Classic Appearance: Batman #64

 

It's time for another classic Killer Moth comic appearance! This time we look at the SECOND appearance of the Killer Moth (I have already outlined his first appearance further down on the blog) from Batman #64!


 
The story is a direct sequel to Killer Moth's first appearance (Batman #63) which starts with a recap of the Killer Moth's last mis-adventure and his defeat at the hands of Batman.

But we learn that Killer Moth - in the traditional of all great Batman villains - has narrowly escaped death. However, he's now the "laughing stock" of the underworld. Look at how pathetic he is in that last panel. Somebody give our buddy a hug!

Killer Moth swears revenge on Batman and vows to regain the trust of the underworld... by stealing a valuable moth statue from the museum. Batman realizes that one of the benefactors of the museum must have done it... but which one?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stealing one moth statue isn't enough for the Killer Moth and he returns to the scene of the crime, only to find Batman waiting for him! (Killer Moth, don't you know you should NEVER return to the scene of the crime?!)

Killer Moth narrowly gets away and thanks to his crimes, has regained the confidence of the obviously fickle underworld. The crooks summon Killer Moth to a robbery and as Killer Moth swoops in, he is interrupted by Batman and Robin! The villain makes a hasty escape!

Correctly assuming that Killer Moth hasn't learned his lesson and will return to the museum to steal yet another Moth statue, Batman and Robin track Killer Moth to the "Hall of Electricity".

...where they use a giant light bulb to stun Killer Moth! The Dynamic Duo track the dazed villain to his Moth Cave and reveal his true identity of Cameron Van Cleer! The jig is up!

I have to admit, this story is pretty dumb and Killer Moth acts too impulsively in it. He's not the clever and calculating villain from his previous story. If he had only been content to steal one idol, he would have gotten away from it. Oh well, those golden age villains never learn!

Classic Appearances: Justice League of America 35 (1965)

Happy National Moth Week! The celebration continues with another classic Killer Moth story! This time we've got the entire Justice League of America battling the Killer Moth's... costume??!!

1965's issue of Justice League of America (#35 written by Gardner Fox and drawn by Mike Sekowsky) features a knock-down, drag-out brawl of the world's greatest heroes fighting their greatest villain's costumes!

The story begins with the imprisoned Demons Three trying to free themselves. Using latent magical energies that have gotten onto the hero's costumes, they bring the clothes to life which are supposed to free the demons... but the attempt fails. So instead, they transfer the magic to the costumes of supervillains that were stored at the police station. (Are super-villain costumes more effective than heroic ones? Hey, no one said comics had to make sense!)

The collection of villains in the story are quite eclectic: The Pied Piper, The Mask, our pal Killer Moth, Dagon and Dr. Polaris. To be honest, I had only heard of three of these characters before I read this story as a kid. Then, the next thing the heroes know, the villains are back in their costumes and on a rampage, robbing the Meadow City Bank.

The Justice League heroes leap into action to stop them, however, in the process, their costumes are torn up. (it's all part of the Demon's cockamamie plot.) I love this panel of the Killer Moth using an sonic attack ability that he's never used since... although it seems like it could be pretty useful! Come on, DC writers!

Despite having their costumes torn, the heroes manage to save the day... but to their surprise, the villains return to cause havoc, only this time its the costumes without the villains inside!

The heroes are thrown for a loop as they try to find a way to defeat the empty uniforms.

As the heroes square off against the body-less foes, Batman makes short work of the Killer Moth's costume by sewing it together into a bundle! And you thought that only Alfred did the sewing!

I'm not gonna lie, this story is pretty bonkers. Although it is good to see Batman battling the Killer Moth - even if it is for only half of the story. The rest of the time the Killer Moth isn't in the costume! It just goes to prove that the Killer Moth is twice is dangerous as those other bat-foes. You don't see the Joker or Catwoman's costumes causing this much trouble for Batman!

Stay tuned, and we'll feature another classic Killer Moth story in celebration of National Moth week!

Classic appearances: Batman Family 10 (1977)

The National Moth Week celebration continues! The Killer Moth has been a major villain of the Bat-Family for decades. Lets look at one of his more memorable appearances in Batman Family 10 from 1977.

In this story by Bob "The Answerman" Rozakis with art by James Bruce Brown III, "Those were the bad old days", the Killer Moth teams up with an unlikely partner, the Cavalier, to bedevil Batgirl and Batwoman.

If you read the caption boxes, Cavalier and Killer Moth are referred to as an "old timers" - which is ironic because the Killer Moth's previous appearance was only eight years earlier in Batman 208 from 1969! Maybe time worked differently back in the "old days"?

