You can find my review on my blog by clicking here.My undying and unconditional love for Batman has only grown to inconceivable heights ever since my first encounter of the Dark Knight as a child. There was so much to love about this superhero on top of the fact that he has no superpowers to compete with Gods like Superman, The Flash or Wonder Woman. Not only is he the world’s greatest detectives à la Sherlock Holmes within a superhero universe, he simply shines with charisma in the darkest of n...

Detective Comics: 80 Years of Batman is a compilation of some of the best representative Batman stories over the years to commemorate both the eightieth anniversary debut of one of the most iconic comic characters and to celebrate the (then) upcoming one-thousandth issue of Detective Comics, collected and edited by Paul Levitz. Over the years, there were many incarnations and depictions of the Dark Knight and this collection explores them all rather well.This anthology collects Detective Comics

Okay, I have a soft spot for this type of collection, flawed as they are in that they never manage to collect everything that I think should be collected.This collection's main focus appears to be on first appearances, though it veers from that with Slam Bradley, and contains the first appearances of the Crimson Avenger, Two-Face, Riddler, Batwoman, Bat-Mite, Clayface, the second Batgirl (the first Bat-Girl, Betty Kane, debuted in BATMAN), Man-Bat (in his original anti-hero form, not the villain...

This collection forced me to reflect on my relationship with The Dark Knight. Why has he retained his popularity for so many years? Why do I follow him more closely than Superman? I believe I am like most people in that I appreciate his humanity, his pain, and his dark and brooding demeanor. This won’t be a debate on Superman vs Batman because there have been just too many of those over the years, but I do find myself drawn to Batman, and this book helps to verify that.Like Superman’s anniversar...

Great sampling of all the different eras the Detective Comics title has gone through over the past eighty years. It has a lot of Batman, like you would expect, having stuff like the first stories, the first appearances of the likes of Robin, Batwoman, Batgirl, Two-Face, Clayface, and The Riddler. What was as interesting was seeing some of the other stories and characters that came from it, like Jack Kirby's wartime stories of The Boy Commandos and the mix of superheroics and James Bond espionage...

I got this book for free as part of a holiday sales promotion. I really appreciate the concept and the variety of stories that are included - it's unfortunate that Batman still bores the hell out of me, though.

A fun collection of Batman stories from Detective Comics (the first comic to actually carry the Batman - issue 27). You have the first appearance of Batman, Robin, Batmite, the Riddler (a fav) Two Face, Batwoman,(remember her?), Man-Bat, you have some of the non-Batman characters Slam Bradley, Pow Wow Smith, The Martian Manhunter. You have some fun stories with some great art. A very nice collection if you want to sample comics from every decade. Not all stories are classics but they are almost

Like they did last year before Action Comics hit its historic 1000 issue milestone, DC have produced a massive celebratory edition for Detective Comics (the company is named after this very title) ahead of its 1000th issue next week and also its 80th anniversary this year. The book showcases comics from the 1930s through the decades right up to the New 52 days in the 2010s. Unlike Action which introduced Superman in its first issue, Detective didn’t introduce Batman (or “The Bat-Man” as he was i...

An excellent way to celebrate the legacy of the long-running series, not only with the debuts of memorable characters but even those who are somewhat lost to history, as well as stories that represent the changing face of comic book storytelling and society itself. A variety of essays spotlight Detective Comics itself and Batman in general. Bonus material proves inspired, too.DC publisher Dan DiDio opens the collection by disproving the myth that the company itself is named after the series. He

I ended up skimming a lot of the second half of this book, which was a disappointing collection of stories.Batman is prominently on the cover. The largest word on the cover is "Batman", as in "80 Years of BATMAN". Yet this volume contained several NON-Batman stories.If I'm going to read a book celebrating "80 Years of BATMAN", isn't it a good assumption that I want to read stories featuring his most well-known adversaries? The Joker? Catwoman? The Penguin? The Penguin appears for a few frames. O...

A good Book for Batman's 🦇 hardcore Fans

This celebratory book has a smattering of stories from across the 80 years of Batman, specifically Detective Comics. I typically don't like these types of books but despite the variety it gave a decent representation of Batman, at least in the Gold/Silver/Bronze age. In those cases, there were a few key stories and styles allowing the reader to experience the Batman as he was written in those times. From that respect, being a fan of Batman and increasingly becoming aware of his status in society...

Loved taking my time with this one. The last two years have brought milestone anniversary treatments of Action and Detective Comics. Hopefully, the same with the Amazon reaches her 80th year. So glad that we got to travel the Dark Knights history with this collection of classic comic tales. From his very beginning in Detective No. 27 to a modern story. Along the way we get treated to an array of intros by various members of the Bat-family (Robin, Batwoman, and Batgirl... even the pest Bat-mite)

Edit: Some historical, political reasons why certain characters were introduced and how anti-gay propaganda influenced these comics - http://www.blastoffcomics.com/2014/01/bat/#lightbox/3/Some standouts:First appearance of Robin: Story has been told bajillion times. But something absolutely wonderful is this comic when Batman makes this kid take an undying oath to not stray from the path of righteousness. You know he is just a kid right? Like 15 or 16? What is wrong with you.First appearance of

Maybe they should've titled it "80 Years of Detective Comics: Featuring Batman" to be more accurate, since quite a number of stories are devoted to characters since forgotten – many of whom deserve to be forgotten, as they often reflect casual racism or are simply dull. However, it's still interesting to me to have a sample of them. Unfortunately it's difficult to rate this book highly if you disregard historical importance and look objectively at story and art, because most of the old stories w...

This hardcover edition is a collection of curated stories from the first 80 years of Detective Comics, along with new text pieces examining the history and legacy of both the title and the Batman.This volume is as much a history of Detective Comics as it is of the Batman. So, while most of the book is devoted to the Caped Crusader, we're treated to the occasional story featuring other characters who had features in the comic over the years, such as Roy Raymond, Pow-Wow Smith, and Manhunter. It's...

I'm a big Batman fan and this was oddly a disappointment. Lots of the golden age stuff covers odd non-Batman heroes, those were especially not very good and I kind of wish the focus had been more on Batman. There's a lot of cheese throughout the entire collection but especially during the early days. The highlights to me were seeing the origins or various Batman characters like Two-Face, Batgirl, Batwoman, Robin, The Riddler, etc. Though the Batgirl/Batwoman are full of the casual sexism of the

The large pages and properly flexible spine make the book quite nice to read. The reproduced comics pages are well done. There are a very few exceptions: some pages that look rougher, and some that look pixelated, as if from a low resolution scan. It seems as if most of the book was reproduced from high quality archived originals except a few pages that had to be sourced elsewhere for some reason.The book design is nothing special. Cover is generic and bland. Same for the layout and design for t...

An essential piece for any collector. 'Detective Comics: 80 Years of Batman' lives up to it's title, delivering a considerably selective catalogue of importante titles from the series of the very same name. From the invaluable #27, the Batman very first solo integration to the comics, to the modern age in the 'New 52' era. This compilation gathers important names such as Bob Kane, Bill Finger, Archie Goodwin, Dennis O'Neil, Alan Brennert, Greg Rucka, Jack Kirby, Don Cameron, Neil Adams, Scott Sn...