One of the comics that's always been floating around in the back of my brain is the first issue of this 1980 mini, which I saw advertised a lot as a kid. So when I saw it for a dime -- a dime! -- I had to buy it. And what an insane ride. It basically tries to cobble together every oddball add-on to batman's origin the Silver Age had to offer, from his father Thomas beating some crooks while dressed as a proto-Batman for a costume party, to Joe Chill having been hired to kill the Waynes, to Bruce first going adventuring while dressed as Robin. It's an insane disaster when you see it all at once like this, but still pretty interesting from a historical perspective.
So, what's everyone's take on these odd add-ons? Are any of them still in continuity? Are there any you wish were? Which ones are you glad to be rid of?
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Without looking it up, I recall Len Wein, John Byrne & Jim Aparo were all involved in that, is that right?
Len was long the master of endless encylopediac knowledge of comics. he would know every single detail and every single obscure character and villain, and often would spend time bringing back long-forgotten characters for new appearances... and then do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WHATSOEVER INTERESTING with them. The master of the pointless sequel. You know, that reminds me. HE was supposed to write CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS, but at the last minute, he swapped books with his buddy Marv, and instead, wrote THE OFFICIAL HANDBOOK OF THE DC UNIVERSE. Better fit, probably.
John Byrne, of course, also became well-known-- and later, NOTORIOUS-- as a guy obsessed with "continuity". The longer he was in the biz, the more manic his obsession grew, as, more and more, he became bent on shoving HIS ideas of "continuity" down readers' throats, as he preached that he was the ONLY ONE who knew how to portray this or that character "properly" (and that includes whoever actually created said characters).
Jim Aparo, of course, never had a bad rep, or any vendetta, apart from, like CLOCKWORK, knocking out ONE FINISHED PAGE every day. Layouts, pencils, inks, and lettering. Wow. WHAT A GUY. Never a fave of mine, never flashy, but never bad either.
I'm reminded of when he did a fill-in issue on John Ostrander's run of THE SPECTRE (talk about for old times' sake), and they got Kelly Jones, who started out as an inker, to ink it. WOW. Why the heck did Jones ever stop inking? He's ten times better at it than he is pencilling.
I didn't really answer your question... as far as I know, by now, EVERYTHING from before CRISIS has been nullified. And anything that hasn't, has been retold and reinterpreted and twisted around to the point where it hardly bears any resemblance to "original" events... or even late-model versions of them.
Come to think of it, doesn't UNTOLD LEGEND OF THE BATMAN seem like something Roy Thomas should have done?
I never liked the notion that the Wayne murders were a hit, and I thought it was a worse idea that Batman learns who the killer was and catches him, even if he gets killed soon afterward. I always thought it was far more poignant that the Waynes were the victims of a random crime committed by an anonymous thug who got clean away.
I think it makes a stronger story for Bruce Wayne to know that all his money couldn't save them from random crime, in the same sense that Superman learned all his power couldn't save his parents from the fatal disease that killed them.
As I recall, Byrne penciled and Aparo inked the first issue, and Aparo handled the other two all by his lonesome.
I have the cassettes too. Very Melodramatic!
The one thing that I never liked about the Earth-One Batman's past was the "When Batman Was Robin" story, it was just too cute. Better to have young Bruce wear a mask and learn from Harvey Harris, P.I.!
BTW, E. Nelson Bridwell made Wendy from The Super Friends Harvey Harris' niece thus giving Bats a reason to sponsor her at the Hall of Justice. Returning a favor or nepotism? You decide!