He’s the biggest star DC Comics has ever produced, but when it comes to covers, not all those featuring Batman are equal. I’m sure if I asked you to imagine a Batman cover, you’d probably think of something like Detective Comics #27 or maybe even Batman: The Dark Knight Returns #1. The Caped Crusader has so many good and iconic covers, it’s hard to contemplate the ones that don’t really hit. And yet, there are a few instances of covers in the Dark Knight’s long history that, for one reason or another, don’t really do Batman or his allies justice.
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Sometimes covers, especially those from the Silver Age, can come off a bit antiquated or bizarre. Like Detective Comics #241’s infamous ‘Rainbow Batman’ cover that had Bruce dress up in a red (but let’s be real, pink) Batsuit. Other covers went for a more morbid approach, like how Detective Comics #126 had Batman and Robin laughing at a very unfortunate instance for the Penguin. While all art is subjective, some covers featuring Batman or larger members of the Bat-Family are just so out-there, they’re enough to give fans pause. Read on to discover 5 incredibly bizarre Batman covers.
5. Detective Comics #241
I remember the first time I saw this cover because of how much it threw me. This cover thankfully doesn’t have any violence or creepiness to it. But it will almost certainly throw modern Batman fans for a loop seeing Batman dressed up in a very light red (bordering on pink) costume. To be fair, the story featured in this issue does reveal that Batman wore more garish versions of his costume to draw attention from Robin. But still, for fans not used to how strange the Silver Age could get, this will almost certainly flummox today’s Batman readers.
4. Detective Comics #126
Schadenfreude is a relatable, if disturbing, aspect of humanity. But it’s wild to see Batman and Robin indulging in the feeling, especially when someone’s life is in danger. The cover of Detective Comics #126 sees the Penguin fleeing the Dynamic Duo via his umbrella, only to slam headfirst into a high-voltage wire. As Oswald Cobblepot fries, Batman and Robin look on as if they were watching Wile E. Coyote being shocked in Looney Tunes. It’s all fictional, sure, but for stories with a degree of realism to them, it’s kind of perturbing to see Bruce and Dick laughing at this.
3. Batman #222
Urban legends have a funny way of showing up in fiction. For the newer generations out there, there was a ridiculous idea that Paul McCartney from the Beatles had secretly died and had been replaced by a lookalike. Within a few years, Batman #222 riffed on this idea. The cover shows Batman and Robin in a cemetery, watching as a counterculture rock band walks across the graves to determine which one of them is actually dead. This one admittedly requires some pop culture knowledge, but still, it’s a surprise to see DC utilize a preposterous urban legends like this.
2. Batgirl #41
This one is a bit of an outlier because it doesn’t feature Batman, and it actually never made it to publication. This artwork by Rafael Albuquerque was made as a variant for Batgirl #41 and is a reference to Joker and Batgirl’s history in Batman: The Killing Joke. Fans were outraged at the reveal, claiming that it minimized Barbara Gordon’s trauma. After an intense social media pushback and at the artist’s request, DC Comics pulled the cover. While it’s good that this cover never made it to publication, it’s wild to imagine that it almost did.
1. Batman #246
No matter how you cut it, this cover is just shocking. Batman #246 shows Batman stumbling upon Robin’s corpse, bemoaning that it’s happened again. Now, this is referring to the issue’s story, which features a criminal baiting Batman with fake Robin deaths. But this cover really became harsher in hindsight after Jason Todd’s infamous death at the hands of the Joker. And honestly, even in a world where Robin wasn’t violently murdered for real, I can’t believe DC got away with a cover that implied Robin was dead, much less that this was a bizarrely frequent event.
What’s the most shocking Batman cover you’ve ever seen? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts on the ComicBook Forum!
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