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Did Batman completely dominate the Bronze Age?

Started by white_rushin,

79 posts in this topic

white_rushin

white_rushin

Posted
Posted

I've been progressing nicely on my Amazing Spider-man and Silver Surfer collections, and have recently been looking to add great issues to my Bat collection.

 

My search for bat-keys have gotten me to realize just how vast his key issues are from the bronze era. I mean I was putting together a list for my WTB (Which you all should most definitely check out LMAO had to slip that in here :roflmao: ) and started getting overwhelmed with the amount of significant issues during that time.

 

I mean you talk about bronze age Batman and Neal Adams instantly comes to mind. He's the Romita equivalent. His Bats is thee Bats. With his artwork, any issue becomes much more valuable and sought after.

 

So far, I can tally up the Batman Keys as this:

222: Beatles issue

227: Cover Swipe

232: First Ras

234: First Silver? (shrug) Two-Face

237: Cool cover? I never understood the price for this issue

244: Ras Iconic Cover

251: Re-imagining of the Joker/Iconic Cover

258: First Arkham

(From there I jump 100 issues because I'm ignorant :/)

357: Jason Todd/Killer Croc

368: 1st Todd in Robin suit

386: Black Mask

 

Tec Comics:

400: First Man-Bat

405: First League of Assassins

411: First Talia

471: Modern Hugo Strange

474: Modern Deadshot

475: Jokerfish

 

Anything I'm missing?

 

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rjrjr

rjrjr

Posted
Posted
I've been progressing nicely on my Amazing Spider-man and Silver Surfer collections, and have recently been looking to add great issues to my Bat collection.

 

My search for bat-keys have gotten me to realize just how vast his key issues are from the bronze era. I mean I was putting together a list for my WTB (Which you all should most definitely check out LMAO had to slip that in here :roflmao: ) and started getting overwhelmed with the amount of significant issues during that time.

 

I mean you talk about bronze age Batman and Neal Adams instantly comes to mind. He's the Romita equivalent. His Bats is thee Bats. With his artwork, any issue becomes much more valuable and sought after.

 

So far, I can tally up the Batman Keys as this:

222: Beatles issue

227: Cover Swipe

232: First Ras

234: First Silver? (shrug) Two-Face

237: Cool cover? I never understood the price for this issue

244: Ras Iconic Cover

251: Re-imagining of the Joker/Iconic Cover

258: First Arkham

(From there I jump 100 issues because I'm ignorant :/)

357: Jason Todd/Killer Croc

368: 1st Todd in Robin suit

386: Black Mask

 

Tec Comics:

400: First Man-Bat

405: First League of Assassins

411: First Talia

471: Modern Hugo Strange

474: Modern Deadshot

475: Jokerfish

 

Anything I'm missing?

 

Batman from just about any era has been good in comparison to peer titles. If you look at the Bronze age all the way up to the modern era, that character has had an incredible streak of good writers, artist, events, etc. More so than any other title (DC or Marvel). I suspect that is one of the reasons the character has remained so popular after so many years.

 

I think the Bronze age is full of great issues. You shouldn't overlook the Batman Family title. Any issue with Batgirl on the cover is (thumbs u. Batgirl is one of those characters that has such a great design. I'm also fond of Man-Bat.

 

I digress. You asked about keys:

 

Batman 361 (1st Harvey Bullock)

Batman Family 6, 9 (Joker's Daughter)

Batman Family 10 (appearance original Batwoman)

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Jking3437

Jking3437

Posted
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Good luck with your quest (WTB), I'm 95% done my silver age first appearnces of villains in batman title, was a little difficult. The only bronze book I have is the 232 they are plentiful but command a pretty penny, don't buy the first one you see at a good price.

 

232 IMO is the book to have, don't understand the 227

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rjrjr

rjrjr

Posted
Posted
<>

 

I have always wondered why is Detective Comics # 441 not the first appearance of Bullock?

 

Because Overstreet lists Batman 361 as the 1st appearance. :baiting:

 

I've given up a long time ago trying to understand what a 1st appearance is and decided to just go with the crowd. doh!

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white_rushin

white_rushin

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Good luck with your quest (WTB), I'm 95% done my silver age first appearnces of villains in batman title, was a little difficult. The only bronze book I have is the 232 they are plentiful but command a pretty penny, don't buy the first one you see at a good price.

 

232 IMO is the book to have, don't understand the 227

 

Thanks! I'll be getting my 251 Joker issue soon and I've been looking to get a nice copy for a loooong time. 232 is definitely on my high want list as well, but I can wait it out until I find a nice deal.

 

I'm looking for a lot of the 2nd/3rd tier of keys that you can mostly grab in the $15-40 range. :)

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Brian48

Brian48

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Whenever you list Tec 475, it really should be bookended with Tec 476. I also like Tec 437, the start of the Manhunter series.

