Cover: Ed Hannigan & Dick Giordano

Batman #357

Mar 1983 · DC · 0.60 USD; 0.25 GBP; 0.75 CAD

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“Squid”

★ 1st appearance — Jason Todd

About this Issue

Batman #357 is the entry point for two of the most consequential characters in Batman's modern mythology: Jason Todd, the second Robin, and Killer Croc. Jason's debut here quietly planted the seed for one of comics' most debated moments — his reader-voted death in 1988's 'A Death in the Family' — and his eventual resurrection as the Red Hood, a character whose moral complexity continues to drive stories across comics, animation, and games. Killer Croc's shadowy introduction in this same issue, woven directly into Jason's tragic backstory as the murderer of his circus-performer parents, bound the two characters together from their very first pages. That both characters arrived not as headliners but as understated threads in a larger Gotham underworld story makes the issue a quiet, slow-burn landmark — one whose full weight only becomes clear in retrospect.

writer Gerry Conway · artist Don Newton · inker Alfredo Alcala · colorist Adrienne Roy · letterer Ben Oda · cover Ed Hannigan, Dick Giordano

ComicBooks.com Value

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Raw (Fine) $26

CGC 9.8 · 330 in census $531*

CGC 9.6 · 570 in census $253

CGC 9.4 · 532 in census $199

CGC 9.2 · 321 in census $138

CGC 9.0 · 281 in census $117

CGC 8.5 · 216 in census $99

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CGC 8.0 · 152 in census $67

CGC 7.5 · 111 in census $67

CGC 7.0 · 80 in census $59*

CGC 6.5 · 40 in census $48*

CGC 6.0 · 41 in census $48*

CGC 5.5 · 21 in census $41*

CGC 5.0 · 15 in census $41*

CGC 4.5 · 13 in census $37*

CGC 4.0 · 10 in census $34

CGC 3.5 · 4 in census $29*

CGC 3.0 · 4 in census $26*

CGC 2.5 · 2 in census $20*

* 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

VF/NM · Blank $6.98 Sketch $9.92 Sketch $12.99 Sketch $14.99 Signed $74.99 Newsstand $75 VF $85 VF+ $88.52

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History

The issue was written by Gerry Conway with interior art by Don Newton and inks by Alfredo Alcala; the cover was penciled by Ed Hannigan and inked by Dick Giordano. Conway created Jason Todd deliberately as Dick Grayson's successor, intentionally mirroring Dick's circus-orphan origins to give Dick Grayson an emotional bridge to the new boy — a structural choice that was later criticized as too derivative and ultimately overhauled after Crisis on Infinite Earths. Conway has said in interviews that the editorial context driving Jason's creation was straightforward: Dick Grayson had become so central to New Teen Titans that keeping him in Batman was untenable, yet Batman still needed a Robin-figure to humanize the Dark Knight. Killer Croc was developed simultaneously, with Conway designing him as a villain who could strip Batman of his technological advantages by forcing the fight underground. Len Wein and Nicola Cuti served as editors. The issue carries a cover date of March 1983 but was published on newsstands on November 23, 1982.

Trivia · 8 facts

First appearance of Jason Todd (pre-Crisis incarnation), the second character to hold the Robin identity, created by writer Gerry Conway and artist Don Newton.
First appearance of Killer Croc (Waylon Jones) in the Batman title — though he appears obscured in a trenchcoat and fedora, consistent with his prior shadowed cameo in Detective Comics #523 (February 1983); his full, face-revealed appearance comes in Detective Comics #524.
Story titled 'Squid'; script by Gerry Conway, pencils by Don Newton, inks by Alfredo Alcala; cover pencils by Ed Hannigan, inks by Dick Giordano; edited by Len Wein and Nicola Cuti.
Cover date: March 1983; actual newsstand release date: November 23, 1982.
In the issue's circus subplot, Dick Grayson meets Jason Todd and his trapeze-artist parents — the Todds will be killed by Killer Croc in the subsequent arc, mirroring Dick's own origin and motivating Jason to eventually become Robin.
Batman #357 is the second chapter of a seven-issue Killer Croc introduction arc spanning Batman and Detective Comics: Detective Comics #523 → Batman #357 → Detective Comics #524 → Batman #358 → Detective Comics #525 → Batman #359 → Detective Comics #526.
The issue's letter column includes a letter from future DC Comics editor Kevin Dooley.
Reprinted in Tales of the Batman: Gerry Conway Vol. 3 (2019) and as a standalone Facsimile Edition published March 7, 2023 (cover date May 2023), the latter including all original 1983 advertisements.