June 1940: Batman #1

Published:

February 1940

Cover Artists:

Bob Kane
Jerry Robinson

Featured Characters:
Batman
Robin
James Gordon
Joker
Hugo Strange
The Cat

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Story:

The Legend of the Batman - Who He is, and How he Came to Be
Writer:
Bill Finger
Pencils:
Bob Kane
Inks:
Sheldon Moldoff
Lettering:
Sheldon Moldoff
Editor:
Whitney Ellsworth

As a child Bruce Wayne is shocked to see his parents, the physician Dr. Thomas Wayne and his wife Martha Wayne, being murdered by a mugger in front of his very eyes. This drives him to fight crime in Gotham City as Batman.

Story:

The Joker
Writer:
Bill Finger
Pencils:
Bob Kane
Inks:
Jerry Robinson
Lettering:
Jerry Robinson

The Joker announces on the radio that he will kill Henry Claridge and steal the Claridge diamond at midnight. A cordon of cops guard Claridge's home, but he dies anyway, at midnight with a grotesque smile on his face.

Story:
The Giants of Hugo Strange
Writer:
Bill Finger
Pencils:
Bob Kane
Inks:
Jerry Robinson
Lettering:
Jerry Robinson

Professor Hugo Strange returns with a growth formula that changes asylum inmates into 10-foot tall "man-monsters" that wreak havoc on Gotham City.

Story:
The Cat
Writer:
Bill Finger
Pencils:
Bob Kane
Inks:
Jerry Robinson
Lettering:
Jerry Robinson

An elderly socialite, Mrs. Travers, is going on a yacht trip with several select friends and a $500,000 emerald necklace. Suspecting that some crook or other will try to steal it, Dick Grayson gets a job as a steward, as Batman has other business elsewhere.

Story:

The Joker Returns
Writer:
Bill Finger
Pencils:
Bob Kane
Inks:
Jerry Robinson
Lettering:
Jerry Robinson

Two days after the Joker is captured, he manages to escape using explosive chemicals hidden in some false teeth, and begins to cause more trouble.

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