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Title: BATMAN WITH ROBIN AND GALEXO" in The Straits Times of Singapore's Sunday Comics Supplement * Lot of 37 Comics"
Place Published: Singapore
Publisher:The Straits Times
Date Published: May, 1972-January, 1973
Description: Lot of 37 eight-page full-color Sunday comic supplements, not stapled (as issued), published by The Strait Times of Singapore, the first four issues featuring "Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder" on the front wrap, the subsequent 33 issues featuring "Batman with Robin and Galexo" on the front wrap, with interior pages featuring a variety of strips including Alley Oop, Bugs Bunny, The Heart of Juliet Jones, Beetle Bailey, and others. Art by Materazzo, Stan Drake, V.T. Hamlin, Mort Walker, others.

Lot includes these weekly supplements: May 7, 1972 (5.5, nice copy) * May 14, 1972 (4.5, 3/4" tear to front wrap) * May 21, 1972 (5.5) * June 4, 1972 (6.0) * June 11, 1972 (2.0, chips to top edge) * June 18, 1972 (6.0) * June 25, 1972 (1.5, top edge chipped and toned) * July 2, 1972 (6.0, small rub to front wrap) * July 9, 1972 (6.0) * July 16, 1972 (4.0, some soiling to front wrap) * July 23, 1972 (6.0) * July 30, 1972 (3.0, ink offsets to front wrap) * August 6, 1972 (2.5, shallow chips to top edge) * August 13, 1972 (5.5) * August 20, 1972 (6.0) * August 27, 1972 (5.5) * September 3, 1972 (1.0, spine split) * September 10, 1972 (3.0, foxing, spine chip) * September 17, 1972 (3.0, corner chip) * September 24, 1972 (6.0) * October 1, 1972 (5.0) * October 8, 1972 (5.0) * October 15, 1972 (5.5) * October 22, 1972 (6.0) * October 29, 1972 (2.0, heavy foxing and staining to front wrap) * November 5, 1972 (6.5) * November 12, 1972 (5.0) * November 19, 1972 (6.0) * November 26, 1972 (6.0) * December 3, 1972 (6.5) * December 10, 1972 (7.0) * December 24, 1972 (3.0, some rubs, toning and creases/nicks) * December 31, 1972 (6.0) * January 14, 1973 (4.5, a few color rubs to right edge) * January 21, 1973 (5.5) * January 28, 1973 (3.5, ink blot to front wrap).

Provenance: From the collection of comics historian Steven Thompson, who allowed these rare "Batman with Robin and Galexo" comics to be reproduced in IDW's 2015 book "Batman Dailies and Sundays 1969-1972". Mr. Thompson is the leading authority on these obscure Batman publications, and this group of 37 comics from his personal archives is believed to be the largest collection of "Batman with Robin and Galexo" comics extant.Bizarro Batman: "Everyone knows Batman and Robin. But did you hear the one about Batman and Robin and... Galexo?

"A bizarrely uncharismatic space superhero, Galexo parachuted his way into the late 1960s/early 1970s Batman syndicated newspaper strip towards the end of its lifetime, and thanks to an argument between publishers, he ended up pushing Batman out of his own comic entirely, doing something the Joker could never manage - killing Batman.
"These strange oddball strips have fascinated Batman aficionados for years but were rarely seen until reprinted in the handsome 2016 collection Batman: The Silver Age Dailies and Sundays Volume 3 1969-1973. The book is a story of Batman's strange decline in the comic strip - while it starts out with solid artwork and stories featuring Batman's traditional foes, by the end of 1971 the strip started to collapse upon itself.

"A weird struggle between the newspaper comics syndicate Ledger and National Periodical Publications (later DC Comics) was the reason - seasoned comics writer E. Nelson Bridwell was sacked and unknown Ledger staff brought in, and the strip declined in quality rapidly. But it was still kind of recognisable as Batman comics, until in April 1972, Galexo was clumsily introduced, and Batman announced it was time to 'turn our duo into a trio' with his creepy spaceman hero pal....

"These strips are objectively terrible but kind of fascinating - look at the complete lack of attempts to make the art dynamic, with endless tight cropping onto the figures' heads, dialogue overwhelming the panels entirely, and almost abstract surrealism. Batman and Robin barely appear in costume or when they do they're reduced to Galexo's cheer squad.

"After several aimless weeks and awful art, Batman and Robin were apparently pushed out of the strip entirely in favour of Galexo and his friends, but the title still remained Batman's.
"The Batman-less Batman and Galexo strip apparently carried on in a few overseas newspapers in places like Singapore for another year or so. Clearly, someone at the Ledger Syndicate wanted to make Galexo the next big thing. These rare final strips... are a weird trip, like an adventure strip imagined by someone who'd never actually read a good comic strip." — Nik Dirga, "Meet Galaxo, the Creepy Hero Who Finally Defeated Batman." Nickdirga.com, June 12, 2023.****************************************
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