Detective Comics #642
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeDetective Comics #642 carries a quiet but real chapter-ending weight: it is the final issue of Alan Grant's celebrated run on Detective Comics, a tenure that began with issue #583 and introduced several enduring Batman rogues. The issue lands at the narrative midpoint of 'The Return of Scarface,' a three-part crossover threading between the Batman and Detective Comics titles — a format that typified how editor Denny O'Neil coordinated the Batman line in this period. Grant and co-writer John Wagner had originally created the Ventriloquist and Scarface during their first story on Detective Comics, so this arc represented a homecoming for the villain on the very title where he debuted. Immediately following this issue, Chuck Dixon stepped in with #643, launching a seven-year Detective Comics tenure that would define the title through Knightfall and beyond.
ComicBooks.com Value
Show all 14 grades ▾
More listings for this title
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 ▸History
Alan Grant took sole writing control of Detective Comics around issue #590 after his collaboration with John Wagner wound down, continuing a run that had originated with #583 in 1988. By 1992, group editor Denny O'Neil was restructuring the entire Batman line in preparation for the Knightfall crossover, reassigning Grant from the main Batman title to the new Batman: Shadow of the Bat series. Detective Comics #642 was thus the final issue Grant scripted for the title. Interior art was handled by Jim Aparo — a veteran Batman artist — while Norm Breyfogle, Grant's long-time collaborator on the title, provided the cover.
Trivia · 7 facts
- Written by Alan Grant; interior art by Jim Aparo; colors by Adrienne Roy; cover pencils and inks by Norm Breyfogle; edited by Denny O'Neil and Kelley Puckett.
- Titled 'The Return of Scarface — Part 2: Gleeding Hearts,' this is the second chapter of a three-part crossover: Part 1 in Batman #475, Part 2 here, and Part 3 in Batman #476.
- This issue marks the conclusion of Alan Grant's run as the regular writer on Detective Comics — a tenure stretching from issue #583 (1988) to #642 (1992); Chuck Dixon's landmark seven-year run on the title began with the very next issue, #643.
- The Ventriloquist and Scarface — villains Grant and John Wagner introduced during their first Detective Comics story — serve as the primary antagonists; the issue also prominently features supporting cast members Alfred Pennyworth, Harvey Bullock, James Gordon, Renee Montoya, and Vicki Vale.
- A minor character named Chuck receives his first (and, per DC Database, only notable) appearance in this issue.
- The story thread involving Bruce Wayne's complicated feelings for Vicki Vale runs through the crossover, echoing plot elements from Tim Burton's 1989 Batman film.
- The complete 'Return of Scarface' three-parter (Batman #475, Detective Comics #642, Batman #476) was collected in Batman: The Caped Crusader Vol. 6 (2022 paperback, ISBN 978-1779508003).
Full credits
Reprints
Reprinted in Batman - Mörkrets riddare #4/92 [4/1992] (1992), Batman Anual #4 (1995), Batman: The Caped Crusader #6 (2021)
Key issues in Detective Comics
Variants (1)
Reviews
Reader reviews
No reader reviews yet.