''Detective Comics'' is an

American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical originating in the United States, on average 32 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publication of ''Action Comics'' ...

series published by Detective Comics, later shortened to

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

. The first volume, published from 1937 to 2011 (and later continued in 2016), is best known for introducing the

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a stock character that typically possesses ''superpowers'', abilities beyond those of ordinary people, and fits the role of the hero, typically using his or her powers to help the world become a better place, ...

Batman Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on ...

in ''Detective Comics'' #27 (

cover-date The cover date of a periodical publication is the date displayed on the cover, which is not necessarily the true date of publication (the on-sale date or release date); later cover dates are common in magazine and comic book publishing. More unusu ...

d May 1939). A second series of the same title was launched in September 2011, but in 2016, reverted to the original volume numbering. The series is the source of its publishing company's name, and—along with ''

Action Comics ''Action Comics'' is an American comic book/Comic anthology, magazine series that introduced Superman, one of the first major superhero characters. The publisher was originally known as National Allied Publications, and later as National Comics ...

'', the series that launched with the debut of

Superman Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book ''Action Comics'' #1 (cover-dated June 1938 and publi ...

—one of the

medium Medium may refer to: Science and technology Aviation *Medium bomber, a class of war plane *Tecma Medium, a French hang glider design Communication * Media (communication), tools used to store and deliver information or data * Medium of ...

's signature series. The series published 881 issues between 1937 and 2011 and is the longest continuously published comic book in the United States.

Publication history

''Detective Comics'' was the final publication of the entrepreneur

Major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson (January 7, 1890 – September 21, 1965) was an American pulp magazine writer and entrepreneur who pioneered the American comic book, publishing the first such periodical consisting solely of original material r ...

, whose comics company, National Allied Publications, would evolve into

, one of the world's two largest comic book publishers, though long after its founder had left it. Wheeler-Nicholson's first two titles were the landmark '' New Fun: The Big Comic-Magazine'' #1 (

cover-dated The cover date of a periodical publication is the date displayed on the cover, which is not necessarily the true date of publication (the on-sale date or release date); later cover dates are common in magazine and comic book publishing. More unus ...

Feb. 1935), colloquially called ''New Fun Comics'' #1 and the first such early comic book to contain all-original content, rather than a mix of

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...

comic strips A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics ter ...

and comic-strip-style new material. His second effort, ''New Comics'' #1, would be retitled twice to become ''

Adventure Comics ''Adventure Comics'' is an American comic book series published by DC Comics from 1938 to 1983 and revived from 2009 to 2011. In its first era, the series ran for 503 issues (472 of those after the title changed from ''New Adventure Comics''), ...

'', another seminal series that ran for decades until issue #503 in 1983, and was later revived in 2009. The third and final title published under his aegis would be ''Detective Comics'', advertised with a cover illustration dated December 1936, but eventually premiering three months later, with a March 1937 cover date. Wheeler-Nicholson was in debt to printing-plant owner and magazine distributor

Harry Donenfeld Harry Donenfeld (; October 17, 1893 – February 1, 1965) was an American publisher who is known primarily for being the owner of National Allied Publications, which distributed ''Detective Comics'' and ''Action Comics'', the originator publicatio ...

, who was, as well, a

pulp-magazine Pulp magazines (also referred to as "the pulps") were inexpensive fiction magazines that were published from 1896 to the late 1950s. The term "pulp" derives from the cheap wood pulp paper on which the magazines were printed. In contrast, magazine ...

publisher Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

and a principal in the magazine distributorship

Independent News Independent News Co. was a magazine and comic book distribution business owned by National Periodical Publications, the parent company of DC Comics. Independent News distributed all DC publications, as well as those of a few rival publishers, suc ...

. Wheeler-Nicholson took Donenfeld on as a partner in order to publish ''Detective Comics'' #1 through the newly formed Detective Comics, Inc., with Wheeler-Nicholson and Jack S. Liebowitz, Donenfeld's

accountant An accountant is a practitioner of accounting or accountancy. Accountants who have demonstrated competency through their professional associations' certification exams are certified to use titles such as Chartered Accountant, Chartered Certifi ...

, listed as owners. Wheeler-Nicholson was forced out a year later. Originally an

anthology comic A comics anthology collects works in the medium of comics, typically from multiple series, and compiles them into an anthology or magazine. The comics in these anthologies range from comic strips that are too short for standalone publication t ...

, in the manner of the times, ''Detective Comics'' #1 (March 1937) featured stories in the "

hard-boiled detective Hardboiled (or hard-boiled) fiction is a literary genre that shares some of its characters and settings with crime fiction (especially detective fiction and noir fiction). The genre's typical protagonist is a detective who battles the violence ...

" genre, with such stars as Ching Lung (a

Fu Manchu Dr. Fu Manchu () is a supervillain who was introduced in a series of novels by the English author Sax Rohmer beginning shortly before World War I and continuing for another forty years. The character featured in cinema, television, radio, com ...

-style "

Yellow Peril The Yellow Peril (also the Yellow Terror and the Yellow Specter) is a racial color metaphor that depicts the peoples of East and Southeast Asia as an existential danger to the Western world. As a psychocultural menace from the Eastern world ...

" villain);

Slam Bradley Samuel Emerson "Slam" Bradley is a fictional character that has appeared in various comic book series published by DC Comics. He is a private detective who exists in DC's main shared universe. The character concept was created by DC Comics founde ...

(created by

Jerry Siegel Jerome Siegel ( ; October 17, 1914 – January 28, 1996)Roger Stern. ''Superman: Sunday Classics: 1939–1943'' DC Comics/Kitchen Sink Press, Inc./ Sterling Publishing; 2006 was an American comic book writer. He is the co-creator of Superman, in ...

and

Joe Shuster Joseph Shuster (; July 10, 1914 – July 30, 1992), professionally known simply as Joe Shuster, was a Canadian-American comic book artist best known for co-creating the DC Comics character Superman, with Jerry Siegel, in ''Action Comics'' #1 (c ...

before their character ''Superman'' saw print two years later); and Speed Saunders, among others. Its first editor,

Vin Sullivan Vincent Sullivan (June 5, 1911 – February 3, 1999Vincent Sullivan
at the

...

, also drew the debut issue's cover. The

Crimson Avenger The Crimson Avenger is the name of three separate fictional characters, superheroes and supervillains who exist in the DC Comics Universe. The character debuted in 1938 and is notable as the first masked hero in DC Comics. The first Crimson ...

debuted in issue #20 (October 1938). Early issues of the series have been criticized for their racism and xenophobia.

Batman / Bruce Wayne

''Detective Comics'' #27 (March 1939 with a printed date of May 1939)

first appearance In American comic books and other stories with a long history, first appearance refers to the first issue to feature a fictional character. These issues are often highly valued by collectors due to their rarity and iconic status. Reader interes ...

