Does anyone know of any collection of 1950s Batman comics? I am looking for 10 years of Batman left out most collections and digital access from Batman 60 (1950) to Batman 138 (1961). Maybe I am overlooking something? Appreciate any advice! Thanks.
I found this book, but it only has 16 stories in it. And there’s also these two books that reprinted the Batman Giant Annuals that came out in the 1960s, which in turn mainly reprinted stories from the 1950s.
But yes, it certainly does seem like DC tries to downplay 1950s/Comics Code-era Batman as much as possible, since that’s when the comic got silly and nothing at all like it had been up to that point and would become again. But I definitely agree that, despite the silliness, it deserves more recognition than it gets. That era of Batman has a charm all its own.
Thanks very much - yes the Annuals were great, and I did forget that this book, “Batman in the Fifties” existed! Big help! I am often sitting there seeing stories from Batman fans mentioned on social media like, young boy “Batman Jones,” and trying to remember where it was (Batman 108, June 1957). He had a homemade Bat-Signal used by his mother to call him home, but was first mentioned in Batman 92, June 1955, which also had the first appearance of Ace, the Bat-Hound.
The one advantage of the limited availability is there is still part of the past to look forward to. I would like to see more of them, that’s all. There was an innocence, hopefulness, and charm to some of these stories, which our current age of dystopia focus, could badly use. The “missing” ones not available (Batman 60 through Batman 138) are 79 issues, each of which had 3 stories, or 237 Batman stories.
The “missing” ones not available (Batman 60 through Batman 138) are 79 issues, each of which had 3 stories, or 237 Batman stories. That is a considerable treasure of Batman memories!
The Secret 79 of Batman Issues are…
- Batman 60 August 1950
- Batman 61 October 1950
- Batman 62 December 1950
- Batman 63 February 1951
- Batman 64 April 1951
- Batman 65 June 1951
- Batman 66 August 1951
- Batman 67 October 1951
- Batman 68 December 1951
- Batman 69 February 1952
- Batman 70 April 1952
- Batman 71 June 1952
- Batman 72 August 1952
- Batman 73 October 1952
- Batman 74 December 1952
- Batman 75 February 1953
- Batman 76 April 1953
- Batman 77 June 1953
- Batman 78 August 1953
- Batman 79 October 1953
- Batman 80 December 1953
- Batman 81 February 1954
- Batman 82 March 1954
- Batman 83 April 1954
- Batman 84 June 1954
- Batman 85 August 1954
- Batman 86 September 1954
- Batman 87 October 1954
- Batman 88 December 1954
- Batman 89 February 1955
- Batman 90 March 1955
- Batman 91 April 1955
- Batman 92 June 1955
- Batman 93 August 1955
- Batman 94 September 1955
- Batman 95 October 1955
- Batman 96 December 1955
- Batman 97 February 1956
- Batman 98 March 1956
- Batman 99 April 1956
- Batman 100 June 1956
- Batman 101 August 1956
- Batman 102 September 1956
- Batman 103 October 1956
- Batman 104 December 1956
- Batman 105 February 1957
- Batman 106 March 1957
- Batman 107 April 1957
- Batman 108 June 1957
- Batman 109 August 1957
- Batman 110 September 1957
- Batman 111 October 1957
- Batman 112 December 1957
- Batman 113 February 1958 (Zur-En-Arrh)
- Batman 114 March 1958
- Batman 115 April 1958
- Batman 116 June 1958
- Batman 117 August 1958
- Batman 118 September 1958
- Batman 119 October 1958
- Batman 120 December 1958
- Batman 121 February 1959
- Batman 122 March 1959
- Batman 123 April 1959
- Batman 124 June 1959
- Batman 125 August 1959
- Batman 126 September 1959
- Batman 127 October 1959
- Batman 128 December 1959
- Batman 129 February 1960
- Batman 130 March 1960
- Batman 131 April 1960
- Batman 132 June 1960
- Batman 133 August 1960
- Batman 134 September 1960
- Batman 135 October 1960
- Batman 136 December 1960
- Batman 137 February 1961
- Batman 138 March 1961
Some of the stories from those issues were later reprinted not in books, but in other comic issues. For example, the first two stories from Batman #113 were reprinted in Batman #198 and Batman Family #4, both of which we have on here. You can check that Mike’s Amazing World site to see if the stories from any of the other issues have ever been reprinted anywhere.
OK for those looking for some of these old stories in Batman and Detective Comics, I have discovered about 3 years ago, DC Comics started publishing an “Omnibus” of old stories, called Batman: The Golden Age Omnibus - there are 9 volumes of them! Quite pricey, but there is a way to get these. I have started with Volume 7.