This week, Detective Comics hit the monumental Issue #1000 like Action Comics did late last year. In honor of this event, I thought it would be interesting to look at this title since it began publishing back in 1937.

This post looks at the New52 relaunch, The DCYou Era where James Gordon was Batman, and the Rebirth era which returned the series to its original numbering of Detective Comics and tries to highlight key issues such as first appearances and classic covers during this time.*

To determine which issues to include I used the Key Collector Comics app which can be downloaded on Apple and Android platforms. I highly recommend this app, if nothing else, as a quick and easy way to look up facts such as first appearances and other important happenings for any character.

Detective Comics in the New52

(2011 – 2016)

DC Comics relaunched Detective Comics with issue #1 in September 2011, as part of The New52 The series was written and drawn by Tony Daniel until the Night of the Owls crossover, leaving the series with issue #12 as the writer and the “0” issue his last as penciller. The price of Detective Comics was increased due to the addition of a backup feature (issue #10) starring Batman villain Two-Face, which was written by Daniel and illustrated by Syzmon Kudranski, this backup was followed a similar story featuring Hugo Strange.

The relaunched Detective Comics received the award for “Best Series” at the 2012 Stan Lee Awards. The series’ first collected edition would reach the number one spot on The New York Times Best Seller list in the category of “Hardcover Graphic Books”.

Following Daniel’s tenure on the series, John Layman became the new writer and Jason Fabok the new artist with James Tynion IV writing the backup features and Syzmon Kudranski remaining as the artist for Tynion’s first feature. With issue #19 of Detective Comics vol. 2, released on April 3, 2013, the series reached 900 issues as combined with the first volume of the series, and was a special oversized celebratory issue.

In commemoration of the second anniversary of the New 52, DC Comics did a “Villains Month” with Detective Comics getting four issues starring Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, Scarecrow, and Man-Bat, and respectively being numbered #23.1, #23.2, #23.3, and #23.4, by an ensemble of creators (see below).

For the 75th anniversary of Batman, issue #27 was a larger-sized issue featuring new stories by Brad Meltzer and Bryan Hitch, Scott Snyder and Sean Murphy, Peter Tomasi and Ian Bertram, John Layman and Jason Fabok, Gregg Hurwitz and Neal Adams, Mike W. Barr and Guillem March, and one written and drawn by Francesco Francavilla. In addition, variant covers to the issue were by Greg Capullo, Frank Miller, Chris Burnham, Jim Lee, Jason Fabok, and Tony Daniel. Single page artwork included work by Kelley Jones, Mike Allred, Patrick Gleason, and Jock.

Detective Comics #1

First appearance of Dollmaker (Barton Mathis)

Joker has face cut off

Cover appearance of the Joker

Received six printings, second only to the relaunched Justice League which had seven printings

Detective Comics #9

Night of the Owls tie-in

Detective Comics #10

First appearance of Hypnotic

Two-Face backup

First issue to come with Comic Download code

Detective Comics #0

New 52 Zero Month issue

“The Final Lesson / The Long Wait”; young Bruce Wayne learns to wield the martial arts, and how a major villain was introduced into his life.

Detective Comics #13

First appearance of Ignatius Ogilvy Emperor Penguin (aka Emperor Blackgate)

Detective Comics #15 and 16

A “DEATH OF THE FAMILY” tie-in!

Detective Comics #17

First Appearance Merry Maker and The League of Smile

Detective Comics #18

Requiem tie-in (Death of Damian Wayne)

origin of Ignatius Ogilvy Emperor Penguin

Detective Comics #19

80-page Giant with stories “The 900 / Birth of a Family / Birdwatching / War Council / Through a Blue Lens” – In a special

An oversized celebratory issue, Batman is challenged by the “Mystery of the 900!”

