Posted By Dan Greenfield on Aug 31, 2019 | 5 comments

A SNEAK PEEK at the next issue in DC’s new line of full-on reprints — featuring Poison Ivy’s debut…

Three weeks, three Facsimile Editions from DC.

As we told you back in June, the publisher on Sept. 4 will release the Batman #181 Facsimile Edition — featuring original ads, letters columns and whatnot — following Batman #232 and House of Secrets #92 in the new line.

And this one breaks fresh ground: It’s the first Silver Age edition and naturally it provides a different experience from the two Bronze Age issues we’ve seen so far.

Batman #181 featured the debut of Poison Ivy — the Facsimile Edition is being released in tandem with Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy #1 — in an endearingly hokey, decidedly of-its-time adventure by writer Robert Kanigher and the art team of penciller Sheldon Moldoff and inker Joe Giella ghosting for Bob Kane.

Dig this INSIDE LOOK:

Poison Ivy’s first appearance may be the peg for this release, but the issue has so much more to offer. For one thing, there’s a back-up story starring the Mystery Analysts of Gotham City, a team of local sleuths to which Batman belonged, who were popular at the time.

More entertaining than that, though, are the letters column, with a missive by Mike Friedrich, who would soon join DC’s ranks as a Bat-writer; the late, lamented Direct Currents feature; and the ads — including one touting DC’s TV shows. (The issue came out in April 1966, as Batmania was in full flower.)

Check out this selection of pages:

Blown up for your reading pleasure.

Best of all? The issue’s centerspread is a classic Batman and Robin pin-up by Carmine Infantino and Murphy Anderson that would become one of the enduring images of the era. (The figures themselves would be used as stock art for years to come.):

Boy, that’s some package.

Plus, don’t forget: DC’s Facsimile Editions hew as closely as possible to the original production values: The cover isn’t card stock — it’s classic, glossy paper. And the paper stock inside is as near to traditional newsprint as you’re likely to get — rough and thin but sturdy. (The dimensions, though, are the same as modern comics, but that’s to be expected.)

All told, that’s a pretty groovy deal for $3.99 — especially when you consider that a high-grade, unslabbed original recently sold on eBay for more than $750. (Finding copies with that pin-up intact — high grade or not — can sometimes be a bit of a challenge, too.)

Now, the sad part: After three Facsimile Editions in three weeks, we have a bit of a wait for the next one — but it just happens to be the greatest single-issue story in Batman history: Batman #251 — The Joker’s Five-Way Revenge! by Denny O’Neil and Neal Adams — is due Oct. 2. (Click here for much more on that.)

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MORE

— Landmark GREEN LANTERN #85 to Get Facsimile Edition. Click here.

— The Exact Issue When BATMAN ’66 Took Over the Comics. Click here.