Every Sunday morning we showcase a classic comic cover, complete with compelling commentary, for your cordial contemplation. It’s the Classic Comic Cover Corner!
Detective Comics #387 – May, 1969
Cover art by Irv Novick
It was seventy-five years ago today, March 30, 2014, that the very first comic staring Batman hit the Great Depression era newsstands of 1939, and the iconic hero, created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger, has most certainly earned his status as a legend.
Here at Classic Comic Cover Corner, we wanted to celebrate the big day by showcasing a special Detective Comics cover from the past seventy-five years, but picking just one proved to be a task that would cause even the Batcomputer to crash.
With over 900 issues to choose from (counting the New 52 re-launch), there are so many wonderful options, from straight-up corny to deadly serious, with the classic Neal Adams books of the early seventies being my personal favorites – and, of course, the many Batman “ape” covers.
But we’re celebrating an anniversary here, so we decided to go with the classic cover trifecta of Detective Comics #387, which celebrated Batman’s thirtieth anniversary in 1969 and also showed the caped crusader holding up his first comic appearance, Detective Comics #27, and his first solo book, Batman #1 (1940).
Issue #387 not only retells the origin of Batman in an updated story by Mike Friedrich, called, The Cry of the Night is – “Sudden Death”, it also reprints the very first Batman story by Bill Finger, “The Case of the Chemical Syndicate”.
DC Comics is planning a slew of super-activities over the course of the next few months to help celebrate the caped-crusader’s 75th anniversary, and you can read their official press release regarding the Bativersary HERE.
UPDATE: RIP Lorenzo Semple Jr., the creator of the 1960’s “Batman” television series, and screenwriter of films Sheena (1984), Flash Gordon (1980), King Kong (1976), Three Days of the Condor (1975), and the last Sean Connery James Bond film, Never Say Never Again (1983). Thank you for your wonderful contributions to pop culture. (Read more about Mr. Semple’s life and career at TheWrap.com.)
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