Issue Description

The Zodiac Master!

The Zodiac Master warns the passengers, and crew, of an ocean liner, that if the ship sets sail it will meet with disaster. Deemed a crackpot, the Zodiac Master is escorted off the docks, by members of Gotham City's finest. As predicted, the ocean liner crashes into a tanker, just outside Gotham harbor. Days later, the Zodiac Master turns up again, this time at the Gotham City airport. Racing out onto the runway, he blocks a plane from taking off, and predicts that if it does, it, too, will meet with disaster. When the pilot refuses to heed the Zodiac Master's warning, the star gazing prophet hurls a giant ram's head through one of the engines, grounding the plane. By chance, Batman and Robin are on hand for the Zodiac Master's latest prediction, and give chase to the costumed vandal. The Zodiac Master hurls a scorpion, that entangles the Caped Crusaders in a wire net, giving him time to escape. After a thorough check of all the plane's systems has been completed, a damaged wire is discovered, one that would have caused the plane to crash, had the Zodiac Master not stopped it from taking off. The Zodiac Master lays low for several days. Batman and Robin note an escalation in the amount of crime occurring in Gotham City. Alerted to a robbery in progress at a race track, the Dynamic Duo race to intercept the crooks. In an effort to escape the Caped Crusaders, the criminals flee back into the arena, and commandeer several horses. Batman and Robin's equestrian skills are greater, however, and they quickly run the criminals down, riding horses of their own. A stray comment from one of the crooks tips Batman off to the Zodiac Master's possible involvement in the crime wave.

For 25% of the profits, the Zodiac Master has been providing Gotham City's underworld with favorable predictions for crimes yet to be committed. If the crime happens to go awry, the Zodiac Master ducks accountability by claiming that the stars were simply out of alignment. Batman goes undercover as a lowlife hoodlum in the hopes of connecting with the Zodiac Master. In short order, he is brought before the costumed astrologer. Batman immediately reveals himself to his foe, quickly taking out the Zodiac Master's criminal contact. The Zodiac Master fires a giant jet arrow at Batman, that pins him to the wall. This gives the Zodiac Master time to leap through the maw of a giant lion's head, mounted on the wall, that leads to an escape tunnel. The lion's jaws snap shut behind the Zodiac Master, preventing Batman from following. Searching the criminal's lair, Batman comes across a favorable prediction for a crime that the Zodiac Master himself was planning to commit. Batman and Robin decipher the clue, leading them to stake out a Cretan Bull exhibit at the Gotham City Museum of Natural History. Suddenly, a flying crab is thrown into the room, which snags a bejeweled golden bull. Batman hurls a batarang at the crab, but it catches the weapon in it's free pincer. The crab delivers the bull to the Zodiac Master, who then hurls the sign of Gemini at Batman and Robin. The Dynamic Duo narrowly evade the burning twin spears. Next, the Zodiac Master fires an enlarged, goat head, battering ram at the Caped Crusaders. Batman deflects it with a shield, torn from it's mooring on the wall, and reflects it back at the Zodiac Master, felling him. The theft thwarted, the Zodiac Master is turned over to the Gotham City Police Department.

The Hobby Missions!

J'onn J'onzz, the Manhunter from Mars, has agreed to provide the prizes at a charity auction. Three winners are selected, from among the largest donors, via a spinning wheel. Each of the three men are allowed to give the Martian Manhunter one task, to retrieve their heart's desire. The only stipulation is that the task cannot provide monetary gains, nor imperil anyone. Famed horticulturist, Dick Rumson, requests the procurement of a rare Tibetan violet. The Martian Manhunter journeys to Tibet. Flying high over the Tibetan mountain peaks, the Manhunter from Mars spies a group of wild men menacing several mountain climbers. J'onzz merely removes the part of the mountain the wild Tibetans are occupying, and moves them off to a safe distance from the mountain climbers. J'onzz then retrieves the violet. The next winner, Jim Stone, requests the figurehead from the sunken sloop, S. S. Vengeance. Down to the bottom of the sea dives the Martian Manhunter. J'onzz locates the sloop and gently breaks the figurehead off. Suddenly, several sharks descend on J'onzz. The Martian Manhunter spins around at great velocity, generating a repelling current that drives the sharks away. The final winner, Tom Clay, requests an ancient Incan mask, that he once laid eyes on in the jungles of Peru. The Martian Manhunter approaches the chief of the tribe that possess the mask, but the tribesman refuses to part with their sacred mask. The Martian Manhunter assists the tribe with clearing out an area of the jungle, but still the chief refuses to part with the mask. It is only when the Martian Manhunter rescues a small boy from an attacking jaguar that the chief relents and turns the mask over to J'onzz. The Martian Manhunter, in turn, turns the mask over to Clay.

The next day, Clay, wearing the mask, robs a bank vault. The Martian Manhunter is called in to take Clay down, but Clay vanishes as J'onzz closes in on him. This leads the Martian Manhunter to the erroneous belief that the mask grants it's wearer the power of invisibility. The Manhunter from Mars spends the next 24 hours scouring the city with his penetrating Martian vision, searching for Clay. He finds him in the midst of a jewelry store robbery. Thinking himself prepared, the Martian Manhunted drops a collapsible cage over Clay. The mask, however, does not grant it's wearer the power of invisibility, as J'onzz believes, but rather the power of teleportation. Thus, Clay easily escapes the Martian's cage. A quick check of Clay's bank balance confirms that his fortune is, indeed, intact. He has no need of the valuables he has been stealing. This fact suggests a different avenue for the Martian Manhunter to investigate. In truth, Roger Hawkins, the man who organized the charity benefit, has kidnapped Clay, and has been wearing the mask himself to commit the crimes, to replace his lost fortune. Hawkins rigged the wheel in Clay's favor, knowing that Clay would ask J'onzz to retrieve the mask. Once the mask was in Clay's possession, Hawkins knew that all the crimes he committed wearing the mask would be pinned on Clay. The Manhunter from Mars catches up with Hawkins at a remote cottage. Turning invisible, the Martian Manhunter steals the mask right off of Hawkins head, then crushes it to powder. Clay's name is cleared, and the Manhunter from Mars escorts Hawkins into police custody.

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)

see also The Batman Chronicles.

Modern BatmanTales of the Batman: Len Wein (#408, #444-448, #466, #478-479, #500 and #514)Strange Apparitions (#469-476, 478-479)Year Two: Fear the Reaper (#575-578)Legends of the Dark Knight: Norm Breyfogle Volume 1 (#579, 582-594 and 601-607)Blind Justice (#598-600)Knightfall, Vol. 1 (#659-666)Knightfall, Vol. 2 (#667-675)Knightfall, Vol. 3 (#676-677)Batman: Road To No Man's Land (#722-726)Evolution (#743-750)Batman: Bruce Wayne - Murderer? (#766-770)Batman: Bruce Wayne - Fugitive (#771-775)Batman: War Games Book One (New Edition) (#790-797)City of Crime (#800-808, #811-814)Detective (#821-826)Tales of the Batman: J.H. Williams III (#821)Death and the City (#827-834)Private Casebook (#840-845)Heart of Hush (#846-850)Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader? (#853)Batman Unwrapped by Andy Kubert (#853)Impostors (#867-870)The Black Mirror (#871-881)BatwomanElegy (#854-860)Showcase PresentsBatmanBatgirlRobin, The Boy WonderMartian ManhunterElongated ManOtherManhunter: The Special Edition (#437-443)The Question: Pipeline (#854-865)

Please first Sign In before leaving a review.

Status: Not in Collection