it turns out Belinda is really Catwoman who has been casing and robbing the mansions in the area. She has been using the servant staff, mainly the butlers, to get the inside information on the households. Eventually this is figured out and Alfred has his heart somewhat crushed. Alfred, to recover his manhood and to show Catwoman that crime does not pay, punishes her by giving her a "spanking". Did I also mention they are both wearing costumes during the "spanking" (get the book to find out if Alfred's costume has much leather in it).
There is also a great scene at the end of the story where Alfred and Catwoman return to Wayne Manor. Alfred comments to Bruce Wayne as he starts to make the call to the police, "I don't believe the Catwoman would care to sit down just yet, ...". Catwoman responds, "Er--yes--I'd rather stand...".

Another fun story was "Damsel in Distress!". In this one Dick Grayson (i.e. Robin) gets sweet on a girl in his school named Marjory. Marjory is a blond, wears a red bow in her hair, wears a starched white blouse and plaid skirt, and is the smartest girl in the class. By today's standards your probably thinking this girl is a real nerd. Again this is 1944, visualize her instead as a modern girl with short black hair, dresses goth, has a tat, several piercings, and is the smartest girl in the class. She won't seem so strange then.
Marjory's father is a doctor. Her father is picked up by criminals to treat their boss Bugs who has a gun shot wound. To keep Marjory's father from reporting the treatment of Bugs, they kidnap her.
Dick Grayson stops by to visit Marjory, who of course is not home. Only Marjory's father and a suspicious acting man are there. Marjory's father realizing Dick is a real smart kid gives him a prescription for his cold. Dick, who does not have a cold, realizes that the prescription is a message in Latin. The message "Periculum Praecautum - 1 oz. Lex. Q.S.". Get the book (or learn Latin) to figure out the message. I thought this was one of the cleverest pieces of "I need help" plot writing in comics (story's author is Don Cameron).
Using the message Dick Grayson as Robin rescues Marjory. Dick does too good of a job with the rescue. Marjory appreciates Dick figuring out the message, but her heart now pines for Robin. The last panel of the story has the teacher asking Marjory, "... which is the best-loved of our American birds?". Which Marjory answers, "The ROBIN!". Dick is sitting next to her dejected and depressed. Hey, maybe Dick should ask Alfred for some pointers on how to deal with women?

The final pages of the book have, as usual, a decent set of biographies of the writers and artists who contributed to the stories. The forward to the book is by Alvin Schwartz, who interestingly enough wrote the spanking good story "The Duped Domestics!" (Does life get any better owning this book?).

These old comics are fantastic. I have collected all of them thus far, quite the reminder of when I was a kid, and was able to find a few of these old back issues. My only criticism is that the books are so slow in coming out. Hopefully the next issue is not as far off as the prior one. Same goes for the Batman archives, World's Finest Archives, and the Batman in World's finest archives. Keep 'em coming DC!

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