Cover: Alan Davis & Paul Neary

Detective Comics #573

Apr 1987 · DC · 0.75 USD; 1.00 CAD; 0.40 GBP

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“The Mad Hatter Flips His Lids!”

About this Issue

Detective Comics #573 is the final comics appearance of the Silver Age 'impostor' Mad Hatter — the mustachioed, trick-hat-wielding version who had dominated the character's history from the 1950s through the 1960s TV series — making it a definitive endpoint for that entire incarnation before the Jervis Tetch version took permanent hold of the identity. The issue also marks a pivotal early moment for Jason Todd as the second Robin: a stray bullet fired by the Hatter strikes him at the story's climax, sending Batman racing to save his partner in the directly following issue and forcing a raw examination of the psychological cost of bringing a young partner into a life of violence. Falling squarely within Mike W. Barr and Alan Davis's brief but fondly remembered run on the title, it captures a deliberate creative tension between a lighter, Silver Age-inflected tone and the grimmer Post-Crisis atmosphere then reshaping the Batman line.

In "The Mad Hatter Flips His Lids!", Batman and Robin race to unravel a bizarre heist at the Liars' Club, where the Mad Hatter’s latest scheme ties together a string of hat-related clues and a mysterious new threat from the Prince of Crowns. Written by Mike W. Barr and brought to life with dynamic art by Alan Davis—pencils and inks by Davis and Neary, colors by Adrienne Roy, and sharp lettering by Richard Starkings—this 1987 Detective Comics tale blends psychological intrigue with classic Gotham flair. The cover, also by Davis and Neary, captures the madness in perfect, unsettling detail.

writer Mike W. Barr · artist Alan Davis · inker Paul Neary · colorist Adrienne Roy · letterer Richard Starkings · cover Alan Davis, Paul Neary

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History

Detective Comics #573 was written by Mike W. Barr, pencilled by Alan Davis, inked by Paul Neary, colored by Adrienne Roy, lettered by Richard Starkings, and edited by Dennis O'Neil, with Dick Giordano serving as executive editor; it carries a cover date of April 1987 and was on sale January 6, 1987. Barr's run on the title — issues #569–574 — occupies an unusual editorial position: it was produced after Crisis on Infinite Earths shifted DC into Post-Crisis continuity but before Frank Miller's Batman: Year One and Max Allan Collins's Batman #408 retooled Batman's and Robin's origins respectively, leaving these stories in a creative no-man's land between two eras. Barr has been noted by contemporary reviewers as consciously pushing back against the emerging post-Crisis darkness by leaning into the Dynamic Duo's Silver Age chemistry, and editorial differences with that direction reportedly contributed to Davis's departure from the book shortly after this arc concluded.

Trivia · 7 facts

Story title: 'The Mad Hatter Flips His Lids!' — part one of a two-part arc concluded in Detective Comics #574.
Features the final comics appearance of the Silver Age 'impostor' Mad Hatter (the mustachioed, trick-hat version introduced in Detective Comics #230), who had been officially declared dead by the returning Jervis Tetch in 1981 but resurfaces here one last time.
The issue's climax ends on a cliffhanger when a bullet from the Hatter's gun — deflected by Batman — accidentally strikes Robin (Jason Todd), setting up the continuation in #574.
Creative team: writer Mike W. Barr, penciller Alan Davis, inker Paul Neary, colorist Adrienne Roy, letterer Richard Starkings, editor Dennis O'Neil.
The issue exists in a Post-Crisis continuity limbo: Barr's run predates both Frank Miller's Batman: Year One and Max Allan Collins's Robin origin reboot in Batman #408, so the story technically has no clean home in either Pre- or Post-Crisis canon.
The GCD character index lists a reporter named 'Clarisse Lincoln' (cataloged in our system as 'Joan Lincoln') among the supporting cast — her exact role and name should be verified against the printed issue.
Reprinted in: Legends of the Dark Knight: Alan Davis Vol. 1 (DC, December 2012), Batman: The Dark Knight Detective Vol. 1 (DC, June 2018), DC Finest: Batman: Year One & Two (DC, November 2024), and in international editions for the Spanish-language markets (Grupo Editorial Vid, 1987; Zinco, 1988).