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/ Catalog / Detective Comics

Catalog ID: 70436

Detective Comics #319 The Fantastic Dr. No-Face

Detective Comics (1937)

Issue Number: 319
Cover Date: September, 1963

The Fantastic Dr. No-Face While demonstrating his new skin rejuvenation ray, Doctor Paul Dent suffers an accident that literally erases his face. Traumatized by his horrific appearance, Dent runs screaming into the night. Responding to the Bat-Signal, Bat ...

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Issue Description

The Fantastic Dr. No-Face

While demonstrating his new skin rejuvenation ray, Doctor Paul Dent suffers an accident that literally erases his face. Traumatized by his horrific appearance, Dent runs screaming into the night. Responding to the Bat-Signal, Batman and Robin find Dent, now calling himself "Doctor No-Face", shooting at movie posters in Gotham Square. Batman attempts to reason with Doctor No-Face. When a stray rifle shot brings a live electrical cable down into the street, Batman and Robin are distracted long enough for Doctor No-Face to escape. Doctor No-Face next appears at the Gotham Museum. Knocking out the night watchman with a gas capsule, Doctor No-Face begins torching portraits.

Alerted by a silent alarm, Batman and Robin intervene. Once again, Doctor No-Face escapes, this time by barring the Caped Crusaders' path with an enormous plaque. Doctor No-Face continues his bizarre crime spree across Gotham City, destroying the faces of clocks, statues and masks. Batman and Robin catch up to Doctor No-Face after he's already robbed the Gotham Jewel Exchange. Batman trails Doctor No-Face to a quarry, arriving just as the Faceless Fiend has thrown a valuable emerald into a rock-crusher. Though Batman upends the trough the emerald landed in, the gemstone is, nonetheless, crushed, destroying it's jeweled "face".

An offhand comment leads the Dynamic Duo to Mount Gotham. There, they find Doctor No-Face sandblasting the Batman Face Monument. Doctor No-Face severs Batman's line with the sandblaster. With Batman dangling from the monument's lips, Robin is quick to disengage the sandblaster's hose, before Doctor No-Face can fire the kill shot. With Doctor No-Face disarmed, Batman easily binds the Faceless Fiend, and carts him off to jail. Things, though, are not as they seem. Doctor No-Face is really Bart Magan, a career criminal. Magan approached Dent to have the scars removed from his face. When Dent refused, Magan subjected himself to the skin rejuvenation ray, erasing his own face.

Magan took the accident as an opportunity to frame Dent for his crimes. Batman, Robin and Police Commissioner Gordon expose Magan as the true face of Doctor No-Face. Magan failed to take into account Dent's extreme acrophobia. Dent could never have suspended himself at such an elevation to deface the monument. A quick fingerprint check uncovered Magan's identity. Rounding up Magan's criminal associates, Batman discovers that Doctor No-Face's destructive rampage was really a smokescreen to cover several robberies. The real emerald, as well as several valuable paintings are recovered. HIs ruse revealed, Magan faces a long sentence in Gotham Penitentiary.

J'onn J'onzz--Wizard Of 1463

Police detective John Jones takes a well-earned vacation to Europe. While exploring the Dolmain Caverns, Jones finds himself enveloped in mist. Jones finds the egress out of the cavern transports him to medieval Europe. Jones has arrived just in time to rescue Captain Louis Moray, who has been ridden off the edge of a ravine. Moray reveals that the Black Duke has abducted Prince Charles, and usurped the throne. Jones delivers Moray to a safe haven, then makes his way to the castle. Becoming intangible, Jones walks through the walls of the castle. Turning invisible, Jones eavesdrops on the Black Duke, to discern the prince's location.

The Black Duke sends out two of his guardsman to force the prince to abdicate the throne. Jones surreptitiously takes out one of the guardsmen, then takes on his appearance. Jones rides with the other guardsman to the prince's location, then takes down the Black Duke's guardsmen. Jones delivers the prince to Moray. Jones takes on the appearance of the prince, then engages the Black Duke's guardsmen in the town square. Jones defeats them all, while twisting their weapons into a giant pretzel shape. When word of the "prince's" actions reach the Black Duke, he takes matters in hand personally.

Catching the "prince" by surprise, the Black Duke clubs him into unconsciousness, then locks him in the castle dungeon. Weakened by the lit torches over the door, Jones decides to wait until morning, when the torches will be doused, to act. The real prince, along with Moray, rallies his people to rise up against the Black Duke. The Black Duke sends out his forces to meet the prince's head on. Moray sneaks into the dungeon and releases Jones. The Martian Manhunter engages the Black Duke's armies on the prince's behalf. With the Black Duke's surrender, the prince retakes the throne. Jones returns to present day Europe, then onward, back to America.

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 #319 The Fantastic Dr. No-Face

Issue Description

Detective Comics (1937)

Volume Description

Status: Not in Collection