The splash page of Batman Family #17 (1978):
There's no story attached, no particular reason for this piece--just Batman in a goofy pose, and that...ahem...nice bit of doggerel. An odd way to open an issue, but what the heck, right?
There are no credits given, aside from Jim Starlin's signature in the lower right hand corner. GCD doesn't have any writing credits for this 1 page...it just lists Starlin as pencils and ink. So I suppose we should assume that Starlin wrote the poem, until we get some evidence otherwise.
Which means Jim Starlin rhymed "awesome" with "cross him." Which is too amazing to describe.
But let's take a closer look:
Oh, dear, that's so....special.
Now, this is ten years before the justly famous Batman #425, and before Chris Sims was even born, or else I might have suspected that this somehow his ode to Jim Starlin and "The Single Greatest Comic Book Of All Time." (Although I suppose if a time machine were to be involved, it would still be possible...)
But then I realized that I the answer was staring me right in the face all the time. Take a look at the bottom...when it says "The Batman," that's not a description of the poem's subject...that's the signature!!
Yup, The Batman was writing bad poetry about himself, describing how awesome he was.
Which, I suppose, explains an awful lot about "Zur-En-Arrh."
There's no story attached, no particular reason for this piece--just Batman in a goofy pose, and that...ahem...nice bit of doggerel. An odd way to open an issue, but what the heck, right?There are no credits given, aside from Jim Starlin's signature in the lower right hand corner. GCD doesn't have any writing credits for this 1 page...it just lists Starlin as pencils and ink. So I suppose we should assume that Starlin wrote the poem, until we get some evidence otherwise.
Which means Jim Starlin rhymed "awesome" with "cross him." Which is too amazing to describe.
But let's take a closer look:
Oh, dear, that's so....special.Now, this is ten years before the justly famous Batman #425, and before Chris Sims was even born, or else I might have suspected that this somehow his ode to Jim Starlin and "The Single Greatest Comic Book Of All Time." (Although I suppose if a time machine were to be involved, it would still be possible...)
But then I realized that I the answer was staring me right in the face all the time. Take a look at the bottom...when it says "The Batman," that's not a description of the poem's subject...that's the signature!!
Yup, The Batman was writing bad poetry about himself, describing how awesome he was.
Which, I suppose, explains an awful lot about "Zur-En-Arrh."
"Yup, The Batman was writing bad poetry about himself, describing how awesome he was."
ReplyDeleteOh my God that's beautiful!
Am I the only one who sees an homage to Gilbert & Sullivan's "Ghosts High Noon"?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-ghosts-high-noon/
When the night wind howls in the chimney cowls, and the bat in the
moonlight flies,
And inky clouds, like funeral shrouds, sail over the midnight skies -
When the footpads quail at the night-bird's wail, and black dogs
bay the moon,
Then is the spectres' holiday - then is the ghosts' high noon!