Bat Lash
Cover to Bat Lash #3 (Feb./Mar. 1969), art by Nick Cardy.
Publication information
PublisherDC Comics
First appearanceShowcase #76 (August 1968)
Created byJoe Orlando
Carmine Infantino
Sheldon Mayer
Sergio Aragonés
In-story information
Full nameBartholomew Aloysius Lash
Team affiliationsRough Bunch
Black Lantern Corps
Justice Riders
AbilitiesGreat marksman
Bat Lash
Series publication information
PublisherDC Comics
ScheduleBimonthly
Format(vol. 1): Ongoing series
(vol. 2): Limited series
GenreWestern
Publication date(vol. 1)
Oct./Nov. 1968 – Oct./Nov. 1969
(vol. 2)
Feb. – July 2008
Number of issues(vol. 1): 7
(vol. 2): 6
Main character(s)Bat Lash
Creative team as of 1968–1969
Writer(s)(vol. 1)
Sheldon Mayer
Sergio Aragonés
Dennis O'Neil
(vol. 2)
Peter Brandvold
Sergio Aragonés
Artist(s)(vol. 1)
Nick Cardy
(vol. 2)
John Severin
Javier Pina
Colorist(s)(vol. 2)
Steve Buccellato
Collected editions
Showcase Presents: Bat Lash ISBN 1-4012-2295-1

Bartholomew "Bat" Aloysius Lash is a fictional Western superhero character in the DC Universe. A self-professed pacifist, ladies' man, and gambler, Bat Lash's adventures have been published by DC Comics since 1968.

Character origin

In 1968, Carmine Infantino, newly installed editorial director of DC Comics, and his editor, Joe Orlando, came up with the name and basic premise of the loner whose family had been wiped out by murderous thugs, and then brought in Sheldon Mayer (former DC editor and creator of Sugar and Spike) and Sergio Aragonés (an artist best known for his comedic illustrations for Mad magazine) to further flesh out the concept.[1]

Mayer wrote the first appearance (Showcase #76, August 1968).[2] Infantino claimed to have greatly rewritten it. The assignment was then handed to Aragonés, with Denny O'Neil doing the dialog over Aragonés' plots, and Nick Cardy providing the art.[3] Issues were produced in a variation of the full script method. First, Aragonés would create a plot in thumbnail sketch form, then O'Neil would write the dialog, and last came Cardy's finished art.[4]

Publication history

Bat Lash first appeared in 1968, in a house ad running in Superman DC Comics. It featured a gangly figure, in silhouette, stalking toward the reader, with the tagline: "Bat Lash. Will he save the West, or ruin it?".

The character's first published story appeared in Showcase #76.[5] It featured a devil-may-care character, a peaceful, violence hating man who attracts trouble wherever he goes. Dialoguer Denny O'Neil summarized that, "he was a charming anti-hero, or as close to a charming anti-hero as comics ever came—at least as we did him. In subsequent handlings Bat Lash became a churlish anti-hero. Sergio [Aragonés] and I tried to make him in the tradition of the charming rogue. Bat had a conscience represented by the flower in his hat which he inevitably threw away whenever he was doing something ratty" [emphasis in original].[4]

Bat Lash's own series only lasted seven issues. Even though editorial director Carmine Infantino claimed it sold well in Europe, sales in the States were not enough to sustain a run of the title. O'Neil has questioned this, remarking that low sales was "always" the reason given for cancellation in those days, and that he had reason to believe that this was not the case with Bat Lash.[4] The character and the series bearing his name have been recognized in the industry, including the 1968 and 1969 Alley Awards for Best Western Titles.[6][7]

Bat Lash made several other appearances after his cancellation in issues of Weird Western Tales and other titles. He had a story in DC Special Series #16 and a brief backup series in Jonah Hex #49 & 51–52 in 1981. In the 1989/90 miniseries Time Masters Bat Lash makes a brief appearance along with Jonah Hex. He appears in an alternate time-line in Justice League Europe Annual #2, written in 1991. An older Crimson Fox, through a time travel accident, appears in the middle of a card game, allowing Bat Lash the opportunity to save himself (and her) from Bat's own cheating. During the chase, Bat encounters one "Miss Sally", who is sad that she has not seen Bat in months.

