Date: September 2013 Publisher: DC Comics Cover Price: $3.99 Stats: 30 color pages Writer: Jeff Parker Artists: Jonathan Case and Wes Abbot Notable Notes: The Dynamic Duo returns – to comic books!
I was born just after the original Batman TV show ran its course – but I saw plenty of re-runs when I was a kid and later in life. Honestly, I was never a fan of the show – it just seemed too silly for me, although I realize now that the campiness was part of the allure. I had no plans to pick up this comic book series when it debuted several years ago, but all the rave reviews made me change my mind and grab the first trade paperback. I’m glad I reconsidered because this series has turned out to be loads of fun to read! Read the rest of this entry »
A gift for you, dear readers! Here is a list of high quality Batman comics that you can read online for free! It took me a long time to scour the web and compile this list, so I hope you enjoy it and make great use of it! Presented in alphabetical order, here are what I believe to be 24 great Batman comics to read online for free: Read the rest of this entry »
Date: July 1998 Publisher: DC Comics Cover Price: $1.95 2014 NM Value: $3.00 Stats: 22 color pages Writer: Ty Templeton Artists: Rick Burchett, Terry Beatty, Lee Loughridge, Tim Harkins Notable Notes: In which we get a glimpse of Two-Face’s dysfunctional family!
Trouble with one’s parents seems to make for good story lines. This issue shows the problems Two-Face had with his old man, but we can also look to other comics for this common theme. Daredevil had minor issues with his father, and so did Peter Parker. I guess Clark Kent got along pretty well with his dad – in fact, maybe I’ve got this all backwards! Maybe fathers played a big, important role in most heroes’ lives. You know – just like real-life dads do!
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Date: December 1970 Publisher: DC Comics Cover Price: 15¢ 2014 Price Range: $15 – $350 Stats: 22 color pages plus ads, “Letters to the Batman”, Direct Currents, 1 page Casey the Cop story and Daily Planet Extra. Writer: Denny O’Neil Artists: Irv Novick and Dick Giordano Notable Notes: Batman rescues Alfred’s niece!
Last fall I decided that I wanted to collect and read some of the Batman issues in the early 200s. I started with #224 and worked my way up from there. This one, #227, proved the most difficult and expensive to get so far. I didn’t realize it before, but it has a few things going for it that makes it so collectible. First, the awesome cover art is a swipe from Detective Comics #31 , which itself is the classic “Batman over castle” image from 1939. Second, the cover is by the great Batman artist Neal Adams. And third, there is a wonderful classic Batman story inside by none other than legendary scribe Denny O’Neil! Put those three things together and you can see why I spent weeks on eBay bidding for copies, and finally ended up paying $50 for a mid-grade copy. And you know what? I am totally happy with it too!
Date: November 1970 Publisher: DC Comics Cover Price: 15¢ 2014 Price Range: $6 – $80 Stats: 22 color pages plus ads, “Letters to the Batcave” and 4 page backup story Writer: Frank Robbins Artists: Irv Novick and Dick Giordano Notable Notes: Origin of The Man with Ten Eyes!
Would being blind be so bad? I’m not saying I want to try it, just that blind people seem to live incredibly full lives – especially in comic books. I’ve mentioned before that when I was a little kid I would wrap a blindfold around my head and play for long stretches of time while pretending to be blind. And Daredevil doesn’t do too bad does he? In this issue Batman is temporarily blinded, and has a tangle with another blind man – but the other man has a secret that Bats doesn’t know about!
Date: June 1998 Publisher: DC Comics Cover Price: $2.95 2014 NM Value: $4.00 Stats: 38 color pages Writer: Ty Templeton Artists: Rick Burchett, Terry Beatty, Lee Loughridge Notable Notes: Joker gets a big, big price on his head!
The rational, non-fun, part of me has always been a little bit disappointed that the Joker is still running around being crazy after all these years. It seems like if Batman isn’t able to put the kibosh on this villain, then maybe there is another, better way? This issue addresses that very topic, and shows us that one dedicated and vengeful man can come up with a clever method for bringing down the Joker once and for all!
Date: September 1970 Publisher: DC Comics Cover Price: 15¢ 2013 Price Range: $6 – $80 Stats: 24 color pages plus ads and “Letters to the Batcave” Writers: Denny O’Neil and Mike Friedrich Artists: Irv Novick, Dick Giordano and Mike Esposito Notable Notes: Batman the murderer?
It’s not a unique idea – in fact it is quite common – when good guys become the bad guys… or appear to do so! I think that it would be every legitimate peace-keeper’s fear that a powerful superhero would turn into their worst enemy. That is what happens in this issue… well, almost, anyway. This time it turns out that Batman is framed, and he must use all his Bat-skills to evade the police long enough to prove his innocence!
Date: August 1970 Publisher: DC Comics Cover Price: 15¢ 2013 Price Range: $6 – $80 Stats: 24 color pages plus ads and “Letters to the Batcave” Writer: Denny O’Neil Artists: Irv Novick and Dick Giordano Notable Notes: Batman travels to New Orleans to avenge a Jazz man’s death!
I’ve been wanting to read some classic Batman stories lately. After doing a little bit of research I decided that I could financially delve into some of the popular Denny O’Neil stories from the early 1970s. Here is my first foray into a character I really enjoy, but haven’t read a lot of – at least in pre-modern comics.
Date: 1986 Publisher: DC Comics Cover Price: 75¢ 2013 NM Price: $4.00 Stats: 22 color pages plus ads Writer & Penciller: John Byrne Other Artists: Dick Giordano, Tom Zuiko, John Costanza Notable Notes: 1st appearance of Magpie the jewel thief!
I would love to read the actual comic book where Superman and Batman meet up and work together for the first time. I did a little bit of web searching and it seems like that might have been in issue #7 of All Star Comics back in 1941. I just hope that they took on a better criminal than they did in this issue!
Date: 1988 Publisher: DC Comics Cover Price: $3.50 2012 Price Range: $2 – $20 Stats: 48 color pages (but listed as 52 pages) Writer: Alan Moore Artists: Brian Bolland, John Higgins, Richard Starkings Notable Notes: The issue where Joker cripples Barbara Gordon.
Have you ever wondered why Barbara Gordon / Oracle is in a wheel chair? (Or at least “was”, until the New 52 re-launch) Here is the infamous story from the late 1980s in which we find the disturbing answer to that question.
Date: March 2002 Publisher: DC Comics Cover Price: 10¢ (duh!) Current NM Price: $3.00 Stats: 22 color pages, plus ads Writer: Greg Rucka Artists: Rick Burchett, Klaus Janson, Willie Schubert, Lee Loughridge Notable Notes: Intro to the “ Bruce Wayne: Murderer” cross-over event.
I have a collection of about 1,000 comics or so, and not one of them is a 10 cent issue… well, except for this one. Too bad I don’t own one of the Batman comics that originally sold for 10 cents back in the day! Oh well, I can dream right? And maybe that is something I need to put on my comic bucket list!
