Batman is getting The Folio Society treatment. The Folio Society, in collaboration with DC, will celebrate the 85th anniversary of Batman’s first appearance in Detective Comics #27 with DC: Batman, a high-end collection of some of the Dark Knight’s most important adventures. That includes a replica edition of Batman #1, reprinting Batman’s first headlining comic book as it first appeared in 1940. The DC: Batman collection (The Folio Society’s second collaboration with DC, following last year’s ) features comics by talents like Bill Finger, Bob Kane, Jerry Robinson, Denny O’Neil, Neal Adams, Marshall Rogers, Frank Miller, Dave Mazzucchelli, Alan Moore, Brian Bolland, and Kelley Jones, as selected by former DC President, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of DC, Jennette Kahn
Videos by ComicBook.com
The 320-page DC: Batman volume includes 12 Batman issues in total, plus the Batman #1 facsimile, scanned from an original copy. The issue includes the original backup stories and vintage, and the stories introduce The Joker and The Cat, later known as Catwoman.
“Created towards the end of the Great Depression by artist Bob Kane with writer Bill Finger, Batman is an icon as familiar as James Bond or Tarzan, one who has evolved to reflect the changing attitudes of the twentieth century,” said Folio Society Head of Editorial, James Rose, in a press release. “The stories selected for DC: Batman reveal how the character and his billionaire alter-ego Bruce Wayne gradually evolved from the dutiful crimefighter of the 1940s to a man possessed, as crazy as the criminals he puts away. The Caped Crusader faces a rogue’s gallery steeped in gothic horror, from the Weimar cinema-inspired The Joker to the Jekyll/Hyde figure of Two-Face and the Moriarty-like Ra’s al Ghul.”
In her DC: Batman introduction, Kahn writes, “Trauma is a through-line in the Batman mythology. It has made psychopaths of Batman’s foes and brought him to the edge of madness himself. Batman’s battle is not just against criminals and crime. He fears the day he’ll look into a mirror and see, not Bruce Wayne’s face, but The Joker’s.”
“The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller and Batman: Year One, by Miller and Dave Mazzucchelli, and the terrifying classic The Killing Joke by Alan Moore and Brian Bolland are widely regarded as among the greatest comic books ever created,” added Tom Walker, Folio Society’s Publishing Director. “These stories changed the graphic medium forever with their combination of cinematic storytelling, shocking violence, and literary depth and serve as centerpiece texts for DC: Batman.”
The Folio Society provided a list of all the stories in its DC: Batman collection. The book includes:
Facsimile: Batman #1 (Spring 1940)
- Writer: Bill Finger
- Cover artists: Bob Kane, Jerry Robinson
- Artists: Bob Kane, Sheldon Moldoff
- Editor: Whitney Ellsworth
“The Bat-Man”
- Detective Comics #27 (May 1939)
- Writer: Bill Finger
- Artist: Bob Kane
- Editor: Vincent Sullivan
“Robin—the Boy Wonder”
- Detective Comics #38 (April 1940)
- Writer: Bill Finger
- Artists: Bob Kane, Jerry Robinson
- Editor: Whitney Ellsworth
“The Crimes of Two-Face!”
- Detective Comics #66 (August 1942)
- Writer: Bill Finger
- Artists: Jerry Robinson, George Roussos
- Letterers: Ira Schnapp
- Editor: Whitney Ellsworth
“Batman and Green Arrow: The Senator’s Been Shot!”
- The Brave and the Bold #85 (September 1969)
- Writer: Bob Haney
- Cover artist: Neal Adams
- Penciler: Neal Adams
- Inker: Dick Giordano
- Letterer: Ben Oda
- Editor: Murray Boltinoff
“Daughter of the Demon”
- Batman #232 (June 1971)
- Writer: Dennis O’Neil
- Cover artist: Neal Adams
- Penciler: Neal Adams
- Inker: Dick Giordano
- Letterer: John Costanza
- Editor: Julius Schwartz
“The Dead Yet Live”
- Detective Comics #471 (August 1977)
- Writer: Steve Englehart
- Cover artists: Marshall Rogers, Terry Austin, Tatjana Wood, Gaspar Saladino
- Penciler: Marshall Rogers
- Inker: Terry Austin
- Colorists: Marshall Rogers
- Letterer: John Workman
- Editors: Julius Schwartz, E. Nelson Bridwell
“The Dark Knight Returns”
- Batman: The Dark Knight Returns #1 (June 1986)
- Writer: Frank Miller
- Cover artists: Frank Miller, Lynn Varley
- Penciler: Frank Miller
- Inker: Klaus Janson
- Colorist: Lynn Varley
- Letterer: John Costanza
- Editors: Dick Giordano, Dennis O’Neil
“Batman: Year One—Chapter One: Who I Am—How I Come to Be”
- Batman #404 (February 1987)
- Writer: Frank Miller
- Artist: Dave Mazzucchelli
- Colorist: Richmond Lewis
- Letterer: Todd Klein
- Editor: Dennis O’Neil
Batman: The Killing Joke (July 1988)
- Writer: Alan Moore
- Cover artists: Brian Bolland, Richard Bruning
- Artist: Brian Bolland
- Colorist: John Higgins
- Letterer: Richard Starkings
- Editors: Dennis O’Neil, Dan Raspler
“The Last Arkham (Part One)”
- Batman: Shadow of the Bat #1 (June 1992)
- Writer: Alan Grant
- Cover artist: Brian Stelfreeze
- Penciler: Norm Breyfogle
- Inker: Norm Breyfogle
- Colorist: Adrienne Roy
- Letterer: Todd Klein
- Editors: Scott Peterson, Dennis O’Neil
“Knightfall Part 1: Crossed Eyes and Dotty Teas”
- Batman #492 (May 1993)
- Writer: Doug Moench
- Cover artists: Kelley Jones, Bob LeRose
- Penciler: Norm Breyfogle
- Inker: Norm Breyfogle
- Colorist Adrienne Roy
- Letterer: Richard Starkings
- Editors: Scott Peterson, Jordan B. Gorfinkel, Dennis O’Neil
DC: Batman is the second release in The Folio Society’s DC publishing program, following DC: The Golden Age. DC: Batman is scanned from original copies found in the DC archives. The comics are reproduced in 10″ x 7″ treasury format within an anti-scratch laminated hardcover sporting Batman’s silhouette. The titles are foil-embossed in yellow and midnight blue. The book fits into a pitch-black slipcase emblazoned the Bat-Signal.
DC: Batman will go on sale from The Folio Society on February 20th. Interested readers can place their orders at The Folio Society’s website.
