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| Detective Comics | |
|---|---|
 Detective Comics #1 (March 1937) Cover art by Vin Sullivan. |
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| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Detective Comics, Inc. (1–119) National Comics Publications (120–296) National Periodical Publications (297–467) DC Comics (468–current) |
| Schedule | Monthly (bi-monthly from 1973–1975) |
| Format | Ongoing series |
| Publication date | (vol. 1) March 1937 – August 2011 (vol. 2) September 2011 - Present |
| Number of issues | (vol. 1): 881 (plus issues numbered 0 and 1,000,000, and 12 annuals) (vol. 2): 4 (as of December 2011) |
| Main character(s) | Since #27: Batman Other characters: Slam Bradley, Elongated Man, Batgirl, Robin, Manhunter, Green Arrow |
| Creative team | |
| Writer(s) | (vol. 1) Bill Finger, Frank Robbins, Denny O'Neil, David V. Reed, Gerry Conway, Steve Englehart, Bob Rozakis, Ed Brubaker, Greg Rucka (vol. 2) Tony Daniel |
| Penciller(s) | (vol. 1) Bob Kane, Dick Sprang, Sheldon Moldoff, Carmine Infantino, Bob Brown, Neal Adams, Irv Novick, Gil Kane, Don Heck, Frank Robbins, Jim Aparo, Walter Simonson, Ernie Chua, José Luis García-López, Mike Grell, Marshall Rogers, Don Newton, Gene Colan, Tom Mandrake, Alan Davis, Norm Breyfoge, Pete Woods, Ramon Bachs, J. H. Williams III, Don Kramer (vol. 2) Tony Daniel |
| Inker(s) | (vol. 1) Jerry Robinson, Charles Paris, Sid Greene, Joe Giella, Murphy Anderson, Dick Giordano, Terry Austin, Alfredo Alcala, Shawn McManus, Paul Neary, Wayne Faucher |
| Colorist(s) | Adrienne Roy |
Detective Comics is an American comic book series published monthly by DC Comics since 1937, best known for introducing the iconic superhero Batman in Detective Comics #27 (cover-dated May 1939). It is, along with Action Comics, the book that launched with the debut of Superman, one of the medium's signature series, and the source of its company's name. With 881 monthly issues published as of August 2011 (the last issue before a new #1), it is the longest continuously published comic book in the United States.[1]
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[edit] Publication history
Detective Comics was the final publication of the entrepreneur Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson, whose comics company, National Allied Publications, would evolve into DC Comics, one of the world's two largest comic book publishers, though long after its founder had left it. Wheeler-Nicholson's first two titles were the landmark New Fun: The Big Comic Magazine #1 (cover-dated Feb. 1935), colloquially called New Fun Comics #1 and the first such early comic book to contain all-original content, rather than a mix of newspaper comic strips and comic-strip-style new material. His second effort, New Comics #1, would be retitled twice to become Adventure Comics, another seminal series that ran for decades until issue #503 in 1983, and was later revived in 2009.
The third and final title published under his aegis would be Detective Comics, advertised with a cover illustration dated Dec. 1936, but eventually premiering three months late, with a March 1937 cover date. In 1937, however, Wheeler-Nicholson was in debt to printing-plant owner and magazine distributor Harry Donenfeld, who was as well a pulp-magazine publisher and a principal in the magazine distributorship Independent News. Wheeler-Nicholson took Donenfeld on as a partner in order to publish Detective Comics #1 through the newly formed Detective Comics, Inc., with Wheeler-Nicholson and Jack S. Liebowitz, Donenfeld's accountant, listed as owners. Wheeler-Nicholson was forced out a year later.
Originally an anthology comic, in the manner of the times, Detective Comics #1 (March 1937) featured stories in the "hard-boiled detective" genre, with such stars as Ching Lung (a Fu Manchu-style "yellow peril" villain); Slam Bradley (created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster before their character Superman saw print two years later); and Speed Saunders, among others. Its first editor, Vin Sullivan, also drew the debut issue's cover.
