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Key Facts

First meeting of Swamp Thing and Batman

DC ⋅ 1974
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First mention of Arkham Hospital, later renamed Arkham Asylum

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Death of Earth-Two Batman

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Batman and Catwoman first official date and romantic kiss

1st appearance of Tim Fox, the son of Lucius Fox and the Next Batman

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68-page oversized crossover featuring Batman and the Hulk

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Batman's 500th appearance in Detective Comics

Interior pin-up poster by Bob Kane

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1st team appearance of the Outsiders: Batman, Black Lightning, Halo, Geoforce, Katana and Metamorpho

1st appearance of Katana, a Japanese martial artist

1st appearance of Geoforce, has the ability to manipulate Earth's gravity

1st appearance of Halo, has the ability to create auras of light with different effects

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2nd appearance and origin of The Outsiders

1st cameo appearance of Baron Bedlam, a fighter with meta-human powers

1st appearance of Dr. Jace, a scientist who activated the powers of superheroes

1st appearance of Gregor Markov, brother of Geo-Force and Terra

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1st appearance of Jason Todd in Robin costume without Batman's permission

Jason Todd had red hair in previous appearances and admits to dyeing it black. This story was strangely retconned in Batman and Robin #5 (2009) with Todd claiming Bruce Wayne made him dye his hair black

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1st appearance of Robin, Carrie Kelley, in an alternate reality

1st cameo appearance of the Mutants and the Mutant Leader

💰Original cover art sold on June 16, 2022 for $2.4 million dollars

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"Year One" part 1

Origin of Bruce Wayne

1st appearance of Holly Robinson, becomes an ally of Catwoman

DC ⋅ 1987
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1st team appearance of the Justice League International: Batman, Booster Gold, Blue Beetle, Dr. Fate, Dr. Light, Guy Gardener, Martian Manhunter, Mister Miracle

Hardcover ⋅ DC ⋅ 1987
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Key Facts

1st appearance of Damian Wayne, son of Bruce Wayne and Talia Al Ghul, as a baby

Initially an alternate reality story that was retconned into continuity by Grant Morrison

Softcover ⋅ DC ⋅ 1988
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Key Facts

1st appearance of Damian Wayne, son of Bruce Wayne and Talia Al Ghul, as a baby

Initially an alternate reality story that was retconned into continuity by Grant Morrison

The softcover edition was preceded by the December 1987 hardcover edition

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Key Facts

"A Death in the Family" part 1

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"A Death in the Family" part 2

After the Joker badly beats Jason Todd with a crowbar, an explosion finishes him off but the fate of Robin was not decided until phone lines were opened to fans after this issue went on sale to determine the fate of Jason Todd

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Key Facts

"A Death in the Family" part 3

Death of Robin, Jason Todd, killed by the Joker

Batman #427 ended on a cliffhanger that placed Jason Todd in the blast zone of an exploding warehouse

DC set up a poll for readers to cast their vote of whether Jason Todd should survive the blast by calling one phone number, or die by calling another

View more (2)

10,614 phone calls were made with Todd's death having been decided by only 72 votes more than the opposite outcome where he would've survived

DC had prepared both scenarios to go to print (tap cover and swipe to view unpublished pages)

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"A Death in the Family" part 4

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1st appearance of Kirigi, a member of the League of Assassins who was at one time a mentor to Batman and Bronze Tiger

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1st appearance, cover and origin of Bane

📖 Knightfall Reading Order: next Batman #484

Platinum ⋅ DC ⋅ 1993
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Key Facts

Variant cover art by Matt Wagner, creator of Grendel

'Silver Moon' Platinum Foil Edition, limited to 25 copies

Obtained by winning a contest facilitated by Hero Illustrated Magazine

The gold stamp is part of the proprietary Hero Illustrated protective slipcase and not on the actual comic

View more (1)

This much anticipated publisher crossover was written in 1991 but was delayed due to Comico going through bankruptcy proceedings. DC eventually published the story in 1993

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Key Facts

Bane breaks Batman's back

Knightfall Part Eleven

📖 Knightfall Reading Order: next Detective Comics #664

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Azrael stands in for Batman after Bane breaks Bruce Wayne's back in Batman #497

