The Batman Annuals, Vol. 1

The Batman Annuals #1

by Bill Finger, Edmond Hamilton, Lew Sayre Schwartz (Illustrator)

Some of the greatest Batman stories from the 1940s and '50s are collected in this amazing new hardcover!

At the start of the 1960s, DC Comics began compiling some of the best Batman stories in giant, 80-page annuals. This new hardcover collects the first three BATMAN ANNUALS, including retellings of Batman's origin, secrets of the Batcave, Batman and Robin's most thrilling escapes and much more!

Genres: Dc Comics, Graphic Novels, Batman, Comics

256 pages, Hardcover

First published April 28, 2009

About the author

William "Bill" Finger was an American comic strip and comic book writer best known as the uncredited co-creator, with Bob Kane, of the DC Comics character Batman, as well as the co-architect of the series' development. In later years, Kane acknowledged Finger as "a contributing force" in the character's creation. Comics historian Ron Goulart, in Comic Book Encyclopedia, refers to Batman as the "creation of artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger", and a DC Comics press release in 2007 about colleague Jerry Robinson states that in 1939, "Kane, along with writer Bill Finger, had just created Batman for [DC predecessor] National Comics".

Film and television credits include scripting The Green Slime (1969), Track of the Moon Beast (1976), and three episodes of 77 Sunset Strip.

-Wikipedia

Reviews

[Corey Sorenson · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you’re looking for lighthearted, nostalgic superhero adventure, this collection delivers. Volume 1 gathers the first three Batman Annuals from the early 1960s, themselves reprinting 1950s stories, and serves up a series of bite-sized escapades with the Caped Crusader and his young partner, Robin.

These stories shine for their simplicity and charm. They’re not dark or gritty; instead, they lean into a playful, sometimes delightfully over-the-top tone with bright art and whimsical plots. I especially enjoyed the villain-centric stories toward the end featuring the Joker, Two-Face, and the Gorilla Boss of Gotham City!

For winding down after a long day, this volume is a perfect escape; a reminder of a time when heroics were simple, the lines between good and evil were clear, and the world felt a little less gray.

[Nikki · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd never read any traditional superhero comics, so this collection of basic Batman stories seemed like a good place to start. I've seen a couple of the movies and they're all very dark and grim, while these comics are pretty much the exact opposite of that. They were all written in the 50s, which is obvious in the delightfully old-fashioned language. The stories are all quite... childish, in my opinion. Batman always wins in the end, nobody ever gets killed or seriously injured, the villains use the most ridiculous ploys, there are no twists or surprises, ... But despite that, or maybe because of that, I really liked them.

[Gary Sassaman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Published in 2009, The Batman Annuals Volume One reprints the 80-page Batman Annuals from the early 1960s, #s 1, 2, and 3 and these are little time capsules of the Batman and Detective titles in the mid to late 1950s. All the annuals had special themes: #1 was “1,001 Secrets of Batman and Robin!”, #2 was “Batman and Robin in Their Most Thrilling Action Roles!”, and #3 (my personal fave as a kid—we purchased all of these as they came out in the ‘60s) was “Batman and Robin’s Most Fantastic Foes!”. There’s also a great introduction by Michael Uslan, the executive producer of the Batman films (and pretty much everything Batman) and an afterword DC creative director (at the time) Richard Bruning, about collecting collections (annuals) into yet another collection. The stories reprinted are primarily written by Bill Finger and Edmond Hamilton and drawn by Dick Sprang, Lew Sayre Schwartz, and Sheldon Moldoff. This hardbound volume was part of the DC Comics Classics Library, a series that didn't publish too many books, unfortunately. I think maybe the upcoming DC's Finest series will rectify that.

[I Roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

The main characters develop well with each other and Bill Finger make it where you seem to have a personal connection to them when as he unravels their histories.

[Bill FromPA · Rating 4 out of 5]

Representative Batman from the 50s, nostalgically packaged for those of us who remember the "Annuals" from the 60s. These are comics meant for kids, no Dark Knight here, but generally good examples of their type.

[Shawn Manning · Rating 4 out of 5]

Classic goofiness at its best.