Batman Part V

No comic has had more anniversary issues than Detective Comics. In addition to being the oldest continuously published comic with issue and year anniversaries, there is Batman's first appearance in Detective 27 (May 1939) to remember. The most important was the 25 year anniversary for Detective 27 - Detective Comics 327(May 1964). This is also the 301st appearance of Batman in Detective. Neither anniversary was mentioned. Interestingly DC messed up the anniversary of the 600th appearance which was in Detective 626 but celebrated in 627 (March 1991).

That issue introduced the "New Look" Batman which is pretty much the Batman we have today. Out went most of the accumulated baggage of the old Batman - Bat-Mite, Bat-Hound, Batgirl etc. Gone were the alien and time travel stories; art and stories more sophisticated. A new second feature, Elongated Man, replaced Manhunter from Mars. And, most importantly, a new editor.

The Batman story in that issue, "The Mystery of the Menacing Mask!", was not reprinted until 2003 in the first volume of Batman: The Dynamic Duo Archives. But the Elongated Man story, "Ten Miles to Nowhere" was reprinted in the 1970s, in Detective Comics 445 (Feb-Mar 1975).



Blackhawk Part I

There were only four non-funny comic characters published continuously from the early forties to the late sixties - Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and Blackhawk. The first three are still very much around but Blackhawk is nearly forgotten.

The original team first appeared in Military Comics 1 (August 1941) and last appeared in Blackhawk 273 (November 1984). There was a late eighties revival with a bit different team. The 2000 Millennium Edition reprint of Military Comics 1 is below.

There were no Blackhawk reprint collections until a single Archives Volume in 2001. But a few stories made it into the "100 Pages" reprint series in the early to mid seventies. There were a hundred or so of these collections published as part of the regular continuity of a number of DC Comics. "The Menace from Inner Space", was reprinted in The Brave and the Bold 117 (Feb-Mar 1975).

As a bonus here is Jim Steranko's Freddy Mercury version of Blackhawk and his team from the back cover of The Steranko History of Comics 2 (Reading, Penn: Supergraphics, 1972).

Flash Part I

I'm constantly surprised at the amount of editing DC stories were subjected to when reprinted. Since 1989 DC Comics has published nearly 200 Archives Volumes. As far as I know no story has been modified. But the policy for other reprints from the 60s on appears to be "just do it!" (editing that is). Here are examples from 1992 and 2000.

The cover to Showcase 4 (October 1956), the comic book introducing the modern-age Flash, is one of the most famous in comics. But that didn't stop arbitrary editing in 1992 and 2000.

The Silver Age Classics version of Showcase 4 is modified with the small "NO. 4" and the price below the date removed and a large "#4" added to the title. The Millennium Edition version has also been inexplicably changed with the small outline of North America on the far left next to the date and the price removed. The North America outline remains on the other version.

The original cover is from The Flash Archives Volume 1 (DC Comics, 1996).

Original cover

Silver Age Classics - 1992

Millennium Edition - 2000

Comic Value Part I

The price of comics remained 10 cents from 1933 until 1961 but the size decreased. After this size and price were more and more often adjusted resulting in reduced value for the comic buyer's pennies. For example here is the size and price for Detective Comics from 1937 to 1973:
  

issue #	size	price	value in
			pages/cent
1-75	68 page	10 cents	6.8
76-89	60 page	10 cents	6.0
90-176	52 page	10 cents	5.2
177-211	44 page	10 cents	4.4
212-297	36 page	10 cents	3.6
298-387	36 page	12 cents	3.0
388-413	36 page	15 cents	2.4
414-424	52 page	25 cents	2.1
425-437	36 page	20 cents	1.8

So by 1973 the value had dropped by 75%, from 6.8 pages/cent to 1.8 pages/cent. The current value for Detective Comics is .12 pages/cent, a further reduction of 93% from 1973. Over the life of Detective Comics value has dropped 98%.

Using the US inflation rate from the first issue of Detective Comics in March 1937 to today of 1450% would give a comic value of .48 pages/cent, four times its real value of .12. So comics have inflated at four times the general inflation rate over that period. Or, to put it another way, comics have lost four times as much value as the average American good.

That's value as quantity. Value as quality is another post. Here are some DC Annuals from the sixties - when value was 3 pages/cent.

Batman Annual 6 - Winter 1963-64

Superman Annual 8 - Winter 1963-64

Flash 160 (80 Page Giant 21) - April-May 1966

 Flash Annual 1 - 1963

Batman Part IV

There was a mystery in the 1960s Batman reprint collections that bothered me. I wrote a letter to DC asking why stories clearly drawn by different artists were always signed "Bob Kane". DC didn't answer my letter. One of the artists was OK but the other one drew a dynamic Batman and Robin fighting crime and solving mysteries in an off-kilter Gotham populated by "Dick Tracy" like villains.

Many years later I learned the "good" artist was Dick Sprang who drew hundreds of B&R stories from 1941 to 1963. Before he died in 2000 he had received the recognition that he deserved. In 1987, for the 50 year anniversary issue of Detective Comics, he drew a two page spread with all the B&R characters of the 1940s and 50s. The bald gentleman middle far left is Professor Nichols. The good professor sent B&R on 35 time travel adventures, six of which were reprinted in the Batman Annuals and 80 Page Giants. Here is a Dick Sprang Professor Nichols story from Batman 112 (December 1957) reprinted in 80 Page Giant 12 (July 1965).

Batman Part III

The 22 Annuals DC Comics published from 1960 to 1964 were different in an important way from the 80 Page Giants which followed - they didn't have ads. This allowed for one of their most appealing aspects - special features. Reproductions of covers, lists of superpowers or batgadgets, maps of planets or batcaves - all were indeed special.

Here is one from Batman Annual 2 (1961) - a signed portrait of the Batman Family. The back cover of the 40th anniversary of the Batman's appearance in Detective Comics 483 (May 1979) has a later Batman Family. Gone are Bat-Mite and Bathound, the old Batwoman and Batgirl. A new Batwoman is the only new Family. This was as simple as the Family became. Since then there have been three more Robins, the old Robin became Nightwing then a second Batman, a third Batwoman.

Batman Origin Part I

The Batman origin story is one of the best known in popular culture. It is first seen as a two page lead in "The Batman Wars Against the Dirigible of Doom" in Detective Comics 33 (November 1939). The reprint below is from Batman Archives Volume I (DC Comics, 1990). The story has been revisited many times with two examples below from the 80 Page Giants.

The first, "The Origin of the Batman!", was reprinted in Batman 198 (January-February 1968). First seen in Batman 47 (June-July 1948), there is a significant change in the origin story - Martha Wayne is now not shot but dies from heart failure.

The second, "Batman's First Case", is from Batman 187 (December 1966-January 1967). It was first published in Detective Comics 265 (March 1959) and follows the original story closely.

It is interesting to note that Batman's training changes from "master scientist' to "master[ing] scientific investigation' to "attending a School of Criminology".