Classic Comics - Detective Comics #27 (1939)
In this instalment of 'Classic Comics', I will be discussing the debut appearance of one of the most iconic characters in all of comic books. I am of course talking about Batman.
His debut was a very short one. The full issue of Detective Comics #27 was 64 pages in length, with Batman's story only taking up 6 of those pages.
The title of his debut tale is 'The Case of the Chemical Syndicate', and it is written by Bob Kane.
The story begins in the house of Commissioner Gordon, who is having a conversation with Bruce Wayne. As they talk, Gordon receives a phone-call about a man who has been murdered, and that the man's son is the prime suspect. Wayne and Gordon head to the man's mansion, where they discover that the son was not behind it after all. They receive another call, from the next victim. Bruce pretends that he is leaving this to Gordon, but secretly dons his Batman persona in order to capture the criminals. After dispatching of the murderers, Batman takes the piece of paper that they had stolen, he heads to the laboratory of Alfred Stryker. The third victim is captured and placed under a gas container by Stryker's assistant, Jennings.
Batman arrives at the lab and frees Rogers, before a short battle ensues between the Bat and Stryker. The criminal pulls a gun on Bats, who punches Stryker's jaw, causing him to fall backwards in to a vat of acid, which probably killed him a little bit, with Batman remarking "a fitting end for his kind".
That is the basic premise of the story, the motive of Stryker was that he would not have to pay the other three if they were dead, so he killed them.
Considering the fact that this was one of the early comic stories, the writing is alright. We do not get an origin for why Bruce is Batman, that would come later on down the line.
His debut was a very short one. The full issue of Detective Comics #27 was 64 pages in length, with Batman's story only taking up 6 of those pages.
The title of his debut tale is 'The Case of the Chemical Syndicate', and it is written by Bob Kane.
The story begins in the house of Commissioner Gordon, who is having a conversation with Bruce Wayne. As they talk, Gordon receives a phone-call about a man who has been murdered, and that the man's son is the prime suspect. Wayne and Gordon head to the man's mansion, where they discover that the son was not behind it after all. They receive another call, from the next victim. Bruce pretends that he is leaving this to Gordon, but secretly dons his Batman persona in order to capture the criminals. After dispatching of the murderers, Batman takes the piece of paper that they had stolen, he heads to the laboratory of Alfred Stryker. The third victim is captured and placed under a gas container by Stryker's assistant, Jennings.
Batman arrives at the lab and frees Rogers, before a short battle ensues between the Bat and Stryker. The criminal pulls a gun on Bats, who punches Stryker's jaw, causing him to fall backwards in to a vat of acid, which probably killed him a little bit, with Batman remarking "a fitting end for his kind".
That is the basic premise of the story, the motive of Stryker was that he would not have to pay the other three if they were dead, so he killed them.
Considering the fact that this was one of the early comic stories, the writing is alright. We do not get an origin for why Bruce is Batman, that would come later on down the line.
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