These days, anyone cracking open a new issue of a Batman comic will see the phrase “Batman created by Bob Kane with Bill Finger”. That’s a fairly recent development, no doubt allowed by DC comics at the beseeching of friends, fans and family of the late Mr. Finger, but  80 years overdue. For decades, starting in 1939, every comic that had Batman in it read “Batman created by Bob Kane”. So of course everyone thought it was all Bob. In the ’40’s and ’50’s no credits were listed for the artist of the book, as Bob Kane ran a studio and thought it better if the world believed it was all him. In truth, he hadn’t done much but the business end of things for years and years. He wasn’t a very good illustrator either, that’s why he quickly farmed out art duties to guys like Sheldon Moldoff and Dick Sprang. They didn’t get credit in the books though. But for the longest time, Kane was able to maintain the illusion, that it was all him. At least until the ’60’s, when the comic world was changing. Over at Marvel, Stan Lee was putting up big credit boxes in each issue giving credit to the writer, penciler, inker, and letterer.

Bill Finger, a talented writer, creator of Batman, ended up dying penniless. 

Bob Kane knew how to dress up and act like a smooth character, had a relative who was a lawyer and set up a smart business plan calling himself the creator of Batman. He was worth multimillions, basically for coming up with the name “Batman”.

Vin Sullivan gave a detailed interview a number of years ago about who actually created what with the character– he was the editor back then and still alive 20 years ago to share the actual details. 

When drawing up the character, what Bob Kane created looked nothing like the character we know. His version was a guy in red long johns, a small black domino mask and actual batwings sticking out his back. He did provide the name Batman though.

Bill Finger came up with everything else. The blue and gray color scheme, the pointed ears, the scalloped cape, the utility belt. He came up with Bruce Wayne’s entire backstory. And Bruce Wayne. But he worked for Kane. 

Kane, through the decades enjoyed the notoriety, fame, parties and of course the money. He basically lived the carefree life the fictitious millionaire Bruce Wayne pretended to live, using it as a disguise for his true persona, The Batman.

It’s said that years after Finger died in poverty, that then and only then, did Kane reportedly say that maybe he should have given Bill Finger some credit for creating Batman. But that it was too late now. 

And now Bob Kane’s dead too. (Douche)

But now you know the rest of the story.

Good day. 

It’s long been known that my two favorite comic books are Batman and the Fantastic Four. The first thing I ever drew was Batman, and I’ve got a 150 piece Thing collection of toys and art. I’m going to say a big part of it was those being the first comics I ever picked up, circa 1971. FF #112 (Stan Lee/John Buscema) and a Batman treasury edition which reprinted his first encounter with Ras Al Ghul. (Denny O’Neil/Neal Adams). As life changing and earth shattering as those comics were in my life, I’d seen both on tv years earlier. I was a big fan of the live action Batman tv series, but he also had a cartoon, as did the FF. Actually, there were a number of superheroes that had cartoons on in the ’60’s. Cap, Iron man, Hulk, Thor, Sub mariner and especially Spidey, that of the excellent theme song. There were probably various Superman, Aquaman and other DC characters I remember as well, and I eventually visited all these characters again later in comic form. But Batman and the FF always stood head and shoulders above the rest. Somehow, in those very early days, I “imprinted” on those two franchises, if you will.

I’m now going to put on my psychologist hat. Keep in mind that I’m not only NOT a psychologist, I don’t even play one on TV. But I *do* find it interesting to root around in my brain and try and figure things out. But it’s weird in my brain. Best to wear shoes.

Delving down into the psychology of it, maybe it’s a family thing. folks split up when I was two. Mom and I lived with my grandparents and then my grandparents moved away. I’m starting to think I should’ve taken this personally — because of course it’s all about me. So, folks and family? Abandonment? Yeah, I know, >wah wah wah<. No, I’m not whining, I’m investigating. To do that, I have to ask questions and evidently, I simply don’t have that type of inner monologue.

*Important note—this solitary year of blogging is all about self discovery. You can watch through the window or not. But by the end of this year, you’ll have a more frightening understanding of me. 

