Batman Chronicles 1

The Batman Chronicles seems so obvious an idea that I'm amazed DC didn't think of it earlier: reprint every Batman story in order of appearance, merging Detective Comics, World's Finest and the solo Batman title into a single series of trade paperbacks.The first volume collects a brief but special time in Batman's history: his days as a dangerous (and clearly insane) vigilante. There are few superhero fetishes present in the stories during Batman's real "Year One." He keeps his bat costume in a steamer trunk, drives around is a red sports car and kills without a second thought (or even a first thought, for that.)This is the Batman that inspired Frank Miller's tales, the violent vigilante more interested in stomping criminals than stomping crime. When the villains of these early tales land in jail it's usually by mistake. This version of Batman would just as soon break your neck than turn you over to the cops.The artwork in this first volume carries a lot of weight, with each panel having to convey more than modern readers might be used to. In The Dirigible of Doom, a blimp lays waste to the as-yet unnamed Gotham City, toppling skyscrapers with some sort of energy cannon. It's one of the most powerful images of these early stories and Bruce Wayne is even shown -- for all of a single panel -- helping to pull survivors out of the wreckage. These old stories cover a lot of ground in just a little space, so a little more care and attention is needed to fully savor them.The Dirigible of Doom also illustrates some of the problems with these old stories. As impressive as the threat is, the badguys are sometimes a little goofy. The man revealed to be behind the killer blimp is some dumpy guy with a "Napoleon Complex" (having him dress as Napoleon is an incredibly literal -- if stupid -- way of interpreting that particular mental disorder.)These early stories also tend to rush their endings, as though Bill Finger or Bob Kane realized late in the day that they're running out of room. It's common to see a story rocket along, only to tie up as many threads as quickly as possible in the final page.Some of the earlier villains still interest me, though. Dr. Death, the Mad Monk and Hugo Strange are as creepy as ever, though few writers have ever been able to bring these characters part-and-parcel into modern settings. These characters would be right at home in Sandman Mystery Theater and are strangely perverse, sadistic figures.Batman is also shown frequently carrying a gun in these Pre-Robin stories, though he rarely uses it. Some of this "gun art" looks to be cribbed from art in The Shadow pulps. Given Bob Kane's contributions to history's "swipe files" this seems pretty likely. In fact, there is little to no difference between Bruce Wayne and Lamont Cranston in Batman's early days. His villains eventually set the two characters apart.The first volume also features the brilliant first appearances of Robin and The Joker, as well as Catwoman's barely recognizable debut. Those have been written about at length elsewhere so I won't drone on about those famous stories too much. They still hold up tremendously well, though. And it's impressive how much The Joker's first two appearances contributed to his interpretation in The Dark Knight film.(From [...]

I had never read any Batman comic books earlier than the 1970s. I thought that these texts were quite interesting because they resemble more the Batman that one reads in the post-Frank Miller era or the recent Dark Knight films than the Batman I read in the 70s. First, I was surprised by the number of times that Batman purposefully kills some of the villains here. In his very first case, Batman knocks the bad guy into a tank of acid and states shamelessly "A fitting end for his kind." There are several other deaths caused by Batman. Secondly, during this period, Bob Kane and Bill Finger show us a Batman no different from Spiderman: a hero who fights crime and yet, he is not recognized for what he does; instead, he gets persecuted by the law.Other things that are equally interesting are that the setting for this first Batman is New York City (Batman versus the vampire, September 1939); and Bruce Wayne has a girlfriend named Julie Madison. Some of these stories are also weird, or gothic, like the vampire stories referred to above, or his fight against Dr. death.In November 1939 the origins of Batman are introduced, and retold inBatman #1. Also, we get to see the origins of Robin and the first appearances of the classical villain, the Joker.The language of this text os also quite challenging and above today's levels for adults. I got a kick out of "Wending his way homeward" on the first page of DC, (February, 1940), plus the number of other adjectives and adverbs that are used to give life to the Batman character. after Robin is introduced quite well, the story's dark tone starts to vanish. The last comic book has Robin crossing an old man across then street.

