Cover: Dick Sprang

Detective Comics #128

Oct 1947 · DC · 0.10 USD

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“Crime in esreveR!”

About this Issue

Detective Comics #128 is a representative example of the late Golden Age anthology format that sustained DC's flagship title between major character milestones — the same 44-page package that had launched Batman nearly a decade earlier now juggled five distinct features under one cover, demonstrating how the anthology model kept readers engaged across superhero, teen-humor, war-adventure, and crime genres simultaneously. The lead story, 'Crime in Reverse,' spotlights the Joker deploying an unusually cerebral con — boasting of crimes already committed rather than telegraphing future ones — a storytelling inversion that foreshadows the more psychologically layered villain writing that would define later decades. The issue also illustrates the cross-pollination between DC's superhero and humor lines: the presence of Buzzy Brown, DC's answer to Archie, inside a Batman-headlined book underscores how the publisher tried to hold onto the widest possible readership during a period of genre uncertainty in American comics.

In "Crime in esreveR!", the Joker, freshly locked away by Batman and Robin, makes a chilling promise: he’ll commit every crime in reverse. With Paul Cooper’s art and Ray Burnley’s inks bringing the twisted twist to life, this 1947 classic from DC delivers a clever, off-kilter mystery that flips the usual detective formula on its head—just as Dick Sprang’s iconic cover captures the Joker’s sinister grin in perfect, inverted style.

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artist Paul Cooper · inker Ray Burnley · cover Dick Sprang

More listings for this title

CGC $1800 Detective Comics #128 Coverless 0.3 1947 $295

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History

By October 1947, Detective Comics was already a decade old and operating in a well-worn editorial rhythm under DC's (then National Comics Publications) anthology format. Dick Sprang, who had become the dominant Batman artist of the postwar era, provided the cover — a Joker-featuring image consistent with his bold, cartoon-inflected style. The Boy Commandos feature was still being produced with Jack Kirby and Joe Simon's involvement, though the war-era patriotic energy that had originally powered that strip was fading in the postwar market. The issue's stories were produced by DC's reliable pool of in-house talent, and the back-matter included a Charles Atlas advertisement, a commercial fixture in DC comics throughout the 1940s and 1950s.

Trivia · 8 facts

Cover dated October 1947; part of Detective Comics Volume 1, the series that gave DC Comics its name and has remained in continuous publication longer than any other DC title.
Cover art by Dick Sprang, featuring the Joker — Sprang was the primary Batman artist of the postwar Golden Age period.
Lead Batman story is 'Crime in Reverse,' in which the Joker announces crimes he has supposedly already committed rather than ones he intends to commit, a reversal of his usual telegraphing behavior; Batman and Robin ultimately apprehend him.
The issue also contains Boy Commandos (with Jack Kirby and Joe Simon credited), Air Wave (Larry Jordan), Slam Bradley, and Three-Ring Binks features, showcasing the full-anthology format typical of the title at this time.
Percy Clearwater makes an introduction (first appearance) in this issue, per Grand Comics Database and eBay listing annotations.
Buzzy Brown, DC's teen-humor character created by George Storm, appears as a crossover feature; Buzzy debuted in All Funny Comics in the winter of 1943–44 and had carried his own title since 1944 — his appearance here is a guest slot, not a first appearance.
A Charles Atlas advertisement appears in the issue; Charles Atlas ads ran as a near-constant fixture in DC comics across the 1940s and 1950s, making them a defining part of the Golden Age reader experience.
The Batman story from this period of Detective Comics was later collected in the hardcover Batman Archives Vol. 6, which reprints stories from February 1947 through May 1948.