Superman #12
Superman #12 (Interpresse, September 1966) is the capstone of Interpresse's first Superman series and one of the most content-dense issues in the Belgian publisher's early DC run. It marks the first time the origin of Batman was explicitly and fully dramatized for French-language readers — the story translating Bill Finger's foundational 'The Origin of the Batman' from Batman #47 — remedying months of confusion during which Batman had appeared in the title without any real introduction. The same issue also delivers the clearest presentation yet of the Legion of Super-Heroes roster for Franco-Belgian audiences, now including Bouncing Boy, alongside a gallery of Justice League of America members whose team name was never even spelled out, leaving young readers to puzzle out an entire shared universe from tantalizing fragments.
In "Le meurtre de Thomas Wayne," Batman confronts Joe Chill, the man he believes murdered Thomas and Martha Wayne years earlier, during an investigation into a transport company. As he tries to gather proof of Chill’s past crimes, the tension escalates when Batman reveals his identity to him, setting off a chain of events that forces Chill to flee—only to be betrayed by his own associates. Written by Bill Finger and illustrated by Bob Kane with inks by Charles Paris, this 1966 issue features a cover by Curt Swan and George Klein.
In the distant year 2967, Klar Ken T5477, the latest in a line of Superman descendants, takes up the mantle passed down for a millennium. As a journalist with the Fédération interplanétaire, he’s sent on his final mission to track down Muto, one of the greatest foes of his lineage, spotted robbing a Neptune bank—just as a mysterious chemical residue from an ancient war begins to weaken even the most powerful Kryptoniens.
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Interpresse was a Belgian publisher that opened its DC Comics line in October 1965, applying a year-based numbering system under which each annual run restarted at #1. For reasons that remain undocumented, the 1966 series skipped issues #1–5 entirely and resumed only with #6 in June 1966, a gap that French and Belgian collectors and historians have debated for decades — some attributing it to a Dutch/Flemish parallel edition that absorbed the early numbers. The editorial strategy of 1965 had been notably structured and 'pedagogical' in character introductions, but the 1966 run was comparatively disjointed; issue #12, arriving in September 1966, acts as a corrective, finally grounding Batman's presence in the title with a proper origin story, just as the series was about to end and hand its franchise torch to the Interpresse/Sagédition joint venture that would launch in 1967.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Issue #12 (September 1966) is the final number of Interpresse's first Superman series, which ran 12 issues from October 1965 to September 1966.
- Contains the French-language debut of Batman's origin story, translated from Bill Finger's 'The Origin of the Batman' (Batman #47, 1948 series) — the first time this foundational narrative appeared in print for French-speaking readers.
- The Batman origin story published here ('Le meurtre de Thomas Wayne') includes a noteworthy variation: Martha Wayne dies of shock/cardiac arrest after Thomas is shot by the mugger, rather than being shot herself.
- Features a prominent gallery of Legion of Super-Heroes members — including Cosmic Boy (Rokk Krinn), Saturn Girl (Imra Ardeen), Chameleon Boy (Reep Daggle), Sun Boy (Dirk Morgna), and Bouncing Boy (Chuck Taine) — making this the most explicit presentation of the Legion roster for Franco-Belgian readers to that point.
- Also contains a gallery of Justice League of America members (including Aquaman, Flash, Green Arrow, Wonder Woman), despite the JLA's team name never appearing anywhere in the issue.
- Publishes 'Le Superman de l'an 2967,' the French translation of 'The Superman 2965!' featuring the 30th-century descendant Klar Ken T5477 — a story originally from Superman #181 written by Edmond Hamilton.
- The Belgian publisher used a year-based restart numbering system; the 1966 series anomalously skipped issues #1–5, opening at #6 for reasons still unknown — a gap historians link to the Dutch/Flemish Interpresse edition that did publish a full run of 12 numbers that year.
- This issue appeared at the transition point just before Interpresse partnered with French publisher Sagédition in 1967 to co-produce Superman et Batman & Robin, a joint venture that ran 16 issues and determined which publisher held DC's French-language rights going forward.
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↩ Reprints Batman #47 (1948), Superman #173 (1964), Superman #175 (1965), Adventure Comics #330 (1965), Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane #57 (1965), Superman #180 (1965), Superman #181 (1965)
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