• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Comic Book Herald

A Comic Book Reading Order Guide For Beginners & Fans

  • Reading Orders
    • Marvel
    • My Marvelous Year
    • DC Comics
    • All Comic Book Publishers
    • Most Recent
  • Beginner Guides
    • Beginner’s Guide To Comics In 2021
    • Marvel 2021: Where to Start?
    • DC 2021: Where to Start?
    • Best of Lists
    • Tablets for Comics
    • Guides for Digital Readers
  • Reviews
    • Marvel Comics
    • DC Comics
    • Comic Book Movies
    • Comic Book TV
    • Video Games
  • Podcasts & Video
    • My Marvelous Year
    • Best Comics Ever (CBH)
    • CBH on Youtube!
  • About Me
    • My Favorite Comics of All Time
    • Columns
    • CBH Email Newsletter
  • Support Comic Book Herald
    • Ways to support
You are here: Home / Reviews / DC Reviews / Detective Annual #3: Seventy-Five Years of Batman

Detective Annual #3: Seventy-Five Years of Batman

August 29, 2014 by Drew Narayanan Leave a Comment

Happy 75th Birthday Batman! Seventy-five years ago Bob Kane created a character in “Detective Comics”. Batman continues to have a huge impact, not only among comic book fans, but in popular culture as a whole (Dark Knight films, Arkham video games). In honor of the years of entertainment and joy that Batman has brought me and fans across the world, I will review the 75th “Detective Comics Annual” issue.

Our story begins with Bruce Wayne in his “Matches Malone” disguise. This is an undercover character Bruce has created to infiltrate the criminal underground. He waits in a bathroom for a man who is identified as Julian Day.

 Wait, what?! Julian Day, the Calendar Man? That’s exactly what I thought when I saw this panel. I closed the book and looked at the cover, and promptly felt like an idiot. A giant calendar super-imposed onto the Gotham buildings.

batman-detective-comics-cover-1
That’s… that’s a lot of dates

 So we finally get the New 52 origins of the Calendar Man. I’ve always liked the Calendar Man since I first read “Long Halloween.” Calendar Man was originally an over the top B-Lister who wore… a calendar costume. But in Jeph Loeb’s work, Julian Day is transformed into this Hannibal Lecter-esque villain taunting Batman from behind the glass of his cell. I love this version of the character and hoped they would continue with this amazing interpretation in the New 52.

batman-new-52-calendar-man
One milllllionnn dollars

Unfortunately we did not get the criminal mastermind I was hoping for. We got a thug. Julian Day is a muscle bound, bald, meat head enforcer for “Squid.” For those who have not kept up on “Detective Comics”, “Squid” is a crime-boss who is pandering a new drug called “Icarus”…

Support For Comic Book Herald:

Comic Book Herald is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn a qualifying affiliate commission.

Comic Book Herald’s reading orders and guides are also made possible by reader support on Patreon, and generous reader donations.

Any size contribution will help keep CBH alive and full of new comics guides and content. Support CBH on Patreon for exclusive rewards, or Donate here! Thank you for reading!

Become a Patron!

 Alright, I’m just going to say it. This issue was weak. It took an amazing character and turned him into a nobody. The tie-in to the “Icarus” story-arc was also a poor choice for “Detective”’s 75th issue.  “Icarus” (which has recently ended after a grueling four months) was boring as I’m sure Batman has better things to do than go after drug dealers. The only redeemable factor of this issue is the interaction between Batman and Julian Day’s son. When Batman meets the boy, he discovers Julian has abused him (along with forgetting the boy’s birthday). This prompts Bruce to don his “Matches” disguise to teach Julian a lesson. In the end, Bruce leaves Julian clinging to a urinal telling him to look at a calendar. This was the writer’s rather pathetic attempt to give an origin to Julian’s affinity for dates and calendars.

batman-new-52-buy-a-damn-calendar
Showcasing his fist made of ham

While it was nice to see Batman beat up an abusive parent (thus adding a touch of social commentary and reality to DC’s world), this was not a good issue. Despite this, there is great significance in the issue itself. That is to say, Batman has been around for seventy-five years, and this is a celebration of that fact. Therefore, if you’re a collector, you should probably pick it up. If not, you shouldn’t waste your time.

CBH Score: 2/5

Filed Under: DC Reviews, Featured Tagged With: Batman

Heroically Support Comic Book Herald!

If you like Comic Book Herald, and are able to donate, any small contribution will help keep CBH alive and full of new comics guides and content. Donate here! Or, support CBH on Patreon for exclusive rewards! Thank you for reading!

Become a Patron!

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

CBH on Youtube!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pi7HnWapV-o

The Comic Book Herald Podcast!

Apple PodcastsGoogle PodcastsRSS
My Marvelous Year reading club helps Marvel fans become comic book experts

Recent Posts

  • Best New Graphic Novel: Muhammad Ali, Kinshasa 1974 March 6, 2021
  • The Best of Deadpool! March 5, 2021
  • Mirka Andolfo’s Boobalicious ‘Un/Sacred’ Busts Down Social Barriers March 4, 2021
  • How to (Re)Read the Hickman Era of X-Men: House of X #2 Pt. 1 March 3, 2021
  • Legion of Super-Heroes: Before The Darkness March 2, 2021
  • Creannotators #37: “Canto” Interview With Writer David M. Booher! March 2, 2021
  • 1989 Pt. 6: Damage Control & Sensational She-Hulk Begin! March 1, 2021
  • MUY #10: Brian K. Vaughan’s Ultimate X-Men! March 1, 2021
  • Best of Marvel What If…? Comics! February 28, 2021
  • The Greatest DC Detective Stories Review! February 28, 2021
  • The Best Ghost Rider Comics! February 27, 2021
  • Asterix Reading Order! February 26, 2021
  • How to (Re)Read the Hickman Era of X-Men: Powers of X #1 Pt. 2 February 25, 2021
  • The Infinity Crusade Omnibus Review! February 25, 2021
  • Best New Graphic Novel: The Department of Truth Vol. 1 February 24, 2021

Popular Articles

DC Rebirth Guide

Batman Reading Order

DC New 52 Reading Order

Marvel Ultimate Universe Guide

Civil War Reading Order

Marvel Cosmic Reading Order

The Best Comics of All Time!

Deadpool Reading Order

Justice League Reading Order

Complete Thanos Reading Order

X-Men Reading Guide (Modern Era)

Age of Apocalypse Reading Order

Modern Marvel Universe in 25 Trades

Best Tablet For Digital Comics

Is Marvel Unlimited Worth It?

Footer

New to Comic Book Herald?

Hey there - my name's Dave and this is my comic book blog. It's my way of sharing my borderline obsessive addiction to the comic book medium, and I hope you like some of what's going on here.

Most people that come here are looking for my (WIP) Marvel reading order guide. You can probably also get a sense if CBH is for you by taking a look at some of my columns.

If you like what you see, let's connect on Facebook or Twitter. Or, leave a comment on the blog here, I'm always looking for new awesome people in the comic book community.

More on Comic Book Herald

  • Home
  • About
  • Support CBH
  • My Marvelous Year
  • Join!
Privacy Policy
Terms of Service

Recent Posts

  • Best New Graphic Novel: Muhammad Ali, Kinshasa 1974
  • The Best of Deadpool!
  • Mirka Andolfo’s Boobalicious ‘Un/Sacred’ Busts Down Social Barriers
  • How to (Re)Read the Hickman Era of X-Men: House of X #2 Pt. 1
  • Legion of Super-Heroes: Before The Darkness

Copyright © 2021 · Metro Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in