Posted By Dan Greenfield on Mar 30, 2025 | 7 comments

BATMAN TURNS 86! PLUS: The COMPLETE table of contents! And a NEW VARIANT COVER!

It’s Batman’s 86th anniversary — and there are few better ways to celebrate than taking you on an EXCLUSIVE tour inside this fall’s Jim Aparo’s DC Classics Artists Edition, from Act 4 Publishing, Scott Dunbier’s new publishing house.

Scott will play tour guide himself, with 13 (+1) original art pages and covers from the book, the complete table of contents — and your first up-close look at a variant starring the Spectre.

Here’s Scott:

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By SCOTT DUNBIER

The main table of contents features the bulk of Jim Aparo’s DC Classics Artist’s Edition, including 10 complete stories. Five of these are Batman-centric (Four Brave and the Bold, and one Detective Comics), with the other five featuring the Spectre from the classic 1970s run in Adventure Comics. The first and the final Spectre stories are included; they are some of my very favorite comics by Jim Aparo. As a side note, eight of these 10 stories include their covers.

The gallery table of contents has an additional 26 covers (for a total of 34 in the book). There are more than 20 Batman-related covers, a couple of the Spectre, and even two Aquaman ones. The rest of the gallery includes some great splashes and pages, and even one short story, a three-page Aqualad back-up from Teen Titans #36!

Now, here are 13 (+1) illustrations, including the main and variant covers for the edition, which is scheduled for Sept. 30, 2025, and lists for $150.

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The main cover of the Jim Aparo’s DC Classics Artist’s Edition. This was originally the cover of a treasury called Limited Collectors’ Edition #C-37, released 50 years ago, in 1975. For 12-year-old me, these treasury editions were such a treat! When I was choosing what to use as the cover of this Artist’s Edition… well, there really wasn’t any contest — it doesn’t get much more iconic than this cover!

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And here is the direct market-exclusive cover. Since so much of this book is dedicated to the Spectre, I felt I needed to devote the other cover to him. While I love Aparo’s Batman, my favorite work of his (and Michael Fleisher) is on the Spectre.

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BATMAN #293 (Nov. 1977)

This cover is just pure fun! Superman and Batman in the vile clutches of Lex Luthor — and Aparo nails it.

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DETECTIVE COMICS #443 (Oct.-Nov. 1974)

The all-too-brief Archie Goodwin-edited run on Detective Comics (#437-443) produced such an incredibly great roster of talent. One of the true highlights was an obscure back-up feature written by Goodwin and drawn by Walter Simonson called Manhunter. Imagine my joy when this issue came out featuring Manhunter on the cover! As an aside, if you’ve never read Manhunter, do yourself a favor and search it out – it’s my favorite comic series ever.

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DETECTIVE COMICS #448 (June 1975)

This is the final cover of the 5-part “Bat-Murderer” storyline. Batman is framed for the murder of his beloved Talia. Great Aparo art, a beautiful cover that makes you want to dive in and read it. And I did!

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THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD #124 (Jan. 1976)

A classic Brave and the Bold cover featuring not one but TWO guest stars with Batman — Sgt. Rock and… Jim Aparo!

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THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD #132 (Feb. 1977)

A great cover of Batman and Richard Dragon, Kung Fu Fighter, kicking butt. As a side note, I love how vintage original art covers had captions and trade dress adhered to them, making them feel so complete.

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THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD #132, Page 6 (Feb. 1977)

A great page from Brave and the Bold #132. Batman and Richard Dragon go toe to toe against each other. Aparo was top-notch at everything but he really excelled at fight choreography.

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THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD #149 (April 1979)

The original Teen Titans taking on Batman. Doesn’t really seem fair, does it? Again, love all the paste ups.

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ADVENTURE COMICS #431, Page 1 (Jan.-Feb. 1974)

The very first Spectre splash page by Michael Fleisher and Jim Aparo. This series only ran for 10 initial issues in Adventure Comics #431 – 440, but it had a huge impact on many comic readers of the time, including me!

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ADVENTURE COMICS #435 (Sept.-Oct. 1974)

Here’s a fun one. One of the classic Spectre covers, but not quite the one you may be familiar with. DC editorial at the time decided to make some changes, moving figures around a bit. You can find the published version online and compare the two. This will be the first time the original version of this cover has been published.

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ADVENTURE COMICS #435, Page 13 (Sept.-Oct. 1974)

A great panel page. Fleisher would find crazy ways for the Spectre to wreak terrible justice on criminals, including turning this guy into wood and running him through a buzzsaw – yikes!

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ADVENTURE COMICS #440, Page 1 (July-Aug. 1975)

The final Spectre story was one of my favorites. Jim Corrigan has been restored to his human form… only to be killed once again to continue his mission of vengeance on evildoers as the Spectre! Shakespearian! Michael Fleisher was killing these stories!

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AQUAMAN #57 (Aug.-Sept. 1977)

Aparo did some great Aquaman comics and I’m happy to be able to include this prime example in the book.

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Jim Aparo’s DC Classics Artist’s Edition is a 192-page, 12″ x 17″ hardcover, scheduled for Sept. 30, 2025. It lists for $150 and will be available through comics shops and online retailers.

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MORE

— JIM APARO: THE ARTIST’S ARTIST — A Birthday Tribute. Click here.

— The TOP 13 DC CHARACTERS Drawn by JIM APARO — RANKED. Click here.