Detective Comics

 ( 1937 Comics Debuts ) 

Detective Comics (later retitled as Batman Detective Comics) is an American comic book series published by Detective Comics, later shortened to DC Comics. The first volume, published from 1937 to 2011 (and later continued in 2016), is best known for introducing the superhero Batman in Detective Comics #27 (Cover date May 1939).

A second series of the same title was launched in September 2011, but in 2016, reverted to the original volume numbering. The series is the source of its publishing company's name, and—along with Action Comics, the series that launched with the debut of Superman—one of the Mass medium's signature series. Between 1937 and 2011, there were 881 issues of the series. It is the longest-running comic book series in the United States.

The third and final title published under his aegis was Detective Comics, advertised with a cover illustration dated December 1936, but eventually premiering three months later, with a March 1937 cover date. 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 to publish Detective Comics #1 with Wheeler-Nicholson and Jack Liebowitz, Donenfeld's accountant, listed as owners.

Originally an anthology comic, 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. The Crimson Avenger debuted in issue #20 (October 1938).Wallace "1930s" in Dolan, p. 21: "Alongside more typical fare...came the debut of the Crimson Avenger, the first masked crime fighter in comics."

Early issues of the series have been criticized for their racism and xenophobia.

Batman's origin is first revealed in a two-page story in issue #33 (Nov. 1939).Wallace "1930s" in Dolan, p. 25: "In November's Detective Comics #33, a two-page story titled 'The Batman and How He Came to Be' recounted the Dark Knight's tragic and driven origin." Batman became the main cover feature of the title beginning with issue #35 (Jan. 1940).

Batwoman first appeared in Detective Comics #233 (July 1956).Irvine, Alex "1950s" in Dolan, p. 80: "In the story 'The Batwoman' by writer Edmond Hamilton and penciller Sheldon Moldoff (as Bob Kane), Bruce Wayne took notice of a young admirer who...was fighting crime while wearing a bat-costume." Since the family formula had proven very successful for the Superman franchise, editor Jack Schiff suggested to Batman co-creator Bob Kane that he create one for the Batman. A female was chosen first, to offset the charges made by Fredric Wertham that Batman and Robin were homosexual.

In 1964, Julius Schwartz was made responsible for reviving the fading Batman titles. Writer John Broome and artist Carmine Infantino jettisoned the sillier aspects that had crept into the franchise, such as Ace the Bathound and Bat-Mite and gave the character a "New Look" that premiered in Detective Comics #327 (May 1964).McAvennie "1960s" in Dolan, p. 110: "The Dark Knight received a much-needed facelift from new Batman editor Julius Schwartz, writer John Broome, and artist Carmine Infantino. With sales at an all-time low and threatening the cancelation of one of DC's flagship titles, their overhaul was a lifesaving success for DC and its beloved Batman." Schwartz, Gardner Fox, and Infantino introduced, from the William Dozier produced TV series, Barbara Gordon as a new version of Batgirl in a story titled "The Million Dollar Debut of Batgirl!" in issue #359 (Jan. 1967).McAvennie "1960s" in Dolan, p. 122 "Nine months before making her debut on Batman, a new Batgirl appeared in the pages of Detective Comics...Yet the idea for the debut of Barbara Gordon, according to editor Julius Schwartz, was attributed to the television series executives' desire to have a character that would appeal to a female audience and for this character to originate in the comics. Hence, writer Gardner Fox and artist Carmine Infantino collaborated on 'The Million Dollar Debut of Batgirl!'" Mike Friedrich wrote the 30th anniversary Batman story in Detective Comics #387 (May 1969) which was drawn by Bob Brown.

