Batman's First Appearance: What Was Missing?
- Brin Walsh
- Apr 27
- 2 min read
Detective Comics #27 begins a journey that will last 80 years and counting.
But who doesn't board that journey at the first stop?
In the opening pages of the first issue, Bruce Wayne (described as a socialite, rather than millionaire or billionaire) is socializing with Commissioner Jim Gordon, the very first recurring Batman character aside from Batman himself. None of the other characters in this very first issue appear in the second, or are relevant again.
In fact, we don't even get a glimpse of his parents, or the night they died. No Alfred (he arrives well after Robin, who doesn't show up for another 11 issues). We pick up with Batman already a presence in Gotham, a thorn in Gordon's side who is doing vigilante activities against crime. In secret, thanks to overhearing information from Gordon, Bruce gets involved in a murder investigation involving a businessman who's been stabbed, with his son found having fingerprints on the knife.
I won't spoil much about the issue itself, aside from the fact that how it ended is a fun accidental taste
of a recurring motif in Batman comics and Batman other media, from cartoons to live action movies and beyond. But the fact we get a Batman without Martha, Thomas, Alfred, Wayne Manor, the Batcave, and so much more in the first issues is a fascinating peek behind the curtain of how stories evolve so deeply over time.
Over time, blanks will begin to be filled in, as writer after writer will take a crack at what Batman did in the time before Robin, turning this brief period into a time capsule of the first, purest form of the idea of Batman.
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