The Black Bat Omnibus, Vol. 3, coming "soon" from Altus

The term "soon" has yet to be defined, but it's soon enough that Altus Press was comfortable enough to mention it on their Facebook page this past weekend.

I'm actually most curious about the first story, The Black Bat's Flame Trail. It is the seventh Black Bat story overall but the first to not be written by Norman A. Daniels.

Rather, the story is credited to Whitney Ellsworth and what makes that interesting is that Ellsworth worked on Batman for DC Comics at around the same time as he was involved with The Black Bat. The Black Bat Companion includes a quote from Bill Finger in which he states that "through Ellsworth's intervention, a lawsuit was avoided" between DC Comics and Black Book Detective publisher Better Publications.

My understanding it that there are glaring differences and errors in Flame Trail, particularly involving the supporting cast, that make it glaring that Daniels did not write the story.

But even if Ellsworth has contributed only one Black Bat story out of the 60+ that appeared in Black Book Detective, and that story feels awkward in the collection, he may have had a major impact on the character "behind the scenes". So I'm eager to see his "in print" contribution first-hand.

Also, Altus has been slow to release these Omnibus volumes in the past. Let's hope that this signals the start of a little run. Volume two was released in April 2013, three years after the first volume. Maybe the gap between releases is narrowing, finally.

Masks 2, Issue 6 solicitation

Writer: Cullen Bunn
Art: Eman Casallos 

Cast though the time stream, the masked heroes of three different eras find themselves face to face with the sinister forces that spawned the Red Death… the menace who has laid waste to the world! 

But wild adventures through time have brought about amazing… and sometimes horrific… changes in the Shadow, Green Hornet, Black Sparrow, and the others. In order to set things right, the league of heroes–(as) you’ve NEVER seen them before–must band together in hopes of saving all of reality.

Quick Look at the Legenderry Black Bat

Bah. Dynamite so often displays potential only to bungle it.

I will forever defend the modern day Black Bat series that Dynamite released last year. I have no problem with publishers attempting to modernize certain properties. There were certain aspects I didn't care for, mostly surrounded the handling of The Black Bat's usual supporting cast, but the story itself was good and well-delivered, in my opinion.

The mention of a Black Bat in the steampunk-styled Legenderry:Vampirella book was intriguing. Dynamite seemed to have done a nice job with Red Sonja, Green Hornet, The Phantom and a few others, so what would they do with The Black Bat?

This (as displayed on bleedingcool):

Meh. Instead of getting a character often incorrectly accused of being a Batman ripoff, Dynamite delivers what appears to be a Man-Bat ripoff.

I'll get the book (digitally) at some point, but where some characters seem to have potential right from their first appearance on the page, this one is the exact opposite. I don't want to judge the character on one image alone, but it doesn't really excite the imagination. I'm hoping to be pleasantly surprised.

Black Bat gets in on the action in Masks 2

The third issue of Masks 2 was released today, and The Black Bat makes his grand appearance in the series.

I don't think this falls under the spoiler category. We knew we were getting the modern day version of The Black Bat. We knew that Masks 2 would span three eras. We knew the first two issues of the series focused on the 40's and the 70's. Therefore it stood to reason that Bat would show up in this issue.

Long story short: Peter Cannon: Thunderbolt is fighting a huge bastard on a ship. After Cannon's best shot doesn't seem to be particularly effective, The Black Bat enters the fray:

As has been the case for a while with Dynamite books, this appearance seems to disregard the character's previous material in his own book. They handle(d) The Green Hornet this way. GH's presence in some other Dynamite books (such as Dark Nights with The Shadow, or these Masks books) all seem independent of one another.

Same with The Black Bat in Masks 2. The basics are there: The costume, the guns...But while the ending of the final issue in his series would have prevented him from participating in this story, his presence is not at all explained. And he leaves the scene above in some sort of "Bat Boat". *ahem*.

Ah well. It's early. Let's see where this goes.