batman timeline

1939

Issue 27 of Detective Comics appeared with a new hero nobody had ever seen before on the cover. Bob Kane had been inspired by pulp magazines such as The Shadow, and a 1926 silent film called The Bat.

1940

With Bob Kane on pencils and Bill Finger writing the stories, Batman got his own comic in spring 1940. Robin and The Joker participate as Batman kills three giants marauding in Gotham.

1943

Drawn by Jack Burnley, the cover of Batman issue 16 displays Batman and Robin in an iconic pose that has since been recreated by artists such as Alex Ross. The issue introduced Bruce’s butler, Alfred Pennyworth.

1954

Artist Dick Sprang loved to draw giant-size objects. Here he plays on Two-Face’s famous coin toss motif, only the coin is massive and Batman and Robin are strapped to it. Some iron spikes complete the scene!

1958

Pretty much anything could happen to Batman during the Silver Age – as long as it didn’t involve overt sex or violence. In Detective Comics issue 251, with cover art by Sheldon Moldoff, he was turned into an alien.

1966

In August 1966, issue 183 of Batman was released to coincide with the television series that started on ABC that month. Carmine Infantino and Murphy Anderson went to town on the small-screen tie-in.

1978

It had happened time and again, but with issue 300 of Batman, Dick Giordano and writer Dave Vern Reed threatened an end to the character. In it, Batman and Robin battle a criminal band called Spectrum.

1980

The Untold Legend of Batman was a three-issue limited series drawn by John Byrne and written by Len Wein. It was one of the very first limited series in comic books – an idea taken from television.

1986

Chunky and haggard, 55-year-old Batman returned under the penmanship of Frank Miller in The Dark Knight, a special limited series that changed comics forever. This is the cover to the second issue of six.

1988

During Mike Mignola’s time on the title, DC held a phone-in vote on whether or not Robin should live or die. Readers narrowly elected to kill the character off, hence Mike’s iconic Death in the Family cover.

2002

Originally drawn in issues 608- 611 of Batman, the Hush storyline by Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee made an impact thanks to the latter’s detailed pencil work and shading, and Batman’s romance with Catwoman.

2008

In May 2008, writer Grant Morrison gave the comic world the smelling salts with his RIP story, drawn by Tony S Daniel. The first issue, Batman 679, featured an outrageously slick and unusual-looking cover.