Writer Dennis O'Neil and artist Neal Adams had their first collaboration on Batman on the story "The Secret of the Waiting Graves" in issue #395 (Jan. 1970).McAvennie "1970s" in Dolan, p. 143: "Artist Neal Adams and writer Denny O'Neil rescued Batman from the cozy, campy cul-de-sac he had been consigned to in the 1960s and returned the Dark Knight to his roots as a haunted crime fighter. The cover of their first collaboration, "The Secret of the Waiting Graves", was typical of Adams' edgy, spooky style." The duo, under the direction of Schwartz,

After publishing on a monthly schedule throughout its run, Detective Comics became a bi-monthly book from issues #435 (June–July 1973) to #445 (Feb.-March 1975). Issues #438 (Dec. 1973-Jan. 1974) to #445 (Feb.–March 1975) of the series were in the 100 Page Super Spectacular format. O'Neil and artist Dick Giordano created the Batman supporting character Leslie Thompkins in the story "There Is No Hope in Crime Alley" appearing in issue #457 (March 1976).Greenberger and Manning, p. 30: "It was Dick Giordano who, among many other similar feats, drew the March 1976 fan-favorite issue #457 of Detective Comics to illustrate the fabled Denny O'Neil yarn 'There is No Hope in Crime Alley'." Writer Steve Englehart and artist Marshall Rogers produced an acclaimed run of Batman stories in Detective Comics #471–476 (Aug. 1977 – April 1978),McAvennie "1970s" in Dolan, p. 174: "...first-time collaborators Steve Englehart and artist Marshall Rogers firmly entrenched Batman in his dark, pulp roots." and provided one of the definitive interpretations that influenced the 1989 Batman film and was adapted for the 1990s . 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.Greenberger and Manning, p. 27: "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 impression of years' worth of collaboration." 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 the bureaucrats who try to explain to him that obtaining such a claim on a natural resource is legally impossible.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." Writer Len Wein and Rogers co-created the third version of the supervillain Clayface in Detective Comics #478 (July–Aug. 1978).McAvennie "1970s" in Dolan, p. 179: "Writer Len Wein and artist Marshall Rogers vividly depicted Batman's battle with a third Clayface." From issue #481 (Dec. 1978 – Jan. 1979) through #495 (Oct. 1980), the magazine adopted the expanded Dollar Comics 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. Julius Schwartz, who had edited the title for most of its run since 1964, left the series as of issue #484 (June–July 1979) The original Batwoman was killed in the lead story in issue #485 (Aug.–Sept. 1979) by the League of Assassins.McAvennie "1970s" in Dolan, p. 183: "September's Detective Comics #485 featured...the League of Assassins' murder of Kathy (Batwoman) Kane an that sent Batman out for revenge in a story by scripter Denny O'Neil and artist Don Newton."

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 magazine character The Shadow.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." 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. The supervillain Killer Croc made a shadowy cameo in issue #523 (Feb. 1983).Manning "1980s" in Dolan, p. 200: "Killer Croc made his mysterious debut in the pages of Detective Comics #523, written by Gerry Conway, with art by Gene Colan...Croc would soon become a major player in Gotham's underworld." Noted author Harlan Ellison wrote the Batman story in issue #567.

Writer Mike W. Barr and artists Alan Davis and Todd McFarlane crafted the "" storyline in Detective Comics #575–578 which followed up on Frank Miller's "".Manning "1980s" in Dolan, p. 229: "In 'Year Two', a four-part sequel to set in Batman's second year as a crime fighter, writer Mike W. Barr and artists Alan Davis and Todd McFarlane challenged the Caped Crusader with the threat of the Reaper." Writer Alan Grant and artist Norm Breyfogle introduced the Ventriloquist in their first Batman story togetherManning "1980s" in Dolan, p. 235: "In February 1988, the Batman crossed paths with Scarface and the Ventriloquist in Detective Comics #583 by writer John Wagner and Alan Grant and artist Norm Breyfogle." and the Ratcatcher in their third (#585).Manning "1980s" in Dougall, p. 171: "Writers John Wagner and Alan Grant and artist Norm Breyfogle introduced the Ratcatcher in this two-part story." Sam Hamm, who wrote the screenplay for Tim Burton's Batman, wrote the "Blind Justice" story in Detective Comics issues #598–600.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." Chuck Dixon became the writer of the series with issue #644 (May 1992).Manning "1990s" in Dougall, p. 195: "Chuck Dixon became the new writer on Detective Comics, starting with this issue with the help of the pencils of Tom Lyle and the inks of Scott Hanna." He and Tom Lyle co-created the Electrocutioner in Detective Comics #644 (May 1992)Manning "1990s" in Dougall, p. 195 and Stephanie Brown in Detective Comics #647 (August 1992).Manning "1990s" in Dougall, p. 196