. That

would eventually become the star of the title, the cover logo of which is often written as "Detective Comics featuring Batman". Because of its significance, issue #27 is widely considered one of the most valuable comic books in existence, with one copy selling for $1,075,000 in a February 2010 auction. Batman's origin is first revealed in a two-page story in issue #33 (Nov. 1939). Batman became the main cover feature of the title beginning with issue #35 (Jan. 1940). Issue #38 (April 1940) introduced Batman's

sidekick A sidekick is a slang expression for a close companion or colleague (not necessarily in fiction) who is, or is generally regarded as, subordinate to the one they accompany. Some well-known fictional sidekicks are Don Quixote's Sancho Panza, ...

Robin, billed as "The Sensational Character Find of 1940" on the cover and the first of several characters that would make up the "Batman Family." Robin's appearance and the subsequent increase in sales of the book soon led to the trend of superheroes and young sidekicks that characterize the era that fans and historians call the

Golden Age of Comic Books The Golden Age of Comic Books describes an era of American comic books from 1938 to 1956. During this time, modern comic books were first published and rapidly increased in popularity. The superhero archetype was created and many well-known char ...

. Several of Batman's best known villains debuted in the pages of ''Detective Comics'' during this era, including the

Penguin Penguins (order (biology), order List of Sphenisciformes by population, Sphenisciformes , family (biology), family Spheniscidae ) are a group of Water bird, aquatic flightless birds. They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere: on ...

in issue #58,

Two-Face Two-Face is a supervillain appearing in comic books published by DC Comics, commonly as an adversary of the superhero Batman. The character was created by Bob Kane and first appeared in ''Detective Comics'' #66 (August 1942). As one of Batman's ...

in issue #66, and the Riddler in issue #140.

Batwoman Batwoman is a name used by several characters of DC Comics, both in mainstream continuity and Elseworlds. The best known Batwomen are Batwoman (Kathy Kane), Kathy Kane and Kate Kane. History * The first Batwoman (Kathy Kane), Batwoman, Kathy Ka ...

first appeared in ''Detective Comics'' #233 (July 1956). Since the family formula had proven very successful for the

franchise, editor Jack Schiff suggested to Batman co-creator Bob Kane that he create one for the Batman. A female was chosen first, to offset the charges made by

Fredric Wertham Fredric Wertham (; born Friedrich Ignatz Wertheimer, March 20, 1895 – November 18, 1981) was a German-American psychiatrist and author. Wertham had an early reputation as a progressive psychiatrist who treated poor black patients at his Lafarg ...

that Batman and Robin were homosexual. Writer

Bill Finger Milton "Bill" Finger (February 8, 1914 – January 18, 1974) was an American comic strip, comic book, film and television writer who was the co-creator (with Bob Kane) of the DC Comics character Batman. Despite making major (sometimes, signatur ...

and artist

Sheldon Moldoff Sheldon Moldoff (; April 14, 1920 – February 29, 2012) was an American comics artist best known for his early work on the DC Comics characters Hawkman and Hawkgirl, and as one of Bob Kane's primary "ghost artists" (uncredited collaborator ...

introduced

Bat-Mite Bat-Mite is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Bat-Mite is an imp similar to the Superman villain Mister Mxyzptlk. Depicted as a small, childlike man in an ill-fitting Batman costume, Bat-Mite possesse ...

in issue #267 (May 1959) and Clayface in #298 (Dec. 1961). In 1964,

Julius Schwartz Julius "Julie" Schwartz (; June 19, 1915 – February 8, 2004) was a comic book editor, and a science fiction agent and prominent fan. He was born in The Bronx, New York. He is best known as a longtime editor at DC Comics, where at various ...

was made responsible for reviving the fading Batman titles. Writer John Broome and artist

Carmine Infantino Carmine Michael Infantino (; May 24, 1925 – April 4, 2013) was an American comics artist and editing, editor, primarily for DC Comics, during the late 1950s and early 1960s period known as the Silver Age of Comic Books. Among his character creat ...

jettisoned the sillier aspects that had crept into the franchise such as Ace the Bathound and Bat-Mite and gave the character a "New Look" that premiered in ''Detective Comics'' #327 (May 1964). Schwartz,

Gardner Fox Gardner Francis Cooper Fox (May 20, 1911 – December 24, 1986) was an American writer known best for creating numerous comic book characters for DC Comics. He is estimated to have written more than 4,000 comics stories, including 1,500 for DC ...

, and Infantino introduced, from the

William Dozier William McElroy Dozier (; February 13, 1908 – April 23, 1991) was an American film and television producer, writer and actor. He is best known for two television series, ''Batman'' and ''The Green Hornet''. Early life Dozier was born in Omaha, ...

produced TV series,

Barbara Gordon Barbara Gordon is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with the superhero Batman. The character was created by television producer William Dozier, editor Julius Schwartz, writer Gardne ...

as a new version of

Batgirl Batgirl is the name of several superheroines appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, depicted as female counterparts and allies to the superhero Batman. Although the character Betty Kane was introduced into publication in ...

in a story titled "The Million Dollar Debut of Batgirl!" in issue #359 (Jan. 1967).

Mike Friedrich Mike Friedrich (; born March 27, 1949) is an American comic book writer and publisher best known for his work at Marvel and DC Comics, and for publishing the anthology series '' Star*Reach'', one of the first independent comics. He is also an a ...

wrote the 30th anniversary Batman story in ''Detective Comics'' #387 (May 1969) which was drawn by

Bob Brown Robert James Brown (born 27 December 1944) is a former Australian politician, medical doctor and environmentalist. He was a senator and the parliamentary leader of the Australian Greens. Brown was elected to the Australian Senate on the Tasman ...

. Writer

Dennis O'Neil Dennis Joseph O'Neil (May 3, 1939 – June 11, 2020) was an American comic book writer and editor, principally for Marvel Comics and DC Comics from the 1960s through the 1990s, and Group Editor for the Batman family of titles until his retir ...

and artist

Neal Adams Neal Adams (June 15, 1941 – April 28, 2022) was an American comic book artist. He was the co-founder of the graphic design studio Continuity Associates, and was a creators-rights advocate who helped secure a pension and recognition for Supe ...

had their first collaboration on Batman on the story "The Secret of the Waiting Graves" in issue #395 (Jan. 1970). The duo, under the direction of Schwartz, would revitalize the character with a series of noteworthy stories reestablishing Batman's dark, brooding nature and taking the books away from the

campy Camp is an aesthetic style and sensibility that regards something as appealing because of its bad taste and ironic value. Camp aesthetics disrupt many of modernism's notions of what art is and what can be classified as high art by inverting aes ...

look and feel of the 1966–68

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

TV series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed betw ...

