Detective Comics #27
| Writer | Bill Finger |
| Artist | Bob Kane |
The very first appearance of the Bat-Man in the six-page story ""The Case of the Criminal Syndicate!"" This issue also features the first appearances of Commissioner Gordon and the revelation of Bat-Man's secret identity as Bruce Wayne.
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8.5
Batman was a bit different then. The bad guy falls to his death in a chemical vat and Batman comments "A fitting end for his kind." Whoah. That's not the anti-killing Batman we know today. All-in-all, it was still pretty good. Can you imagine kids reading that back in 1939 just thinking this would be another masked good guy that time would forget? I'm sure very few, if any expected this to be the start of a Pop culture Empire or that this 10 cent book would be one of the most sought after magazine issues of all time.
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8.0
What's to say really? It's the first appearance of Batman ever and right off the bat he is delivered with full confidence. Also beginning now is my murder count for Batman, because he has changed his tune about killing over the years and that part of the character was absent from his early appearances. Murder count: 1. He kills a man by punching him into a chemical vat, and no it isn't the guy who ends up being the Joker. Interesting historical point of note: Batman wears purple gloves in this issue, much like in Scott Snyder's Year Zero story. The identity of Batman is also not revealed until the last panel. Apex Chemicals. I am going through every issue of Detective and Batman, and reviewing them. Nobody cares, but if you are a nobo dy, feel free to follow me. Especially if you are interested in these issues with no intention of ever reading them. more
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8.0
Similar to the introduction of Superman, I would've been quite excited to read this in 1939!
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7.5
bruce wayne and gordon just chilling and smoking. bffs
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7.0
This is pretty good especially considering it's age. Fuck Bob Kane though.
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6.5
in comparison with superman's stunning debut, Batman's feels a bit more lackluster, however his design is brilliant, and the gritty street level detective is missing from many modern comic books.
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clearly a very early draft for what batman would become. i mean it's the first appearance of him but it's a far cry of what he would later become. it's not particularly the best story, but then again this is the 30s and he was still a relatively new character. also it's very jarring to see the villain of the story die and batman saying "a fitting end for his kind." like holy shit lmao not rating this because there are other stories besides batman in this issue but i can't find the others
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