[edit] Batman
Detective Comics #27 (May 1939) featured the first appearance of Batman (as "The Bat-Man"). That superhero would eventually become the star of the title, the cover logo of which is often written as "Detective Comics featuring Batman". Because of its significance, issue #27 is widely considered one of the most valuable comic books in existence, with one copy selling for $1,075,000 in a February 2010 auction.[2]
Issue #38 (April 1940) introduced Batman's sidekick Robin (billed as "The Sensational Character Find of 1940" on the cover). Robin's appearance and the subsequent increase in sales of the book soon led to the trend of superheroes and young sidekicks that characterize the era fans and historians call the Golden Age of Comic Books.
The Boy Commandos by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby debuted in Detective Comics #64 (June 1942) and were then soon spun off into their own title.[3]
uring the silver age, in addition to the Batman stories, the comic also had numerous 8-page back up strips such as "The Strange Experiment of Dr. Erdel" in Detective Comics #225, the story which introduced Martian Manhunter, who kept a feature . Right after #326, the Martian Manhunter was moved to House of Mystery and in #327 the Elongated Man and his wife, now remodeled after Dashiell Hammett's Nick and Nora Charles, took over. The characters crossed over with Batman 3 times. The Elongated Man run lasted until #383 (Jan 1969), however, his feature returned sporadically 15 times until #572, which celebrated the 50th anniversary of the title by teaming him up with Batman, Robin, Slam Bradley and Sherlock Holmes against Edgar Moriarty. After the Elongated Man backup featured ended with issue #383, Batgirl took over the space until #424, and then, after moving her to Batman Family, she was returned from #481 to 519. Manhunter was resurrected in a story by Archie Goodwin and Walt Simonson in issue #437 (Oct.-Nov. 1973)[4] With the last episode of the series, Manhunter moved to the front of the book, in a full-length team-up with Batman.
After publishing on a monthly schedule throughout its run, Detective Comics became a bi-monthly book from issues #435–#445 (June/July 1973 – Feb./March 1975). Writer Steve Englehart and artist Marshall Rogers produced an acclaimed run of Batman stories in Detective Comics #471-476 (Aug. 1977 - April 1978),[5] and provided one of the definitive interpretations that influenced the 1989 Batman movie and would be adapted for the 1990s animated series.[6] The Englehart and Rogers pairing, was described in 2009 by comics writer and historian Robert Greenberger as "one of the greatest" creative teams to work on the Batman character.[7] In their story "The Laughing Fish", the Joker is brazen enough to disfigure fish with a rictus grin, then expects to be granted a federal trademark on them, only to start killing bureaucrats who try to explain that obtaining such a claim on a natural resource is legally impossible.[8] In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the magazine adopted the expanded format used by the canceled Batman Family, adding solo features including "Robin: the Teen Wonder", "Batgirl", the "Human Target" and the anthology "Tales of Gotham City", which featured stories of the city's ordinary people. The title's 500th issue (March 1981) featured stories by several well known creators including television writer Alan Brennert and Walter B. Gibson best known for his work on the pulp fiction character The Shadow.[9] Also used during the 1980s was the use of serialization of the main Batman story, with stories from Detective Comics and Batman directly flowing from one book to another, with cliffhangers at the end of each book's monthly story that would be resolved in the other title of that month. A single writer handled both books during that time beginning with Gerry Conway and followed up by Doug Moench. Sam Hamm, who wrote the screenplay for Tim Burton's Batman, wrote the "Blind Justice" story in Detective Comics issues #598-600.[10]
[edit] Batwoman
In 2009, as part of planned reorganization of the Batman universe due to the events shown in Batman R.I.P. and Final Crisis, Detective Comics went on hiatus for three months while DC Comics published the Battle for the Cowl miniseries. Upon its return, the series featured the newly reintroduced (in 52) Batwoman as the new star of the book, as well as a 10-page back-up feature starring Renee Montoya as the new Question.[11] The series returned Batman to a starring role in early 2010.
[edit] Relaunch
DC Comics relaunched Detective Comics with issue #1 in September 2011, as part of the 2011 DC Universe reboot. The series is being written and drawn by Tony Daniel.[12][13][14] DC Comics is referring to Detective Comics as its new "flagship title". In the first arc of the series, Batman, while in pursuit of the Joker, encounters a new enemy known only as the "Dollmaker".[15]
[edit] Awards
The "Manhunter" series that ran as a backup in Detective Comics from 1973 to 1974 won the Shazam Award for Best Individual Short Story (Dramatic) in 1974 for the story "Cathedral Perilous" in issue #441, written by Archie Goodwin and Walt Simonson.