. Goulart, Ron, ''Ron Goulart's Great History of Comic Books'' (Contemporary Books, Chicago, 1986) , p. 297 Comics historian

Les Daniels Leslie Noel Daniels III, better known as Les Daniels (October 27, 1943 – November 5, 2011), was an American writer. Background Daniels attended Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, where he wrote his master's thesis on ''Frankenstei ...

observed that "O'Neil's interpretation of Batman as a vengeful obsessive-compulsive, which he modestly describes as a return to the roots, was actually an act of creative imagination that has influenced every subsequent version of the Dark Knight." Adams introduced the

Man-Bat Man-Bat (Dr. Robert Kirkland "Kirk" Langstrom) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Introduced in ''Detective Comics'' #400 (June 1970) as an enemy of the superhero Batman, the character belongs to t ...

with writer

Frank Robbins Franklin Robbins (September 9, 1917 – November 28, 1994) was an American comic book and comic strip artist and writer, as well as a prominent painter whose work appeared in museums including the Whitney Museum of American Art, where one of his p ...

in ''Detective Comics'' #400 (June 1970). O'Neil and artist Bob Brown crafted Batman's first encounter with the

League of Assassins The League of Assassins (sometimes renamed the League of Shadows or Society of Shadows in adapted works) is a group of supervillains appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The group is depicted as a collective of assassins who ...

in ''Detective Comics'' #405 (Nov. 1970) and created

Talia al Ghul Talia al Ghul ( ar, تاليا الغول; ) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with Batman. The character was created by writer Dennis O'Neil and artist Bob Brown, and fir ...

in issue #411 (May 1971). After publishing on a monthly schedule throughout its run, ''Detective Comics'' became a bi-monthly book from issues #435 (June–July 1973) to #445 (Feb.-March 1975). Issues #438 (Dec. 1973-Jan. 1974) to #445 (Feb.–March 1975) of the series were in the 100 Page Super Spectacular format. O'Neil and artist

Dick Giordano Richard Joseph Giordano (; July 20, 1932 – March 27, 2010) was an American comics artist and editor whose career included introducing Charlton Comics' "Action Heroes" stable of superheroes and serving as executive editor of DC Comics. Early li ...

created the Batman supporting character

Leslie Thompkins Leslie Maurin Thompkins (sometimes spelled Tompkins) is a fictional character appearing in comic books published by DC Comics, usually as a supporting character in stories featuring Batman, of whom she is an ally. Created by writer Dennis O'Neil a ...

in the story "There Is No Hope in Crime Alley" appearing in issue #457 (March 1976). Writer

Steve Englehart Steve Englehart (; born April 22, 1947) is an American writer of comic books and novels. He is best known for his work at Marvel Comics and DC Comics in the 1970s and 1980s. His pseudonyms have included John Harkness and Cliff Garnett. Early li ...

and artist

Marshall Rogers William Marshall Rogers III (January 22, 1950 – March 24, 2007),William Marshall Rogers III

produced an acclaimed run of Batman stories in ''Detective Comics'' #471–476 (Aug. 1977 – April 1978), and provided one of the definitive interpretations that influenced the 1989 ''

'' film and would be adapted for the 1990s

animated series An animated series is a set of animated works with a common series title, usually related to one another. These episodes should typically share the same main characters, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series can have either ...

. The Englehart and Rogers pairing, was described in 2009 by comics writer and historian Robert Greenberger as "one of the greatest" creative teams to work on the Batman character. In their story "The Laughing Fish", the Joker is brazen enough to disfigure fish with a rictus grin, then expects to be granted a federal

trademark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design, or expression that identifies products or services from a particular source and distinguishes them from others ...

on them, only to start killing the bureaucrats who try to explain to him that obtaining such a claim on a natural resource is legally impossible. Writer

Len Wein Leonard Norman Wein (; June 12, 1948 – September 10, 2017) was an American comic book writer and editor best known for co-creating DC Comics' Swamp Thing and Marvel Comics' Wolverine, and for helping revive the Marvel superhero team the X-Men ( ...

and Rogers co-created the third version of the supervillain

Clayface Clayface is an alias used by several supervillains appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Most incarnations of the character possess clay-like bodies and shapeshifting abilities, and all of them have been depicted as List of Bat ...

in ''Detective Comics'' #478 (July–Aug. 1978). From issue #481 (Dec. 1978 – Jan. 1979) through #495 (Oct. 1980), the magazine adopted the expanded

Dollar Comics Dollar Comics was a line of DC Comics comic book publications issued from 1977 to 1983 and revived in 2019. The 1977-1983 line included the titles ''The Superman Family'', ''House of Mystery'', ''G.I. Combat'', ''World's Finest Comics'', '' Batman F ...

format used by the canceled ''

Batman Family A collective of fictional characters appear in American comic books published by DC Comics featuring the superhero Batman as the main protagonist. Since Batman's introduction in 1939, the character has accumulated a number of recognizable suppo ...

'', adding solo features including "Robin: the Teen Wonder", "Batgirl", the "

Human Target The Human Target is the name of two fictional characters in American comic books published by DC Comics. The first is Fred Venable, while the second is private investigator and bodyguard Christopher Chance who assumes the identities of clients tar ...

" and the anthology "Tales of

Gotham City Gotham City ( ), or simply Gotham, is a fictional city appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, best known as the home of the superhero Batman and his allies and foes. Created by writer Bill Finger and artist Bob Kane, the cit ...

", which featured stories of the city's ordinary people. Julius Schwartz, who had edited the title for most of its run since 1964, left the series as of issue #484 (June–July 1979) The original Katherine Kane also known as "Batwoman" was killed in the lead story in issue #485 (Aug.–Sept. 1979) by the

. The title's 500th issue (March 1981) featured stories by several well-known creators including television writer

Alan Brennert Alan Brennert (born May 30, 1954 in Englewood, New Jersey) is an American author, television producer, and screenwriter. Brennert has lived in Southern California since 1973 and completed graduate work in screenwriting at the University of Cali ...

and

Walter B. Gibson Walter Brown Gibson (September 12, 1897 – December 6, 1985) was an Americans, American writer and professional magic (illusion), magician, best known for his work on the pulp magazine, pulp fiction character ''The Shadow''. Gibson, under the ...

best known for his work on the

pulp fiction ''Pulp Fiction'' is a 1994 American crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, who conceived it with Roger Avary.See, e.g., King (2002), pp. 185–7; ; Starring John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Willis, Tim Roth, Ving Rhame ...

character ''

The Shadow The Shadow is a fictional character created by magazine publishers Street & Smith and writer Walter B. Gibson. Originally created to be a mysterious radio show narrator, and developed into a distinct literary character in 1931 by writer Walter ...

