Cover: Neal Adams

Batman #221

May 1970 · DC · 0.15 USD

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About this Issue

Batman #221 arrives right at the hinge point of the character's Bronze Age reinvention: editor Julius Schwartz had just engineered the dissolution of the Batman-and-Robin partnership in Batman #217, and the entire Bat-line was visibly shedding its campy Silver Age skin. The issue's lead story sends Bruce Wayne to a neo-Nazi-tinged castle in Germany to tackle environmental pollution—an early sign of the socially conscious storytelling that would define DC in the early 1970s. Crucially, the letters column preserves a historically sharp critique by a teenage Alan Brennert, who would go on to become one of the most admired Batman writers of the era; his published letter is a candid, real-time document of how engaged readers were demanding more serious fare from the Bat-books at precisely the moment the creative team was groping toward it. The issue is therefore less a landmark in isolation than a vivid cross-section of Batman in transition—its Neal Adams cover signaling a bold new visual identity that the interior stories were still working to match.

In "A Bat-Death for Batman!", Batman faces a chilling threat when an ancient idol, returned from the Vietnam War, ignites a deadly blaze in an apartment building. With lives at stake, the Dark Knight races to save the residents, confronting the idol’s malevolent power in a tense, high-stakes rescue. Written by Mike Friedrich and illustrated by Irv Novick with inks by Dick Giordano, the issue features a striking cover by Neal Adams, capturing the drama in bold, dynamic lines.

Contains 3 stories

A Bat-Death for Batman!

15.17 pp · Superhero

Batman [Bruce Wayne]Willi Von RitterIlga Von RitterOtto Kramm

The FBI Crime Laboratory

1 pp · Non-Fiction

Hot Time in Gotham Town Tonight!

7.67 pp · Superhero

Batman [Bruce Wayne]

In "Hot Time in Gotham Town Tonight!" from Batman #221, a mysterious idol returned from the Vietnam War ignites a blaze in an apartment building, threatening the lives of its residents. Batman races to save them, confronting the supernatural threat head-on in a tense, fiery showdown.

ComicBooks.com Value

Our Model is In Beta

Raw (Fine) $26

CGC 9.8 · 5 in census $2,469

CGC 9.6 · 11 in census $869

CGC 9.4 · 14 in census $869

CGC 9.2 · 32 in census $316

CGC 9.0 · 18 in census $226

CGC 8.5 · 21 in census $134

Show all 16 grades ▾

CGC 8.0 · 14 in census $134

CGC 7.5 · 13 in census $107

CGC 7.0 · 14 in census $107*

CGC 6.5 · 16 in census $100*

CGC 6.0 · 7 in census $97

CGC 5.5 · 12 in census $68

CGC 5.0 · 5 in census $68*

CGC 4.5 · 6 in census $65*

CGC 4.0 · 2 in census $57

CGC 3.5 · 2 in census $51*

* 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

FN $42.82 FINE $64.95 VG $70 CGC 5 $114.99 CGC 9.2 $150 CGC 8.5 $275 CGC 9.2 $750 Batman #221 (DC Comics May 1970) $22.49

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History

Batman #221 was produced under editor Julius Schwartz during a carefully managed reinvention of the Batman titles that had begun in late 1969. Schwartz's strategy was distinctive: he recruited Neal Adams to supply dynamic, cinematically realistic covers for virtually every issue while interior art duties fell primarily to veteran Irv Novick, who penciled most of the non-Adams stories in the Batman title during this stretch. The lead story was scripted by Frank Robbins and inked by Dick Giordano over Novick's pencils—the same creative pairing that was simultaneously helping restore the character's gothic atmosphere. Credits for the cover's pencils and inks by Adams, and for the interior story's script, pencils, and inks, have all been confirmed from Schwartz's editorial records held by DC Comics.

Trivia · 7 facts

Cover date: May 1970; on-sale date: March 3, 1970; published by National Periodical Publications (DC Comics).
Cover art penciled and inked by Neal Adams, with lettering by Gaspar Saladino—part of Adams's sustained run supplying covers to the Batman title under editor Julius Schwartz.
Lead story: 'A Bat-Death for Batman!' — script by Frank Robbins, pencils by Irv Novick, inks by Dick Giordano. Batman travels to Germany and investigates a neo-Nazi baron whose biochemist has developed a serum that turns docile animals into killers, polluting the Rhine River.
Backup story: 'Hot Time in Gotham Town Tonight!' — script by Mike Friedrich, pencils by Irv Novick, inks by Dick Giordano. Batman contends with a supernatural Vietnamese idol causing fires in Gotham.
No major first appearances. This issue introduces no new recurring characters to the Batman mythos.
The letters column features a published critique by future Batman writer Alan Brennert, who pointedly compared Frank Robbins's scripting to that of the 1966 television series—a snapshot of fan pressure for more serious storytelling at the dawn of the Bronze Age.
The lead story has been reprinted in at least four publications: Batman Classics #8 (1970), Lynvingen #1/1971, Batman Taschenbuch #20 (1983), and Showcase Presents: Batman #5 (2011). The backup story was reprinted in Limited Collectors' Edition #C-25 (April–May 1974).