About Vintage Batman Comic Books

The origins of Batman really go back to the origins of Superman, who debuted in the June 1938 issue of National’s “Action Comics”—the cover depicted the man from Krypton lifting a car over his head. Demand for Superman was so great that the call went out to National’s artists and writers to come up with more superheroes. From this crucible of commerce, Bob Kane and Bill Finger created Batman.

The first appearance of The Bat-man, as he was known, appeared in issue 27 of “Detective Comics” in May of 1939. In that story, readers met Bat-Man and Commissioner Gordon, and learned of the Dark Knight’s secret identity as millionaire Bruce Wayne. Naturally issue 27 of “Detective Comics” is incredibly collectible, but so is issue 29, in which readers met Batman’s first named villain, Dr. Death, and issue 31, in which gadgets such as the Batarang and Batgyro first appeared...

Less collectible than issue 27, but probably more collectible than issues 29 and 31, are issues 33 and 38. In the former, the origins of Batman are told (when the youth witnessed the murder of his parents, he vowed to avenge their death by fighting criminals). In the latter, readers met Batman’s young sidekick, Robin, who lived by day with Bruce Wayne in the Caped Crusader’s mansion. Also prized by collectors is issue 40, which featured the first Joker cover.

By the time the Joker appeared, National had become DC and Batman had his own comic—issue one of “Batman” was published as a quarterly in spring of 1940. The Joker, Penguin, and Catwoman littered the next dozen issues of “Batman,” and Bruce Wayne’s portly butler, Alfred, lost weight and got his own cover in issue 21.

Not the most collectible, but perhaps the most fun, is the so-called infinity cover of issue eight, which depicts Batman and Robin reading a copy of issue eight of “Batman.”

About our sources | Got something to add?

▼ Continue reading

Post an Event

Upcoming Events

See all 24 Comics events


Interviews & Articles

An Interview with Golden Age Comics Collector and Historian Greg Theakston

My older brother started bringing comics home in 1957 when I was around five years old. The whole form just fascina… [more]

An Interview With Vintage Comic Book Collector Jamie Coville

I’ve been interested in comic books since I was very young. My two older brothers had Spider-Man and Fantastic Four… [more]

An Interview With Comic Character Advertising Pinback Collector Mark Lansdown

I started off collecting comics, and still do, but I’d been given a few early Disney pinbacks as a child and always… [more]



Best of the Web (“Hall of Fame”)

Cover Browser

Cover Browser

Philipp Lenssen's incredible archive of over 94,000 comic book covers - Wow! Wham! Yikes! Browse by title from the … [read review or visit site]

Comic Character Pinbacks

Comic Character Pinbacks

Mark Lansdown's excellent collection of over 800 pinbacks representing 200+ comic characters from 100+ strips. Beau… [read review or visit site]

Doug Gilford’s Mad Cover Site

Doug Gilford’s Mad Cover Site

Doug Gilford's great Mad Magazine reference site features cover scans and reference information on every issue of t… [read review or visit site]

Golden Age Comic Cover Gallery

Golden Age Comic Cover Gallery

Ben Samuels' site includes high resolution scans of about 250 classic comic book covers from the 1940s and 50s. Div… [read review or visit site]

TheComicBooks.com

TheComicBooks.com

Jamie Coville's in-progress ode to the history of 20th century comic books. Start with his Newsstand Period Part 1 … [read review or visit site]

The Incredible Hulk Library

The Incredible Hulk Library

Bursting at the seams with content... Julio Molina-Muscara has created a great reference guide to comic books featu… [read review or visit site]

Popeye's Thimble Theatre

Popeye's Thimble Theatre

Bruce Shults takes us on a comprehensive Popeye fan tour, from the early comic strips to cartoons and collectible m… [read review or visit site]

Barnacle Press

Barnacle Press

This collection of obscure newspaper comic strips provides scans browsable by title, year and date. Showcases comic… [read review or visit site]


Got a site to suggest? Let us know.




Other Great Reference Sites: Comics

Are we missing one? Tell us.