''. Also used during the 1980s was the use of serialization of the main Batman story, with stories from ''Detective Comics'' and ''Batman'' directly flowing from one book to another, with cliffhangers at the end of each book's monthly story that would be resolved in the other title of that month. A single writer handled both books during that time beginning with

Gerry Conway Gerard Francis Conway Thomas, Roy. "Roy's Rostrum" ("Bullpen Bulletins") in '' Marvel Super-Heroes'' #43 and other Marvel Comics cover-dated May 1974. (born September 10, 1952) is an American comic book writer, comic book editor, screenwriter, t ...

and followed up by

Doug Moench Douglas Moench (; born February 23, 1948) is an American comic book writer notable for his ''Batman'' work and as the creator of Moon Knight, Deathlok, Black Mask, '' Electric Warrior'' and '' Six from Sirius''. He is also known for his critica ...

. The supervillain

Killer Croc Killer Croc is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly as an adversary of the superhero Batman. The character belongs to the collective of adversaries that make up Batman's rogues gallery. Originally a ...

made a shadowy cameo in issue #523 (Feb. 1983).Manning "1980s" in Dolan, p. 200: "Killer Croc made his mysterious debut in the pages of ''Detective Comics'' #523, written by Gerry Conway, with art by Gene Colan...Croc would soon become a major player in Gotham's underworld." Noted author

Harlan Ellison Harlan Jay Ellison (May 27, 1934 – June 28, 2018) was an American writer, known for his prolific and influential work in New Wave speculative fiction and for his outspoken, combative personality. Robert Bloch, the author of '' Psycho'' ...

wrote the Batman story in issue #567. Writer Mike W. Barr and artists

Alan Davis Alan Davis (born 18 June 1956) is an English artist and writer of comic books, known for his work on titles such as ''Captain Britain'', ''The Uncanny X-Men'', ''ClanDestine'', ''Detective Comics'', ''Excalibur'', '' JLA: The Nail'' and '' JLA: ...

and

Todd McFarlane Todd McFarlane (; born March 16, 1961) is a Canadian comic book creator, artist, writer, filmmaker and entrepreneur, best known for his work as the artist on ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' and as the creator, writer, and artist on the superhero horro ...

crafted the " Batman: Year Two" storyline in ''Detective Comics'' #575–578 which followed up on Frank Miller's " Batman: Year One". Writer Alan Grant and artist

Norm Breyfogle Norman Keith Breyfogle (; February 27, 1960 – September 24, 2018) was an American artist, best known for his comic book art on DC Comics' Batman franchise from 1987 to 1995. During this time, he co-created the villains Ventriloquist and Ratca ...

introduced the

Ventriloquist Ventriloquism, or ventriloquy, is a performance act of stagecraft in which a person (a ventriloquist) creates the illusion that their voice is coming from elsewhere, usually a puppeteered prop known as a "dummy". The act of ventriloquism is v ...

in their first Batman story together and the Ratcatcher in their third (#585).

Sam Hamm Sam Hamm (born November 19, 1955) is an American screenwriter and comic book writer. Hamm is known for co-writing the screenplay for Tim Burton's ''Batman''. He also received a story credit for ''Batman Returns'' (though the final version of the ...

, who wrote the screenplay for

Tim Burton Timothy Walter Burton (born August 25, 1958) is an American filmmaker and animator. He is known for his gothic fantasy and horror films such as ''Beetlejuice'' (1988), ''Edward Scissorhands'' (1990), ''The Nightmare Before Christmas'' (1993), ...

's ''

'', wrote the "Blind Justice" story in ''Detective Comics'' issues #598–600.

Chuck Dixon Charles Dixon (born April 14, 1954) is an American comic book writer, best known for his work on the Marvel Comics character the Punisher and on the DC Comics characters Batman, Nightwing, and Robin in the 1990s and early 2000s. Early life D ...

became the writer of the series with issue #644 (May 1992). He and

Tom Lyle Thomas Stanford Lyle (November 2, 1953 – November 19, 2019) was an American comics artist, best known for his work on ''Starman'' and '' Robin'' for DC Comics, and ''Spider-Man'' for Marvel Comics. Career Tom Lyle's comics career began in th ...

co-created the

Electrocutioner The Electrocutioner is an alias used by three fictional characters in the DC Universe, all minor enemies of the superhero Batman. Publication history The first Electrocutioner (known only as Buchinsky) appeared in ''Batman'' #331 (January 1981) ...

in ''Detective Comics'' #644 (May 1992) and Stephanie Brown in ''Detective Comics'' #647 (August 1992). The " Batman: Legacy" storyline began in issue #700 (August 1996). The "

No Man's Land No man's land is waste or unowned land or an uninhabited or desolate area that may be under dispute between parties who leave it unoccupied out of fear or uncertainty. The term was originally used to define a contested territory or a dump ...

" storyline crossed over into ''Detective Comics'' in issues #730–741. Writer

Greg Rucka Gregory Rucka (born November 29, 1969) is an American writer known for the series of novels starring his character Atticus Kodiak, the creator-owned comic book series '' Whiteout'', ''Queen & Country'', '' Stumptown'' and '' Lazarus'', as well a ...

and artist

Shawn Martinbrough Shawn C. Martinbrough is an American citizen, American comic book artist. The long-time artist for Robert Kirkman's ''Thief of Thieves'', Martinbrough is known for his film noir-influenced drawing style.Younger, Briana. "Washington, DC: Shawn Marti ...

became the creative team as of issue #742 (March 2000) and created the

Sasha Bordeaux Sasha Bordeaux is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was at first primarily associated with superhero Batman, and she has subsequently evolved an association with Checkmate in two of its i ...

character in issue #751 (Dec. 2000). Issue #800 (Jan. 2005) was written by

Andersen Gabrych Andersen Gabrych is an American comic book writer and actor. Early life Gabrych grew up in Chico, California. He's been a fan of comics since childhood, having read an issue of ''Justice League of America'' at the age of 7. Gabrych was active i ...

and drawn by

Pete Woods Peter Woods is an American comic book artist, known for his work on titles such as ''Backlash'', ''Deadpool'', '' Robin'', ''Catwoman'', '' Amazons Attack'', and ''Action Comics''. Career Woods worked as an intern for Wildstorm comics in April ...

. Paul Dini became the writer of the series as of issue #821 (Sept. 2006) and created a new version of the

in #827 (March 2007).

Scott Snyder Scott Snyder is an American author. He is known for his 2006 short story collection ''Voodoo Heart'', and his comic book writing, including ''American Vampire'', ''Detective Comics'', ''Batman (comic book)#The New 52, Batman'', ''Wytches (comics) ...

became the writer of ''Detective Comics'' with issue #871 (Jan. 2011).

