''Batman: Shadow of the Bat'' was a

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

series Series may refer to: People with the name * Caroline Series (born 1951), English mathematician, daughter of George Series * George Series (1920–1995), English physicist Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Series, the ordered sets used in ...

featuring

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 ...

, 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 Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

. The series ran for 96 issues, from 1992 to 2000. The stories took place in Batman's then-current continuity along with ''

Detective Comics ''Detective Comics'' is an American comic book series published by Detective Comics, later shortened to DC Comics. The first volume, published from 1937 to 2011 (and later continued in 2016), is best known for introducing the superhero Batman i ...

'' and ''

'', in contrast to '' Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight'', which focused on Batman's early years. ''Batman: Shadow of the Bat'' looked into the psyche of the various cast members of the ''Batman'' comics. It was also notable for introducing the villain

Victor Zsasz Victor Zsasz ( or or , the last being the original Hungarian pronunciation), also known as Mr. Zsasz or simply Zsasz, is a supervillain appearing in comic books published by DC Comics.'' Batman: Shadow of the Bat'' #1. The character first appea ...

into the Batman mythos. The majority of issues were written by Alan Grant, who had previously been the main writer on ''Detective Comics'' from issue #583 to #621 (cover-dated February 1988 to September 1990) and on ''Batman'' from issue #455 to #480 (cover-dated October 1990 to Late June 1992).

Publication history

''Batman: Shadow of the Bat'' #1 (cover-dated June 1992) went on sale three weeks after Alan Grant's final issue of ''Batman''. Its first story arc, the four-part storyline " Batman: The Last Arkham", saw the introduction of several new characters such as

Jeremiah Arkham Jeremiah Arkham is a fictional supervillain and the head of the Arkham Asylum in DC Comics, created by Alan Grant. Arkham was created in 1992, and slowly "lost his mind" during his time in the Arkham Asylum, subsequently becoming the second B ...

and

. Fifty of the series' 96 monthly issues were part of various crossovers with other titles. Issues #16-30 tied into the "Knightfall" storyline. Issues #73 and #74 were a part of the " Batman: Cataclysm" storyline, which was a top vote-getter for the

Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Award The ''Comics Buyer's Guide'' (''CBG'') magazine administered the annual Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Awards from 1982 to circa 2010, with the first awards announced in issue #500 (June 17, 1983). Upon taking over as ''CBG'' editors, Don and Maggie T ...

for Favorite Story for 1999. Issue #80 was part of a special "flip-book" along with ''

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 ...

'' #47, where both issues were part of the same book. The #1,000,000 issue was a part of the "

DC One Million ''DC One Million'' is a comic book crossover storyline that ran through a self-titled, weekly miniseries and through special issues of almost all of the "DCU" titles published by DC Comics in November 1998. It featured a vision of the DC Unive ...

" storyline, which was a top vote-getter for the Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Award for Favorite Story for 1999. Issues #83 through #94 were parts of 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 that won the Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Award for Favorite Story of 2000. Grant's run as writer ended with issue #82, before the series was integrated into the year-long crossover storyline "Batman: No Man's Land". Afterward, the series was written by a variety of writers. ''Batman: Shadow of the Bat'' was canceled at the end of "No Man's Land" and was immediately replaced with the new series '' Batman: Gotham Knights''.

Collected editions

The first four issues of the series were collected in ''Batman: The Last Arkham'', and various other issues have been included, among other titles, in a number of

trade paperbacks A paperback (softcover, softback) book is one with a thick paper or paperboard cover, and often held together with glue rather than stitches or staples. In contrast, hardcover (hardback) books are bound with cardboard covered with cloth, ...

. In more recent times,

have been publishing this material in new, thicker trade paperbacks. This includes four volumes of ''Shadow of the Bat'', through new editions of ''No Man's Land''. In 2017, DC started publishing oversized hardcover editions of the event ''Knightfall'', in three volumes, which collect many issues of the series.

References

Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Awards

External links

* 1992 comics debuts {{DC-Comics-stub de:Batman (Comicseries)#Batman: Shadow of the Bat