Azrael defeats Bane

Knightfall Part Nineteen

📖 Knightfall Reading Order: next Catwoman #1

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Key Facts

Batman/Spawn crossover distributed by Image, created by Todd McFarlane and Frank Miller

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Batman/Spawn crossover distributed by DC, the second crossover of the characters

DC/Marvel ⋅ 1994
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One-shot 'Punisher/Batman: Deadly Knights'

Second crossover of Batman and the Punisher - the Punisher chases Jigsaw to Gotham where he clashes with Batman and the Joker

DC ⋅ 2001
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Key Facts

Non-Key Issue. No additional information is available.
Diamond Exclusive ⋅ DC ⋅ 2002
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Key Facts

Variant cover art by Jim Lee

Retailer Round-Table meeting giveaway

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Classic battle Batman vs Joker

2nd Print ⋅ DC ⋅ 2005
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Variant second printing cover art by Alex Ross

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1st cameo appearance of Damian Wayne, the son of Bruce Wayne and Talia al Ghul, in shadows

⚠ Misconception: cited by many resources as Damian's first full appearance but aside from one panel that shows his eyes only, he is otherwise fully obscured by shadows. It should also be noted that the 1987 graphic novel 'Batman: Son of the Demon' introduced a child of Bruce Wayne and Talia al Ghul but the story did not take place in the main DC story universe until Grant Morrison integrated portions of the graphic novel into the origin of Damian

📈 +360% increase in copies sold this week versus the previous week

Variant ⋅ DC ⋅ 2010
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Key Facts

Variant cover art by Walter Simonson

75th Anniversary edition, celebrating 75 years since National Allied Publications (later DC Comics) published New Fun: The Big Comics Magazine #1 (Feb 1935)

Cover art inspired by Detective Comics #69 (1942)

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1st appearance of Batman as a White Lantern

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Final issue of the first Detective Comics series (1937-2011)

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Relaunch of the Detective Comics title

1st cameo appearance of the Dollmaker, seen in the reflection of a knife he uses to cut off Joker's face

DC ⋅ 2011
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Premiere issue of the second standalone Batman title

1st appearance of Lincoln March

1st cameo appearance of Harper Row, later becomes Bluebird

DC ⋅ 2012
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Key Facts

Origin of Batman

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1st appearance of Calvin Rose as Gothamite

75th Anniversary of Detective Comics

Short story titled '27' by Scott Snyder and Sean Murphy which laid the foundation for the 'Last Knight On Earth' Black Label 3-issue miniseries

Concept: the first Bat-Man developed a cloning process where he could replicate himself as a young man who would have 27 years of effectiveness before restarting the process, explaining why Batman has been able to fight crime effectively for 80 years

Variant ⋅ DC ⋅ 2014
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Key Facts

Variant cover art by Walt Simonson featuring Batman, Bruce Wayne and Batman, Thomas Wayne

Batman 75th Anniversary variant

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First ongoing printed attribution given to Bill Finger as co-creator of Batman in the Detective Comics title

75 years after Batman debuted, Bill Finger’s granddaughter settled a court case with DC to award credit to her deceased grandfather for the creation of Batman

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Variant cover art by Neal Adams

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Variant cover art by Artgerm

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Variant cover art by Gabrielle Del Otto

Exclusive variant offered by Bulletproof Comics

Variant ⋅ DC ⋅ 2016
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Non-Key Issue. No additional information is available.
DC ⋅ 2017
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Batman proposes to Catwoman

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2nd cameo appearance of the Dark Multiverse Batmen: The Drowned, The Dawnbreaker, The Red Death, The Batman Who Laughs, The Merciless, The Devastator, The Murder Machine

1st appearance of Baby Darkseid

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Origin of Batman and Catwoman, their first date

1st appearance of Helena Wayne as Batwoman, daughter of Bruce and Selina

Batman #2

Non-Key
Annual ⋅ DC ⋅ 2017
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Story features Batman and Catwoman's first date

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Marriage of Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle

Selina called-off the wedding which was revealed to readers by The New York Times prior to the issue coming out causing significant backlash against DC and the newspaper

Variant ⋅ DC ⋅ 2018
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Variant cover art by Neal Adams

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