The "" storyline began in issue #700 (August 1996).Manning "1990s" in Dolan, p. 274: "'Legacy' kicked into full speed in the anniversary issue of Detective Comics (#700), which came with a unique envelope wrapping." The "No Man's Land" storyline crossed over into Detective Comics in issues #730–741. Writer Greg Rucka and artist Shawn Martinbrough became the creative team as of issue #742 (March 2000)Manning "2000s" in Dougall, p. 246: "Greg Rucka was handed the reins of Detective Comics, alongside artist Shawn Martinbrough...To visually distinguish the title from other Batman books, Martinbrough employed a minimal color palette, using shades of only one or two colors per issue." and created the Sasha Bordeaux character in issue #751 (Dec. 2000).Manning "2000s" in Dougall, p. 252: "Greg Rucka and artist Shawn Martinbrough debuted a major new character and love interest into the life of Batman: Sasha Bordeaux." Issue #800 (Jan. 2005) was written by Andersen Gabrych and drawn by Pete Woods.Cowsill, Alan "2000s" in Dolan, p. 318: " Detective Comics ' 800th issue was extra large to celebrate the comic's anniversary and set up a new direction for the Dark Knight...Scripted by Andersen Gabrych and pencilled by Pet Woods, the issue took Batman back to basics." Paul Dini became the writer of the series as of issue #821 (Sept. 2006)Manning "2000s" in Dougall, p. 290: "Paul Dini came aboard Detective Comics as its new ongoing writer as of this issue." and created a new version of the Ventriloquist in #827 (March 2007).Manning "2000s" in Dougall, p. 293: "Paul Dini and artist Don Kramer introduced a new Ventriloquist in this self-contained issue." Scott Snyder became the writer of Detective Comics with issue #871 (Jan. 2011).

After a lengthy absence, the backup features returned for issues #746–810. These were more closed-ended stories featuring new and established characters in the Batman mythos. The first was "The Jacobian" in issues #746–757, followed by a one-issue Batman story in #758. The following issues, #759–762, featured Slam Bradley and were a lead-in to the 2002 Catwoman series. Issues #763–772 featured Josephine "Josie Mac" MacDonald, a Gotham police detective. Issues #773–775 were titled "Tales of Gotham" and feature Detectives Crispus Allen and Renee Montoya. Batman starred in "Spore" from issues #776–780. #781 featured a special Elseworlds tale, while #782 featured a Batman solo tale. Issue #783 featured a prelude to the "Death and the Maidens" miniseries, and issue #784 featured a Josie Mac tale. The "Tales of Gotham" stories resumed in issues #785–788 with "The Dogcatcher", and #789–794 featured "The Tailor". "Polished Stone", featuring the Green Arrow and Onyx, ran in issues #795–796. "Low", featuring the Riddler and Poison Ivy, ran from issues #797–799. Under the title "Tales of Gotham," Detective Comics #800 had a short Batman back-up story. A four-issue (#801–805) story featuring the Barker entitled "When You're Strange" was next and "Mud" in issue #805. The last back-up was a three-issue (#808–810) story about Killer Croc. It came after a two-issue (#806–807) story about Alfred.

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.

The first issue of the relaunched Detective Comics has received six printings, second only to the relaunched Justice League which had seven printings. The series' 7th issue was also DC Comic's 6th highest selling digital comic, ranking above many other series in the Batman category. Scott West of Sciencefiction.com gave the series' third arc a positive review, stating that "After last month's disappointing 'Night of the Owls' tie-in issue, it's nice to see 'Detective Comics' getting back to where it should be...good detective stories." The relaunched Detective Comics received the award for "Best Series" at the 2012 Stan Lee Awards. The series' first collected edition reached the number 1 spot on The New York Times Best Seller list in the category of "Hardcover Graphic Books".

