Volume: 45
Price: 1.50 USD
Pages: 84
Editing: Joe Orlando (managing editor); Paul Levitz (editor)
Cover Thumbnail for Detective Comics (DC, 1937 series) #500 [Direct] Edit Cover
Cover Gallery 
Cover Thumbnail for Detective Comics (1937 series) #500 [Newsstand]

[no title indexed]
(Table of Contents)

Batman / cover / 2 pages

Pencils:
Dick Giordano (signed)
Joe Kubert (signed)
Tom Yeates (signed)
Inks:
Dick Giordano (signed)
Joe Kubert (signed)
Tom Yeates (signed)
Bob Smith (signed)
Colors:
Letters:
  • Genre:superhero
Characters:
? (unidentified male)
Reprints (5)

Indexer Notes

Wraparound cover.

Montage of characters featured in Detective Comics composed by Bob LeRose (signed, also noted in "The Guest List" inside back cover).

Colors credit confirmed by Anthony Tollin.

This issue has 1 variant

Issue Data

  • Publisher's Brand: DC [bullet]
  • Indicia / Colophon Publisher: DC Comics Inc.
  • Indicia Frequency: monthly
  • Publisher's Age Guidelines: Approved by the Comics Code Authority
  • Printer: ?

Indexer Notes

Lots of former Detective characters in the back-up Slam Bradley strip.

Detective Comics
(Table of Contents: 1)

table of contents / 1 page

Pencils:
Jim Aparo (signed)
Inks:
Jim Aparo (signed)
Colors:
Adrienne Roy ? (see notes)
Letters:
typeset
Characters:

Indexer Notes

Contents page with illustration on inside front cover. Colorist added per comments by Anthony Tollin on Facebook on June 26, 2019: "I'm pretty certain that I colored this page. If not, [my] late wife Adrienne Roy colored it, but I'm pretty certain it was colored by yours truly (who also co-colored the cover with my late boss and mentor, Jack Adler)."

To Kill a Legend
(Table of Contents: 2)

Batman / comic story / 19 pages

Script:
Pencils:
Inks:
Colors:
Letters:
  • Genre:superhero
  • Job Number:J-6870
Characters:
Joe Chill (alternate Earth, death); Lieutenant James Gordon (alternate Earth); Barbara Kean (alternate Earth); Lew Moxon (alternate Earth); Bruce Wayne (alternate Earth); Martha Wayne (alternate Earth); Thomas Wayne (alternate Earth)
Reprints (11)

Indexer Notes

This story takes place on June 21st, mostly on an alternate Earth where young Bruce Wayne's parents are about to be murdered by Joe Chill. The Earth-One Batman's parents were murdered on June 26, exactly 20 years earlier, when Bruce was 8 years old. As Batman explains, the difference in dates is due to the five leap days that occurred during those two decades.

Fans have assigned this alternate Earth the designation "Earth-Five", however that name is not official.

The "Too Many Cooks..." Caper!
(Table of Contents: 3)

Slam Bradley / comic story / 13 pages

Script:
Pencils:
Inks:
Colors:
Letters:
  • Genre:detective-mystery
  • Job Number:J-7087
Characters:
Victor Dominion (villain, death); Archie Evergreen (death);
Reprints (1)

Indexer Notes

With lots of cameos and guest-stars in this anniversary issue.

Once Upon a Time...
(Table of Contents: 4)

Batman / comic story / 2 pages

Script:
Charles Schulz (credited as Snoopy)
Pencils:
Inks:
Colors:
Letters:
?
  • Genre:superhero
  • Job Number:J-7176
Characters:
Reprints (4)

Indexer Notes

Text is from a number of Peanuts strips published in 1970.

The Final Mystery of Edgar Allan Poe!
(Table of Contents: 5)

The Elongated Man / comic story / 8 pages

Script:
Pencils:
Inks:
Colors:
Letters:
  • Genre:superhero
  • Job Number:J-6992
Characters:
Edgar Allan Poe (flashback); Edwin Allman Pohe; Marcia Douglas; Steve Billman
Reprints (1)

The Batman Encounters - Gray Face
(Table of Contents: 6)

Batman / text story / 8 pages

Script:
Pencils:
Inks:
Colors:
?
Letters:
?
  • Genre:superhero
  • Job Number:J-7170
Characters:
Gray Face (villain)

Indexer Notes

Text story with small illustrations.

The Strange Death of Doctor Erdel
(Table of Contents: 7)

Hawkman / comic story / 8 pages

Script:
Pencils:
Inks:
Colors:
Letters:
Editing:
Len Wein (guest editor)
  • Genre:superhero
  • Job Number:J-7060
Characters:
Professor Mark Erdel (in flashback); Fred Schneider (cameo, also in flashback); Anna Erdel (in flashback, Prof. Erdel's niece)
Synopsis:
The Hawks solve The Strange Death of Dr. Erdel.
Reprints (2)

Indexer Notes

Title taken from contents page. Also listed in last panel of story.

What Happens When a Batman Dies?
(Table of Contents: 8)

Batman; Deadman / comic story / 22 pages

Script:
Pencils:
Inks:
Colors:
Letters:
  • Genre:superhero
  • Job Number:J-6876
Characters:
Reprints (3)

The Guest List
(Table of Contents: 9)

text article / 1 page

Script:
Pencils:
Inks:
Colors:
?
Letters:
?

Indexer Notes

Reproduction of cover in various states of completion, plus text about the characters. On inside back cover.

my.comics.org
Tracked in 51 collections.
Issue at www.comics.org
View Change History
Table of Contents ToC
    Table of Contents
  1. [no title indexed]
    Batman
  2. Detective Comics
  3. To Kill a Legend
    Batman
  4. The "Too Many Cooks..." Caper!
    Slam Bradley
  5. Once Upon a Time...
    Batman
  6. The Final Mystery of Edgar Allan Poe!
    The Elongated Man
  7. The Batman Encounters - Gray Face
    Batman
  8. The Strange Death of Doctor Erdel
    Hawkman
  9. What Happens When a Batman Dies?
    Batman; Deadman
  10. The Guest List
Related Links
Issue was modified by, among others
  • Katie
  • Rodrigo Baeza
  • Win Bent
  • Lars Brueder
  • Nick Caputo
  • John Censullo
  • Peter Croome
  • Lionel English
  • Jerry Hillegas (R.I.P.)
  • Denys Howard
  • Kelly Langston-Smith
  • Dave Marchand
  • Lou Mazzella
  • John Monagle
  • Mike Nielsen
  • Mark Q
  • Derek Reinhard
  • David Robben
  • Ramon Schenk
  • Jim Stangas
  • Jim Van Dore
  • James Zieff
contact us
donate
If you believe any of this data to be incorrect, please let us know.
Cover thumbnails are used for identification purposes only. All rights to cover images reserved by the respective copyright holders.
Creative Commons License
All portions of the Grand Comics Database™, except where noted otherwise, are copyrighted by the GCD and are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0). This includes but is not necessarily limited to our database schema and data distribution format.
The GCD Privacy Policy. The GCD Web Site code is licensed under the GNU General Public License.