Batman (1940) (Comic Book)

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Batman (1940) or Batman (Volume 1) was a comic book series published by DC Comics from 1940 to 2011, totaling 713 issues, plus #28 Annuals, and seven special issues.

Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 (May, 1939). Even though Detective Comics was an Anthology Comic, the character became so immensely popular right away that he took over the magazine, leading DC Comics (then National Comics) to give him his own self-named book exactly one year later.

The comic is considered to be the main flagship title, and usually (but not always) is where the most important plot developments take place.

After issue #713 the comic's numbering was reset to #1 for the New 52 reboot. See Batman (2011) for more info.

Batman (1940) story arcs with their own pages include:

Tropes found in other issues of Batman (1940) include:

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In General

Bald of Evil: The Monk, a Golden Age villain later brought back in the Bronze Age, is completely bald... and a vampire.
Celibate Hero: The Golden and Silver Age Batman can be viewed this way. He has several temporary love interests: Vicki Vale, Linda Page, and his fiance Julie Madison, but none of these romances last very long or get very serious. Not even Julie, who breaks off her engagement to Bruce early on, with very little negative reaction from the man she was supposed to marry. Batman shows the most interest in the Cat/Catwoman, but even that fades over time. In-story, it's likely that Bruce is simply so committed to his life of fighting crime that he simply has no emotional energy left for romance or love. The comics themselves became more tame and child-friendly as the Golden Age went on, to the point that Batman became a Chaste Hero, embarassed by the attention of a beautiful girl as if he was 12 years old. From the 1970s on, this would no longer apply to Batman, who has had many love interests over the years.
Characterization Marches On:
- The first appearances of Batman are notorious for him lacking a code against killing, although even then killing wasn't routine. For example, in his very first story, The Case of the Chemical Syndicate, he punches the villain into a vat of Hollywood Acid, and shows no remorse for it. In the Post-Crisis version of the event, the crook tries to flee, as he cannot stand the shame of being sent to prison, and falls into the acid by accident.
- In an even more shocking case of questionable morality, Catwoman's first appearance ends with Batman deliberately letting her escape purely because he thinks that she's hot, and joking with Robin about it. Note that Catwoman, also contrary to her later character development, had casually murdered a guy for getting in her way during the story.
- The Joker's first Golden Age appearance had him not as a comedy obsessed Evil Laugh happy nut job that people are likely to see and assorted later comics and adaptations depict him as (such as Batman: The Animated Series), but rather as a fairly straight forward killer and thief (with a slight jewel obsession) who associated with the titular playing card because it resembled him, not the other way round. He also didn't do a noticeable Evil Laugh until his third-last panel in his debut issue, where (true to form) he thinks he's about to die.
- Two-Face initially appeared in a three issue arc where Harvey Kent was driven mad by his scarring and used a coin toss to determine whether he acted heroically or villainously. At the end of the story he was reformed and disappeared for the rest of the Golden Age. He was brought back in the 50s as Harvey Dent (with his family name being changed because of another character from the same universe also named Kent) and instead of being equally villainous and heroic he was a gangster who was obsessed with the number "2," with the coin playing a lesser role in his crimes.
- Jason Todd was initially a Dick Grayson clone whose parents were circus trapeze artists killed by Killer Croc. He was also a natural redhead who dyed his hair black so nobody would realize there was a new Robin. Post-Crisis on Infinite Earths, he was retooled into his better-known modern incarnation as a (naturally brunet) street kid. (Although some of the writers for the non-main line books didn't get the memo for a while, leading to some inconsistent depictions.)
The Comically Serious: Averted in the Golden Age stories, where Batman loves to joke and make wisecracks as he's roughing up the bad guys. He's as bad as Robin.
Deus ex Machina: Back when he killed people, Batman once confronted a Doctor Doom who threw a grenade at him. Batman then shields his and Robin's body with...this. It's not even a frickin' gadget!
Everybody Smokes: Despite the fact that Golden Age Bruce Wayne is well known to smoke a Distinguished Gentleman's Pipe (and the occasional cigarette), he actually only smokes for a relatively short period of time, from his debut in Detective Comics #27 to the final regular appearance of the pipe in Detective Comics #51, two years later. The pipe makes an occasional appearance in a panel or two in Detective Comics #74 and in Batman #36, but Bruce never smokes regularly after those first two years of publication.
Evil Cripple: Averted in one Golden Age story. A villain named Clubfoot with a clubfoot (obvously) and a Hook Hand is killing members of the Storme family. It turns out that the actual family member who has the club foot is innocent and being framed by the family lawyer, who was Obfuscating Disability.
Furnace Body Disposal: In a Golden Age Batman story, a businessman is killing his rivals and using the furnace in his factory to get rid of the bodies. Batman quickly learns the truth and confronts him one night. Batman even tells him that he knows he's disposing of a body right now. When the businessman asks how he could know that, Batman points out that it's late at night, the factory is shut down...but the furnace in the basement is roaring.
Love Cannot Overcome: This is why Silver St. Cloud broke up with Bruce Wayne in a famous 1970s arc: she can't handle knowing that he's risking his life against people like The Joker every night, so she abandons him and Gotham. This seems to be the source for many other examples of this trope from Batman adaptations in other media.
Masquerading As the Unseen: In Silver Age comics, Bruce would sometimes have Superman or even Alfred^noteif it was for a non-fighting event wear the cowl if he had to be in two places at once.
Photo Doodle Recognition: In one Golden Age story, Bruce Wayne realises that a new playboy in town and the master thief he is hunting are one and the same when Dick Grayson doodles a moustache and goatee on a picture of the playboy in the newspaper.
Possession Presumes Guilt: In one Golden Age story, a murderer frames Bruce Wayne by shooting a bullet through his own hat with the gun he had just used to commit murder, and then throwing the gun at Bruce who had come in when he heard the shot. Bruce instinctively catches the gun, and so is holding a smoking gun next to a dead body when the police burst in a few seconds later, with the murderer claiming Bruce had tried to kill him too, pointing at the bullet hole in his hat.
Too Funny to Be Evil: This is basically a "class" of Batman villain, typically the most absurd ideas of the Silver Age. Some have been revamped, such as Calendar Man. Others are tragic figures, such as Kite Man. And others have just been left as sheer jokes, such as the Condiment King.