Back-up features

In addition to the Batman stories, the title has had numerous back-up strips. The

Boy Commandos Boy Commandos is a fictional organization from DC Comics first appearing in ''Detective Comics'' #64 (June 1942) by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby. They are a combination of "kid gang" characters, an international cast of young boys fighting Nazis — ...

Joe Simon Joseph Henry Simon (October 11, 1913 – December 14, 2011) was an American comic book writer, artist, editor, and publisher. Simon created or co-created many important characters in the 1930s–1940s Golden Age of Comic Books and served as the ...

and

Jack Kirby Jack Kirby (born Jacob Kurtzberg; August 28, 1917 – February 6, 1994) was an American comic book artist, writer and editor, widely regarded as one of the medium's major innovators and one of its most prolific and influential creators. He gr ...

debuted in ''Detective Comics'' #64 (June 1942) and were then soon spun off into their own title. The character

Roy Raymond Roy Larson Raymond (April 15, 1947 – August 26, 1993) was an American businessman who founded the Victoria's Secret lingerie retail store in California in 1977. Early life and education Roy Raymond was born April 15, 1947, in Connecticut. H ...

first appeared in issue #153 (Nov. 1949). The

Martian Manhunter The Martian Manhunter (J'onn J'onzz) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Joseph Samachson and designed by artist Joe Certa, the character first appeared in the story "The Manhunter from Mars" ...

was created by writer

Joseph Samachson Joseph Samachson (October 13, 1906 – June 2, 1980) was an American scientist and writer, primarily of science fiction and comic books. Biography Joseph Samachson was born on October 13, 1906 in Trenton, New Jersey, the son of Russian Jewish pa ...

and artist Joe Certa in the back-up story "The Strange Experiment of Dr. Erdel" in ''Detective Comics'' #225 (Nov. 1955). After issue #326 (April 1964), the Martian Manhunter was moved to ''

House of Mystery ''The House of Mystery'' is the name of several horror, fantasy, and mystery Comics anthologies published by DC Comics. It had a companion series, ''The House of Secrets''. It is also the name of the titular setting of the series. First serie ...

'' and in issue #327 the

Elongated Man Elongated Man (Randolph "Ralph" Dibny) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He first appeared in ''Flash (comics), The Flash'' #112 (February 25, 1960). The character made his live-action debut in the The Fl ...

and his wife, now remodeled after

Dashiell Hammett Samuel Dashiell Hammett (; May 27, 1894 – January 10, 1961) was an American writer of hard-boiled detective novels and short stories. He was also a screenwriter and political activist. Among the enduring characters he created are Sam Spade ('' ...

Nick and Nora Charles Nick and Nora Charles are fictional characters created by Dashiell Hammett in his novel ''The Thin Man''. The characters were later adapted for film in a series of films between 1934 and 1947; for radio from 1941 to 1950; for television from 1957 ...

, took over. The characters crossed over with Batman three times. The Elongated Man run lasted until issue #383 (Jan. 1969) and his feature returned sporadically 15 times until issue #572, which celebrated the 50th anniversary of the title by teaming him up with Batman, Robin, Slam Bradley and

Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a " consulting detective" in the stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, deduction, forensic science and ...

against Edgar Moriarty, the great-grandnephew of

Professor Moriarty Professor James Moriarty is a fictional character and criminal mastermind created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to be a formidable enemy for the author's fictional detective Sherlock Holmes. He was created primarily as a device by which Doyle could ...

. After the Elongated Man back-up feature ended, Batgirl held the role until issue #424. After moving her to ''Batman Family'', she returned from issues #481-519.

Jason Bard Jason Bard is a fictional character in the DC Universe. He first appeared in ''Detective Comics'' #392, which was published in 1969. He appeared in several back-up stories throughout the 1970s and 1980s in ''Detective Comics''.. Fictional charact ...

appeared as the backup feature in the odd-numbered issues of ''Detective'' from #425-435. The Manhunter was resurrected in a story by Archie Goodwin and

Walt Simonson Walter Simonson (born September 2, 1946) is an American comic book writer and artist, best known for a run on Marvel Comics' ''Thor'' from 1983 to 1987, during which he created the character Beta Ray Bill. He is also known for the creator-owned w ...

in issue #437 (Oct.-Nov. 1973). With the last episode of the series, Manhunter moved to the front of the book in a full-length team-up with Batman. The

Green Arrow Green Arrow is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Mort Weisinger and designed by George Papp, he first appeared in ''More Fun Comics'' #73 in November 1941. His secret identity, real name is Olive ...

became the back-up feature starting with issue #521 (Dec. 1982) and running until #567 (Oct. 1986). The

Black Canary The Black Canary is the name of two superheroines appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics: Dinah Drake and her daughter Dinah Laurel Lance. The original version was created by the writer-artist team of Robert Kanigher and ...

received a new costume in the back-up story in issue #554 (Sept. 1985). ''

DC Comics Bonus Book DC Comics Bonus Books were 16-page comic book stories inserted into issues of existing DC Comics series to showcase new writers and artists. Running from April 1988 to February 1989, they consisted of a front cover, 14 pages of story, and a back c ...

''s were included in issues #589 (August 1988) and 595 (Jan. 1989). After a lengthy absence, the back-up features returned for issues #746–810. These were more closed-ended stories featuring new and established characters in the Batman mythos. The first was "The Jacobian" in issues #746–757, followed by a one-issue Batman story in #758. The following issues, #759–762, featured

and were a lead-in to the 2002 ''Catwoman'' series. Issues #763–772 featured Josephine "Josie Mac" MacDonald, a Gotham police detective. Issues #773–775 were titled "Tales of Gotham" and feature Detectives Crispus Allen and Renee Montoya. Batman starred in "Spore" from issues #776–780. #781 featured a special ''

Elseworlds ''Elseworlds'' was the publication imprint (trade name), imprint for American comic books produced by DC Comics for stories that took place outside the DC Universe Canon (fictional), canon. Elseworlds publications are set in alternate realitie ...

'' tale, while #782 featured a Batman solo tale. Issue #783 featured a prelude to the "Death and the Maidens" miniseries and issue #784 featured a Josie Mac tale. The "Tales of Gotham" stories resumed in issues #785–788 with "The Dogcatcher", and #789–794 featured "The Tailor". "Polished Stone", featuring the

and

Onyx Onyx primarily refers to the parallel banded variety of chalcedony, a silicate mineral. Agate and onyx are both varieties of layered chalcedony that differ only in the form of the bands: agate has curved bands and onyx has parallel bands. The c ...

