THE BRAINSTORMS

Really 2nd, But The First Barely Counts After the World’s Finest Comics ongoing started (and I mean really started - the World’s Best Comics that is technically #1 of the series does NOT count), it functioned as an anthology series. This was the way of comics of the time, and would continue to be that way for some time. Usually, we’d see Superman beginning the issue, followed by a volley of other characters from Zatara to Green Arrow to The Boy Commandos and beyond. In fact,

But wait, wasn't Bruce Wayne engaged? In one of several stories in Batman #1 (1940), we meet The Cat, a mysterious female con artist who dons disguises to gain access to jewels, and who flirts with Batman to escape once caught (there’s even a joke where Dick accuses Bruce of letting her get away, which it’s heavily implied he did). It’s a dynamite debut, solidifying a character who was clearly poised for greatness, already sharing chemistry with the title character from the f

And icon status versus staying power. When we think of the earliest Batman foes, most people on the street would say Joker, or Catwoman. And they'd be right, if we were only talking about Batman (1940), but there was more before that. Doctor Death, one of the first foes Batman ever faces, is literally a doctor obsessed with death who creates poisons in special delivery mechanisms with the intent to kill people. He's the first recurring foe, simply because he appears in one is