[edit] Character debuts
| Character | Issue | Publication date |
|---|---|---|
| Slam Bradley | #1 | March 1937 |
| Crimson Avenger | #20 | October 1938 |
| Batman | #27 | May 1939 |
| Commissioner James Gordon | #27 | May 1939 |
| Joe Chill | #33 | November 1939 |
| Hugo Strange | #36 | February 1940 |
| Robin | #38 | April 1940 |
| Clayface (Basil Karlo) | #40 | June 1940 |
| Penguin | #58 | December 1941 |
| Two-Face | #66 | August 1942 |
| Tweedledum and Tweedledee | #74 | April 1943 |
| Riddler | #140 | October 1948 |
| Red Hood | #168 | February 1951 |
| Firefly | #184 | June 1952 |
| Batmen of All Nations | #215 | January 1955 |
| Martian Manhunter | #225 | November 1955 |
| Batwoman | #233 | July 1956 |
| Calendar Man | #259 | September 1958 |
| Bat-Mite | #267 | May 1959 |
| Clayface (Matt Hagen) | #298 | December 1961 |
| Catman | #311 | January 1963 |
| Blockbuster | #345 | November 1965 |
| Cluemaster | #351 | May 1966 |
| Batgirl (Barbara Gordon) | #359 | January 1967 |
| Jason Bard | #392 | October 1969 |
| Man-Bat | #400 | June 1970 |
| Talia al Ghul | #411 | May 1971 |
| Harvey Bullock | #441 | July 1974 |
| Leslie Thompkins | #457 | March 1976 |
| The Calculator | #463 | September 1976 |
| Rupert Thorne | #469 | May 1977 |
| Silver St. Cloud | #470 | June 1977 |
| Clayface (Preston Payne) | #478 | July 1978 |
| Maxie Zeus | #483 | May 1979 |
| Killer Croc | #523 | February 1983 |
| Jason Todd | #524 | March 1983 |
| Onyx | #546 | January 1985 |
| Ventriloquist (Arnold Wesker) | #583 | February 1988 |
| Ratcatcher | #585 | April 1988 |
| Anarky | #608 | November 1989 |
| Renee Montoya | #642 | March 1992 |
| Stephanie Brown | #647 | August 1992 |
| Crispus Allen | #742 | March 2000 |
| Sasha Bordeaux | #751 | December 2000 |
| Nyssa Raatko | #783 | August 2003 |
| Ventriloquist (Peyton Riley) | #827 | March 2007 |
| Dollmaker | #2 | October 2011 |
Charolette Rivers #2 October 2011
[edit] Collected editions
The Detective Comics series has been collected into a number of trade paperbacks:
- Batman Archives (seven volumes):
- Vol. 1, collects #27-50, November 1997, ISBN 978-0930289607
- Vol. 2, collects #51-70, November 1997, ISBN 978-1563890000
- Vol. 3, collects #71-86, November 1997, ISBN 978-1563890994
- Vol. 4, collects #87-102, December 1998, ISBN 978-1563894145
- Vol. 5, collects #103-119, April 2001, ISBN 978-1563897252
- Vol. 6, collects #120-135, August 2005, ISBN 978-1401204099
- Vol. 7, collects #136-154, November 2007, ISBN 978-1401214937
- The Batman Chronicles (ten volumes):
- Vol. 1, collects #27-38 and Batman #1, April 2005, ISBN 978-1401204457
- Vol. 2, collects #39-45, Batman #2-3, and The New York World's Fair Comics #2, September 2006, ISBN 978-1401207908
- Vol. 3, collects #46-50, Batman #4-5, and World's Finest Comics #1, May 2007, ISBN 978-1401213473
- Vol. 4, collects #51-56, Batman #6-5, and World's Finest Comics" #2-3, October 2007, ISBN 978-1401214623
- Vol. 5, collects #57-61, Batman #8-9, and World's Finest Comics #4, April 2008, ISBN 978-1401216825
- Vol. 6, collects #62-65, Batman #10-11, and World's Finest Comics #5-6, October 2008, ISBN 978-1401219611
- Vol. 7, collects #66-70, Batman #12-13, and World's Finest Comics #7, March 2009, ISBN 978-1401221348
