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The Batman Chronicles Volume 2
01/01/2007 . Source: Geoff Willmetts 
It's interesting how Bob Kane resisted exaggeration and kept things in proportion to how people moved. Buy The Batman Chronicles Volume 2 in the USA - or Buy The Batman Chronicles Volume 2 in the UK  It's interesting how Bob Kane resisted exaggeration and kept things in proportion to how people moved. You would need an open comparison to other illustrators from this time period to see how much they differed. Certainly, most panels were approached in a linear fashion, that is treating the panel as a window into the reality and things straight or linear fashion than bird's or worm's eye angle.
No matter. Here we have seventeen stories of Batman and Robin spread between Detective, Batman and the New York World's Fair comicbooks. The stories adversaries varied from the usual hoodlums of the period with one fantasy and two featuring the Joker and an introduction to the Catwoman in another. Not identified under any other alias, in costume Catwoman actually wore a furry cat-head mask rather than the apparel she wore later. Batman was rather taken by her at the time, accidentally letting her escape, confident their paths would cross again.
There was also a lot more use for their utility belts. Robin's belt buckle concealing a radio set to talk to Batman who had to put his together from components. I was rather struck at the suggestion that his chest was protected by body armour in one of the stories. In the 70s, it was shown that as the bat insignia on his chest was so prominent it was used as the target by gangsters so concealed body armour. To see it used sixty-six years ago was a bigger revelation.
The stories all focused on Batman's career as a crime fighter than his civilian life. The only time he broke cover was to accompany his 'good friend' Commissioner Gordon to some crime scenes as the foppish Bruce Wayne. It beggars the question how these two became friends and I doubt police officers would take civilians to crime scenes even back then but in the abbreviated short hand of the earlier comicstrips all such things were possible. Robin, I should also point out, is a lot more savvy and not always involved in solving each crime. If anything, he is there to watch Batman's back as he goes about his activities before attacking himself.
This book is at a very reasonable price for comic stories you would have difficulty buying the original copies and as such if you have any interest in seeing how he was originally conceived let alone the Batman's development then this is a worthy purchase.
GF Willmetts
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