Bat-Timeline – “Batman in 1976”

PREVIOUS: “Batman in 1975.”  For all of BOF’s Batman Timelines, CLICK HERE.

JANUARY: Man-Batman gets his own monthly series that would only last two issues.

JANUARY: Lady Shiva — a future Batman villain and ally — makes her debut in RICHARD DRAGON: KUNG-FU FIGHTER #5.

MARCH: Leslie Thompkins makes her debut into the Batman mythos in the classic Batman story “There Is No Hope In Crime Alley” in DETECTIVE COMICS #457. Art by Dick Giordano and story by Dennis O’Neil.

SEPTEMBER: The Dark Knight battles The Black Spider for the first time in DETECTIVE COMICS #463.

NOVEMBER: Batman and Robin were part of this DC Comics tie-in to the animated TV series.

JETT REMEMBERS 
Of these three 1976 Batman comics, I only owned DETECTIVE COMICS #457. It’s story – “There’s No Hope In Crime Alley” – is one of my favorite all-time Batman stories and made BOF’s list of the best 10 Batman stories for Batman 75.

 

While I don’t recall ever buying and/or reading the SUPER FRIENDS comic book, I did love that Saturday morning cartoon as a child. I don’t know how many of y’all can remember how big of a deal it was as a kid to wake up on Saturday mornings to watch cartoons.

Overall, 1976 — which of course marked the Bicentenial of the United States — was not a big year for our Caped Crusader. But that wouldn’t be the story come 1977. – Bill “Jett” Ramey