So, where were you in May, 1939? Enjoying a corn dog at the New York World’s Fair? Betting your pals that Lou Gehig’s consecutive games-played baseball steak would never, ever, ever end or be broken? Lamenting the impending dissolution of the League of Nations?
There was so much happening in and to the world during May 1939 – who can keep it all straight? Sure, probably the history books. But in terms of pop-culture significance, can any 1939 occurrence be larger than the publication of Detective Comics #27 – the first appearance of Batman?
Flash forward to 2014. Did you know that this year is the 75th anniversary of the Dark Knight Detective?
Celebrate with Bat-fans everywhere! Re-live May, 1939 with the new, twenty-first century version of Detective Comics #27!
Detective Comics #27
Written by: Various
Illustrated by: Various
Published by: DC Comics
Just over two years ago, DC Comics re-numbered and re-launched their entire line of comic book titles. Dubbed the “New 52” (as they were publishing 52 distinct titles at the time), the move stunned the comic book industry. It also arguably increased public interest and sales for various comic book publishers – not just DC – rescuing an ailing industry, some said.
Now, at the beginning of a year that will see a plethora of celebration for one of the world’s most recognizable pop culture heroes, DC Comics is publishing a new Detective Comics #27 starring, of course, Batman.
It’s mind-boggling to think that the hero with the cape and cowl, recognized in so many different mediums, to so many millions of people over the years, is actually seventy-five years old. He doesn’t look a day over 30 (unless you count the Frank Miller drawings and soon-to-be-released still of Ben Affleck in the next big-budget superhero film from Warner Brothers). He’s been around, omnipresent, all our lives, never far from the spotlight in some fashion or other.
In today’s Detective Comics #27, the birthday celebration is amped up to 96 pages, written and illustrated to some of the biggest names in the comic book industry. Here, you’ll find stories by Paul Dini, Scott Snyder, Peter J. Tomasi, Brad Meltzer and more, alongside artists Neal Adams, Bryan Hitch, Sean Murphy, Frank Miller, Greg Capullo and others. It’s an all-star cast for an all-star hero!
The stories here will take Batman from his beginnings (in a highly anticipated modern re-telling of the Dark Knight’s origin by novelist Brad Meltzer), to his present (with the opening chapter of the “Gothtopia” ongoing storyline by John Layman and Jason Fabok), and a potential future for the Caped Crusader (in a tale by the acclaimed dynamic duo of Scott Snyder and Sean Murphy).
There’s something for everyone in this giant-sized book. Make the run to your local comic book shop today and pick up Detective Comics #27. Be part of a modern day celebration of one of the world’s greatest and most influential fictional creations!
Every Wednesday, JP makes the after-work run to his local downtown comic book shop. Comics arrive on Wednesdays you see and JP, fearful that the latest issue will sell out, rushes out to purchase his copy. This regular, weekly column will highlight a particularly interesting release, written in short order, of course, because JP has to get his – before someone else does!