Anyway, young Bruce Wayne lost his parents to crime, but Bruce trained himself to be ultimately prepared, always efficient, as near perfect in mind and body as possible and the world’s greatest detective. I can’t see too much connection there as I have neither the money, physique or the training. But efficiency….. if anything, there’s the efficiency and preparedness. That does seem to ring true. I do admire efficiency. 

Meanwhile, the FF were a built in family, as well as superheroes, which seemed nice. 

I’m sure I’m not the only kid who sought escape in these stories. I guess I sought family, too. 

People compliment me on my vocabulary. That’s got a lot to do with Reed Richards. I deflect and complain with humor. — Ben. Probably my all time low with the FF back then was when Reed and Sue got divorced, leaving Franklin, their son, with a broken home. Oooof, this did not sit well with 11 year old me. How was that “escaping” for me? Thankfully, Reed and Sue eventually got back together again.

Or maybe it’s just that the FF has a very unique team dynamic, or that the personalities injected into them by Stan resonated. *Maybe* Ben reminded me of my grandfather, who i was very close to. They had similar personalities and my grandfather was pretty strong. Back in the old old days, he used to be able to bend iron bars (!). Also, the way Jack Kirby drew the Thing, there was a certain sadness in his eyes, a certain look. Yeah, there was a couple things that reminded me of my grandpa or “Gapa” as I used to call him. That might be one of the reasons I was so taken by the FF and the Thing in general.

I don’t know. It would take a far greater psychological degree than my non existent one to suss out all the mental ins and outs of why I’m in so deep on those characters. Will I revisit this? Probably…

I usually like to stay on top of the snowfall. Get out there early, put a dent in it. but then you get a day like today, when there’s a couple inches on the ground, another inch comin’ and I’m still Peggy Phlegmy and I just can’t be bothered to slog out there and possibly make it worse. 

I’ve never been that guy who just shrugs it off and says “ah, it’ll melt eventually (in 5 weeks if you’re lucky)” but I’m just real tired of being sick. REAL tired.

So time to check on how Matthew’s feelin’…..he’d have to do ours and the neighbors—but he gets paid for that. He knows the risks…..

It’s funny how your opinion can change regarding a character or a movie, depending on your perspective, or even how the character or franchise had itself changed since you last watched the particular character or movie. 

In 2006, not quite yet that controversial director Bryan Singer brought us the next chapter of the Richard Donner Superman universe. He cast a young Brandon Routh as Clark/Superman, an even younger Kate Bosworth as Lois and the really, not nearly that controversial yet Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor. The John Williams magnificent theme music was still in place and as inspirational as ever. 

Basically, Supes has been gone 5 years, but is back to find out Lois has a new guy and a kid. He’s got to adjust, Lex hatches a new plan, which Supes eventually foils but it damn near kills him but not. He survives and the kid is his after all.

When first watching it back in 2006, there was some great stuff in there — Supes saving the plane at the baseball field was incredible and every bit as joyous as the Reeve stuff a generation ago. In fact, Routh did a great job as Supes, easily worthy of Reeve himself but his Clark was simply refreshing and wonderful. Spacey was great as Luthor too. Not as camp as Hackman but great style. Actually, all the performances were great when I think about it.

But there were some concerning issues back then. First, it takes place five years down the road, yet Supes and Lois actually look a LOT younger than Reeve and Kidder. Bosworth actually looked like she could be Kidder’s daughter, not a five year older Lois. Next, the peeping Tom scene, where Supes flies over to Lois and boyfriend Richard’s house to see WTF happened here, using x-ray vision. A bit creepy? Superman’s costume was another thing. Gone was the bright and bold red, replaced by a dark maroon. Hey made the S Shield smaller as well. The new design took some getting used to. And the real elephant in the room, Supes had a kid now. And the circumstances around him felt a bit off. Kinda left a bad taste in your mouth. But aside from that, a pretty good film. 

Flash forward another decade. Warner bros puts out the dark and dour Man of Steel, directed by Zach Snyder. The studio figured if Dark Knight worked so well, let’s go really dark with Supes too. What followed was a great sci fi alien movie with violence and massive destruction porn. It just wasn’t really a “Superman” film. This was followed up and compacted with Batman v Superman.