- Vol. 8, collects #71-74, Batman #14-15, and World's Finest Comics #8-9, October 2009, ISBN 978-1401224844
- Vol. 9, collects #75-77, Batman #16-17, and World's Finest Comics #10, March 2010, ISBN 978-1401226459
- Vol. 10, collects #78-81, Batman #18-19, and World's Finest Comics #11, December 2010
- Batman: The Dynamic Duo Archives (two volumes):
- Vol. 1, collects #327-333 and Batman #164-167, March 2003, ISBN 978-1563899324
- Vol. 2, collects #334-339 and Batman #168-171, June 2006, ISBN 978-1401207724
- Showcase Presents: Batman (four volumes):
- Vol. 1, collects #327-342 and Batman #164-174, August 2006, ISBN 978-1401210861
- Vol. 2, collects #343-358 and Batman #175-186, June 2007, ISBN 978-1401213626
- Vol. 3, collects #359-375 and Batman #189-202, July 2008, ISBN 978-1401217198
- Vol. 4, collects #376-390 and Batman #202-215, July 2009, ISBN 978-1401223144
Vol 5 December 2011
- Manhunter: The Special Edition, collects Manhunter backup stories from #437-442 and the Batman/Manhunter crossover in #443, Manhunter #1, and Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #100, June 1999, ISBN 978-1563893742
- Batman: Strange Apparitions, collects #469-476, #478-479, December 1999, ISBN 978-1563895005
- Batman: Year Two, collects #575-578, January 1990, ISBN 978-0930289492
- Batman: Blind Justice, collects #598-600, May 2005, ISBN 978-1563890475
- Batman: Anarky, collects #608-609, Batman Chronicles #1, Batman: Shadow of the Bat #40-41, and Anarky #1-4, February 1999, ISBN 978-1563894374
- Batman: Evolution, collects #743-750, August 2001, ISBN 978-1563897269
- Batman: The Man Who Laughs, collects #784-786 and Batman: The Man Who Laughs (one-shot), February 2009, ISBN 978-1401216269 (Hardcover: January 2008, ISBN 978-1401216221)
- Batman: War Drums, collects #790-796 and Robin (vol. 2) #126-128, October 2004, ISBN 978-1401203412
- Batman: City of Crime, collects #800-808, #811-814, July 2006, ISBN 978-1401208974
- Batman: Face the Face, collects #817-820 and Batman #651-654, September 2006, ISBN 978-1401209100
- Batman: Detective, collects #821-826, April 2007, ISBN 978-1401212391
- Batman: Death and the City, collects #827-834, November 2007, ISBN 978-1401215750
- Batman: Private Casebook, collects #840-845 and DC Infinite Halloween Special, November 2009, ISBN 978-1401220150 (Hardcover: December 2008, ISBN 978-1401220099)
- Batman: Heart of Hush, collects #846-850, March 2010, ISBN 978-1401221249 (Hardcover: April 2009, ISBN 978-1401221232)
- Batwoman: Elegy, collects #854-860, June 2011, ISBN 978-1401231460 (Hardcover: July 2010, ISBN 978-1401226923)
- Batman: Impostors, collects #867-870, August 2011, ISBN 978-1401231446
- Batman: The Black Mirror, hardcover, collects #871-881, November 2011, ISBN 978-1401232061
[edit] References
- ^ Action Comics has amassed more individual issues due to 42 issues (#601-642) in 1988–89 that were published weekly, and because of Detective Comics' bimonthly run from 1973–1975. The American record-holder for most issues published is Dell Comics' Four Color series, which amassed more than 1,300 issues over a 23-year run.
- ^ "Batman, Superman comic books set records for sale price". The Washington Post. February 27, 2010. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/26/AR2010022605938.html. Retrieved March 15, 2011.
