Couldn't Escape if I Wanted To

Detective Comics #395

In the 70's comics changed. Robots and space men were becoming relics of the past, and comics focused in on what was "real" rather than what was possible. Books dealt with racism, drug addiction, sexism, government corruption.

I think that earnest is the word that sticks out in

my mind when I look at comics from the 1970's -- they're earnest without irony, something that can be incredibly hard to swallow for us modern, enlightened,

bored know-it-alls.

Or maybe not. After all, these are a comic book company's attempts at relevance. Perhaps the struggle for "cool" was as obvious to readers of the past as it is to us today.

Detective Comics, in the meantime, thanks to Dennis O'Neil and the edgy art of Neil Adams as detailed earlier, had focused in on Batman's psychology. That this approach became so popular is due in great part to O'Neil, who was

quite possibly the most influential writer in comics of the 1970's, since he also pioneered the politically/socially relevant story in his work on Green Lantern/Green Arrow, crafting one of the more genuine attempts at this kind of storytelling.

Of course, he also de-powered Wonder Woman, alienating readers everywhere and creating one of the more hilarious periods in the character's history. So.

It bears mentioning that for all the acclaim the O'Neil/Adams Detective Comics received at the time and for all the acclaim it receives

now, sales of Detective comics were declining throughout their run and, in fact, through the entirety of the 70's. So while the book had perhaps improved, the

readership hadn't.

Detective Comics #423

This was the first issue sold with the price of one whole shiny quarter, first with 48 pages and then, a few issues later, with 52. This issue even featured four stories. It's from 1972, when gas was about 36 cents ($1.95 adjusted for inflation). Now a $3 DC book has 32 pages, and gas is about $3.50. I'm not sure what this proves, exactly -- the comic book price is still roughly in line with the price of gas, but doesn't have nearly the same amount of content. But then, comic book storytelling has changed a lot in the past 40 years.

Still, there must have been some sort of outcry over the 10 cent price hike, because a few months later DC dropped the price to 20 cents. Some things don't

change.

The Batman story in this issue, "The Most Dangerous Twenty Miles in Gotham City" was written by Frank Robbins who had been writing comics since the 40's and who is considered instrumental to Batman's 70's revitalization. This particular story is about

Communist spies and right-wing assassins. The cover is by Michael Kaluta, and, in true comic book fashion, appears to have little to do with the story inside, but is

awesome.

Detective Comics #438

And then, BAM! Inflation. 1974 was a rough year, and not only because ABBA won the Eurovision song contest (note: I actually like ABBA). In an effort to reduce costs, DC cut more than 25% of their titles, condensing many into books like "The Superman Family", which consolidated peripheral titles into one handy volume.

With 100 pages the ratio of cost-for-content remained much the same (though in a few months the price raised to 60 cents), but not for long.

This issue of Detective Comics also features stories about The Atom, Hawkman and Hawkgirl, Green Lantern and Manhunter.

Manhunter:

ABBA:

Hmmm.

Detective Comics #457

By

1976 DC was really struggling. Carmine Infantino, for all his brilliant decisions (signing Marvel star Jack Kirby, bringing in fresh talent like Joe Kubert, heading up big changes like the Adams/O'Neil work mentioned above) and price changes hadn't managed to improve sales. Now priced at 30 cents, this issue of Detective Comics contained only seventeen pages of story, one about Batman and one featuring Elongated Man and his wife Sue Dibney.

The Batman tale "There is No Hope in Crime Alley!", again by Dennis O'Neil, is quite a lovely one. Here's the synopsis from dc.wikia.com;

"Every night on this date, Batman abandons all other crimes and missions and secretly heads to visit Leslie Thompkins. En route, Batman stops a car radio theft and two muggings. When one of the muggers pulls a gun on him in Crime Alley, Batman loses his temper and knocks the mugger silly while having a flashback of his parents' murder and his "rescue" by a young Leslie Thompkins. He is brought back to reality by the current, elderly Leslie who knows Batman visits her annually but doesn't know why. Batman tells her it's a reminder of who he is. Batman asks Leslie why she stays in Crime Alley and she tells him that once she witnessed a terrible tragedy - a child whose parents were murdered before his eyes - and has devoted her life to trying to prevent another tragedy. Batman kisses her on the forehead calling her the hope of Crime Alley."

This is the type of story we should thank Dennis O'Neil for: it's not about a specific adventure, a specific villain -- it's about Batman the human, his relationship with his childhood self, the dark part of human nature that changed him forever and the darkness he himself developed in fighting it. Good stuff. Lovely cover by Dick Giordano.

Up next... DC Explodes!

Thanks to coverbrowser.com, dc.wikia.com, wikipedia.org and the fabulous "DC Comics Year By Year: A Visual Chronicle" by Alan Cowsill, Alex Irvine, Matther K. Manning, Michael McAvennie and Daniel Wallace with Alastair Dougall.

Gas prices from AAA's Fuel Gage Report. Inflation conversions made using the Consumer Price Index Inflation Calculator.