After I discovered (and bought and read) The Batman Annuals, Volume One (you can read my review here), I did a little research and learned that a second The Batman Annuals had been published in 2010 and luckily, I found it available online for a reasonable price and ordered it.
DC Comics Classics Library: The Batman Annuals Vol. 2 is a hardcover edition collecting Batman Annual #4, #5, #6 and #7 from 1962, 1963 and 1964. These annuals were giant-sized issues reprinting various Golden Age and Silver Age Batman stories. All stories in this collection were originally published between 1953 and 1961.
I read many of these Batman adventures as a kid in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Who could forget the story of “The Marriage of Batman and Batwoman”? or “Batman the Giant” or “The Murder at Mystery Castle”? Some memories never fade!
The Batman Annuals Vol. 2 was the last volume the DC Comics Classics Library published. Other reprints of Batman comics have been published, but these two volumes of The Batman Annuals resonated the most with me! If you’re a Batman fan, check these out! GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
[Cover Reprint]
Batman Annual #4 · Nov 1962 · Cover Gallery · 1 page
The First Batman
Detective Comics #235 · Jul 1956 · Story · 10 pages
1
Am I Really Batman?
Batman #112 · Oct 1957 · Story · 8 pages
2
The Batwoman
Detective Comics #233 · May 1956 · Story · 12 pages
3
The Vanished Batman
Batman #101 · Jun 1956 · Story · 8 pages
4
The Phantom of the Bat-Cave!
Batman #99 · Feb 1956 · Story · 8 pages
5
Batman’s College Days
Batman #96 · Oct 1955 · Story · 8 pages
6
The Marriage of Batman and Batwoman
Batman #122 · Jan 1959 · Story · 8 pages
7
The Second Boy Wonder!
Batman #105 · Dec 1956 · Story · 6 pages
8
The Man Who Ended Batman’s Career
Detective Comics #247 · Jul 1957 · Story · 12 pages
9
[Cover Reprint]
Batman Annual #5 · May 1963 · Cover Gallery · 1 page
The Power That Doomed Batman
Detective Comics #268 · Apr 1959 · Story · 12 pages
10
The Merman Batman
Batman #118 · Jul 1958 · Story · 8 pages
11
Rip Van Batman
Batman #119 · Aug 1958 · Story · 8 pages
12
The Zebra Batman
Detective Comics #275 · Nov 1959 · Story · 12 pages
13
The Grown-Up Boy Wonder
Batman #107 · Feb 1957 · Story · 8 pages
14
The Bewitched Batman
World’s Finest Comics #109 · Mar 1960 · Story · 12 pages
15
The Phantom Batman
Batman #110 · Jul 1957 · Story · 8 pages
16
Batman the Giant!
Detective Comics #243 · Mar 1957 · Story · 12 pages
17
[Cover Reprint]
Batman Annual #6 · Nov 1963 · Cover Gallery · 1 page
Murder at Mystery Castle
Detective Comics #246 · Jun 1957 · Story · 12 pages
18
The Gotham City Safari
Batman #111 · Aug 1957 · Story · 8 pages
19
Mystery of the Sky Museum!
Batman #94 · Jul 1955 · Story · 8 pages
20
The Mystery of the Four Batmen!
Batman #88 · Oct 1954 · Story · 8 pages
21
The Creature from the Green Lagoon
Detective Comics #252 · Dec 1957 · Story · 12 pages
22
The Map of Mystery!
Batman #91 · Feb 1955 · Story · 8 pages
23
The Danger Club
Batman #76 · Feb 1953 · Story · 10 pages
24
Death in Dinosaur Hall!
Detective Comics #255 · Mar 1958 · Story · 12 pages
25
[Cover Reprint]
Batman Annual #7 · May 1964 · Cover Gallery · 1 page
Batman Meets Bat-Mite
Detective Comics #267 · Mar 1959 · Story · 12 pages
26
The Secret Life of Bat-Hound
Batman #125 · Jun 1959 · Story · 8 pages
27
Bat-Girl!
Batman #139 · Feb 1961 · Story · 8 pages
28
The Dynamic Trio
Detective Comics #245 · May 1957 · Story · 12 pages
29
The Secret of Batman’s Butler
Batman #110 · Jul 1957 · Story · 8 pages
30
Superman and Robin!
World’s Finest Comics #75 · Jan 1955 · Story · 12 pages
31
Batwoman’s Publicity Agent
Batman #133 · Jun 1960 · Story · 9 pages
32
The Second Batman and Robin Team
Batman #131 · Feb 1960 · Story · 9 pages
33
Greetings from the Batman Family
Batman Annual #2 · Nov 1961 · Illustration · 1 page
Biographies
I believe I have mentioned before my reaction to this version of Batman: Ho-hum, with a side helping of yawns.
Jerry, how could you resist “The Marriage of Batman and Batwoman”?
Easily, George, easily.
I enjoyed them (and Superman) as a kid but haven’t read them since.
Patti, had I known about these BATMAN ANNUALS back in 2010 when they were published, I would have bought them then. I found THE BATMAN ANNUALS by accident a few weeks ago and I’m so glad I did! Wonderful memories! I was only eight years old when I started reading BATMAN comic books and that helped fuel my love of reading at an early age.
Gulp! That 1957 issue with “The Creature from the Green Lagoon” was one of the first comics I ever bought.
Fred, I remember that 1957 issue, too!
*yawn*
Again, not a Batman fan, then or now.
Jeff, THE BATMAN ANNUALS are just a nostalgia fix for me. They take me back to when I was just a kid.
I know I bought an annual around 1957 but I don’t remember what! Probably Superman!
Bob, while I read SUPERMAN comic books, I preferred it when Superman and Batman teamed to take on villains!
Bought some contemporary DETECTIVE COMICS and the oversized BATMAN #1 reprint in the ’70s, and read some of the grittier/more-adult B comics in the ’80s. Though by the latter times I was more a Fantagaphics/Wimmen’s Comics reader when reading comics (even as I gravitated to horror comics more in the ’70s, and humor–MAD, PLOP!, etc). I know a lot of junkies regret the “goofier'” B comics of the ’60s, but I could see the appeal in what little I could get access to.
Todd, reading THE BATMAN ANNUALS was a trip down Memory Lane for me. I loved those comic books when I was a kid and reading them today takes me right back to the 1950s and early 1960s!