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/ Catalog / Detective Comics

Catalog ID: 70382

Detective Comics #265 Batman's First Case

Detective Comics (1937)

Issue Number: 265
Cover Date: March, 1959

Batman's First Case In Gotham City Park during the unveiling of a new "Batman Clock" to celebrate the heroes Batman and Robin, a costumed villain called The Clock appears, destroying the statue. The clock threatens Batman and then leaps to a hidden motorc ...

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Issue Description

Batman's First Case

In Gotham City Park during the unveiling of a new "Batman Clock" to celebrate the heroes Batman and Robin, a costumed villain called The Clock appears, destroying the statue. The clock threatens Batman and then leaps to a hidden motorcycle and drives away. Batman recognizes his face.

A flash back sequence shows the death of Bruce Wayne parents at the hands of Joe Chill, a mugger who demanded Martha Wayne's necklace and then shot both Martha and Thomas Wayne. Bruce promised that he would dedicate his life to finding their killer, and to fighting all crime. He attended a school of criminology and trained his body to physical perfection. When he was ready for his career of crime-fighting, he knew he would need a disguise to instill fear in criminals. A bat flew into his window, and he took this as an omen. He would become a Batman.

The flash back then goes on to show the story of the first criminal Batman ever saw on patrol. Batman tangled with a thief and traced him to the abandoned Gotham Glass Works. The thief throws a net on Batman which teaches Batman to never underestimate a criminal. Batman is left tied up in the basement, but he uses a bucket of rouge to help him slip out of his bonds. Batman confronts the thief, and the thief shoots at him. It is revealed that Batman tricked the thief into shooting a mirror. Batman takes the thief out from behind, and explains his ruse.

Robin remembers reading this story about "Kyle" in Batman's Diary. They visit Kyle's former cellmate Tom Rogers for answers. Rogers explains that Kyle laughed at them for trying to go straight. Kyle developed an obsession with learning about clocks so he could use them to take revenge on Batman. This is supposed to be ironic, because Batman made him "do time" in prison. (We know, we know. I'm sorry.) The prison warden confirms that Kyle was incarcerated years ago at 3pm, which is why The Clock chose that time. The Clock sits in his hideout full of clocks and vows that just like he was Batman's first case, he will also be Batman's last. The Clock leaves another warning for Batman that his next caper will be "the tiniest clock crime." The Clock disguises himself as a reporter to visit the Gotham Watch Co. These watches are easily damaged by acid, and The Clock throws a pocketful of orange peels to distract the employees. While they're busy, he steals a bag of valuable tiny watch screws. Batman and Robin arrive. The Clock accidentally drops his watch while jumping out the window. They pursue him outside onto a giant clock. The Clock knocks Robin off his perch, and Batman is forced to save Robin while The Clock escapes. Batman investigates the dust inside The Clock's wristwatch, and finds an unusual amount of flour. This can only mean the abandoned flour mill outside of town. They step inside and an alarm clock goes off. The Clock reveals that he knew the watch would lead them to him, and he set a trap. The Clock knocks Batman and Robin out by dropping flour bags on them.

Batman wakes up tied to a clock. Wow, big surprise there. The Clock explains that Batman will die at 3pm when the clock he's tied to explodes. Then The Clock leaves. Robin is tied to a pole and forced to watch. Batman is still wearing The Clock's wristwatch and he swings back and forth to smash the wristwatch against a wall. Using the tiny broken shards, he cuts his bonds and they both escape. The Clock sees the explosion while he's driving away, and assumes Batman and Robin are dead. The Clock goes to Gotham City's Clock Fair, where a giant pocketwatch replica contains giant real jewels. Bursting out of a giant cuckoo clock, The Clock throws smoke capsules so he can steal the jewels. Batman and Robin rush in to stop him. The Clock tears off the pocketwatch's giant hour hand and uses it as a weapon. Batman kicks the mainspring housing, and The Clock becomes trapped inside its coils. Robin remarks that The Clock was caught by a clock. Exactly 1 hour and 13 minutes later, The Clock is back behind bars in prison. Batman visits him and remarks that they've given The Clock a cell that faces the prison clock

Detective Comics (1937)

Publisher: DC Comics

Volume Description

Detective Comics is a DC Comics monthly American Comic Book published since 1937, focusing on detective stories. One of DC's signature titles; the title featured early talents such as Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster, Bob Kane, Sheldon Moldoff, Jerry Robinson and Bill Finger. Detective characters, such as Slam Bradley and the Crimson Avenger, were featured monthly in its early days. As of issue # 27, the title became best known for the introduction of the Superhero Detective, The Batman, who eventually became the main feature. The title has also featured the debuts of Dick Grayson, James Gordon and many of Batman's villains and supporting cast, as well as other DC characters.