, ran in issues #795–796. "Low", featuring the Riddler and Poison Ivy, ran from issues #797–799. ''Detective Comics'' #800 featured a short Batman back-up story under the "Tales of Gotham" banner. A four-issue (#801–805) story featuring the Barker entitled "When You're Strange" was next and "Mud" in issue #805. A two-issue story (#806–807) featuring Alfred was followed by the last back-up, a three-issue (#808–810) Killer Croc story. The " Manhunter" series that ran as a backup in ''Detective Comics'' from 1973 to 1974 won the

Shazam Award The Academy of Comic Book Arts (ACBA) was an American professional organization of the 1970s that was designed to be the comic book industry analog of such groups as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Composed of comic-book profession ...

for "Best Individual Short Story (Dramatic)" in 1974 for the story "Cathedral Perilous" in issue #441, written by Archie Goodwin and

Batwoman

In 2009, as part of a planned reorganization of the Batman universe due to the events shown in '' Batman R.I.P.'' and ''

Final Crisis "Final Crisis" is a crossover storyline that appeared in comic books published by DC Comics in 2008, primarily the seven-issue miniseries of the same name written by Grant Morrison. Originally DC announced the project as being illustrated solely b ...

'', ''Detective Comics'' went on hiatus for three months while DC Comics published the ''

Battle for the Cowl "Batman: Battle for the Cowl" is a 2009 comic book storyline published by DC comics, consisting of an eponymous, three issue miniseries written and penciled by Tony Daniel, as well as a number of tie-in books. The central story details the chaos in ...

'' miniseries. Upon its return, the series featured the newly reintroduced (in '' 52'')

as the new star of the book, as well as a 10-page back-up feature starring

Renee Montoya Renee Maria Montoya is a fictional character appearing in media published by DC Entertainment. The character was created by Bruce Timm, Paul Dini and Mitch Brian for '' Batman: The Animated Series'' and was preemptively introduced into mainstre ...

as the new Question. The series returned Batman to a starring role in early 2010.

The New 52

DC Comics relaunched ''Detective Comics'' with issue #1 in September 2011, as part of an initiative called

The New 52 The New 52 is the 2011 revamp and relaunch by DC Comics of its entire line of ongoing monthly superhero comic books. Following the conclusion of the " Flashpoint" crossover storyline, DC canceled all its existing titles and debuted 52 new serie ...

. The series was written and drawn by

Tony Daniel Tony S. Daniel, is an American comic book writer and artist, known for his work on various books for DC Comics, including ''Teen Titans'', '' Flash: The Fastest Man Alive'', and ''Batman''and ''Deathstroke'' and '' Nocterra'' as well as many othe ...

until the 12th issue, with the team of John Layman and Jason Fabok beginning with issue #13. The first issue of the relaunched ''Detective Comics'' has received six printings, second only to the relaunched ''

Justice League The Justice League (also known as The Justice League of America) are a team of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The team first appeared in ''The Brave and the Bold'' #28 (March 1960). The team was conceived ...

'' which had seven printings. The series' 7th issue was also DC Comic's 6th highest selling digital comic, ranking above many other series in the Batman category. Scott West of Sciencefiction.com gave the series' third arc a positive review, stating that "After last month's disappointing ‘Night of the Owls’ tie-in issue, it's nice to see ‘Detective Comics’ getting back to where it should be...good detective stories." The relaunched ''Detective Comics'' received the award for "Best Series" at the 2012 Stan Lee Awards. The series' first collected edition would reach the number 1 spot on ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' Best Seller list in the category of "Hardcover Graphic Books". Daniel wrote and penciled the series until the ''

Night of the Owls "Batman: Night of the Owls" is a comic book crossover storyline published by DC Comics in mid-2012, and featuring the Batman family of characters. Primarily written by Scott Snyder, the arc is the first major crossover storyline of The New 52. Th ...

'' crossover, at which point

Ed Benes José Edilbenes Bezerra (born November 20, 1972), better known by his professional name Ed Benes, is a Brazilian comic book artist, known for his work for DC Comics, on such titles as ''Birds of Prey'', ''Supergirl'', ''Superman'', and ''Justice L ...

, Julio Ferreira, and Eduardo Pansica began drawing the series for a three-issue arc. The price of ''Detective Comics'' was increased due to the addition of a backup feature starring Batman villain

, which was written by Daniel and illustrated by Syzmon Kudranski, this followed a similar backup featuring Professor Hugo Strange. Daniel left the series with issue #12 being his last as writer and the "0" issue his last as penciller. DC celebrated the first anniversary of The New 52 in September 2012 by publishing a number "0" of each original ''New 52'' title which act as prequels to the series and reveal previously unexplained plot elements.

Gregg Hurwitz Gregg Andrew Hurwitz is an American novelist, screenwriter, and comic book writer. Most of his novels are in the thriller fiction genre. His script writing work includes a film adaptation of his book '' Orphan X'', a TV adaptation of Joby Warri ...

wrote the "0" issue. Hurwitz was approached by Daniel to write the "0" issue due to Daniel's busy schedule. To follow up on the ''Night of the Owls'' elements in ''Detective Comics'', Daniel wrote ''Detective Comics Annual'' #1, which was pencilled by Romano Molenaar and inked by Sandu Florea. Following Daniel's tenure on the series, John Layman became the new writer and Jason Fabok the new artist with

James Tynion IV James Tynion IV (born December 14, 1987) is an American comic book writer. He is best known for his work on the Batman franchise at DC Comics, his DC Black Label series ''The Nice House on the Lake'' and his independent series '' Department of ...

writing the backup features and Syzmon Kudranski remaining as artist for Tynion's first feature. With issue #19 of ''Detective Comics'' vol. 2, released on April 3, 2013, the series reached 900 issues as combined with the first volume of the series, and was a special oversized celebratory issue. Under Layman, the series featured its first crossover, ''Gothtopia'' after which Layman and Fabok moved to the ''

Batman Eternal ''Batman Eternal'' is a year-long weekly limited series published by DC Comics, that began in April 2014. The series featured Batman, his allies, and Gotham City, and was written by Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, Ray Fawkes, Kyle Higgins, and Ti ...

'' series and ''Detective Comics'' was taken over by Brain Buccalleto and

Francis Manapul Francis Manapul (born August 26, 1979) is a Filipino Canadian comic book artist and writer. Career Manapul is known for his work on ''Witchblade'' and '' The Necromancer'' for Top Cow, working on the former for three years, off and on, returnin ...

. In commemoration of the second anniversary of The New 52, DC Comics announced " Villains Month" with ''Detective Comics'' getting four issues. The issues starred Poison Ivy,

Harley Quinn Harley Quinn is a character (arts), character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Quinn was created by Paul Dini and Bruce Timm as a comic relief henchwoman for the supervillain Joker (character), Joker in ''Batman: The An ...

