Batman: The Dailies - Softcover

This volume collects the daily Batman strips published in 1943 and 1944, offering an introduction to one of the earliest incarnations of the caped crusader. Batman has been both a camp caricature (in the '60s television show) and a depressed sociopath (in the recent series of movies), but in this collection of stories he is every inch the hero in a world of hoods, heels, and two-bit nogoodniks. The style of these black-and-white strips, filled with dark shadows and expressionist lighting, anticipates the development of film-noir in Hollywood movies of the late forties. This collection is also notable for an early appearance by the Joker, who escapes from prison using only a nail, a cigarette stub, a wooden match, and an ordinary paper bag. How? You'll have to read the book to find out.