7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
DC archives are an endangered species..., Jan 26 2011
By Jim Davis - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Batman: The Dark Knight Archives Vol. 7 (Hardcover)
...so new examples are few and far between.
This book is well up to the standards set by its forebears. There was a time when a new DC universe archive appeared every month like clockwork. That no longer happens but we occasionally get a new one that recollects those glory days. The art is fully restored, not scanned, and the page count is over 250. Six complete issues of Batman are reproduced (#26-#31), a full year's worth of that then bimonthly title, which originally appeared from December 1944-January 1945 (#26) to October-November 1945 (#31).
By this time the stories had reached a certain sophistication that makes them readable even by modern day adults although today's kids will no doubt find them crude and simplistic. The artwork, although improving, is still relatively crude, but Dick Sprang is showing promise of greatness to come.
The classic Batman's rogues gallery is used rather sparingly. The Joker appears once, the Penguin twice, and the B-list Cavalier once. Punch and Judy are introduced in this volume. There is a 4 page Adventures of Alfred backup feature in each issue which are clever but none too flattering to Alfred.
It has been speculated that the only reason that new archives of Batman (and Superman) material keep appearing are to provide restored artwork for the Chronicles series. Any excuse that keeps the archive faucet dripping is fine with me.
Highly recommended as always to those cognizant of the limitations of Golden Age material.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
The best of the best, Aug 30 2011
By Gareth Simon - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Batman: The Dark Knight Archives Vol. 7 (Hardcover)
This volume of the DC Archives reprints issues 26 to 31 of the Batman comic book from December 1944 to October 1945. Each issue contains three Batman and Robin stories and one short Alfred the Butler adventure. The Batman comics are to me the best of the Golden Age comic books. The stories can still be read today without any warnings or caveats about them being the `product of their times'. The artists are primarily Jerry Robinson and Dick Sprang, with occasional art by Jack Burnley. The writers are varied, but Don Cameron and Bill Finger predominate (along with `unknown'). There is a wide range of stories, from regulars the Joker and the Penguin, to minor characters the Cavalier, Punch and Judy, and Ally Babble. There are also some `public service' stories, celebrating the role of the `ordinary man' in the maintenance of society, as well as a traditional Batman Christmas story. There is even story set in the year 3000. Nobody mentions the War, though.
Golden Age comics are an acquired taste, and many are only of interest to a specialist public, but Batman and Robin are timeless - except possibly to fanboys only interested in the `here and now'; and they are always with us, regardless of when their `now' is. This is a five-star collection, as are all the Batman Archives.