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Marshall Rogers pencils and inks, signed; 11" x 17"

By the late 1970s, all traces of the campy pop-art 60's Batman were well and truly erased from the character's comic exploits. The massive influence Neal Adams had on the industry, and DC's hero titles specifically, were evident in the art-nouveau via film-noir look of the mainline Batman series. Marshall Rogers and Mike Nasser, among others, pushed the limits of what the series could look and feel like in that turbulent decade. Marrying the barrel-chested photorealism of Adams with the dazzling virtuosity of Barry Smith and Bernie Wrightson, Nasser developed a style both deeply respectful of his idols and yet uniquely his own. Cinematic and broad, stylish and confident, Nasser's art is a perfect complement to writer David V. Reed in this classic tale, serving Reed's controversially pulpy mannerisms in a way few artists could, and showing how the writer's plot-heavy potboilers could shine given the proper panache and veneer. This story also boasts numerous panels of Bat-iconography, with killer imagery of the Batmobile, the Bat-Signal, the Batman/Gordon dynamic, and a slew of pages of the Dark Knight in furious fighting form.



The immense popularity of the Caped Crusader in the late-70s allowed DC to profitably run nearly half a dozen Bat-titles. Batman Family, for example, used the Rogers/Englehart template for the whole Gotham rogue's gallery with countless tie-ins, one-offs, and tabloids sopping up reader enthusiasm. The DC Special Series title, originally devised as a showcase for new characters, and to burn off unused inventory stories, was repurposed to vacuum up remaining customer dollars by cashing in on the popularity of this slick new Dark Knight. This issue, fully loaded with instantly classic Bat-stories, may be one of the all-time best Bat-issues ever pumped out. Capped off with a typically stunning cover by the mighty Marshall Rogers, Bat-fans of a certain age will immediately remember this beloved story, presented here complete and intact, among the very best of late-Bronze Age hero comics.