*DC: While it’s not strictly accurate to say that this game-changing issue was solely responsible for the transition to the ‘Dark Knight’ iteration of Batman – he had been becoming more serious in the preceding few years – this definitely distilled all the elements which would become the template for the Batman as we know him. By Denny O’Neil and Neal Adams, this tense murder mystery draws the reader in from the stunning cover, and keeps the tension mounted high as the Joker, stripped of the lingering miasma of the TV series, transformed from a buffoon into once again a top-ranking menace. One of the best comics of the 1970s, by almost everyone’s assessment – even folks who think both the Joker and the Batman are horrendously overrated (writer raises hand) think this one’s a cracker! This FN+ copy is very nice, tight and flat, with only the tiniest corner blunting, great cover colour and gloss, and an unspoilt cover image (apart from the pence stamp placed, as it always inevitably is, over the playing card). Firm, attached staples, off white pages; faint stamped small arrival date above DC in masthead, very slight edge wear top edge, minute crease across top right cover (1 cm) and a tiny (we do mean tiny) chip off from the top right back cover. But a copy that would sit well in a nice collection.
PICTURED: BATMAN #251 FN+ p £250