Daniel wrote and penciled the series until the Night of the Owls crossover, at which point Ed Benes, Julio Ferreira, and Eduardo Pansica began drawing the series for a three-issue arc. The price of Detective Comics was increased due to the addition of a backup feature starring Batman villain Two-Face, which was written by Daniel and illustrated by Syzmon Kudranski, this followed a similar backup featuring Hugo Strange. Daniel left the series with issue #12 being his last as writer and the "0" issue his last as penciller.

DC celebrated the first anniversary of The New 52 in September 2012 by publishing a number "0" of each original New 52 title which act as prequels to the series and reveal previously unexplained plot elements. Gregg Hurwitz wrote the "0" issue. Hurwitz was approached by Daniel to write the "0" issue due to Daniel's busy schedule. To follow up on the Night of the Owls elements in Detective Comics, Daniel wrote Detective Comics Annual #1, which was pencilled by Romano Molenaar and inked by Sandu Florea.

Following Daniel's tenure on the series, John Layman became the new writer and Jason Fabok the new artist with James Tynion IV writing the backup features and Syzmon Kudranski remaining as artist for Tynion's first feature. With issue #19 of Detective Comics vol. 2, released on April 3, 2013, the series reached 900 issues as combined with the first volume of the series, and was a special oversized celebratory issue. Under Layman, the series featured its first crossover, Gothtopia after which Layman and Fabok moved to the Batman Eternal series and Detective Comics was taken over by Brain Buccalleto and Francis Manapul.

In commemoration of the second anniversary of The New 52, DC Comics announced "Villains Month" with Detective Comics getting four issues. The issues starred Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, the Scarecrow, and the Man-Bat, and, respectively, being numbered #23.1, #23.2, #23.3, and #23.4, by an ensemble of writers and artists.

For the 75th anniversary of Batman, issue #27 was a larger-sized issue featuring new stories by Brad Meltzer and Bryan Hitch, Scott Snyder and Sean Murphy, Peter Tomasi and Ian Bertram, John Layman and Jason Fabok, Gregg Hurwitz and Neal Adams, Mike W. Barr and Guillem March, and one written and drawn by Francesco Francavilla. In addition, variant covers to the issue were by Greg Capullo, Frank Miller, Chris Burnham, Jim Lee, Jason Fabok, and Tony Daniel. Single page artwork included work by Kelley Jones, Mike Allred, Patrick Gleason, and Jock.

The creative team beginning with issue #934 included writer James Tynion IV and artists Eddy Barrows and Alvaro Martinez. The series featured a team led by Batman and Batwoman (Kate Kane), operating out of a secondary base in the heart of Gotham known as the Belfry. Team members initially included Red Robin (Tim Drake), Spoiler (Stephanie Brown), Orphan (Cassandra Cain) and Clayface (Basil Karlo), with Batwing (Luke Fox) and Azrael (Jean-Paul Valley) later recruited as new members. Detective Comics #944 DC Comics (Burbank, California). Zatanna also briefly joins the team as a guest star in several issues. This status quo ended with the conclusion of Tynion's run on the series in issue #981, published May 2018. During the interim period without a permanent writer, Bryan Edward Hill wrote the story arc "On the Outside" starring Batman, Orphan, Signal, Katana and Black Lightning over issues #983–987 as a prelude to his ongoing series Batman and the Outsiders. The next regular writer, Peter Tomasi, began on the series with issue #994, published December 2018. Tomasi's run as writer continued for two years until issue #1033, published December 2020.

On March 27, 2019, DC Comics released the series' 1,000th issue, marking the second American comic book in history to reach that milestone after Action Comics in 2018. The issue, which coincided with Batman's 80th anniversary, is an anthology featuring several stories from a variety of different creative teams.

Writer Mariko Tamaki began on the series with issue #1034 as part of the Infinite Frontier line-wide relaunch. In April 2022, it was announced that Ram V and Rafael Albuquerque would serve as the new creative team starting with issue #1062.