Frank Robbins

Cast Party: Who Should Star In A 'Legion of Monsters' Movie?
Cast Party: Who Should Star In A 'Legion of Monsters' Movie?
Cast Party: Who Should Star In A 'Legion of Monsters' Movie?
It's Halloween, and I'm celebrating with a special Cast Party featuring Marvel's spooky supergroup, the Legion of Monsters. While the original team was created in the '70s by Bill Mantlo, Frank Robbins, and Steve Gan, I'm mainly drawing inspiration from the more recent Franken-Castle story written by Rick Remender, with art by Tony Moore, Dan Brereton, and more.
Bizarro Back Issues: Batman And The Consumer Crusader! (1971)
Bizarro Back Issues: Batman And The Consumer Crusader! (1971)
Bizarro Back Issues: Batman And The Consumer Crusader! (1971)
Despite every attempt I've made to stop it, there's still a discussion that crops up every now and then about Batman's methods. There are people out there, people that I will never understand, who for some reason think it would make for a better story if Batman gave all of his money to charity instead of spending it on bat-shaped airplanes and rocket cars, as though there are problems that can't be solved by owning a bat-shaped airplane. But even though I definitely don't agree, I will concede that the Dark Knight's crimefighting methods are occasionally a little dubious. Like, say, that time that Batman investigated an attempted murder by pretending to be a ghost and then yelling at someone about a bad review in the latest issue of Consumer Reports. That one was pretty weird, even if it's hard to argue with the results.
Bizarro Back Issues: Batman Plays 'Killer's Roulette!' (1972)
Bizarro Back Issues: Batman Plays 'Killer's Roulette!' (1972)
Bizarro Back Issues: Batman Plays 'Killer's Roulette!' (1972)
Earlier this week, Matt Maxwell posted the cover of Detective Comics #426 on the always-fantastic Intrapanel Tumblr, and ever since, I've gotten a a few people asking just what exactly is going on in that story. It makes sense that they would, too -- as Maxwell quite rightly points out, it's one of the best examples of the "I Have Got To See What's Happening In This Story" school of cover design that served DC so well in the Silver and Bronze Age. Still, as much as those comics usually made the reader ask questions, very few of them went as far as having Batman sitting there holding a loaded gun to his head with a suicide note, apparently getting ready to blow his own head off. It's a hell of a cover, but as you might expect, it's not exactly what happens in the actual story. It turns out, what happens there is even weirder.