Meanwhile, over in the comics, long story short, thanks to some dimension skipping and time hopping in one crossover event, Clark and Lois now had a son, Jon, who was about 10. DC comics had since had the new 52 reboot and the Rebirth reboot and things were different. 

So now it’s 2019 and I revisit Superman Returns. Boy. After Man of Steel and BVS, this is a helluva lot brighter and more fun all the way around. And when you can say that about a movie in which Supes gets stabbed with a sharp chunk of Kryptonite, it just goes to show you how dark everything else got. The kid was also cute and a decent actor. Suddenly, after all the changes in the comics over the last several years, him having a kid hardly registered a blip. Even the peeping Tom scene was harmless when you really think about it. He’s concerned about Lois and wants to make sure she’s ok, as well as the kid, because Supes is good at math. It’s not like he stayed and watched bathroom or bedroom antics. He left a minute or two after he got there. After five years, was that really such an offense? Making sure the woman you love and your new found kid are alright?

Yes, Bosworth was still too young but aside from that, this film not only holds up very well but I think is deserving of another look, because the thing is…

…it’s all a matter of perspective. 

Epilogue: it’s not often a certain “take” on a character gets a second chance, much less a third. The Routh version of Superman never got a proper sequel, but it did get a certain kind of closure. In the recent Crisis on Infinite Earths TV miniseries on the CW, we got to see an older version of the Donnerverse Superman played by Routh again. Touching on different points in comics history in the midst of the Crisis, he embodied the Kingdom Come Superman, beset by tragedy, but as the universe realigned after the Crisis, all was set right and this particular Superman was given his happily ever after ending. It was good to see.

Albert Einstein is hilarious in his films

I’ve yet to get The whole family history because the kids don’t talk about it a lot, so I’ll tell you what I know. Many years ago there was a comedian named Harry Einstein, who moved about in the Hollywood circles and in the famed Friar’s club. He socialized with the likes of Milton Berle, Henny Youngman, and the like (look ’em up, kids). By all accounts, he was a quick witted, very funny guy and really beloved by the comedy community and participated in many comedy roasts at the Friar’s club back in the day. In fact, *during* one roast in 1958 in honor of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnez, after doing his routine and leaving the podium, Harry collapsed into the arms of milton Berle, who, sensing immediately that this was no gag, shouted for a doctor. Turns out, there were five in the crowd, who got up on stage and after they brought Harry behind the curtain, one doctor cut open his chest with a pen knife and tried to massage his heart. Another doctor tried to use to ends of an electric cord to shock the heart into action again. Then more medical personnel arrived and was working on reviving Einstein for two hours, employing a “pulmonary motor” as they went. Berle had the band play and George Burns began to sing but at every break, the audience heard the sound of the pulmonary motor hard at work behind the curtain. In the end, it was too late and Harry was pronounced dead in the wee hours of the morning. As you can imagine, everyone was devastated, none more so than his wife and oldest son Clifford, who were in attendance. 

One of his sons was named Bob, who was about 14 at the time of Harry’s death. When he was old enough to get a job, he went into advertising. He also did a bit of sketch comedy on the side until getting a call from Tommy Smothers of The Smothers Brothers fame (again kids…), in the late ’60’s, who offered him a writing job on their variety show. A program which would later turn out to be one of the most popular and controversial shows of the era, as they took on the establishment and publicly denounced the Vietnam Nam war every chance they got. Another writer Bob was working with on the TSB was a young man named Steve Martin. After Nixon canceled the Smothers Brothers, Bob Einstein went on to write and produce many other variety shows through the ’70’s and into the ’80’s. Along the way, he created a new character, a daredevil stunt rider named Super Dave Osborne and appeared mainly in six seasons of Showtime’s “Bizarre” with John Byner. Bob had been most recently been appearing on HBO’s Curb your enthusiasm as Marty Funkhouser. Bob sadly passed in January of 2019 but if you ever get a chance to see or hear an old interview with Bob, don’t hesitate, he was one of the funniest guys on the planet. And then there was his brother, Albert.