All that good-timey old comic feel mixed with pulp noir!This book collects the first dozen or so Batman stories EVER PUBLISHED. The stories are printed in FULL COLOR and were originally published from 1939 to 1940. This is pure, unadulterated Batman, straight from the original creators!Reading these stories is like going back in time to the 1930s. The stories are very much rooted in the noir style of the time. Gangsters in long coats, wielding tommy guns. Bruce Wayne in an over coat and a fedora.This book is great as a sort of historical source material. Whether you're a big comic book fan or not, this book is worthwhile just to educate yourself on the history of the popular character. I'm not an avid comic book reader, but I grew up with the Batman cartoon series. It's interesting to see the humble beginnings of the character and to watch how his costume evolves over the first year of his publication. This book is great even as a reference book for the days of Batman's infancy.Batman was darker then. A mysterious vigilante, using stealth and strategy as well as fear in his quest to rid the city of crime. He's a brawler, but he's half-detective. And he sometimes holds his cape in front of him like a vampire or something, creeping in the shadows. This is my favorite Batman.Robin is introduced late in this book and changes the whole feel of Batman. Robin was added to lighten the comic up or to appeal to a younger audience or something, but I prefer the dark Batman who worked alone.DC Comics has done a nice job with this series, using full color and showing the cover art of the various comic books from which these stories were taken. The book is a nice paperback, about the size of a comic book.Hardcore comic historians or Batman fans will want to continue on with this Chronicles series, but in my opinion this volume is the most important one of all, showing the earliest incarnation of the Dark Knight.

'The Batman Chronicles' serves to provide fans of the Dark Knight, and of popular culture in general, with a cost-friendly alternative to its counterpart 'Archives' series (which utilises more shiny and colourful print with hard-cover binding) by attempting to distribute every Batman story in chronological order from the character's debut appearance in Detective Comics #27 onwards, using more inexpensive newsprint-style paper withinin soft-cover binding for the trade paperback market.Volume One was published on 30th March 2005 (with its Kindle counterpart given a much later release date of 2nd April 2013), and collects previously released golden-age Batman stories from Detective Comics #27-38 (May 1939 - April 1940) and the entirety of Batman #1, published in the Spring of 1940. What is presented within this volume is a Batman that was conceived as a gun-toting vigilante out to punish the scum of the criminal underworld. Gotham City was yet to be used as the strip's main setting, in stead having the Dark knight travel to Paris, Hungary and New York City in order to embark upon his superheroic missions. The introduction of Robin, the Boy Wonder, in Detective Comics #38 gave the young readership a character to relate to, and the 'Sensational Character Find of 1940' has endured throughout to the modern age, in many changing guises, costumes, and identities. However, regarding Batman himself, the man behind the mantle has always been the suave, millionaire playboy Master Bruce Wayne; and in this 1940's incarnation, he is rarely seen without his pipe and tweed jacket. The famous origin story remaining pretty much the same (or thereabouts) over the years is shown in simple fashion, recalling how an un-named gunman (in later issues revealed as Joe Chill) murdered his businessman father and loving mother in cold blood, whilst attempting a routine mugging.The constant supporting character throughout seems to be Police Commissioner James Gordon, a personal friend of Bruce's and a suspicious observer of the Batman and how he is attempting to take the law into his own hands, thereby making the police look redundant at times. Regarding villains however, the Dark Knight seems to have gained quite a few note-worthy nemeses during his first initial outings. These include his first ever arch-nemesis Doctor Death, who uses deathly chemicals as his main arsenal advantage over others, and the enigmatic Mad Monk, who has the power to hypnotise his victims (including Bruce Wayne's then-fiancé Julie Madison) with supernatural abilities, belonging to a family race of vampires and werewolves. It is noteworthy to mention here that these first initial adventures for Batman were later re-worked for the modern audience, following DC Comic's re-vamp of the mid-1980's, which garnered quite positive reviews by its readership at the time. Additional villainous first appearances include that of Hugo Strange, the intellectual mad genius who attempts to turn mental asylum patients into huge 'monsters' in order to rob major city banks, and also the Cat (later known as Catwoman), who uses her feminine wiles and mastery of disguise in an attempt to steal a precious gem from a wealthy old woman. The joker also makes his debut in Batman #1 in two adventures as a delirious mad-man covered head-to-toe in clown attire, attempting to steal precious gems by killing certain wealthy socialites via his famous joker-gas and toxin; thereby setting the stage to become the Batman's most ruthless opponent in almost all of his incarnations throughout history across the DC Multiverse.Later revisions in DC Comics lore would place this golden-age version of the Batman within the setting of Earth-Two, a parallel world where all (or most) of DC's golden age characters reside, later forming the Justice Society of America and going on to fight in World War Two against Hitler and his Nazi henchmen. This version, who initially wore home-made costumes and blue gloves whilst carrying a gun during the late 30s and early 40s, would continue to fight crime as the Batman in his red-sedan car until his retirement and subsequent wedding to the original Catwoman, bearing a daughter named Helena who would later take on the mantle of the Huntress after her mother's death. This golden age Batman, resident of Earth-Two, eventually died following one last battle after coming out of retirement, with the world believing he had contracted lung cancer from his many years of pipe-smoking.Fortunately, his earliest adventures and experimental bat-suits, along with the first bat-gyro, bat-plane and first appearances of the famous batarang and gas-pellet filled utility belt with silken cord, can be seen via this first volume of 'The Batman Chronicles'; charting the mythology of the Batman from the very beginning. With eleven volumes currently in circulation as of November 2013, 'The Batman Chronicles: Volume One' promises to herald an important and vital exploration of the Batman mythos.

