Cover: Neal Adams

Batman #236

Nov 1971 · DC · 0.25 USD

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About this Issue

Batman #236 is a representative gem of the early Bronze Age's deliberate pivot toward horror-inflected storytelling, packaging the atmospheric 'Wail of the Ghost-Bride!' — in which Batman investigates what may or may not be a genuine supernatural haunting — within DC's then-current 48-page giant format. The lead story exemplifies the era's willingness to blend detective noir with ghost-story dread while leaving the supernatural question genuinely ambiguous, a tonal ambition unusual for mainstream superhero comics of the period. Beyond the lead, the issue closes out Mike Friedrich's three-part Robin serial that began in Batman #234, giving that socially conscious arc a proper conclusion. The letters column in this issue also serves as a documented chapter in editorial history: editor Julius Schwartz used it to reveal that the mysterious face Neal Adams had hidden in the Himalayan mountainside of Batman #232 was Deadman, framing it as Adams's campaign to keep that character visible.

Contains 3 stories

Wail of the Ghost-Bride!

17 pp · Superhero

Batman [Bruce Wayne]Corrine HellbaneAxel MarchAlfred PennyworthAgatha Tyler-Tilford

In "Wail of the Ghost-Bride!", Bruce Wayne is drawn to an old, haunted house slated for demolition—only to be haunted himself by visions of a young woman whose death remains unsolved. As the demolition party begins, Batman follows the eerie clues left behind, closing in on a killer buried in the house's dark past.

Rain Fire!

7 pp · Superhero

Robin [Dick Grayson]Pat WhalonTerri BergstromNanci BeekerRobert Beeker (flashback, cameo)Jonathan

While the City Sleeps!

12 pp · Superhero

Batman [Bruce Wayne]Robin [Dick Grayson]Hush-Hush Bodin

In "While the City Sleeps!", Batman takes Robin out on a late-night tour to show him the hidden lives of the city’s workers—only to find that crime never sleeps, either. With Gotham’s streets alive with both labor and danger, the Dynamic Duo must shift from observer to protector in a night that never ends.

ComicBooks.com Value

Our Model is In Beta

Raw (Fine) $33

CGC 9.8 · 6 in census $2,330

CGC 9.6 · 31 in census $348

CGC 9.4 · 33 in census $255

CGC 9.2 · 25 in census $153

CGC 9.0 · 29 in census $153

CGC 8.5 · 21 in census $93

Show all 16 grades ▾

CGC 8.0 · 20 in census $70

CGC 7.5 · 21 in census $58

CGC 7.0 · 12 in census $58

CGC 6.5 · 5 in census $58*

CGC 6.0 · 9 in census $58*

CGC 5.5 · 2 in census $47*

CGC 5.0 · 2 in census $44*

CGC 4.5 · 2 in census $41*

CGC 4.0 · 1 in census $39*

CGC 3.5 · 1 in census $32*

* 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 $22.5 VG $23 FN $23.29 F/VF $25 FN $28 FINE $29.99 FN $33 FN $35

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History

The issue was edited by Julius Schwartz and went on sale September 9, 1971, carrying a cover date of November 1971. The lead story, 'Wail of the Ghost-Bride!', was written by Frank Robbins with pencils by Irv Novick and inks by Dick Giordano — the same interior art team that, when Neal Adams was not available, provided the visual backbone of the Batman title during this period, bringing a consistency of tone across the run. The 48-page giant format allowed Schwartz to reach further back into DC's archives than previous issues in the series had, including a Golden Age reprint from Batman #30 (1945), written by Bill Finger with art by Dick Sprang — the first time Schwartz's reprint selections dipped into the pre-'New Look' era. Credits for the interior stories have been confirmed against Schwartz's own editorial records, preserved by DC Comics.

Trivia · 8 facts

Cover date: November 1971; on-sale date: September 9, 1971; published by National Periodical Publications (DC Comics), Vol. 1 of the Batman series.
Lead story 'Wail of the Ghost-Bride!' written by Frank Robbins, penciled by Irv Novick, and inked by Dick Giordano; cover painted/drawn by Neal Adams.
Formatted as a 48-page giant, containing three stories: the new lead, a Robin solo backup ('Rain Fire!'), and one reprint.
The Robin backup 'Rain Fire!' — scripted by Mike Friedrich, art by Novick and Giordano — concludes the three-part 'Vengeance for a Cop' serial that had run across Batman #234–#236.
The reprint, 'While the City Sleeps,' is drawn from Batman #30 (1945), written by Bill Finger and penciled by Dick Sprang — the first Golden Age material Schwartz selected for reprint in this run of the expanded-format Batman.
The letters column ('Letters to the Batman'), edited by Julius Schwartz, publicly revealed that the hidden face Neal Adams had drawn into a Himalayan mountainside in Batman #232 was Deadman, framing it as Adams's ongoing effort to keep the character in readers' minds.
The issue has been reprinted multiple times in collected editions, including Batman Illustrated by Neal Adams Vol. 3 (2006/2013), Batman by Neal Adams Omnibus (2016), and Batman by Neal Adams #3 (2020); the Robin backup was collected in Showcase Presents: Robin the Boy Wonder (2008) and Robin: The Bronze Age Omnibus (2020).
Characters in the lead story include Batman (Bruce Wayne), Alfred Pennyworth, and debut characters Corrine Hellbane, Axel March, and Agatha Tyler-Tilford.