Batman comic book cover gallery

1966 TV show type Bat-Items found on eBay, Collectibles, etc.

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gothosmansion
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Batman comic book cover gallery

Post by gothosmansion »

A few of us were discussing some comics covers over on the "latest Batman item you've acquired" thread....Mods, I started this thread here because the comics were actually the first piece of Batman merchandise. I was planning on posting a single cover each time and maybe one or two a week, so that we can discuss the covers as well. I hope everyone else will join in and post. Oh, and don't feel you have to limit yourself to one or two favorites. Batman has been around since 1939, so there are plenty of great covers we can share.

I hate to start with such an obvious one that shows up a lot....but....basis for my screen name and my favorite Neal Adams cover. Batman 227 from December 1970. The cover is actually an homage to Bob Kane's cover for Detective 31, and has been homaged again since....Matt Wagner homaged it on Batman and the Mad Monk, appropriate since the Monk was the villain in Detective 31, an unsigned homage in the animated series style appeared on the cover to the prose novel Dual to the Death (misspelled on purpose. It adapted the Two-Face and Shadow of the Bat two-parters featuring Two-Face), and Neal Adams himself on a recent Detective Comics variant cover.

As for 227, I actually first discovered the story "Demon of Gothos Mansion" in the "Batman's Strangest Cases" treasury. I don't think I ever saw the cover until the Tales of the Dark Knight Batman's First 50 Years book in 1989.
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AndyFish
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Re: Batman comic book cover gallery

Post by AndyFish »

A real favorite of mine-- I've bought and sold more copies of this comic than any other comic I've ever owned. Great atmospheric cover bringing Batman back to his darker roots. This is one that even looks good in lesser condition copies-- gives it more of a pulp feel.

Nice pick to start the thread.
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AndyFish
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Re: Batman comic book cover gallery

Post by AndyFish »

Here's one I just picked up in absolutely stunning condition-- bright vibrant colors. I love how ridiculous the whole premise of this one is-- the color choices are amazing-- and then there's Robin warning us that Batman has become a menace because he's making bad fashion choices.

Detective Comics 275
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Batman65
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Re: Batman comic book cover gallery

Post by Batman65 »

Andy, how many of these do you actually own now?
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AndyFish
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Re: Batman comic book cover gallery

Post by AndyFish »

How many copies of Detective 275? One.
How many Batman related comics? High hundreds.
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Batman65
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Re: Batman comic book cover gallery

Post by Batman65 »

Yea,I meant Batman in general. That's a lot of comics.
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gothosmansion
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Re: Batman comic book cover gallery

Post by gothosmansion »

Thanks for sharing that, Andy. I've read a reprint of the Batman story, but I don't have that issue. I'm curious how far back your collection goes.

This is probably my favorite pre-New Look Detective that I own, considering my fondness for Godzilla and other giant monsters of the like. Detective 297 November 1961. Cover art by Sheldon Moldoff. In this story, some crooks build a robot of a legendary monster to scare the natives. Then, the real monster shows up and Batman has to "drive" the robot to combat it. In the middle of all that, Batman has to solve a murder mystery. There was a lot going on in the issue.
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AndyFish
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Re: Batman comic book cover gallery

Post by AndyFish »

Collection goes back to 1939 with a Detective 34.

Here's the original to your Batman 227, Detective Comics 31 by 'Bob Kane'
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SprangFan
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Re: Batman comic book cover gallery

Post by SprangFan »

Hey, Robin's just saying what we're all thinking...zebra's are a menace!

I've always been drawn to "atmospheric" Batman covers, and the "Gothos" and "Mad Monk" covers in this thread are good examples. Night skies, a big moon, fog...this is Batman's element! One favorite example with all three is Detective #439, by Adams and Giordano.

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Love how all he has to do is stand there and the crooks run away in panic. One of them shoots wildly in mid-sprint and Batman doesn't even flinch.

I guess you could argue the "artistic purity" of this cover is compromised somewhat by the fact that the image is squeezed into a box to make room for the headshots down at the bottom, not to mention the gaudy banner at top, but for me this is half the appeal. I can't overstate how much I loved DC's "Super-Spectaculars," offering a colossal 100 pages of entertainment, and introducing me to characters and tales from the Golden, Atomic and Silver Ages that I might otherwise never have known about.

Fun stuff.
"You were right again, Batman. We might have been killed."
"Or worse. Let's go..."
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AndyFish
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Re: Batman comic book cover gallery

Post by AndyFish »

The 100 Pagers were my absolute favorites as a kid-- you got an amazing amount of comics including some great golden and silver age material.
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gothosmansion
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Re: Batman comic book cover gallery

Post by gothosmansion »

The 100 pagers were before I began collecting, but I discovered one at a second hand book store and it was a treasure trove. I have since gotten all the Batman 100 pagers and love them.

Sprangfan,

I like how Archie Goodwin used one main Batman image on his Detective 100 pagers and didn't follow the usual DC trend of the three boxes, with the largest version showcasing the "new" story. That is a great Neal Adams cover you picked.

One weird little bit of trivia...I have a Wonder Woman 100 pager and the main image is of one of the reprints with the new story crammed into the bottom left corner. Strangely, the reprint that got the main image was not the cover feature in the issue it originally appeared.

Ok, this isn't a comic book cover, but this is another cover that I think is an homage to Detective 31. This is from a 1994 prose novel Batman : Dual to the Death, which was based on the excellent 1990s Batman animated series. The novel was adapted from the two part "Two-Face" episodes and the the two part "Shadow of the Bat" episodes that featured Two-Face and introduced Batgirl to the series.
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Batfanman
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Re: Batman comic book cover gallery

Post by Batfanman »

This one scared the heck out of me - one of those I don't want/can't wait to read its!
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AndyFish
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Re: Batman comic book cover gallery

Post by AndyFish »

Brave and the Bold had some great covers too.
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BATWINGED HORNET
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Re: Batman comic book cover gallery

Post by BATWINGED HORNET »

Batman #194 (August, 1967) was one of the hallmarks of Carmine Infantino's master cover design. Along with Murphy Anderson, this should rank among the best from a decade almost overflowing with great covers--

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--and I used this cover's Batman as one-half of my avatar with the Green Hornet licensing art.
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Batfanman
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Re: Batman comic book cover gallery

Post by Batfanman »

Adventure Comics did, also. This one intrigued me way back in the day and it's a (spoiler!) death that still holds to this day!
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