A terrific & affordable package of the earliest Batman stories.We begin with "the Case of the Chemical Syndicate" where Commissioner Gordon comes across a case that seems open and shut "Lambert the chemical King, murdered? His son's fingerprints on the knife?" but a mysterious masked and cloaked figure determines to get to the truth. It was printed in Detective Comics no 27 and makes a good start for an iconic hero.In these early stories he was sharing the comic with other characters, reprinted covers promising adventures with forgotten characters like "Slam Bradley!" The comic soon became exclusively his.In these early stories Batman is untroubled by killing the bad guys, snapping a henchman's neck with a vicious kick for example and the police including Gordon, don't like him.He is a little reliant on gas pellets and although there is no actual utitlity belt they are clearly working toward that as in one story he produces a chemical to save the day that we didn't know he had earlier.These are mnior quibbles as the stories are well written & enjoyable, the artwork good and well reproduced. Styles are very different to the comics of today.Highlights are;The 1st recurring villain Dr Death. Now admittedly his 2 appearances are in consecutive issues but there is some passage of time between the 2.1st telling of Batman's origin and the second as it's reprinted in a later issue.1st appearance of Robin1st appearance of Catwoman known as The Cat and resembling a 40's movie femme fatale.1st 2 Joker Stories. 1st story in particular our favourite Mr J is rather tougher being able to sock Batman one and leave him temporarily on the floor.Vampire the Monk. Batman actually faces a genuine supernatural vampire with no rational or scientific explanations for it. The Monk can change shape and take blood from people who then become his slaves. Basically it's based on Bram Stoker's vampire lore but in those days Dracula was still in copyright, prompting them to make their own creation which proved memorable enough to reappear (along with his female assistant Dala) in some 1980's Batman comics and more recently in an animated story.The guys did it all long before the Batman Dracula trilogy and frankly just as well.Just the ticket for those interested in reading the stories but who don't want to pay the archive editions prices. A shame all the volumes aren't so fairly priced

Always been a fan of batman, since I was tiny. The recent films portray him as a rather dark character, all so serious. So I wanted to go back and learn a bit more about Batman and how he started out and this book is perfect! I am a comic book novice, I don't know much about them and I only have a few graphic novels but this is definitely and awesome addition. It has Batman's origin story and I love it xD its quite simple and funny compared to the familiar origin nowadays. You also get to meet a family of acrobats and a certain Clown Prince...It's much more light-hearted- still some deaths, a bit of the usual violence, but theres a lot of actual investigating in this, spying, solving crimes, very refreshing from the usual dropping of the side of a building for information...I love this, If you want to know the history of Batman, or a lighter portrayal of his character and story then you should definitely read this!!

The early adventures of Batman including his very first appearance in Detective Comics and his first solo comic included in this volume, the first of a series that will print every Batman story in order. While the dialogue and artwork and plots are very basic and crude which is normal for early comics, it does show how Batman started with the basic familiar origin story still there. The action is set in New York, not Gotham, he fights ordinary gangsters and crooks not the more colourful famous villains though you do get the first appearances of The Joker and Catwoman and you get the first appearance and origin of Robin too. A fun if simplistic compared to later comics read and a must for collectors.

I love classic comics, but this edition is probably one of the all-time greats. Be warned, If you are used to 1960's silver age comics or the batman TV series, this could come as a bit of a shock, Early Batman used to cool murder crooks in cold-blood... Saying that the illustrations are stunning and the paper feels great in your hands and the stories surprisingly diverse for a classic comic. Overall stunning!