Obligatory Pun: Holy Collecting Crisis, Batman!
Over the last couple of years, DC has been putting out two companion lines collecting Post-Crisis Batman comics from the late 1980s and early 1990s:
Batman: The Caped Crusader collects the Batman comic itself while Batman: The Dark Knight Detective collects Detective Comics.
Sounds pretty simple, except I just can’t keep it straight in my head what’s collected where. So I thought I’d finally sit down and get this all squared up in my mind. I may as well put my work to good use and post my findings here as well.
Fortunately a noble soul has already done most of the leg work and put it on Wikipedia. Buried down under the ‘Modern Batman’ section on the List of Batman comics page you’ll find most of this information. I’m going to test my table skills and try and incorporate that information below along with some further information putting it in context of other books collecting Post-Crisis Batman.
The Caped Crusader
| Batman Issues | Book Title | ISBN | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| #402-403 | Batman: Second Chances | 9781401255183 | First post-Crisis appearance of Jason Todd. This book is now quite hard to find. |
| #404-407 | Batman: Year One | Deluxe edition hardback: 9781401272944 | Frank Miller’s and David Mazzucchelli’s revamp of Batman’s origin and a perennial seller for DC so it is pretty much kept in print as a separate volume. |
| #408-416 | Batman: Second Chances | 9781401255183 | Picks up after the Year One issues and continues with the development of the post-Crisis Jason Todd. |
| #417-425 | Batman: The Caped Crusader Vol. 1 | 9781401281366 | The start of the new Caped Crusader line of books. Includes the Ten Nights of the Beast story. |
| #426-429 | Batman: A Death in the Family | 9781401232740 | Another perennial seller for DC so it is still collected separately. Almost always in print in some form. |
| #430-431 | Batman: The Caped Crusader Vol. 1 | 9781401281366 | This volume finishes up with a couple of issues not collected in A Death in the Family |
| #432-439 | Batman: The Caped Crusader Vol. 2 | 9781401267825 | #440-442 are collected in A Death in the Family. Features the first appearances of Tim Drake and the Batman: Year 3 story line. |
| #440-442 | Batman: A Death in the Family | 9781401232740 | These issues cover part of the A Lonely Place of Dying story. Previously collected separately, they’re now collected in A Death in the Family. |
| #443-444 & Annual #13 | Batman: The Caped Crusader Vol. 2 | 9781401267825 | |
| #445-454, Annual #14 & Detective Comics #615 | Batman: The Caped Crusader Vol. 3 | 9781401294274 | Includes the Penguin Affair and Dark Knight, Dark City story lines. The Penguin Affair crossed over with Detective Comics #615 so that is collected here as well. |
| #455-465 & Annual #15 | Batman: The Caped Crusader Vol. 4 | 9781779500304 | Identity Crisis & Sisters in Arms stories and the official debut of Tim Drake as Robin. |
| #466-473 & Detective Comics #639-640 | Batman: The Caped Crusader Vol. 5 | 9781779506016 | Stories covered here include Shadow Box and The Idiot Root which crosses over with Detective Comics so those issues are collected here. |
| #475-483 & Detective Comics #642 | Batman: The Caped Crusader Vol. 6 | 9781779508003 | #474 might seem to have been orphaned, but is slated to be included in Dark Knight Detective Vol. 7. |
So the beginning of this line is quite confusing with DC having decided to not collect the Year One and a Death in the Family issues in the Caped Crusader line. I can understand why, but it does make the volumes affected a bit odd with issues missed out.
Despite this, other storylines that have been previously collected in their own books (such as Ten Nights of the Beast, Dark Knight, Dark City, etc) are included here! Does your brain hurt yet? I know mine does!
By the way, the fourth volume of the Caped Crusader is really hard to find. It was only published last year but it then seemingly vanished! I’m guessing the print run might have been smaller than usual due to the pandemic, but I’m really just speculating here.
The Dark Knight Detective
| Detective Comics Issues | Book Title | ISBN | Collects | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Detective Comics #568–574 | Batman: The Dark Knight Detective Vol. 1 | 9781401271084 | As with the Caped Crusader line of books, DC has opted to not collect the issues from perennial best sellers. #568 is a Legends cross over. | |
| Detective Comics #575-578 | Batman: Year Two – Fear the Reaper | 9781401274566 | The issues featuring the Year Two story are collected in a separate volume which in it’s updated edition also includes its sequel, Full Circle. | |
| Detective Comics #579–582 | Batman: The Dark Knight Detective Vol. 1 | 9781401271084 | Volume one finishes up with a few post-Year Two issues. | |
| Detective Comics #583-591 and Annual #1 | Batman: The Dark Knight Detective Vol. 2 | 9781401284688 | #583 features the debut of Arnold Wesker – the Ventriloquist and #585 the debut of the Ratcatcher! | |
| Detective Comics #592-600 | Batman: The Dark Knight Detective Vol. 3 | 9781779501011 | The Fear story, an Invasion! tie-in but the main draw is the Blind Justice story. | |
| Detective Comics #601-611 and Annual #2 | Batman: The Dark Knight Detective Vol. 4 | 9781779507495 | Includes the stories Tulpa and Mud Pack plus Anarchy in Gotham City. | |
| Detective Comics #612-614, 616-621 and Annual #3 | Batman: The Dark Knight Detective Vol. 5 | 9781779509659 | #615 is in Caped Crusader Vol. 3 as it’s part of the Penguin Affair story. | |
| Detective Comics #622-633 | Batman: The Dark Knight Detective Vol. 6 | 9781779513304 | #629-633 were previously collected in Batman: Dark Knight, Dark City. | |
| Detective Comics #634-638, 641, 643 and Annual #4 plus Batman #474 and Legends of the Dark Knight #27 | Batman: The Dark Knight Detective Vol. 7 | 9781779515070 | #639 and 640 are in Caped Crusader Vol. 5 while #642 is in Vol. 6. This volume also picks up Batman #474 whose story continues into #27 of Legends of the Dark Knight, also collected here. |
This is a bit simpler as this line of volumes isn’t quite so affected by issues being collected in their own separate volumes. I think the only previously published collections that are expanded here are Blind Justice and Dark Knight, Dark City.
Volume 7 also collects quite a few issues that don’t seem to have been collected much elsewhere, if at all. So that’s one to keep an eye on!
Well, that’s how late 1980s and early 1990s Batman in paperback editions looks at the moment. If you prefer hardback collections you’re largely out of luck I’m afraid. There are however some creator-centric collections, such as Legends of the Batman: Norm Breyfogle which cover a similar time period.