, the

Scarecrow A scarecrow is a decoy or mannequin, often in the shape of a human. Humanoid scarecrows are usually dressed in old clothes and placed in open fields to discourage birds from disturbing and feeding on recently cast seed and growing crops.Lesley B ...

, and the

, and, respectively, being numbered #23.1, #23.2, #23.3, and #23.4, by an ensemble of writers and artists. For the 75th anniversary of Batman, issue #27 was a larger-sized issue featuring new stories by

Brad Meltzer Brad Meltzer (born April 1, 1970) is an Americans, American novelist, non-fiction writer, TV show creator, and comic book author. His novels touch on the political thriller, legal thriller and conspiracy fiction genres, while he has also writte ...

and

Bryan Hitch Bryan Hitch (born 22 April 1970) is a British comics artist and writer. Hitch began his career in the United Kingdom for Marvel UK, working on titles such as ''Action Force'' and ''Death's Head'', before gaining prominence on American titles ...

and

Sean Murphy Sean Murphy may refer to: Sports * Seán Óg Murphy (1897–1956), Irish hurler * Seán Murphy (hurler) (born 1947), Irish hurler * Seán Murphy (Gaelic footballer) (born 1932), Irish Gaelic football player * Sean Murphy (footballer, born 1995), Sc ...

Peter Tomasi Peter J. Tomasi is an American comic book editor and writer, best known for his work for DC Comics. As an editor, he oversaw numerous comic books featuring the Justice League, including series starring various members of that team such as Batman, ...

and Ian Bertram, John Layman and Jason Fabok,

and

, Mike W. Barr and Guillem March, and one written and drawn by

Francesco Francavilla Francesco Francavilla is an Italian comic book artist known for his creator-owned series '' The Black Beetle'' and pulp-inspired comic covers. Other notable works include ''The Black Coat'' (which he co-created), Dynamite's ''Zorro'' series, and h ...

. In addition, variant covers to the issue were by

Greg Capullo Gregory Capullo (; born March 30, 1962) is an American comic book artist and penciller, best known for his work on ''Quasar'' (1991–1992), '' X-Force'' (1992–1993), ''Angela'' (1994), ''Spawn'' (1993–2000, 2003–2004) and ''Batman'' (2011� ...

Frank Miller Frank Miller (born January 27, 1957) is an American comic book writer, penciller and inker, novelist, screenwriter, film director, and producer known for his comic book stories and graphic novels such as his run on ''Daredevil'' and subsequen ...

Chris Burnham Chris Burnham is a comic book artist known for his work on ''Batman Incorporated'' with Grant Morrison, as well as the creator-owned books such as Officer Downe and ''Nixon's Pals'', which were published by Image Comics. Early life Born in Connec ...

Jim Lee Jim Lee (Korean 이용철; born August 11, 1964) is a Korean American comic-book artist, writer, editor, and publisher. He is currently the Publisher and Chief Creative Officer of DC Comics. In recognition of his work, Lee has received a Harvey ...

, Jason Fabok, and

. Single page artwork included work by

Kelley Jones Kelley Jones (born July 23, 1962) is an American comics artist best known for his work on ''Batman'' with writer Doug Moench and on '' The Sandman'' with writer Neil Gaiman. Early life Kelley Jones was born in Sacramento, California and grew up ...

Mike Allred Michael Dalton Allred is an American comic book artist and writer most famous for his independent comics creations, ''Madman'' and ''iZombie''. His style is often compared to pop art, as well as commercial and comic art of the 1950s and 1960s ...

, Patrick Gleason, and Jock.

2016 – present

In February 2016, DC Comics announced that as part of the company's continuity relaunch called

DC Rebirth DC Rebirth is a 2016 relaunch by the American comic book publisher DC Comics of its entire line of ongoing monthly superhero comic book titles. Using the end of The New 52 initiative in May 2016 as its launching point, DC Rebirth restored the D ...

, ''Detective Comics'' would resume its original numbering system with June 2016's issue #934. The 52 issues of ''Detective Comics'' volume 2 (2011-2016) were added to the original count of 881 issues from ''Detective Comics'' volume 1 (1937-2011), making ''Detective Comics'' #934 the premier issue following the end of the DC Rebirth initiative. The series was published twice-monthly. The creative team beginning with issue #934 included writer

and artists

Eddy Barrows Eduardo Barros (born August 18, 1967) is a Brazilian comic book artist, better known by his pen name of Eddy Barrows. He is best known for his work at DC Comics on such titles as ''Birds of Prey (comics), Birds of Prey'', ''Countdown to Adventure' ...

and Alvaro Martinez. The series featured a team led by Batman and

(Kate Kane), operating out of a secondary base in the heart of Gotham known as the Belfry. Team members initially included Red Robin (

Tim Drake Timothy Jackson "Tim" Drake is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with the superhero Batman. Created by Marv Wolfman and Pat Broderick, he first appeared in Batman: Year Three, ''Batman' ...

), Spoiler ( Stephanie Brown), Orphan (

Cassandra Cain Cassandra Cain (also known as Cassandra Wayne and Cassandra Wu-San) is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with the superhero Batman. Created by Kelley Puckett and Damion Scott, Cassan ...

) and

(Basil Karlo), with Batwing (Luke Fox) and

Azrael Azrael (; , 'God has helped'; ) is the angel of death in some Abrahamic religions, namely Islam, Christian popular culture and some traditions of Judaism. He is also referenced in Sikhism. Relative to similar concepts of such beings, Azrael ...

(Jean-Paul Valley) later recruited as new members.

Zatanna Zatanna Zatara () is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by Gardner Fox and Murphy Anderson, and first appeared in '' Hawkman'' #4 (November 1964). Zatanna is a stage magician with a ...

also briefly joins the team as a guest star in several issues. This status quo ended with the conclusion of Tynion's run on the series in issue #981, published May 2018. During the interim period without a permanent writer, Bryan Edward Hill wrote the story arc "On the Outside" starring Batman, Orphan,

Signal In signal processing, a signal is a function that conveys information about a phenomenon. Any quantity that can vary over space or time can be used as a signal to share messages between observers. The ''IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing'' ...

Katana A is a Japanese sword characterized by a curved, single-edged blade with a circular or squared guard and long grip to accommodate two hands. Developed later than the ''tachi'', it was used by samurai in feudal Japan and worn with the edge fa ...

and

Black Lightning Black Lightning (Jefferson Pierce) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character, created by writer Tony Isabella and artist Trevor Von Eeden, first appeared in ''Black Lightning'' #1 (April 1977), during ...

over issues #983-987 as a prelude to his ongoing series ''

Batman and the Outsiders The Outsiders are a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. As their name suggests, the team consists of superheroes who do not fit the norms of the "mainstream" superhero community, i.e. the Justice League. The ...

