Posted By Dan Greenfield on Apr 23, 2026 | 1 comment

These come from a land Down Under…

Whenever I travel abroad, I make it a point to go comics shopping. Not buy current comics that are merely imported from here in the States, but do a deep dive into a country’s publishing past to see how they differed from their American counterparts.

Generally speaking, countries like Australia — where I just visited — Italy, the Netherlands and many others, would reprint American stories but repackage them for their own markets. (In 1960s Japan, they got the bonus of Jiro Kuwata’s famed Batman manga adaptations, as well as reconfigured U.S. content.)

A classic, both American and Italian styles

I’ve written about this many times in the past, but having just been Down Under, I was reminded how often foreign publishers did a better job with their covers than the American companies — in this case, K.G. Murray and DC, specifically Batman. Not always, mind you. Usually, in fact, the American covers are tighter, sharper and much more professional looking. But many times — typically when a cover used art that was truncated on a U.S. edition or in a different form — the foreign versions are superior. (On the other hand, black-and-white interiors were common.)

So here are 13 examples, along with their American editions and publication dates.

(Also, if you want to get lost in the world of Australian comics, check out the website AusReprints.)

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Batgirl and Robin (circa Feb. 1982). I put this one-off first because I like it the most; the rest are in chronological order. (I’ve also scored a copy.) It’s based on a back-page pin-up by Dick Giordano from 1979’s Detective Comics #495. Besides the image being a fave, I love that the Aussies put out a magazine-size one-shot straight up called Batgirl and Robin, using stories from Detective and Batman Family.

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Superman Presents Tip Top Comic Monthly #101 (circa Oct. 1973). This catch-all title, like the other non-mags on this list, had larger dimensions than its American counterpart. This cover is based on Bernie Wrightson’s Detective Comics #425 (July 1972). I was never a big fan of the boxy Detective cover layout of the early ’70s, so it’s nice to see the image breathe. That said, you could argue it’s a little too loose.

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Superman Presents Tip Top Comic Monthly #109 (circa May 1974). A more effective version of the one above. Based on Giordano’s cover for Detective Comics #433 (March 1973).

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Superman Presents Tip Top Comic Monthly #112 (circa Aug. 1974). Not all that different from the original — Detective Comics #435 (June-July 1973) by Giordano — but I still prefer it, especially over the brown.

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Superman Presents Tip Top Comic Monthly #121 (circa May 1975). This one’s a killer — and the best example on this list. Fans have long clamored that DC’s 100-page format squeezed the life out of Neal Adams’ main image for Batman #255 (March-April 1974). Click here for much more about this star-crossed illustration.

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Superman Presents Tip Top Comic Monthly #123 (circa July 1975). Let me make this clear: I love DC’s 100-pagers and I love their Batman covers. But there’s no question that, like the issue above, they didn’t do the main images any favors. So compare this to Nick Cardy’s Batman #257, (July-Aug. 1974). I miss the red, though.

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Superman Presents Tip Top Comic Monthly #124 (circa Aug. 1975). See above. Based on Cardy’s Batman #258 (Sept.-Oct. 1974).

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Superman Presents Tip Top Comic Monthly #125 (circa Sept. 1975). Another one that improves vastly on the original. That’s a great Joker image by Cardy (Batman #260, Jan.-Feb. 1975) and it deserved a more potent layout. In fact, European publishers did it even better.

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Superman Presents Tip Top Comic Monthly #126 (circa Oct. 1975). Too loose but I always thought the Batman #261 (March-April 1975) cover by Cardy was a bit of a snooze, so this is a step up.

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Batman #128 (circa Dec. 1975). A substantial improvement over Ernie Chan’s Batman #262 (April 1975), which always felt too mashed together. The Australian edition makes for a more memorable cover. The bat silhouette with “The Scarecrow’s Trail of Fear!” in bold red letters is a nice addition.

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Batman Album #32 (circa April 1976). In all fairness, this one is actually a hot mess in terms of layout. The vignettes are thrown on there willy-nilly and one of them echoes the main image itself — “Batman’s Father!” But I like that they used the Sheldon Moldoff/Stan Kaye splash page from 1956’s Detective #235 (lifted from the reprint in Batman #255) for the dominant cover illustration, making for a delightfully anachronistic approach in the mid-’70s.

(Most of the vignettes are by Cardy, from other Batman 100-pagers. I’m not sure where the Robin one comes from, or who drew it. Curt Swan, maybe?)

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Batman and Robin #1 (circa Oct. 1976). One of the most famous images of the Dynamic Duo, dating from a 1966 center-spread pinup in Batman #181 by Carmine Infantino and Murphy Anderson. The Batman and Robin illustrations were used widely by merchandisers and by DC on trade dress and the like, but never as a cover. The Aussies took care of that here. (Robin’s placement makes him appear too small, though.)

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The Huntress (circa July 1982). Another mag-size one-off, giving the Huntress the headline treatment she hadn’t yet enjoyed in the States. Collects her first 15 back-up stories from Wonder Woman, which started in Issue #271 (Sept. 1980). The cover, by Joe Staton and Steve Mitchell, is from #271’s splash.

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So, that’s 13.

But it bears mentioning that they didn’t always get it right in Australia. Check out Superman Presents Tip Top Comic Monthly #99 (circa Aug. 1973), based on Neal Adams’ classic Batman #232 from 1971:

Crikey!

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MORE

— 13 COVERS: The Colorful World of Italian BATMAN Comics. Click here.

— The Magnificent NICK CARDY BATMAN Cover That Could Have Been. Click here.