- ^ Wallace, Daniel; Dolan, Hannah, ed. (2010). "1940s". DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle. Dorling Kindersley. p. 41. ISBN 978-0-7566-6742-9. "The inaugural issue of Boy Commandos represented Joe Simon and Jack Kirby's first original title since they started at DC (though the characters had debuted earlier that year in Detective Comics #64.)"
- ^ McAvennie, Michael "1970s" in Dolan, p. 157: "Together with exciting new artist Walt Simonson, [Archie] Goodwin executed seven flawless tales that chronicled Paul Kirk's hunt for the world's deadliest game...Manhunter's award-winning revival earned undying acclaim for its talented storytellers."
- ^ McAvennie "1970s" in Dolan, p. 174: "...first-time collaborators Steve Englehart and artist Marshall Rogers firmly entrenched Batman in his dark, pulp roots."
- ^ "Batman Artist Rogers is Dead". SciFi Wire, Syfy.com. March 28, 2007. Archived from the original on July 9, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070709051154/http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?category=5&id=40748. "Even though their Batman run was only six issues, the three laid the foundation for later Batman comics. Their stories include the classic 'Laughing Fish' (in which the Joker's face appeared on fish); they were adapted for Batman: The Animated Series in the 1990s. Earlier drafts of the 1989 Batman movie with Michael Keaton as the Dark Knight were based heavily on their work."
- ^ Greenberger, Robert; Manning, Matthew K. (2009). The Batman Vault: A Museum-in-a-Book with Rare Collectibles from the Batcave. Running Press. p. 27. ISBN 0762436638. "Batman was now a true creature of the night, and every artist and writer team worth their creative salt wanted a piece of him. One of the greatest of such pairs consisted of writer Steve Englehart and artist Marshall Rogers...when Rogers joined Englehart in Detective Comics issue #471 (August 1977), their styles meshed with such ease that the result gave the impresssion of years' worth of collaboration."
- ^ Greenberger and Manning, p. 163: "In this fondly remembered tale that was later adapted into an episode of the 1990s cartoon Batman: The Animated Series, the Joker poisoned the harbors of Gotham so that the fish would all bear his signature grin, a look the Joker then tried to trademark in order to collect royalties."
- ^ Manning, Matthew K. "1980s" in Dolan, p. 193: "The comic responsible for DC's name reached its 500th issue with the help of a variety of talented comic book icons...In a dimension-spanning story by writer Alan Brennert and fan-favorite artist Dick Giordano, Batman traveled to an alternate Earth to save the parents of a young Bruce Wayne...Writer of pulp icon the Shadow, Walter Gibson, spun a prose story of the Dark Knight, illustrated by Tom Yeates
- ^ Greenberger and Manning, p. 41: "In the pages of Detective Comics, Batman screenwriter Sam Hamm took advantage of that year's ongoing writers' strike to write a three-issue story entitled "Blind Justice", which culminated in that title's 600th issue."
- ^ "Batwoman takes over 'Detective'". ICv2. February 9, 2009. http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/14269.html. Retrieved February 10, 2009.
- ^ "DC New 52: Detective Comics". The Source. DC Comics.com. http://dcu.blog.dccomics.com/new-52-detective-comics.
- ^ "Batman Relaunch: New #1s for "Batgirl", "Batman", "Detective", "Catwoman", "Birds of Prey" (UPDATED)". Comics Alliance. June 6, 2011. http://www.comicsalliance.com/2011/06/06/new-dcu-batman-detective-batgirl.
- ^ Truitt, Brian (September 5, 2011). "Tony Daniel makes history with 'Detective Comics' No. 1". USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/life/comics/story/2011-09-05/Tony-Daniel-makes-history-with-Detective-Comics-No-1/50263336/1. Retrieved September 22, 2011.
- ^ Detective Comics #1
[edit] Further reading
- Jones, Gerard (2004). Men of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters, and the Birth of the Comic Book. Basic Books. ISBN 0-4650-3657-0.
[edit] External links
- DC Comics official site
- Detective Comics at the Grand Comics Database
- Detective Comics at the Comic Book DB
- Detective Comics at the Big Comic Book DataBase
- Batman: Yesterday, Today, & Beyond - Comics
- Detective Comics cover gallery
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