Issue #900 Legacy numbering

Detective Comics #21

First appearance of Harper Row in the series following first appearance in Snyder’s New52 Batman series

Detective Comics #22

First appearance Wrath the Anti-Batman

Man-bat backup

Detective Comics #23.1 – 23.4

Forever Evil tie-ins:

23.1 Poison Ivy

23.2 Harley Quinn

23.3 Scarecrow

23.4 Man-Bat

Detective Comics #25

Year Zero tie-in about Commissioner Gordon

Detective Comics #27

Origin of Batman Retold

75th Anniversay of Batman

Gothtopia begins

Detective Comics #28 – 29

Gothtopia – John Layman’s final arc on Detective Comics with various Batman books tying in. In Gothtopia, things in Gotham are very different, such as Catwoman becoming Batman’s sidekick “Catbird,” and the city is a much happier place for a mysterious reason.

Alongside the main story line in Detective Comics other series that tied into story line were Batgirl, Catwoman, Batwing, and Birds of Prey

Detective Comics #30

Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato take over as the creative team

Detective Comics #37

First appearance of Anarky (Sam Young)

Detective Comics #41

Jim Gordon in mecha batsuit

“New 52” banner dropped from cover as DCYou begins

Detective Comics #45

Jim Gordon his first mission with the Justice League!

Detective Comics #47

Robin War tie-in

Detective Comics #52

Last issue of Vol.2

Last James Gordon as Batman

Other New52 / DCYou Detective Comics tie-ins.

Detective Comics Futures End #1

Futures End event tie-in

“Futures End: Anniversary” – Batman takes his war on crime to the next level, but he needs the help of his greatest ally – The Riddler?!

Detective Comics: Endgame

Tie-in to Endgame event

The city is overrun by Jokerized victims, but a small band of teenagers unites to take a stand. Their secret knowledge of Gotham City’s streets helps them survive, but will Batman take help from this young group of upstarts? And what could it mean for the future of the young heroes in Gotham City?

Lead into DCYou era We Are Robin series

Convergence: Detective Comics

Helena Wayne and Dick Grayson (Pre-Crisis Earth-2) fight side by side in memory of Bruce Wayne as they decide who will become the next Batman keep Bruce Wayne’s memory alive as they come to blows with the powerful Superman Red Son characters!

Rebirth Era

DC Comics announced that as part of the company’s continuity relaunch called DC Rebirth, Detective Comics resumed its original numbering beginning with June 2016’s #934.

The #934 number was reached by the 881 issues of Detective Comics volume 1 and the New 52’s 52 issues (See above) added back into volume one, making Detective Comics #934 the premier issue following the events of 2016’s DC Rebirth Writer James Tynion IV and artists Eddy Barrows and Alvaro Martinez are the creative team on the series which is published twice-monthly ending their run with #982.

After a story arc by Greg Hill, James Robinson returned to the series for Detective Comics #988 – 993 which was a Two-Face story arc Deface the Face which was in a similar vein as his Face the Face arc which was the One-Year Later arc Post-Infinite Crisis story arc where Harvey was filling in for Batman who was rediscovering his roots.

Peter Tomasi and Doug Mahnke took the reigns with issue #944 with “Mythology” a story that had Batman meeting with those who had trained him as he became Batman.

Detective Comics #934 – 940

Rise of the Batmen

Series resumes original numbering with the 2016 Rebirth universe event

Features Team Batman consisting of Batman, Batwoman, Red Robin (Tim Drake), Orphan (Cassandra Cain), Spoiler (Stephanie Brown), Azreal (Jean-Paul Valley), and Clayface

First appearance of The Colony lead by Colonel Jacob Kane and Colony Prime

First appearance of the Belfry and Mud Room

Tim Drake “dies” and a cameo appearance of Mr. Oz (Issue #940)

Detective Comics #941 & 942

“Night Of The Monster Men” parts 3 and 6

The first crossover of the ‘Rebirth’ era

Batman, Batwoman and Nightwing prepare as enormous monsters rampaging through the streets! Batman will need all of his allies to unite in order to stop these mad science monsters from tearing their city apart! Will the Dark Knight, Batwoman, Nightwing, Robin, Spoiler, Orphan, and Clayface be enough?