Albert was only 11 when his father died. As for the name, I guess maybe it was Harry’s sense of humor or a cruel streak somewhere in the family but they named one of their sons Albert Einstein. That had to be tough. Well, at some point, he changed his last name to Brooks and was producing short film clips for Saturday Night live at the very beginning of the show’s run in ’75. Odds are, you know about Albert Brooks but if not, A) shame on you and B) go buy, rent or download Lost in America, Broadcast News and Defending Your Life. Start there. Watch those three in that order. You’re welcome. Then just start looking through his IMDB page. Albert is also one of the funniest guys on the planet.

Just a strange, fascinating, funny family, that happens to have Albert Einstein in it. 

Professor Xanax stepped out into the sun, over the bodies of the slumbering security force as he and his goons exited the bank, their duffels stuffed with cash. The plan had proceeded smoothly. Like any summer Sunday morning at 5AM, the city was deserted. The bank vaults combination and security protocols extracted from the former teller were spot on. His supply of sleep gas was ready. The perfect canvas for a Xanax crime masterpiece. 

Loading their overstuffed duffels into their van, they felt it. A vibration. Low, steady, building. Xanax froze.

“No, it can’t be. He couldn’t know!” 

One of the goons — suddenly sick to his stomach–turned to another and asked “What is that? Everything’s shakin’!”

His pal, now bent over, face screwed up in pain managed to respond..”It’s that… humming guy…..destroys stuff…with…vibrations” and hit the ground, unconscious. The humming grew more devastating -mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Defiant to the last, Professor Xanax, legs like jello, head throbbing, managed to get out in the open, away from the van, as its tires split with successive BANG-BANGBANGBANG!

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

Xanax raised his fists high in the air, shaking them at the rooftops, screaming at his unseen foe.

“I know you’re there, you humming freak! One of… one.. of…these days… I’ll….. I’ll*”  and unable to continue, the spasming villain collapsed onto the pavement.

With the perpetrators down for the count, the vibrations stopped. The coast clear, the police rounded the corner, lights flashing. As they mopped up the scene, the captain picked up his communicator and flicked it on “I think we’ve got things in hand here, um… Purple Throbber, thanks again.”

The communicator crackled back: “My pleasure captain. Guess the professor’s information on the silent alarms weren’t all up to date. Take care now.”

The captain looked up at a nearby rooftop and saw only a flash of purple as the hero disappeared once again. 

One of his officers stepped up. “I guess he did it again, saved the day, huh Cap?” 

“I guess he did,” the captain said as he turned back toward the clean up “but really, he’s got to think about changing that name.”

Companies pay millions and millions and MILLIONS of dollars to air 30, 60, or 120 second commercials *during* the Super Bowl. It is definitely an event, seeing the alleged best of the best, most creative commercials of the year. Even if you’re not a football fan, it is fun seeing the whole state of the art technological presentation of the game, an excuse for getting people together at a SB party, the whole shebang. It’s a fun time! The only negative being having to go to work Monday morning if the party was too successful. Really, Super Bowl Sunday night is a well crafted production on every level. The fans win, the advertisers win, the networks win. And some years, like this one, there’s the extra added bonus of this being a very anticipated match up. Even if you’re not a huge football fan (me), watching the two best teams go at it on the ultimate stage is usually worth watching.

But what I cannot figure out — is why, the last few years, that they’ve started showing the big, Super Bowl commercials ahead of time. Why spill the beans before the big moment? You, the advertisers, are paying 5.6 million for a 30 second commercial to be shown specifically during the Super Bowl, watched each year, fairly consistently, by over 100 million people worldwide. 

Now, I’ve worked in promotion in the past. I’ve drawn literally thousands of storyboards for ad agencies over the decades. Some of them have gone on to be produced and shown during the big game itself. You want maximum impact and you want your product to be remembered and memorable. The Super Bowl gives you the spotlight, a true moment to shine. And don’t forget the 5.6 mil you spent for every 30 second chunk of that spotlight. And you know there are people who watch the SB *just* for the commercials.

So sorry, but it seems the height of idiocy to me to take away from that spotlight and throw your babies out there on the Internet a couple days early. After the SB, the commercials are out there forever. Why spoil your big moment two days earlier? Lessens the impact. It just mystifies me. 