''. The next regular writer,

, began on the series with issue #994, published December 2018. Tomasi's run as writer continued for two years until issue #1033, published December 2020. On March 27, 2019, DC Comics released the series' 1,000th issue, marking the second American comic book in history to reach that milestone after ''

'' in 2018. The issue, which coincided with Batman's 80th anniversary, is an anthology featuring several stories from a variety of different creative teams. Writer

Mariko Tamaki Mariko Tamaki (born 1975) is a Canadian artist and writer. She is known for her graphic novels '' Skim'', ''Emiko Superstar,'' and ''This One Summer'', and for several prose works of fiction and non-fiction."Mariko Tamaki". CBC Radio, '' The Next ...

began on the series with issue #1034 as part of the

Infinite Frontier Infinite Frontier is a 2021 relaunch by the American comic book publisher DC Comics of its entire line of ongoing monthly superhero comic book titles in 2021. It is the follow-up to the 2016 DC Rebirth relaunch. The relaunch and event was sheph ...

line-wide relaunch. In April 2022, it was announced that Ram V and

Rafael Albuquerque Rafael Albuquerque (born April 12, 1981) is a Brazilians, Brazilian comic book creator primarily for his artwork on titles such as DC Comics' ''Jaime Reyes, Blue Beetle'' and as illustrator and co-creator of ''American Vampire''. Though primarily ...

would serve as the new creative team starting with issue #1062.

Character debuts

Notes

Collected editions

Volume 1 (1937-2011)

The ''Detective Comics'' series has been collected into a number of trade paperbacks and hardback collections.

Batman Archive editions

All

DC Archive Editions ''DC Archive Editions'' is a line of hardcover reprint runs of early, often rare comic book series, titles, and stories which ran from 1989-2014. They include more than 160 Golden Age and Silver Age comic properties currently owned by DC Comics, ...

are hardback only and printed on high quality archival paper.

Batman Chronicles

The Batman Chronicles ''The Batman Chronicles'' is a series of comics published by DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comic ...

'' series plans to reprint every Batman adventure in color, in chronological order, in affordable trade paperbacks. It is not to be confused with the now-finished series of the same name.

Showcase Presents

All ''

Showcase Presents ''Showcase Presents'' was a line of black-and-white paperback books published by DC Comics (from 2005 - 2016) at an average rate of two per month. Much like Marvel Comics' '' Essential Marvel'' volumes, each book usually included over 500 pages of ...

'' collections are large (over 500 pages), softcover, black and white only reprints.

Celebration hardcovers

Starting in 2014, DC began releasing character retrospective anthologies, several of which feature issues of ''Detective Comics''

Tales of The Batman/Legends of the Dark Knight

These hardcover books reprint issues by particular creators and contain many issues of ''Detective Comics'', as well as other Batman titles.

Other editions

Many of these other editions are anthologies containing comics from titles other than ''Detective Comics''. Titles here are presented as close to chronologically as possible.

''
The New 52 The New 52 is the 2011 revamp and relaunch by DC Comics of its entire line of ongoing monthly superhero comic books. Following the conclusion of the " Flashpoint" crossover storyline, DC canceled all its existing titles and debuted 52 new serie ...
''

saw every DC Comics series collected in its entirety in trade paperback form. Notably, collected volumes of ''Detective Comics'' vol. 2 were published in hardcover editions first, with paperback editions being delayed until the release of the next hardcover volume. Material from ''Detective Comics'' vol. 2 was also included in several collections of crossover events, each printed in both hardcover and softcover. In each case, the material consisted of tie-ins to the main event.

''
DC Rebirth DC Rebirth is a 2016 relaunch by the American comic book publisher DC Comics of its entire line of ongoing monthly superhero comic book titles. Using the end of The New 52 initiative in May 2016 as its launching point, DC Rebirth restored the D ...
'' to present

Volumes 1-5 were published with DC Rebirth trade dress on the cover. This was dropped from volume 6 onwards, coinciding with the end of "DC Rebirth" branding on the series from issue #970 onwards. Numbering on the collected editions was restarted from volume 1 with the start of Peter Tomasi's run as writer in issue #994. The first three volumes were published in hardcover editions first, before being reprinted in paperback.

''Millennium Editions''

In 2000 and 2001, DC reprinted several of its most notable issues in the '' Millennium Edition'' series. Seven issues of ''Detective Comics'' were reprinted in this format.''Millennium Edition: Detective Comics''
at the Grand Comics Database

References

External links

''Detective Comics''
at DC Comics official site
''Detective Comics''
at the

Grand Comics Database The Grand Comics Database (GCD) is an Internet-based project to build a database of comic book information through user contributions. The GCD project catalogues information on creator credits, story details, reprints, and other information useful ...

* {{DC Rebirth, state=collapsed 1937 comics debuts 2011 comics endings 2011 comics debuts Comics magazines published in the United States DC Comics imprints DC Comics titles Comics anthologies Comics by Alan Grant (writer) Comics by Archie Goodwin (comics) Comics by Dennis O'Neil Comics by Doug Moench Comics by Ed Brubaker Comics by Gardner Fox Comics by Greg Rucka Comics by Len Wein Comics by Michael Fleisher Comics by Paul Dini Comics by Paul Kupperberg Comics by Peter J. Tomasi Comics by Steve Englehart Golden Age comics titles Magazines established in 1937 Magazines disestablished in 2011 Magazines established in 2011

Publication history

Batman / Bruce Wayne

Back-up features

Batwoman

The New 52

2016 – present

Character debuts

Notes

Collected editions

Volume 1 (1937-2011)

Batman Archive editions

Batman Chronicles

Showcase Presents

Celebration hardcovers

Tales of The Batman/Legends of the Dark Knight

Other editions

''The New 52 The New 52 is the 2011 revamp and relaunch by DC Comics of its entire line of ongoing monthly superhero comic books. Following the conclusion of the " Flashpoint" crossover storyline, DC canceled all its existing titles and debuted 52 new serie ...''

''DC Rebirth DC Rebirth is a 2016 relaunch by the American comic book publisher DC Comics of its entire line of ongoing monthly superhero comic book titles. Using the end of The New 52 initiative in May 2016 as its launching point, DC Rebirth restored the D ...'' to present

''Millennium Editions''

References

Further reading

External links

''
The New 52 The New 52 is the 2011 revamp and relaunch by DC Comics of its entire line of ongoing monthly superhero comic books. Following the conclusion of the " Flashpoint" crossover storyline, DC canceled all its existing titles and debuted 52 new serie ...
''

''
DC Rebirth DC Rebirth is a 2016 relaunch by the American comic book publisher DC Comics of its entire line of ongoing monthly superhero comic book titles. Using the end of The New 52 initiative in May 2016 as its launching point, DC Rebirth restored the D ...
'' to present