Batman Secrets of the Batcave
Overview: A Giant Penny! A Robot Dinosaur! A Mummy Case! Where does he get those wonderful toys?
Located under Bruce Wayne’s mansion, the batcave has served as Batman’s base of operations since the beginning of his career. Originally just a storage area, over the years the hidden cavern has evolved into a crime lab, armory, training grounds, and museum. Very few know its location, and even fewer are invited to enter. Now, some of the most significant stories come out of the secret sanctuary, and the tales behind the Dark Knight’s most prized trophies, are revealed in these collections of tales from the Golden Age to present.
Pages: 200 Pages
Contents:
Brothers in Crime originally present in Batman #12 Aug/Sep 1942, Writer Don Cameron, Artist Jerry Robinson
The Penny Plunderers, Originally presented in World’s Finest Comics #30, Sep/Oct 1947, Writer: Bill Finger, Penciller: Bob Kane, Inker: Jack Brunley.
Dinosaur Island: Originally presented in Batman #35, Jun/Jul 1946, Writer: Bill Finger, Penciller: Bob Kane, Inker: Ray Burnley.
The Thousand and One Trophies of Batman, Originally presented in Detective Comics #158, Apr 1950, Writer: Edmond Hamilton, Penciler: Bob Kane, Inker: Charles Paris.
The Flying Batcove, Originally presented in Detective Comics #186, Aug 1952, Writer: David Vern Reed, Penciller: Lew Sayre Schwartz, Inker: Charles Paris
The First Batman, Originally presented in Detective Comics #235, Sept 1956, Writer: Bill Finger, Penciller: Sheldon Moldoff, Inker: Stan Kaye.
The 100 Batarangs of Batman, Originally presented in Detective Comics #254, Jun 1957, Writer: Bill Finger, Penciller: Sheldon Moldoff, Inker Charles Paris.
The Origin of the Batcave, Orginally presented in Detective Comcis #205, Mar 1954, Writer: Bill Finger, Penciller: Sheldon Moldoff, Inker: Charles Paris.
The Man Who Falls, Orginally posted in Secret Origins of the World’s Greatest Super Heroes 1989, Writer: Denny O’Neil, Arrits: Dick Giordano.
The 1,000 Secrets of the Batcave, Originally presented in Batman #48, Aug/Sep 1948, Writer: Bill Finger, Artist: Jim Mooney.
The Batman Dime-Museum, originally presented in Detective Comics #223, Sept 1955, Penciller: Sheldon MOldoff, Inker: Stan Kaye.
Prisoners of the Batcave, Originally prestend in Batman #108, Jun 1957, Penciller: Sheldon Moldoff, Inker: Charles Paris.
Shadow Play, Originally presented in Batman #348, Jun 1982, Writer: Gerry Conway, Penciller: Gene Colan, Inker: Klaus Janson.
Interlude of Earth-Two, Originally presented in #348, Jun 1982, Writer: Alan Bernnert, Artist: Jim Aparo.
Inside the Batcave, Originally presented in Bizarro Comics, 2001, Writer: Paul Pope, Artist: Jay Stephens.
Recommendations:
I have mixed feeling about this collection. Most of the stories are from the early days of Batman. With that I want to mention that the cover of this collection is kind of misleading as the collection does not portray a modern Batman but one from the early days. One of the stories is even fairly non pc by today’s standards. Though most of the stories were entertaining and did show how many of the objects ended up in the Batcave. One thing that really was cool about this book was it did show how the Batcave transformed over the years.
Overall, I was expecting more of this book. More in depth look at the Batcave and I was expecting to see more secrets of the Batcave. The best parts of the book has more to do with famous cases that the crime duo had solved and ended up with trophies in the trophy room. Decent book, but certainly not one of my favorite and would not be something I would want to read again.