Hey, some of the smaller companies out there? Who can’t afford the ad prices during the big game? You should throw a couple new commercials out on line a couple days before the big game. If nothing else, it might make it seem as if you’re big-ballin’ it with the Doritos, Coca Cola, Chevy or Budweiser elite commercials. It might up your profile, you knows?

Hell, *somebody* should do something clever here. 

Sounds like something you need a lime wedge for. As I lay here with abnormal amounts of phlegm that keeps hanging on eight days after the worst of my cold has already passed, sure, I worry about extinction level events. 

Originating in some China zoo/market/carnival/bathhouse (?), Chinese officials have been incredibly proactive getting the word out to the rest of the world about this strain of coronavirus and they are to be commended for that. That’ll probably save lives. But hearing the death toll taking a sharp up-turn in China, I sometimes wonder if this will be *the* virus, the one that takes a huge bite out of humanity like some Hollywood blockbuster film.

“Contagion”, was a 2011 film starring Matt Damon, Laurence Fishburne, Jude Law and amongst others, a goopy Gwyneth Paltrow, who makes everyone sick. And in the movie, she’s also Patient Zero! This movie filmed a few scenes in my own little town of Western Springs. It’s the part where the people start fighting each other in a grocery store for the cure, looting starts, small businesses start on fire. Exciting to watch my lil town get destroyed. Good times. 

But I digress — extinction events! Christ, that’s depressing. Let’s just hope this Corona virus can get wrestled under control before it gets too out of hand. And of course fingers crossed on the no asteroids thing. 

“Contagion” rent it today!

I cope with potential global disaster with humor. You should see my one man show “Wit and wisdom, by the Fiery Light of the Astreroid”. I dress up like Mark twain. It’s a hoot.

Gerry Conway got away with murder, back in the day. He was a young kid who got some prestigious writing gigs at Marvel. He’s the guy that wrote Spider-man #121, the death of Gwen Stacy. Must admit, I think I kinda hated him after that for awhile. It wasn’t entirely his fault but that’s another story. This was the early ’70’s and Gerry went on to a stint writing the Fantastic Four, under the editorial eye of Roy Thomas. We’re only going to take a look at one issue from the run though, #137.

Back in the early 1070’s, it was catch as catch can as far as grabbing the latest issues of comics, be it at the grocery store or a 7-11. These businesses got what comics they got when they got ’em. You come in out of the blue or miss an issue, too bad. This was long before there were dedicated comic shops in every town. So I happened upon FF 137 and it was a part two. I had no idea what was going on and this was a crazy, bat-s**t story that I landed in. But I didn’t care, because I opened it up and splash…

Be still, my beating heart. Allow me to unpack all of this because believe it or not, there’s a lot, starting with the artists themselves. John Buscema was the penciler, Joe Sinnott was the inker and Glynis Oliver Wein was the colorist. Buscema was one of the finest illustrators to ever grace the comic book world. He had a graceful style but also delivered power. He was a master at composition, body language, expression, you name it. No one has ever mastered the fluid grace of Reed’s stretching ability like Buscema. Joe Sinnott had been inking the FF for a decade by that point, usually over the pencils of the king himself, Jack Kirby. But Kirby was a very different artist, drawing blocky, powerful figures, a more intense style that often called for a thicker line here and there to suit the power of the king. Sinnott had to adjust to a sometimes more delicate line when Reed was stretching or to accommodate Buscema’s more attractive and refined women. But he did so flawlessly. 

This next part is key — the printing process back then was very crude by today’s standards and the comics were printed on cheap pulp newsprint. So it could sometimes be a trial setting down colors knowing what the end product would be. But Glynis Wein laid down some beautiful tones that complimented the scene and the art but looked damn good even on newsprint. I wanted to show you the original look of the comic page because quite often these days, artwork tends to get “cleaned up” digitally and while it may indeed be cleaner, it’s not necessarily better. The newsprint usually aided in giving a slightly muted tone to the proceedings that would often tone down the more garish colors. Here’s a side by side, how the original may have looked when you cracked open the comic and then the digitally cleaned up and modified version. The cleaned up version isn’t bad but I still like the original a little better. Maybe it’s nostalgia.

