Detective Comics: 80 Years of Batman Deluxe Edition

Can't claim to be a comic book expert, but this appears to be a fine selection of vintage and more contemporary Batman stories selected from an impressive 80 years. The hardback format really helps to appreciate the artwork, and the number of stories is impressive. Good value then, in one word - fabulous!

I bought this because I am a huge fan of batman it is a great read and the art work is amazing if you are a batman fan and want to know more about he's history from his humble begings to the icon he is today then I would definitely recommend this book

An interesting collection of stories that I do not have in my overall collection. Well worth the money and a fine addition to my library

Really good, person was very happy with this present

Batman! Batman! Batman!

Very satisfied

This book follows on from the earlier volume covering Action Comics from the last 80 years but is actually a better book as it includes better material. If I have one criticism of the book it is that some of the tales included have been reprinted a few times before but I guess that is inevitable if you are selecting memorable or classic stories. For example, the classic "Million Dollar Debut of Batgirl" from 'Tec 359 which must be one of the most reprinted DC stories ever was re-presented as recently as last year in Batgirl Omnibus. Incidentally, I first read this story in "Batman from the 30s to the 70s" which also features Batman's first appearance from 'Tec 27, Robin's debut from 'Tec 38, the Riddler tale from 'Tec 140 and the Batwoman tale from 'Tec 233 all of which are also included here. However, one thing that separates this collection from similar volumes like "The Greatest Batman Stories Ever Told" and "Batman A Celebration of 75 Years" is that we get some non-Bat material including the debuts of Air Wave from 'Tec 60, the Boy Commandos from 'Tec 64, Pow Wow Smith from 'Tec 151 and the more often reprinted Martian Manhunter from ' Tec 225. Some nice choices from more recent years include the classic "There is no hope in Crime Alley" from 'Tec 457 and "The Deadshot Ricochet" from 'Tec 474, the latter in particular has been reprinted before but it remains a great example from Marshall Rogers and Steve Englehart's run on the title. 'Tec 327 featuring the New Look Batman has also been reprinted many times now but no complaints from me. In addition to Marshall Rogers we get work from Carmine Infantino, Neal Adams, Shelly Moldoff, Gene Colan, Dick Giordano to name but several. There are some nice extras such as essays, a "lost" script, cover gallery and biography that make this volume well worth the price of admission. One small point in that the 'Tec 400 reprint features the updated Neal Adams colouring from the "Batman by Neal Adams" volumes which or may not be a negative depending on your point of view.

I expected, based on the title to have a book that was dedicated to 80 years of Batman in Detective Comics, but was extremely disappointed. Rather than being spread throughout the 80 years it was biased toward the beginning, but worst of all were the pages and pages of Slam Bradey, Manhunter and Pow Wow Smith. Yes they were in the magazine at the same time, but who cares? and thank heaven the Boy Commandos are long buried. Then there were pages of interviews. Out of 416 pages, 299 are Batman strips.I definitely would not recommend this. For the early years it is much better to buy “Batman: The Golden Age”.