Doll Collector: DC Direct Batman Incorporated Series 1 Man-of-Bats Action Figure

My Man-of-Bats still safely sealed in his tomb box.

To commemorate the publication this past New Comic Book Wednesday of the final issue of Grant Morrison's Batman Inc. series, it seems like a good time to dig into the toy box and share a recent acquisition. based upon a character that I had not had an appreciation of prior to reading the DC Comics series Batman Inc.:  the Native American Batman, Man-of-Bats.

Photo from
actionfigurepics.com.

Once I got on board with the title, just prior to the soft-reboot/non-reboot that was DC's New 52 initiative, I quickly gained a respect for Morrison's take on the character and his partner/son Little/Red Raven. Originally created wa-a-ay back in 1954 by Ed Herron and Sheldon Moldoff, Man-of-bats continued to demonstrate Morrison's ability to take old throwaway concepts and give them new life and weight. It was this added dimension that prompted me to seek out a the only figure my research showed had been molded for the character, the DC Direct Batman Incorporated Series 1 Man-of-Bats Action Figure.

Getting my hands on one proved a little more challenging than I had thought it would, as I first went to my local comic store hoping they may have one among there vast collecting of action figures and collectibles. Once I quickly learned that not only did they not have one, but that they could no longer be ordered, I went the traditional collector's route and found one very reasonably priced ($7.99, significantly lower than the original $16.99-$23.99 list prices) online.

As an action figure, the DC Direct Man-of-Bats is a fairly standard issue toy; standing 6.75" tall and with minimal articulation, it appears clearly designed for one of two functions: either to be played or marvelled at through the plastic packaging. The design is very consistent with the character's recent rendering in the pages of Batman Incorporated, which for me (as well as they low cost) was the carrot.

Let's face it, it is not as though I am going to remove it from the box and set up battle scenarios with my Jonah Hex figures... but, then again, you never know.

Holy Gettysburg, Batman!

Civil War Batman as written by Elliot S. Maggin, with art and cover by Alan Weiss and
Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez had the rarest of all Bat-qualities: a sense of humor and a smile!

Not long after developing an fanboy affection for Man-of-Bats, the Native American Batman most recently seen in the pages of the fantastic monthly, Batman Incorporated, I began looking for appearances of other Western-themed "Batmen." There is, of course, Cowboy Batman from Grant Morrison's time-displaced Caped Crusader tale in Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne, but fortunately there are some pretty cool comic books and one-shots available in the local comic shop's deep discount long box. It was there that I learned of President Abraham Lincoln and Colonel Bruce Wayne's friendship.

Who knows? Given the recent success of Bat-films and Lincoln biopics, it probably won't be long before someone options this comic as a potential summer tent pole, though Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter may have killed that possibility...

In 1992, outside of their mainstream continuity, DC Comics creators would often play in that magical comic book world known as "Elseworlds," a place where decades old origins, settings and character takes could be cast aside in favor of interesting, fresh variations. Batman The Blue, The Grey, and the Bat (1992) was one such Bat-title, which seemingly never reached the "classic:" status of still widely read issues such as Batman Gotham by Gaslight featuring Victorian-era Batman tracking Jack the Ripper.

Who knows? Given the recent success of Bat-films and Lincoln biopics, it probably won't be long before someone options this comic as a potential summer tent pole, though Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter may have killed that possibility...

Written by Elliot S. Maggin, with art and cover by Alan Weiss and Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, Batman The Blue, The Grey, and the Bat is the story of how Abraham Lincoln sends the foppish Colonel Bruce Wayne, in his much more masculine disguise as Batman, on a secret mission in the American West during the Civil War. Wayne even credits the President with indirectly inspiring the costume and code name--it was a bat-through-the-window "omen" on the night he received Lincoln's request for assistance, that prompted the disguise. As Batman relentlessly pursues a threat to the Union, Batman, and his alter ego Bruce Wayne, encounter Samuel Clemens, Wild Bill Hickok and other luminaries of the Old West. His servant and friend, the ever-droll Alfred, makes his contribution to the action, as does the Bat-Man's Native American partner, Redbird (who nearly always seems to be smiling and posing).

A single issue one-shot, this Bat-story hearkens back to an older style Batman (not just Wild West old), when the character was written and drawn with equal parts fun and action rather than consistently being saddled with the dark, dreary sad sack version popular as a result of the Nolan film$. This Batman rides a horse, has a sense of humor, flirts with damsels, and relentlessly fights the good fight, just like his pal Honest Abe.

This "prestige format" comic book, with special ivory matte-textured stock, to give it that Old-Timey feeling, cost me almost less than half the original 1992 cover price of $5.95. Certainly worth picking up for Bat-fans and Western lovers alike.

Native American Batman: Man-of-Bats

 

Man-of-Bats from Batman #667, by Grant Morrison and J.H. Williams III.  

