80TH ANNIVERSARY SUPER-SPECTACULARS
Bat-botherers’ birthday blowouts
RELEASED OUT NOW! Publisher DC Comics
Writers/artists Various
A side-effect of DC having created so many memorable characters in 1939 and 1940 is that all the anniversaries seem to come at once. Following the recent 100-page “SuperSpectaculars” marking the 80th anniversaries of Robin and Green Lantern, two more have arrived that celebrate the most iconic antagonists of the Caped Crusader.
Each special features 10 short stories from 10 different writer/ artist creative teams. In the case of the Joker Super-Spectacular
, the result is a predictably twisted journey into the extremes of the Joker’s personality. Of the more horrific moments, the standout is the brilliantly unsettling opener “Scars” from Scott Snyder and Jock, while Paul Dini and Riley Rossmo emphasise the Joker’s blackly humorous side in “The Last Smile”.
We get an introduction to the new Joker sidekick Punchline in James Tynion IV and Mikel Janin’s “What Comes After a Joke?”, while Brian Azarrelo and Lee Bermejo deliver a broad take on One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest in “Two Fell Into The Hornet’s
Nest”. There’s also a fun ’80s-style tale scripted by legendary Batman writer/editor Denny O’Neill (“Introducing The Dove Corps”), who sadly has just passed away. But though the overall standard is pretty good, not all the twist endings land, and this many Joker tales in one go also prove that he’s a character who works best in small doses.
The Catwoman SuperSpectacular has a much more consistent hit-rate. While a couple of stories lean into humour in ways that doesn’t always work (especially the Chuck Dixon and Kelly Jones romp “Born To Kiln”), we also get a joyous Batman 1966-era escapade as Selina Kyle battles space aliens in Jeff Parker’s “The Catwoman Of Earth”, and an entertaining dose of fourth wall-breaking weirdness in “Conventional Wisdom” by Will Pfeifer and Pia Guerra.
The strongest tales here are the more characterful ones – especially Mindy Newell and Lee Garbett’s “Little Bird”, which takes on Selina’s post-Batman: Year One identity as a prostituteturned-vigilante, and Tom King and Mikel Janin’s “Helena”, which sees Catwoman and Batman facing a major baby-related upheaval in their lives.
The collection concludes with “The Art Of Picking A Lock”, a fabulous standalone which reunites the 2000s-era Catwoman creative team of Ed Brubaker and Cameron Stewart. It all adds up to a satisfying and genuinely enjoyable portrait of the many changes and evolutions that Selina Kyle has gone through over the decades. Saxon Bullock
Lesser-known DC characters also hitting their 80th anniversary this year include Hawkman, Doctor Fate and the Spectre.