Frank Robbins Deserves Credit For Helping Create "The Dark Knight"

Frank Robbins is the only writer in Batman's history that has the distinction of being THE transitional Batman writer. Having taken over from Gardner Fox, Robbins worked on:

Batman #204–207, 209–212, 214–217, 219–222, 226, 230–231, 236, 246, 249–250, 252, 254 (as writer from 1968–1974) and Detective Comics #378–383, 386, 388–436 (as writer); #416, 420–421, 426, 429, 435 (as writer/artist from 1968–1973).

Batman fans often hear about how Denny O'neil and Neal Adams changed the character from the campy Caped Crusader into The Dark Knight. This is true, but it's a partial truth. Frank Robbins was writing and drawing Batman before Denny and Neal and it was his work that first brought maturity to Batman. He also wrote both flavors of Batman, campy and dark. As much as I love Denny O'neil, who I consider to be in the top 5 comic book writers of all-time, he and Neal (perhaps DC's greatest artist of all-time) cannot take, nor do they deserve, all the credit, despite what most popular blogs like IGN or CBR might have you believe.

Robbins' Batman stories started out in the same vein as Gardner Fox. They were simple, juvenile detective and mystery stories. About halfway through his run, he created Man-Bat with Neal Adams, and started the shift that marked the beginning of the transition from The Caped Crusader into The Dark Knight. In fact, Batman's appearance first changed, under the pencil of Neal Adams, in one of Robbins' stories.

He also wrote Batman #217 where Dick Grayson moves off to college and this forces Bruce to return to his roots, becoming, once again, the lone obsessed vigilante. Robbins also penned The Batman Nobody Knows, a short story from Batman #250. With art from Dick Giordano, this serves to illustrate that the Batman is a legend who is frightening to criminals. One of Batman's greatest stories, it was loosely adapted for both The New Batman Adventures episode, Legends of the Dark Knight, and as one of the shorts in the Batman Gotham Knight animated anthology film from 2008.

As much as Denny O'neil deserves credit for The Secret of the Waiting Graves (Detective Comics #395), which cemented the change in both focus and tone, without Frank Robbins to lay the stepping stones Julius Schwartz may never have hired Denny to write it. The record has to be set straight... Denny and Neal had a little help in creating The Dark Knight version of Batman. It was a recipe with many cooks, including other artists such as Irv Novick, and Jim Aparo. Robbins gets ignored by history just as, sometimes, Denny and Neal get casually ignored for bringing Batman back to his darker roots in favor of Frank Miller's 1980's work. But Frank Robbins is important to Batman too.

Superman Smashes The Klan! - A Comic Review and Analysis of Superman Vs Hate Groups

Superman Smashes the Klan! And he's been doing so for about 75 years. The Man of Steel first encountered the KKK in his very own radio show in the 1940's. It seems that every generation or so, DC Comics publishes a story dedicated to Superman fighting either the Ku Klux Klan directly or some group that was indirectly inspired by what the Klan represents. In that way, Superman has never completely lost that sense of truth and justice that Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster gave to their character. He has always remained something of a social crusader.

It began in 1946. The Anti Defamation League had infiltrated the KKK. The ADL contacted the Superman radio show and suggested that they feature a story where the titular hero faces the Klan. Over 16 episodes, from June to July of '46, "Clan of the Fiery Cross" aired and Superman took his war to the fascist menace.   

And as for the comic? Well, this story is a new take on the saga that is the "Clan of the Fiery Cross." In the 3-part miniseries, written by Gene Luen Yang with art by Gurihiru, Superman is in his younger days. He helps an immigrant family, battles racists, and finds himself grappling with life as an alien outsider. Like the radio show from which it drew inspiration, the story takes place in 1946.

The story seems to take a lot of inspiration, not only from the radio show (even The Atom Man appears), it is visually inspired, at least in part, by the Fleischer cartoons. It's a brisk story with appropriately cartoony art, that seems to offset and balance the seriousness of the subject matter. This is a great ode to Superman's Golden Age. It's also very topical, considering the times we live in. What I like most about this story is that it squarely defines the KKK and their sympathizers as the enemy. Superman has some of that hutzpah, here, that he had in his earliest days. The Champion of the Oppressed has returned and... if there was ever a time for him... the time is now! Thanks, Superman, for fighting fascism and taking it to these bad guys! Recommended for all ages. This is a masterpiece and should be read again and again.