Though the Batman comic book was initially launched as a quarterly publication, it later became a bimonthly series through the late 1950s, after which it became a monthly publication. Batman comics have proven to be popular since the 1940s. It was first advertised in early April 1940, one month after the first appearance of his new sidekick, Robin the Boy Wonder.

Batman proved to be so popular that a self-titled ongoing comic book series began publication with a cover date of spring 1940. The character, created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane, first appeared in Detective Comics #27 ( cover dated May 1939).

This collection includes a foreword by Rick Marschall.Batman is an ongoing American comic book series featuring the DC Comics superhero Batman as its main protagonist.

Detective Comics #50 ( The Case of the Three Devils).

Detective Comics #49 ( Clayface Walks Again).

Detective Comics #48 ( The Secret Cavern).

Detective Comics #47 ( Money Can't Buy Happiness).

Detective Comics #46 ( Professor Strange's Fear Dust).

Detective Comics #45 ( The Case of the Laughing Death).

Detective Comics #44 ( The Land Behind the Light).

Detective Comics #43 ( The Case of the City of Terror).

Detective Comics #42 ( The Case of the Prophetic Pictures).

Detective Comics #41 ( The Masked Menace of the Boys' School).Detective Comics #40 ( The Murders of Clayface).Detective Comics #39 ( The Horde of the Green Dragon).Detective Comics #38 ( Batman and 'Robin the Boy Wonder').Detective Comics #37 ( The Screaming House).Detective Comics #36 ( Batman meets 'Professor Hugo Strange').Detective Comics #35 ( The Case of the Ruby Idol).Detective Comics #33 ( The Batman Wars Against the Dirigible of Doom).Detective Comics #32 ( Batman Versus the Vampire (Part II)).Detective Comics #31 ( Batman Versus the Vampire (Part I)).Detective Comics #30 ( The Return of Doctor Death).Detective Comics #29 ( The Batman Meets Doctor Death).Detective Comics #28 ( Frenchy Blake's Jewel Gang).Detective Comics #27 ( The Case of the Chemical Syndicate).This hardcover collects stories from the following comic books: This first collection reprints stories from May, 1939 to April, 1941. This hardcover is the first collection to reprint all Batman stories from the issues of Detective Comics, in chronological order.

Batman Archives, Vol. 1 by Bill Finger