Batman #665

Jun 2007 · DC · 2.99 USD; 3.65 CAD

📊 ~80,096 copies sold its debut month

☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join free

“The Black Casebook”

★ 1st appearance — Michael Lane

About this Issue

Batman #665, titled 'The Black Casebook,' is the second chapter of Grant Morrison's 'Three Ghosts of Batman' arc and a pivotal connector in one of the most architecturally ambitious Batman runs in the character's history. The issue marks the first appearance of Bat-Devil, the third of the corrupted Batman imposters who would haunt the run and whose existence planted seeds later harvested in 'Batman R.I.P.' It also deepens Morrison's project of weaving 1950s 'impossible tales' back into continuity — treating the Black Casebook as a repository of strange, suppressed adventures that actually happened — a move that reframed decades of Silver Age absurdity as psychological history rather than embarrassment. The issue's intertwining of Jezebel Jet's romance with Bruce Wayne and the watching presence of the Black Glove organization laid essential groundwork for one of Batman's most discussed late-2000s storylines.

In "The Black Casebook," Batman, battered and pushed to his limits, confronts a haunting collection of his most surreal past encounters, as chronicled in his enigmatic Black Casebook. With a new romantic interest complicating Bruce Wayne’s life and a brutal rematch against the Bane/Batman from the previous issue looming, the Dark Knight’s resolve is tested like never before. Written by Grant Morrison and brought to life with striking visuals by Andy Kubert, this issue blends psychological depth with high-stakes action, all wrapped in a cover by Kubert that captures the story’s eerie intensity.

writer Grant Morrison · artist Andy Kubert · inker Jesse Delperdang · colorist Guy Major · letterer Jared K. Fletcher · cover Andy Kubert

ComicBooks.com Value

Our Model is In Beta

Raw (NM) $7

CGC 9.8 · 15 in census $55

CGC 9.6 · 4 in census $25*

CGC 9.4 · 2 in census $22*

CGC 9.2 · 1 in census $20*

CGC 9.0 · 1 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 $3.49 NM $4.99 NM $5.19 NM $5.19 NM- $5.5 VF $6.98 VF $9 VF $9.6

Related listings we couldn't confirm as this exact issue · 31 total · seen 28 days ago

🏪 Real comic shops near you sell this issue on eBay — from our directory:

The Time Capsule · Seekonk, MA1 on eBay ↗

Listings on eBay · clicking supports comicbooks.com

Sell my copy

Have this issue — or a whole collection? Get a fair offer from us, skip the marketplace fees and the hassle.

We Buy Collections ▸

Fast, fair offers · we handle grading & shipping

History

Morrison had been hired by DC editors to take on Batman fresh off their celebrated All-Star Superman run, with DC pairing the writer with Andy Kubert, who had just signed a three-year exclusive contract with the publisher. Editorial oversight on the run was provided by Peter Tomasi and Dan DiDio, with the creative team given latitude to plant long-term narrative seeds from the outset — Morrison had outlined a multi-year arc to editorial that would culminate in 'Batman R.I.P.' Batman #665 continued directly from #664's cliffhanger, with Morrison and Kubert picking up Batman physically broken after his spine-stomping encounter with the Bat-Bane impostor, and layering in tie-ins to the then-recent weekly series 52, specifically the seven-day Thogal isolation ritual Bruce underwent at Nanda Parbat.

Trivia · 8 facts

Story title: 'The Black Casebook' — written by Grant Morrison, penciled by Andy Kubert, inked by Jesse Delperdang, colored by Guy Major; cover date June 2007, on-sale May 16, 2007.
First appearance of Bat-Devil, the third of the Three Ghosts of Batman — corrupted imposters of Bruce Wayne operating in Gotham, each embodying a different dark distortion of the Batman identity.
The issue continues the 'Three Ghosts of Batman' arc that began in Batman #664, serving as the second chapter; Batman #663 ('The Clown at Midnight') preceded that arc as a standalone.
Jezebel Jet appears as Bruce Wayne's love interest; her scenes close the issue and are being covertly watched — a detail Morrison would pay off much later when she was revealed as a Black Glove operative in 'Batman R.I.P.'
Doctor Hurt appears in a cameo, quietly establishing the primary villain of Morrison's subsequent 'Batman R.I.P.' arc years before his full emergence.
The issue connects explicitly to DC's weekly series 52, revisiting what happened to Batman during a seven-day Buddhist Thogal isolation ritual in a cave at Nanda Parbat — a sequence that purged his fear and installed a psychological 'backup personality' explored later as the Batman of Zur-En-Arrh.
The plot also revisits Bruce Wayne's final confrontation with Joe Chill, the murderer of his parents, tying into continuity restored after Infinite Crisis re-canonized Chill as the killer.
Reprinted in numerous collected editions including Batman and Son (DC, 2007 hardcover), Batman and Son: New Edition (2014), Batman: The Black Glove Deluxe Edition (2012), Batman Unwrapped: Andy Kubert (2014, without ink or color), and Batman by Grant Morrison Omnibus Vol. 1 (2018), as well as international editions in Germany, Brazil, and Spain.