Those that do the digital remastering and cleaning up– some know what they’re doing, some have no idea. Some techniques they use will actually subtly eat away at the lush linework of the art and some of the life of the line is lost. But of course, there’s always the original black and white art and when you have the opportunity to see the raw artwork on the page, it’s always a treat and always a better end product with absolutely nothing interfering with the art itself, no color to distract from it, no adverse effect from reproduction, etc. 

Now, the story itself is whackadoo. The Shaper of Worlds is some alien who looks like an albino Skrull (pointy ears) from the waist up and his torso rests on a type of tank travel machine instead of legs. He can grant someone’s wish and actually reshape the reality in your world. We eventually learn that the Shaper observed some two bit hood named Slugger Johnson, who was really missing the “good old days” of the 1950’s, so he just granted his wish and changed the present day into some ’50’s future hybrid civilization, which the FF had wandered into. But since anything Johnson wants gets whipped up by the Shaper, he grants him a castle and medieval guards with ray-guns for his protection. Also turns him into “The Brain”, an Einstein knock off. 

Listen, there’s mind control, with Johnny and fill in member Medusa (from the Inhumans) joining the Wild Ones (Brando type bikers on jet cycles) while Reed and Ben fall under the spell of the Patriots (conservative crew cuts) and when it all hits the fan, the FF start to snap out of it and intervene, Johnson feels threatened and the Shaper creates a creature with the body of King Kong and a Sputnik head (look it up, kids) to fight everybody. At a drive in. (Look it up, kids). 

There’s even a spotlight on how the ’50’s weren’t exactly great for the black populace back then, showing how they were disregarded and ignored by the white, clueless  Patriots.  It was a real Twilight Zone ep wedged into an FF comic but a true case of a kid like me not minding the bizarre elements of the story at all because the art was just so much fun, engaging, powerful. And really, just another day in the lives of the Fantastic Four in the ’70’s because… the Thing IS.

As a Doctor Who fan, first, if you haven’t caught the latest ep, spoilers coming, you’ve been warned.

But damn, showrunner Chris Chibnall has presented fandom with a puzzle regarding who exactly this new Doctor is. What makes this particular puzzle extra tricky is that the guy who set it up, Chibs, may have totally gotten in over his head and the foundation of his little query might be faulty. Like the goofy kid or absent minded grandpa who says they’ve got a really really great card trick, then halfway through it, they realize that no, it won’t work at all. Never mind.

Okay, so this new Doctor, portrayed by Jo Martin. Here are the facts about her we know so far, which aids us in our process of elimination. I am of course assuming that in reference to the following items, Chibs is not lying or screwed up and forgot details while in the planning stage.

1. Chibs says she is definitely not an “alternate Doctor”. She is the real Doctor.
2. She can’t be pre-Hartnell because her TARDIS is in the shape of a police box and that didn’t happen until the Hartnell Doctor escaped Gallifrey and landed in the junkyard on Earth.*
3. She can’t have come into existence after Troughton/before Pertwee, because she didn’t recognize Jodie’s sonic and Troughton had already had one.

*In the time between typing this up and posting, it occurred to me that there is an explanation of why the TARDIS was in its police box shape when Jodie dug it up. Think back to Day of the Doctor, when 10, 11 and the War doctor crowded into the TARDIS. It instantaneously glitches the desktop theme twice in 15 seconds hanging from 10’s to war’s to 11’s. different Doctor’s in direct proximity to the TARDIS can effect it in extreme ways. It’s possible that the old girl, who hadn’t seen her Doctor in who knows how many years, reached out and made a quick link with Jodie and responded to the out shell she knew. Reasonable enough. Plus, Martin didn’t make any comment about a change in appearance because when she got there, it was buried and they teleported right in. A possibility. 

What else am I missing? The only other thing I can think of that fits the narrative is that no, Martin isn’t the alternate Doctor — because *Jodie* is. Somehow, Jodie got shunted to Martin’s parallel universe and she’s the odd Time Lord out. 

If I’m right, I’ll expect a No-prize. I don’t even know if we’ll find out anything more this Sunday, but I hope Chibs has crossed his T’s and dotted his I’s…..