Monday, August 27, 2012

Groove's Faves: "Death Strikes at Midnight and Three" by O'Neil and Rogers

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! Yesterday was Ol' Groove's birthday (number 49--shudder!), so today I thought we'd celebrate with one of the coolest-ever, most far-out, and original Batman tales to ever see print: Denny O'Neil and Marshall Rogers' "Death Strikes at Midnight and Three" from the 1978 Batman Spectacular (aka DC Special Series #15 (Summer 1978). This experiment in illustrated prose was like nothing I'd ever seen in a comicbook, and the fact that two of my all-time fave Bat-creators collaborated on it was the icing on the cake. I still get a thrill when I read that title. Enjoy!













UPDATE: Since I wrote this post (I write 'em early, y'know), my son and daughter-in-law gave me the best birthday gift yet--a sweet, tiny granddaughter (born August 24)! Yeah, Ol' Groove is proud and happy!
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11 comments:

  1. AnonymousAugust 27, 2012 at 12:50 AM

    Thank you,Mr Groove!
    And Happy Birthday(s) to you (all)!
    Cheers!
    /Mr Anonymous
    p.s.In the alley on page 54;that's Batman!
    Mr O'Neil & Mr Rogers also created another
    great tale in Batman Family (number ?)
    "Ticket to Tragedy" with pen/ink by
    Mr Rogers.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Gary WareAugust 27, 2012 at 2:43 AM

    Congratulations and congratulations.
    I joined the grandparents club a couple of months before my 49th in June.
    Good days.

    (I was pleased to catch up again with the story you posted above in the recent Rogers/Batman collection. That book could have been so much better with just a little more effort. The cover and pages from the 'tec fill in/reprint issue and the covers off DC's first collection of these from the 80's would have been nice.)

    ReplyDelete
  3. MikeodeeAugust 27, 2012 at 3:40 AM

    Belated Birthday greetings, Groovster (and congrats on the new family addition!)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Edo BosnarAugust 27, 2012 at 2:14 PM

    Congratulations on both counts, Groove!
    And thanks for posting the cool story - man, I would so love to get a copy of that Batman issue of DC Special Series, but it's so hard to find cheap...

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousAugust 27, 2012 at 3:05 PM

    Happy Birthday, belated, to you Groove and many, many groovey more ones! Always love some Marshall Rogers goodness! He is in the top five of my all time favorite comics artists.
    I agree with Gary Ware, the Rogers Batman book could have been so much more, a real tribute to Marshall's legacy. No introduction talking about his effect on Batman? Steve Englehart wasn't available? Maybe Terry Austin could written something. Also, the Rozakis Calculator stories weren't included, Marshall's first Batman job. What a missed opportunity!
    David
    davidd5927@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  6. DougAugust 27, 2012 at 4:26 PM

    Congratulations x2, Groove!

    Best,

    Doug

    ReplyDelete
  7. AnthonyAugust 27, 2012 at 7:37 PM

    Happy Belated Birthday and Congratulations on the recent addition to the Groove family !

    ReplyDelete
  8. The Groovy AgentAugust 27, 2012 at 9:09 PM

    Many thanks for all the kind wishes, Groove-ophiles! I truly, deeply appreciate all of you who took the time. And I'm glad you dug the post!

    ReplyDelete
  9. AnonymousAugust 27, 2012 at 11:01 PM

    Happy Birthday Groove! :)

    - Mike from Trinidad & Tobago

    ReplyDelete
  10. MOCK!September 7, 2012 at 11:44 PM

    Happy belated AND congrats! Whoot!

    ReplyDelete
  11. macsnafuJuly 25, 2014 at 10:30 AM

    Not only was this one a great story, I though all the stories in the Batman Spectacular were great! Good stories, wonderful artwork, a real treat for any Batman fan.

    ReplyDelete

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Special thanks to Mike's Amazing World of Comics and Grand Comics Database for being such fantastic resources for covers, dates, creator info, etc. Thou art treasures true!


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