For Post Flashpoint volume 2, refer to Detective Comics.Origin

Detective Comics was the brainchild of National Allied Publication's owner, Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson. His first two titles were called New Fun: The Big Comic Magazine #1 and New Comics #1. New Fun, often referred as New Fun Comics #1, was published in February 1935. It became the first comic to contain all-original material, instead of combining newspaper comic strips and the comic-strip style material. New Comics #1, also published in 1935, was retitled twice to become Adventure Comics. Adventure Comics was revived in 2009, by Geof Johns, using Conner Kent's Superboy incarnation as the main story, and the Legion of Superheroes as the back story.

Wheeler-Nicholson, published a third and final title, named Detective Comics. It was scheduled and advertised to be published on December 1936, however, it premiered on March 1937. During that year, he became indebted to Harry Donenfeld, who was a printing-plant and magazine publisher. This forced Wheeler-Nicholson to take Donenfeld on as a partner so that he could publish Detective Comics #1, through a new publishing company, called Detective Comics, Inc. The first owners of Detective Comics, Inc. were Wheeler-Nicholson and Harry Donenfeld's accountant, Larry Liebowitz. Liebowitz and Donenfeld would later force Wheeler-Nicholson out a year later.

Detective Comics #1 featured stories using the hard-boiled detective genre, which was popular around that time. Some of the better known characters in this publication were Slam Bradley, created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster before they created the Superman character, Ching Lung, an asian character who was a villain; and Speed Saunders along with other characters. The debut cover was created by Vin Sullivan, who was the publication's first editor.

Issue #27 of Detective Comics is historically famous because this was the first appearance of Batman, then known as "The Bat-Man", as a comic book character. This issue was published in May 1939. Batman (created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger), will later become the star of the publication. His sidekick, Robin (created by Jerry Robinson), was introduced in issue #38, published in 1940. The publication also had several back stories, including "The Strange Experiment of Dr. Erdell", featured in issue #225, which introduced Martian Manhunter as a character.

In the 1970s and the early part of the 1980s, the publication showed an expanded format which featured solo adventures of some members of the Batman Family like "Robin: The Teen Wonder" and "Batgirl". It also featured "Tales of Gotham City", which told stories of the ordinary citizens of the famous fictional city. Due to the declining sales of Detective Comics in this period, DC was heavily considering canceling its namesake franchise in place of the much more popular Batman Family in a wave of cancellations called the DC Implosion. However, over the protestations of the comic creators, this series was saved and the other was merged into this one, which resulted in a format change for the series from issue #481 onwards.

In Bruce Wayne's absence, Batwoman was featured in Detective comics between issues #854-863. Currently, the book stars Dick Grayson as Batman, as well as Commissioner James Gordon.

Collected EditionsClassic Batman and ArchivedBatman: A Celebration of 75 Years (#27, 83, 211, 216, 327, 359, 395, 442, 474, 574, 633, 711, 757 and 821)Issues #27-50 are collected in Batman Archives, Vol. 1.Issues #51-70 are collected in Batman Archives, Vol. 2.The Joker: A Celebration of 75 Years (#64, 168, 180, 475, 476, 726, 741, 826)Batman Arkham: Two-Face (#66, 68, 80 & 513)Issues #71-86 are collected in Batman Archives, Vol. 3.Boy Commandos by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby Volume Two (#74-83 & 85)Issues #87-102 are collected in Batman Archives, Vol. 4.Issues #103-119 are collected in Batman Archives, Vol. 5.Issues #120-135 are collected in Batman Archives, Vol. 6.Issues #136-154 are collected in Batman Archives, Vol. 7.Batman: The TV Stories (#140, 230, 341, 346, 359)Batman: Arkham - The Riddler (#140, 142, 377, 822 & 837)Batman: The Dynamic Duo Archives, Vol. 1 (#327-333)Batman: The Dynamic Duo Archives, Vol. 2 (#334-339)

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Detective Comics #265 Batman's First Case

Issue Description

Detective Comics (1937)

Volume Description

Status: Not in Collection