Top eBay Auctions  Help | Get weekly Batman Comics email

Sorted by        
Batman 608 Rrp Nm Or Better Retailer Incentive Edition$504.00 Ends in 10 hours 2 bids 25 watchers
Batman #4 High Grade No Reserve $338.00 Ends Thursday 7 bids 29 watchers
Original Art Michael Golden Batman Special 1983$299.00 Ends Thursday 8 bids 37 watchers
Detective Comics #405 Cgc 9.6 Wp Neal Adams Batman$291.00 Ends Sunday 13 bids 14 watchers
Batman # 4 Cgc 3.0 Restored$255.00 Ends Saturday 5 bids 13 watchers
Batman # 3 Cgc 1.5 Restored$207.50 Ends Saturday 7 bids 9 watchers
Batman Lodk Original Comic Book Art Page$200.00 Ends Wednesday 1 bid 28 watchers
Batman And Me Hardcover Signed Led W/bob Kane Org Art$199.99 Ends Sunday 1 bid 2 watchers
Jonny Quest Original Art Page Tim Sale Batman Heroes$158.50 Ends Thursday 4 bids 39 watchers
Batman #18 German Variant Cgc Ss 9.8 Batman Sketch Zeck$157.50 Ends in 17 hours 18 bids 38 watchers
Batman #20 Classic Issue 1st Batmobile $152.50 Ends Sunday 6 bids 6 watchers
Batman #69 Cgc 8.0 - White Pages! Rare Catwoman Cover!$142.50 Ends Thursday 4 bids 8 watchers
Batman # 198 Cgc 9.0 Joker App (heartland Pedigree)$133.49 Ends Tuesday 4 bids 11 watchers
Jonny Quest #2 Original Art Page Tim Sale Batman Heroes$130.00 Ends Thursday 3 bids 40 watchers
Batman #234 Cgc 8.5 1st S.a. Two-face$104.49 Ends Thursday 2 bids 9 watchers
Kelley Jones Original Art Batman Joker Demon Dc Cool$99.00 Ends Saturday 1 bid 40 watchers
Batman And Robin By Sheldon Moldoff$99.00 Ends Saturday 1 bid 14 watchers
Darwyn Cooke Original New Frontier Art Sketch ~ Batman$91.09 Ends Sunday 6 bids 23 watchers
Detective Comics #54 Dc Batman Cgc 4.0$81.00 Ends Tuesday 8 bids 16 watchers
Batman # 62 4.5 1950 Golden Age Origin Of Catwoman$79.00 Ends Wednesday 9 bids 32 watchers
Batman 368 Cgc 9.8 White 1st 2nd Robin No Reserve !!$76.99 Ends Tuesday 7 bids 15 watchers
Jim Lee Original Art Gen13 Dv8 X-men Batman Superman $67.00 Ends Sunday 3 bids 17 watchers
Batman #238 (1972) 100 Pgs Dc Comics Vf$66.00 Ends Friday 11 bids 8 watchers
Batman #45 ! Dc 1948 Christmas Issue ! Hayfamzone$62.00 Ends Tuesday 9 bids 14 watchers
Batman 2 Cgc 6.5 Fn+ 2nd Joker 2nd Catwoman App 1940$57.99 Ends Sunday 2 bids 15 watchers
Batman # 154 Cgc 7.0 Batman Ii And Robin Ii Story$56.00 Ends Tuesday 2 bids 5 watchers
Batman #44 Golden Age Joker Cover$53.00 Ends Saturday 3 bids 6 watchers
Shadow Of The Bat 0 1-94 Complete Run Nr Batman$49.00 Ends in 13 hours 1 bid 3 watchers
Absolute Batman Hush Hc - Sealed & Oop - Free Ship Bin$46.00 Ends Wednesday 9 bids 14 watchers
Pin-up,mario Chavez,sexy,art,batman Catwoman$45.85 Ends Tuesday 3 bids 18 watchers
Batman 232 1st App Ras Al Ghul Neal Adams Art$45.44 Ends Tuesday 6 bids 2 watchers
Vintage 1960's Childs Batman Outfit$45.03 Ends in 13 hours 1 bid 3 watchers
Batman 1966 Tv Series Batmobile Dc Direct Le 922/1300 ~$42.07 Ends Friday 6 bids 14 watchers
The Goon Artist Eric Powell Batman Painting$41.00 Ends Saturday 8 bids 36 watchers
1950 All Star Comics # 55 Ufo Sci Fi Cover No Batman$40.77 Ends in 18 hours 5 bids 8 watchers
Batman 681 Variant Cgc 9.8 Nm/mt R.i.p.$39.99 Ends Tuesday 1 bid 1 watcher
Batman 73 (oct-nov 1952) Golden Age Comic Dc$38.00 Ends Tuesday 7 bids 14 watchers
Detective Comics #207 1954 Dc Batman - Higher Grade!!!$37.99 Ends Sunday 3 bids 3 watchers
Detective Comics #204 1954 Dc -higher Grade- Batman!!!$37.99 Ends Sunday 2 bids 2 watchers
Batman: No Man's Land Vol. 1-5$36.00 Ends Tuesday 3 bids 16 watchers
Batman 353 Cgc 9.8 White Pg Joker Cover No Reserve !!$34.00 Ends Tuesday 8 bids 18 watchers
Batman # 30 (dc 1945) No Reserve$33.52 Ends in 21 hours 9 bids 15 watchers
Teen Titans 1 Cgc 4.0 1st Print Batman Robin Flash 1966$33.33 Ends Saturday 5 bids 1 watcher
Brave And The Bold #113 Batman (1974) 100 Pgs Vf-$32.00 Ends Friday 5 bids 1 watcher
Scarce 1970s Bagged Batman + Wonder Woman Comics! (3)$31.90 Ends Wednesday 5 bids 4 watchers
Batman # 188 Cgc 8.0 Vf Eraser Head $31.00 Ends Tuesday 2 bids 3 watchers
Pba 174 Charity Auction - Batman & Robin By Philip Tan$31.00 Ends in 14 hours 5 bids 29 watchers
Batman #612~cgc 9.8~sketch Cover Variant~2nd Print~cool$31.00 Ends Tuesday 7 bids 21 watchers
Batman 55 (oct-nov1949) Golden Age Comic Dc$30.99 Ends Tuesday 4 bids 6 watchers
Superman And Batman Oct. 2003 To Oct. 2006$30.00 Ends in 12 hours 1 bid 2 watchers
Batman Hush Series! Jeph Loeb, Jim Lee, Scott Williams$30.00 Ends in 17 hours 1 bid 3 watchers
Catwoman Amanda Conner Signed Batman Art Print$29.99 Ends Sunday 1 bid 2 watchers
Batman: The Dark Knight Returns # 1 Cgc 9.4 White Pgs$29.99 Ends Tuesday 1 bid 8 watchers
Batman-the Sunday Classics Hc-signed!$29.95 Ends Tuesday 3 bids 6 watchers
Komix Illustrated 8 - Fanzine - Biljo White - Batman$29.95 Ends Wednesday 1 bid 3 watchers

»» Get our weekly Batman Comics email
Right now on eBay