Written by James Tynon IV and Steve Orlando

Detective Comics #943- 947

“The Victim Syndicate”

Batman can’t save everyone-innocent people sometimes fall in the war against evil that he’s declared in Gotham. But what happens when those victims start to fight back…and they don’t only blame the criminals who shattered their lives? Batman’s never faced an enemy like this, and his team may find themselves questioning everything they know about what heroes do! When innocent victims maimed or broken by Batman’s greatest enemies band together, and they blame Batman and his fellow crime-fighters for what happened to them just as much as they blame the psychopaths who hurt them. Batman and his newly trained allies must take on these troubled souls, but one of Batman’s teammates can’t help thinking they might have a point…

First Appearance of The Victim Syndicate members The First Victim, Anarky, Madame Crow, Mister Noxious, Mudface, The Mute

Spoiler leaves the team

Harper Row (Bluebird) cameo

Lucas Fox/Batwing joins team

Detective Comics #948 & 949

Batwoman Begins

First appearance of Monstertown and Doctor Victoria October

Detective Comics #950 & 956

“League of Shadows”

Issue #950 Extra-sized extravaganza with Dark Night: Metal tease

First Shiva appearance in the Rebirth Era

First Appearance of the League of Shadows



Detective Comics #957

Wrath of Spoiler

Spoiler solo story

Wraith (see above in New52 section) returns



Detective Comics #958 – 962

Intelligence

Azrael and Zatanna join the ranks of Batman’s allies in Gotham City

Order of St. Dumas’ Nomoz cameos

First appearance of Ascalon, newest Avenging Angle of the Order of St. Dumas

Jean-Paul Valley dons costume similiar to the one he wore while Batman in the Pre-Flashpoint era

Detective Comics #963 and #964

Utopia / Dystopia

Spoiler teams with Anarky against Batman

Detective Comics #965 – 968

A Lonely Place of Living

Red Robin faces a crossroads…escape the most devious prison ever devised, or find himself abandoned beyond time and space for all eternity! Not much of a choice, right? But when he finds out just who is locked in there with him, Tim’s world will change in ways he never imagined!

First appearance of Future Batman Tim Drake

Covers and story title pays homage to A Lonely Place of Dying which first introduced Tim Drake Pre-Flashpoint

First appearance of Brother Eye

Detective Comics #969 – 973

Fall of the Batmen

Victim Syndicate returns

Batwoman “kills” Clayface

Batman disbands team and kick Batwoman out

“Rebirth” banner removed

Detective Comics Annual #1

Clay

Origin of Basil Karlo aka Clayface

Detective Comics #975

The Trial of Batwoman

Batwoman faces scrutiny from Batman and Red Robin but stands up for her actions.

Nightwing, Jason Todd, Damian, and Batgirl appear

Kate joins The Colony

Detective Comics #976 – 981

Batmen Eternal

Batwoman, Azrael, and Batwing join Colony

Time turns in to OMAC

Stephenie learns that in the previous timeline she was Batgirl

Tim and Stephenie leave

Detective Comics #982

The Cursing of Gotham City

First appearance of Deacon Blackfire in Rebirth Era

Detective Comics #983 – 987

On the Outside

Duke Thomas. Cassandra Cain. They and other young heroes don’t intend to stand down, no matter what Batman thinks is best. Who can Batman trust to guide them? They need a teacher…and Black Lightning fits the bill!

First appearance of Karma (Fleet Delmar)

Post events of No Justice and lead in to upcoming Batman and the Outsiders title.

Detective Comics #988 – 993

Deface the Face

James Robinson takes over writing duties returning to the title after his Pre-Flashpoint, One Year Later arc Face the Face

Batman is hot on the trail of a murder suspect, but first, he’ll have to get past Two-Face even though Harvey Dent seems to be asserting control, how long before he becomes a sociopathic criminal once again?

Detective Comics #994 – 999

Mythology

Peter Tomasi and Doug Mahnke story that had Batman meeting with those who had trained him as he became Batman.

Peter Ducard, Thaddeus Brown (The original Mister Miracle), and Jason Blood/The Demon appear

—

DETECTIVE #1000

Coincides with Batman’s 80th anniversary

Contains a two-page spread spotlighting the current state of the Batman universe by Jason Fabok

Original stories from a who’s who of comic writers and artists, all honoring the milestone anniversary of The World’s Greatest Detective.

First appearance of Arkham Knight in the DCU from the video game series









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Like any series that has been around a long time, Detective Comics has had some highs and lows, but in the end, has remained true to its original themes.

Congratulations and here is to 1000 more!