My timing as a comic book fan in general and specifically a DC Comics fan could not have been worse. When I began in earnest to read DC Comics, Murphy Anderson was no longer inking Curt Swan.
Len Wein ended his run as writer of Justice League of America.
And I just missed the heyday of Neal Adams drawing Batman.
Thankfully a book came along to help me fill in some of that gap in a spectacular fashion, a tabloid sized reprint of some of Neal's most important work on Batman.
The price of a regular comic was 35 cents in 1977. So it must have been something for me to spring 2 whole dollars on a comic book.
But this was no ordinary comic book.
This issue collects Batman#232 and Batman#242-#244 written by Denny O'Neil, penciled by Neal Adams with Irv Novick and inked by Dick Giordano.
The first story in the collection is "The Daughter of the Demon" which involves Batman's first encounter with Ra's al Ghul.
Ra's al Ghul immediately establishes his bonafides as a force to be reckoned with by confidently striding into the Batcave like he owns the joint and identifies Batman as Bruce Wayne.
Both Batman and Ra's al Ghul have received disturbing messages that Robin and Talia, Ra's daughter, have been kidnapped.
Ra's al Ghul suggests pooling resources to rescue these young people.
Ra's al Ghul is sinister as hell and Batman doesn't trust him but dammit, people need saving so off they go.
Batman has met Talia before and has the hots for her.
...
Oh yeah. And save Robin too.
Spoiler: Ra's al Ghul is up to shit.
Ra's al Ghul is Batman's most nefarious enemy, a near immortal being with resources that make Bruce Wayne look like he's begging for a lunch money and with an endgame of no less than total world domination.
Ra's al Ghul is no mere villain looking to steal gold umbrellas or diamond cats from the Gotham Museum or some shit like that.
The other chapters of the story focus on Batman's committed efforts to take down Ra's al Ghul once and for all.
Batman fakes Bruce Wayne's death to free up all his time to defeat Ra's al Ghul. This chapter is drawn by Irv Novick.
Side note about Irv: as much as Neal Adams deserves his accolades for his work on Batman during this period, Irv Novick was kicking it hard as well with a Batman who was dark and menacing with epic Bat-ears on the cowl and a long flowing cape.
The rest of the book involves Batman's quest to locate and invade the secret headquarters of Ra's al Ghul only to find out he's dead?
Not for long! Say hello the Lazurus Pit!
The pit brings people back to life but with the immediate side effect of making the revived person super strong and crazy as hell.
Ra's al Ghul really doesn't want Batman as an enemy. He knows his daughter Talia loves him and sees Batman as a worthy successor to take over Ra's operation.
Batman says no to the job offer and the exit interview is a big epic shirtless sword fight in the desert.
Batman gets stung by a scorpion and whoops! He's gonna die.
Except...
Talia slips Batman an antidote and Batman bounces back to life and kicks Ra's al Ghul's ass.
Batman lays a big old kiss on Talia and drags Ra's al Ghul across the sand off to jail.
It was a story that was big and epic, filled with passion and fire. This book felt like the best James Bond film ever and it was nothing like anything a young Dave-El had ever read before in a comic book.
It's a story that cemented the reputations of Denny O'Neil and Neal Adams as Batman's best storytellers for a generation or more.
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