Batman: The Dark Knight #1

Dates

Cover date

[June] 1986

On sale

February 25, 1986

In stores

March 20, 1986

Pages

52

Editions and covers (4)

Copies of #1 are not all the same book. Here is how to tell each one apart.

• Direct edition

  Direct

  No UPC barcode in the corner box: direct editions show artwork, a logo or a blank box there.

  Source ↗
• 2nd printing

  Second Printing

  Marked as a later printing on the cover or in the indicia.

  Barcode 07098939801601

  This edition’s page
• 3rd printing

  Third Printing

  Marked as a later printing on the cover or in the indicia.

  This edition’s page
• 4th printing

  Fourth Printing

  Marked as a later printing on the cover or in the indicia.

  This edition’s page

Story arc: The Dark Knight Returns

This is part 1 of 3. Reading order by cover month and on-sale date; arc records can be incomplete.

1. Batman: The Dark Knight #1
2. Batman: The Dark Knight #2
3. Batman: The Dark Knight #3

Creators

Stories

• The Dark Knight Returns · 46 pages

  Bruce Wayne is no longer Batman after the tragic death of Jason Todd. Years have passed, and intent to make a normal life, but the increasing of crime in the streets of Gotham City caused the return of the Dark Knight.

Publisher’s description

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns is set 20 years in the future. In the absence of superheroes, criminals run amok, and a gang called the Mutants terrorize Gotham City. Bruce Wayne has been retired from crime fighting for ten years following the death of Jason Todd, the second Robin. Despite Wayne's funding of the rehabilitation of Harvey Dent (Two-Face), Dent returns to crime. Bruce, overcome with the grief of what Gotham has become, as well as being unable to resist his true identity as Batman, dons the costume again and apprehends Dent, and the populace debates whether Batman is a savior or a threat to society.

Characters

Reprinted in

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (1986), Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (1986), Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (1986), The Complete Frank Miller Batman (1989), Batman: The Dark Knight Returns -- Tenth Anniversary Edition (1997), Batman: The Dark Knight Returns -- Tenth Anniversary Edition (1997), Millennium Edition: Batman: The Dark Knight Returns Book One (2000), Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (2002), Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (2002), The New Smithsonian Book of Comic-Book Stories: From Crumb to Clowes (2004), Absolute Dark Knight (2006), Batman Essentials - Batman: The Dark Knight Returns Special Edition (2014), Batman: The Dark Knight Saga Deluxe Edition (2015), Batman Noir: The Dark Knight Returns (2015), Batman: The Dark Knight Returns 30th Anniversary Edition (2016), DC Comics - The Legend of Batman (2017), DC Through the '80s: The Experiments (2021), The Dark Knight Returns Book One (Facsimile Edition) (2026)