There are a few silly "moth related" gags in this story, like KM biting his way through Batgirl's silken cord...

... and when the Killer Moth commands a giant moth to attack the police department, a trick that doesn't come back until Killer Moth's appearance on the Teen Titan cartoon show!

Of course, the Killer Moth is eventual caught by the Dynamic Damsels in a cocoon-type net and sent back to jail. However, Rozakis must have really liked writing the Killer Moth because he returns in the very next issue!

While overall it's a silly comic, it's fun to see the Killer Moth back in action! Stay tuned for more Killer Moth classics during National Moth Week!

Happy National Moth Week!

National Moth Week is when everyone in the United States gets together to celebrate moths and... how they like to nibble our sweaters? Yeah, I don't get it either. But any excuse to celebrate my favorite Bat-Villain, the Killer Moth, I'll take it!

To kick off National Moth Week off, here is a drawing I made of the Killer Moth looking threatening, because too many other comic creators make him look like a doofus. I don't know about you, but if I saw someone coming into a bank dressed like this, I think "what the heck?" and "I'd better give him what he wants."

Feel free to share YOUR Killer Moth fan art in the comments and come back for more Killer Moth fun all week long!

Killer Moth action figures are here!

Not everything about 2020 is terrible, because this is the year that we got, not one, but TWO awesome Killer Moth action figures! This first figure is part of Spinmaster's the Caped Crusader: Creature Chaos series.

His design is clearly based on Killer Moth's costume as seen in the issues of Booster Gold - you can tell by the "high-tech" helmet, but at least he's sporting his classic color-scheme, right now to the striped pants!

     

This 4" figure is very articulated and comes with three "secret" items - a gun, a satchel of loot and a batarang (which he must have taken from Batman).

Inside the packaging is a nice illustration of Killer Moth battling Damian Wayne and a sheet that shows all of the characters and their accessories available in the wave.

   

The second Killer Moth figure is from the Mattel's Imaginext line. This Killer Moth might be one of the best representations of the character yet!! (only matched by the DC Universe classics 6" figure)

 

This 2" figure comes from the Imaginext DC Super Friends line, but don't be fooled by the line's childish designs, this is the best DC Superhero toy line out there. The character selection is very deep and most of the versions are quite accurate to their comic-book counterparts. 

 

This figure from series 7 comes in a "blind bag", which means you aren't supposed to know which figure you are going to get. But you can feel for Killer Moth's wings, gun and antennae pretty easily. Or you can slide the figure around until you see a flash of orange through the bag's "breathe hole". Or if that's still too hard for you, just look for the number "02" stamped on the upper left hand top of the bag.

 

As someone who has wanted small-scale Killer Moth action figures for decades, I am super-pleased by both of these amazing additions to my Killer Moth collection! Good luck finding them for yourself!

Ah, validation.

 

In the new issue of Batman Giant #5 (available only at Walmart) Batman finally admits what we here at the Killer Moth Appreciation and Preservation Society already know...

The lead story, called Unplanned Obsolesce by Mark Russell, Ryan Benjamin and Richard Friend, is about the history between the Batman and the Killer Moth.

 

The story begins with a shocker - the Killer Moth has been shot and killed by a lowly security guard!

But rather than portraying the Killer Moth as a fool, a loser or a failure, the treatment of the character is respectful. Batman admits that fighting the Killer Moth made him a better hero over the years.

 

 Batman even admits apprehension when dealing with the Killer Moth as the Moth always seemed to have the upper hand in their fights.

While the story doesn't really reference any of the classic confrontations from past issues, it still shows plenty of action between the Lethal Lepidoptera and his caped nemesis.

There's even a nice bit where some of the rogues are showing Killer Moth some respect. We haven't seen that in a long time!

We tip our wings to Mr. Russell and his team for giving the Killer Moth some much needed respect!

Killer Moth vs. Killer Croc!

Sometimes a Killer Moth appearance slips by me. This one is from Harley Quinn vol. 3 #1 back in 2016.

That's the problem with villains in superhero comics these days. Everyone is too quick to fight, so slow to team-up. Oh well. At least the writer didn't kill him.

Killer Moth figure from Spinmaster!!

I can finally share these awesome photos of the upcoming 4" Killer Moth from Spinmaster's The Caped Crusader action figure line!

 

Just like the other figures in this line, it looks like Killer Moth will be coming with three mystery weapons. I hope one of them is his cocoon gun and the others are sufficiently moth-y!

While the figure is not directly based on a particular version of Killer Moth from the comics, his helmet bears the most resemblance to Killer Moth's costume from Booster Gold #11.

Regardless of its accuracy, it's great to be getting another classic Killer Moth action figure - on sale soon!!