Batman - Robin Meets Man-Bat! - Update

Track:
Robin Meets Man-Bat!

PDF:
Batman PR30 Book and Record

 

 

Produced by Arthur Korb.

Neal Adams' checklist lists this as being a reprint from Detective Comics #402 (story by Frank Robbins, art by Neal and Dick Giordano), but I had always thought the DC/Power Record stories were all original.

Not having a copy of 'Tec #402, I can't check, but from what I've been able to look up, the story in that issue is listed at fifteen pages, but the story here is twenty pages long. Anybody out there have an answer?

Love that back cover!

Now with added PDF!

Power Records Super Hero Gift Pack

On my post about Power Records' Sci-Fi Gift Pack, I wondered if they had ever put out a superhero one. Just a few hours later, Power Pal Rockwell J. Pugglesworth sent me these images of that every thing!

Featuring 10(!) amazing audio adventures, some of the company's best, this set makes the perfect sampler for someone who wants to know what these Power Records were all about. Plus you get to see Superman, Batman, and Spider-Man all on the same sleeve, and that's not something you'll ever get these days.

Now that this mystery is solved, let's move on to the next one: were there more of these?

Thanks again Rockwell!

Batman - Robin Meets Man-Bat!

Another alternate packaging of the Batman: Robin Meets Man-Bat book and record set, using the same cover art but with new verbiage up top. Some day I'm going to pick one of these up on eBay, just so I can see for myself if the back or inside covers are also different than the original book and record versions.

Batman - Robin Meets Man-Bat Original Art

Check out this nifty page of Neal Adams original art from the Batman: Robin Meets Man-Bat book and record set!

Wonder Woman - 2 Exciting Stories Japanese Edition

I found this while doing a Power Records Google Image search...what the Hera is this?!? Did Power Records make it all the way to Japan? At first I thought it was some modern-day re-release, but if so why would anyone bother slapping the Peter Pan logo on there (bottom left)?

The Power Records story just keeps getting bigger...

Wonder Woman by Dick Giordano

This beautiful, iconic Wonder Woman shot by the late, great Dick Giordano appeared in the 1976 Super DC Calendar. Of course, Power Records fans are familiar with, because it was used on the back cover--albeit significantly changed--for the one of the Wonder Woman LPs:

Batman '66

We've featured Tyrone Biljan's awesome custom Power Record book and record sets before, and this is yet another one I'd kill to have--if it existed. Considering that the 1966 Batman TV show is hotter than ever, and that Mr. West and Mr. Ward are still with us, let's make it happen!

Check out Tyrone's blog That Would Be So Cool If...!

Wonder Woman - Secret of the Magic Tiara

Another discovery I made recently was this 45" edition of Wonder Woman - Secret of the Magic Tiara with a cover I've never seen before. I don't recognize the art style at all, it doesn't look like any other sleeve Peter Pan produced at the time. Questions, questions!

Batman - Stacked Cards

Yet another edition of Batman - Stacked Cards, this time featuring cover art by Jose Luis Garcia Lopez (PBHN)! I've seen that shot of the Joker squirting Batman in various other places, so along with the other shot of the Dynamic Duo, I'm going to assume DC sent Peter Pan a bunch of the JLGL stock art and they found stuff that would fit the recorded tracks from the 1970s.

Batman - Stacked Cards

Here's another recent discovery I made online, another edition of Batman - Stacked Cards featuring slightly altered trade dress. I guess it was changed from "Book and Record" to "Book and Recording" so either a record or cassette could be attached. Personally, I'd be interested in seeing "Book and MP3."

Superman Records and Books Ad

I'm sure I was not the only reader who bought Warren Publishing's magazines as much for the mouth-watering Captain Company ad pages as for the story and art. Each issue ended with 10-12 pages of truly amazing stuff--records, toys, books, and more.

This ad ran on inside back covers (hence the color) and featured all kinds of goodies right in my wheelhouse--three Superman Power Records not to mention Treasury Comics! I'll take one of everything, thanks Captain Company!

Wonder Woman: The Secret of the Magic Tiara Original Art

 

A page of Rich Buckler's wonderful original art to the "The Secret of the Magic Tiara" book and record set. Be careful of that Mitch fella, Wonder Woman!

I (ahem) wonder why the page is noted as "Wonder Woman #35"?

Batman LP Original Art

 

Here's Neal Adams' original art to the 1976 Batman LP featuring "Gorilla City" and "The Mystery of the Scarecrow Corpse." Nice coloring, though I don't get the idea behind that big white stripe down the center.

Superman: The Man From Krypton

 Track:

The Man From Krypton

Spider-Man of course wasn't the only Power Records star whose adventures were re-purposed across multiple formats. Superman got the honor with "The Man From Krypton", featuring an all-new cover, which looks to me like re-drawn versions of work by Rich Buckler and Jose Luis Garcia Lopez (PBHN).

This seems a little odd to me, because from what I understand JLGL didn't start producing the classic DC stock art until 1983 or so, and I thought Power Records had given up the ghost by then--or at the very least, had stopped issuing new releases of any kind. Yet here it is!

Superman Wonder Woman Batman - Exciting Christmas Stories

 

Tracks:
Light Up The Tree, Mr. President
Christmas Carol Caper
The Prisoner of Christmas Island

The only instance I can think of what we nowadays call a "variant", Power Records issued the same Christmas-themed LP featuring original stories starring Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman with two different covers, swapping the background color and changing the title treatment. I can only assume they were released different years...why they felt the need to change the cover art is a mystery probably lost to the ages.

I never even knew they did this at all until my POWER RECORDS PODCAST co-host Chris Franklin mentioned to me that his copy had the red background, while mine has the green. The things you learn!

Wonder Woman - The Secret of the Magic Tiara Original Art

Here's the beautiful original art for Wonder Woman: The Secret of the Magic Tiara book and record set by the legendary Rich Buckler. About as iconic as it gets, weird capitalization notwithstanding!

If you look close, you can see some very minor tweaks made to Diana's face for the printed version--it seems editors just can't resist fiddling with final art after it comes in, no matter who is doing the work. Man, have I been there, and I'm not Rich Buckler or John Romita!

(h/t: Al Bigley's Big Glee Archive)

Superman - Light Up The Tree, Mr. President

Track:
Light Up The Tree, Mr. President

Another one of the Christmas-themed re-purposed adventures from the Superman/Batman/Wonder Woman LP, this 45" sleeve features a beautiful Neal Adams piece which I am amazed wasn't re-used for other Xmas-related merchandise down the line. Who wouldn't want a shot of a smiling Superman flying in front of a Christmas tree on an ornament?