A 1998 miniseries, "Guns of the Dragon" set in 1927 China, teams an elderly Bat Lash with Biff Bradley and Enemy Ace on an adventure that sends them to Dinosaur Island.

In 2006, writers Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray wrote Lash into Jonah Hex #3. For Halloween in 2007 Bat Lash rides with Jonah Hex to save Lazarus Lane, the host Body of El Diablo, in Jonah Hex #24. He also appears in Jonah Hex #70.

In 2008, Bat Lash appeared in a self-titled, six issue miniseries from DC, written by Aragones, with dialog by acclaimed western novelist Peter Brandvold, art by John Severin and covers by Walt Simonson. It was reprinted in trade paperback as Bat Lash: Guns and Roses in 2008.

In the Weird Western Tales #71 tie-in to the Blackest Night crossover, Bat Lash was reanimated as a member of the Black Lantern along with Black Lantern Jonah Hex and Scalphunter.

Bat Lash is one of six DC heroes featured in Walt Simonson's 2012 graphic novel, The Judas Coin.

During the "Dark Nights: Death Metal" storyline, Bat Lash is among the superheroes revived by Batman using a Black Lantern ring.[8]

In other media

Television

Bat Lash appears in the Justice League Unlimited episode "The Once and Future Thing Part One: Weird Western Tales", voiced by Ben Browder. This version is easy-going and good-mannered, though he possesses a mischievous streak and is prone to quoting his father.

Film

An illusionary Bat Lash appears in Justice League: Warworld, voiced by Brett Dalton.[9]

Miscellaneous

  • Bat Lash's popularity was discussed on Conan during an interview between Conan O'Brien and Peter Girardi, creative director of Warner Bros. Animation, in regards to DC characters that "sucked".[10]
  • Bat Lash's alien abduction in Crisis on Infinite Earths #3 is adapted into "Westerner", a 2012 song by electro-rock band Judge Rock.

References

  1. ↑ Wells, John (2014). American Comic Book Chronicles: 1965–1969. TwoMorrows Publishing. p. 209. ISBN 978-1605490557.
  2. ↑ Markstein, Don. "Bat Lash". Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Retrieved April 2, 2020.
  3. ↑ Wallace, Dan (2008), "Bat Lash", in Dougall, Alastair (ed.), The DC Comics Encyclopedia, London: Dorling Kindersley, p. 37, ISBN 978-0-7566-4119-1
  4. 1 2 3 Zimmerman, Dwight Jon (August 1986). "Denny O'Neil". Comics Interview. No. 35. Fictioneer Books. pp. 22–37.
  5. ↑ Cowsill, Alan; Irvine, Alex; Korte, Steve; Manning, Matt; Wiacek, Win; Wilson, Sven (2016). The DC Comics Encyclopedia: The Definitive Guide to the Characters of the DC Universe. DK Publishing. p. 25. ISBN 978-1-4654-5357-0.
  6. ↑ Hanerfield, Mark. "1968 Alley Awards". Comic Book Awards Almanac. Archived from the original on April 29, 2007. Retrieved February 4, 2014.
  7. ↑ Hanerfield, Mark. "1969 Alley Awards". Comic Book Awards Almanac. Archived from the original on April 29, 2007. Retrieved February 4, 2014.
  8. ↑ Dark Nights: Death Metal #5. DC Comics.
  9. ↑ "Violent DC Animated Movie Justice League: Warworld Gets Rated R". May 4, 2023.
  10. ↑ "Conan Gets Animated Part 1".

Further reading

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