 

Maybe not entirely Batman alone, but I like Brave and the Bold #79 and #85 also.

 

Bats 237 is not significant for it's cover, but for it's Holocaust story and Rutland, VT reference.

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epowe10097

epowe10097

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Yeah, I have always been kind of confused why people overlook 'Tec # 441 and World's Finest # 141.

 

<>

 

I have always wondered why is Detective Comics # 441 not the first appearance of Bullock?

 

Because Overstreet lists Batman 361 as the 1st appearance. :baiting:

 

I've given up a long time ago trying to understand what a 1st appearance is and decided to just go with the crowd. doh!

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jjonahjameson1

jjonahjameson1

Posted
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Bronze Age Barman was a very weak selling book. Detective Comics came very close to being canceled on more than one occasion. There might be more demand for those books now than there was when they were published.

 

Correct. I think Tec was only being published 8 times per year shortly before Marshall Rogers came on board. Even towards the end of his run on Tec, sales still weren't that strong and I think it was merged with Batman Family in order to salvage the title by becoming a $1 giant size series with back up stories featuring Robin and other supporting characters?

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jjonahjameson1

jjonahjameson1

Posted
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I've been progressing nicely on my Amazing Spider-man and Silver Surfer collections, and have recently been looking to add great issues to my Bat collection.

 

My search for bat-keys have gotten me to realize just how vast his key issues are from the bronze era. I mean I was putting together a list for my WTB (Which you all should most definitely check out LMAO had to slip that in here :roflmao: ) and started getting overwhelmed with the amount of significant issues during that time.

 

I mean you talk about bronze age Batman and Neal Adams instantly comes to mind. He's the Romita equivalent. His Bats is thee Bats. With his artwork, any issue becomes much more valuable and sought after.

 

So far, I can tally up the Batman Keys as this:

222: Beatles issue

227: Cover Swipe

232: First Ras

234: First Silver? (shrug) Two-Face

237: Cool cover? I never understood the price for this issue

244: Ras Iconic Cover

251: Re-imagining of the Joker/Iconic Cover

258: First Arkham

(From there I jump 100 issues because I'm ignorant :/)

357: Jason Todd/Killer Croc

368: 1st Todd in Robin suit

386: Black Mask

 

Tec Comics:

400: First Man-Bat

405: First League of Assassins

411: First Talia

471: Modern Hugo Strange

474: Modern Deadshot

475: Jokerfish

 

Anything I'm missing?

 

Full disclosure up front, its been a dozen years since I've picked up a bat-book, and there's no denying Batman has been a solid character throughout the Bronze Age so when I read your list of Bat-keys, I gave it some thought and I have a few questions regarding why some of these issues are considered bat-keys and in what collecting era they reside:

 

Batman 222 - why do you consider this a bat-key?

 

Batman 237 - Rutlan VT story...this issue, along with other in-house references to Rutland VT Halloween stories are now considered key?

 

Batman 244 - does Overstreet consider this a classic cover?

 

Batman 258 - why is the 1st appearance of Arkham considered a bat-key? By comparision, Peter Parker spent a lot of time in the Bronze Age at Empire State University. Should the 1st appearance of ESU be considered a Spidey-key???

 

Batman 357, 368, 386 - kinda late in the game for Bronze, I think. Batman 357 was published in 1983. I think these are Copper Age books.

 

Tec 471 and 474 - what makes them bat-keys?

 

 

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Brian48

Brian48

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I don't think think the OP was referring to sales at the time of publication, but rather from a collecting standpoint today. There's very few DC books from that early BA that has so many keys related, either directly or indirectly, to a single character. Adams cover may not have appreciably helped sales back in the day, but they are definitely driving the sales of these books now.

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Brian48

Brian48

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Batman 222 - why do you consider this a bat-key?

 

Been asking myself that question for a while now. I can understand if it was the real Beatles, but it's only a spoof. Although activity is starting to finally slow a bit, the book has been a real hoarder's delight and prices are mind numbingly high against all logic. I can understand if this was simply a case of hi-grade scarcity, but even low grades sell really well. If this book is really a key, it's completely collector driven.

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Gatsby77

Gatsby77

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Yeah--I'd throw Batman 217 in there as a key as well, even if it's what--technically 1969?

 

cover (albeit Neal Adams) but a major turning point.

 

The story is a solid (and serious) detective mystery but the secondary storyline involves Grayson effectively quitting as Robin and leaving to go to college, while Bruce closes down the Batcave to move to Wayne Tower--in order to be based closer to downtown Gotham to more effectively combat the new era of white collar crime.

 

A 9.4 copy sold on Heritage last night for over $800.

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