As part of my on-again off-again flirtation with collecting Batman comic books, I recently began picking up issues of the Batman Incorporated series (actually two series; an eight issue run before DC Comics reboot, a one-shot, and a second ongoing set in the "New 52" DC Universe). There were two factors that contributed to my choice of this title.

 

In addition to the Grant Morrison factor (usually, at the very least, I'll sample his mainstream output to see if it peaks my fancy enough to warrant purchase), I was intrigued by the potential for an updated "Batmen of All Nations" concept as handled by the author. Something about the way Morrison reintroduces or remakes previously concepts with silly Silver Age pasts (such as his excellent update of the ridiculous Batman of Zur-En-Arrh in the relatively recent Batman R.I.P arc), I often find myself to explore older DC issues. Inspiring me to revisit past issues is Morrison's greatest gift to this reader.

The cover to Batman #86 (1954) with art by Winslow Mortimer featuring the
original Man-of-THE-Bats and his sidekick Little Raven.

Taken as a whole, the Batman Incorporated series is well-executed and the introduction of the Batman variants from other countries is well-handled with each of the key Bat-folk, a number of which are re imagined, long forgotten characters or Batman disguises from Silver Age DC Comics, being given the opportunity to develop as characters in a way that is organic.

The updated Man-of-Bats and his partner Red Raven on the cover
to Batman Incorporated #7 (2010), cover by Chris Burnham.

Volume 1 also produced one of my favorite comic books issues in recent memory, Batman Incorporated #7. Featuring Native American Man-of-Bats and his protege (and son), Red Raven, the story follows the two as they deal with crime on the Indian Reservation on which they live and dad, as a physician, works. While not the first Morrison-penned appearance of the character Batman Incorporated #7 was my introduction to William "Bill" Great Eagle's alter ego. A story of father and son bonds, dedication and community BI #7 is one of those classic stories that, while not featuring the eponymous character very much, does focus on those qualities that make him (Batman) a great by turning the emphasis to those (Man-of-Bats) inspired by him.

One need not look much further into the back issue bin to find the earlier (though not by too much) appearance of Morrison's Man-of-Bats story arc by Morrison and current Batwoman artist J.H. Williams III. Apparently, just before I began picking up the Batman RIP storyline, the two collaborated on an arc entitled "Batmen of All Nations" which foreshadowed the Batman Incorporated concept.

Batman Incorporated is still being published (now up to issue #5 of the second volume) with very little loss of steam (or quality), and my new search for the Batman Man-of-Bats action figure begins...

Who Remembers Az-Bat?

KnightsEnd promotional card, with the "real" Batman (left) vs. Az-Bat, circa 1995.

This past week at my local comic book store, I found (among the regular array of promotional pieces for upcoming series/events/annuals), a card advertising the KnigthsEnd storyline from the mid-1990s Batman books.

In retrospect, the 1990s were seen as a "dark" time by many comic books fans. There was the Death of Superman storyline (followed by The Reign of the Supermen which spawned iterations of --SPOILER ALERT--Superboy, Steel, the Eradicator and the Cyborg) and the rise of ultra-thick McFarlane-esque webbing. Perhaps one of the most befuddling events of the Nineties, however is the crowning (an occurrence eventually ret-conned out of many fans' memories) of Rob Lefield as a comic "god." Despite the renewed vitriol toward Lefield as evidenced by the weak sales of nearly anything he touches in DC's current New 52 re-boot line, his impact is unmistakable. Take for instance Batman, or more specifically Jean-Paul Valley's Az-Bat (the name by which this Bat-character would commonly come to be known) from the KnightFall Saga.

KnightsEnd was the third in a trilogy of the series-within-a-series that began with KnightFall (a story that will likely receive renewed interest as it deals with Bane's "breaking of the Bat," a plot element that seems to play a part in this summer's film The Dark Knight Rises), and continues through KnightQuest (in which Jean-Paul Valley is installed as the new Batman, replacing Bruce Wayne). In addition to being psychologically unstable, Valley also has a hankering for violence, over exaggerated armor and pouches--all signature elements of Rob Lefield's character design sensibilities. The result, in sharp contrast to Bruce's traditional Bat-costume, is on display in the promo card above. When he took on the mantle of the Bat, Valley wore the traditional suit, but as his mind came unhinged, and the need for more violence was felt to be necessary, he slowly modified the costume with Azrael-tech, resulting in the suit above. In one issue he added the razor sharp gauntlets, the next chest armor and so on...

While I was primarily a Superman collector at the time, I did collect individual issues of KnightsFall that included Jean-Paul Valley's character arc from Azreal to Batman and back. This was mostly (I guess Lefeild knew what he was doing) because I dug the modern tech -based look of the Az-Bat suit.

The back of the same promo-card.