Cover: Carmine Infantino & Joe Giella

Batman #189

Feb 1967 · DC · 0.12 USD

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About this Issue

Batman #189 marks the Silver Age resurrection of the Scarecrow — a Golden Age villain who had gone unpublished for more than two decades after his final 1943 appearance in Detective Comics #73. Writer Gardner Fox did far more than simply dust off an old rogue: he equipped Jonathan Crane with a chemical fear toxin for the first time, the weapon that would define every iteration of the character from that point forward and become one of the most narratively fertile concepts in Batman's entire mythology. The issue also records the first comics appearance of the Batcomputer, a piece of Batman iconography whose arrival in the printed page was directly catalyzed by the popularity of the concurrent live-action television series. Together, these two debut elements — the modernized Scarecrow and the Batcomputer — make this single issue an unusually dense piece of Silver Age world-building that reshaped the Batman universe in ways still visible today.

In "Fright of the Scarecrow!", Dick Grayson—still in his Robin guise—spots the Scarecrow pulling stolen treasure from a hidden cache during a park visit with kids. With Batman, he confronts the villain, only to be overcome by the Scarecrow’s infamous fear gas, leaving them both vulnerable. Written by Gardner Fox and illustrated by Sheldon Moldoff, with inks by Joe Giella and letters by Gaspar Saladino, the cover by Carmine Infantino and Joe Giella captures the moment of tension perfectly.

Contains 2 stories

Fright of the Scarecrow!

21.5 pp · Superhero

Batman [Bruce Wayne]Robin [Dick Grayson]Alfred PennyworthJeremy T. Fall (philanthropist)Andy (young boy)The Scarecrow [Jonathan Crane] (villain, origin)

In "Fright of the Scarecrow!", Dick Grayson, entertaining kids in the park, spots the Scarecrow digging up loot from a long-ago heist. With Batman’s help, they confront the villain, only to be overcome by his chilling fear gas—leaving them vulnerable in the dark.

Untitled Humor story

0.5 pp · Humor

Little Pete

ComicBooks.com Value

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Raw (VG) $133

CGC 9.8 · 8 in census $19,770

CGC 9.6 · 22 in census $5,117

CGC 9.4 · 36 in census $3,043

CGC 9.2 · 63 in census $2,222*

CGC 9.0 · 59 in census $1,390*

CGC 8.5 · 90 in census $931

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CGC 8.0 · 126 in census $759

CGC 7.5 · 148 in census $724

CGC 7.0 · 195 in census $486*

CGC 6.5 · 199 in census $453

CGC 6.0 · 197 in census $356

CGC 5.5 · 206 in census $306

CGC 5.0 · 285 in census $306

CGC 4.5 · 251 in census $293

CGC 4.0 · 231 in census $221

CGC 3.5 · 188 in census $192

CGC 3.0 · 108 in census $192

CGC 2.5 · 61 in census $153

CGC 2.0 · 30 in census $153

CGC 1.5 · 5 in census $89

CGC 1.0 · 3 in census $89*

CGC 0.5 · 27 in census $89

* estimate — limited direct-sales data at this grade

Our model’s value — refined as new sales data arrives · CGC census counts shown where available

More listings for this title

FAIR $84.79 FAIR $94.99 FAIR $100 VG+ $195.95 VG $198.71 CGC 1.8 $200 GD $215 VG+ $220

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History

The story, titled 'Fright of the Scarecrow!', was scripted by Gardner Fox and drawn by Sheldon Moldoff, though DC's standard work-for-hire arrangement of the period meant the pencils were published under Bob Kane's name; the Grand Comics Database confirms this attribution discrepancy directly from Julius Schwartz's own editorial records. Schwartz, who had relaunched the Batman line with its 'New Look' overhaul beginning in 1964, edited the issue; Carmine Infantino and Joe Giella supplied the cover, while Gaspar Saladino handled lettering. The issue carries a February 1967 cover date and was shipped to newsstands on December 6, 1966, with a cover price of twelve cents and a page count of thirty-six. The Batcomputer's inclusion is widely attributed to editorial pressure generated by the Batman television series' heavy use of 'Bat-' prefix gadgetry, though whether the prop appeared on screen before this issue's publication has not been definitively resolved.

Trivia · 7 facts

First Silver Age appearance of the Scarecrow (Jonathan Crane), and only his third comics appearance overall, following World's Finest Comics #3 (1941) and Detective Comics #73 (1943) — a gap of more than 24 years.
First appearance of Scarecrow's chemical fear toxin, the signature weapon that has defined the character in every subsequent era of comics, animation, and film; in this issue it manifests as a spray and broadcast radio waves rather than the gas bag of later stories.
First official appearance of the Batcomputer in DC Comics continuity — depicted here as a punch-card data-processing machine — an addition spurred by the 'Bat-' prefix gadget culture of the 1966–68 live-action television series.
Story title: 'Fright of the Scarecrow!' Writer: Gardner Fox. Interior pencils: Sheldon Moldoff (credited on publication to Bob Kane). Inks: Joe Giella. Letterer: Gaspar Saladino. Editor: Julius Schwartz.
The four-page origin prologue retells Crane's backstory as an adaptation of the Golden Age Scarecrow's debut in World's Finest Comics #3 (1941), formally establishing this version as the Earth-One counterpart of that character.
The letters column ('Letters to the Batcave') features a printed letter from a young Mark Evanier, who would himself go on to become a noted comic book writer.
The story has been reprinted multiple times, including in Showcase Presents: Batman Vol. 3 (2008), Batman: Scarecrow Tales (2005), Batman Arkham: Scarecrow (2016), and Tales of the Batman: Carmine Infantino (2014).