The Batman Strikes

    (DC, 2004-2008)
™ and © 2004 DC Comics, Inc.

Like his cartoon counterpart, the Dark Knight of The Batman Strikes! is a hipper, happier version of the Bob Kane-created vigilante. Bruce Wayne still agonizes over the death of his parents but maintains a certain perkiness not usually seen in the character, especially when discussing his seemingly favorite topic: rock music. (Wayne even moshes when not striking fear into the hearts of criminals.)

Strip away the modern lingo and altered personality traits (which will appeal only to younger readers) and you’ve got a fairly enjoyable Batman vs. Penguin story, with the latter orchestrating an elaborate plot to exact revenge on the Wayne family for perceived slights, both big (trying to “destroy” the Cobblepots) and small (merely laughing at them). The art is essentially an amalgamation of Americanized manga and Batman the Animated Series.

Based on the new WB program (which is simply called The Batman), The Batman Strikes! doesn’t quite strike out with its first at bat but it doesn’t exactly hit a home run, either. For a cooler updated, animated bat, stick with Batman Beyond.

— Brett Weiss

			Notes	Writer	Artist
	#1 Date:  11/1/2004 Cover Price:  $2.25 NM Guide Price:  $3.00 5 copies available from $2.25			Bill Matheny	Christopher Jones
	#1 Variation A Date:  11/1/2004 Cover Price:  $2.25 NM Guide Price:  $2.25 No copies available	Burger King variant	Contains backup story“The Batman Nobody Knows”	Bill Matheny	Christopher Jones
	#2 Date:  12/1/2004 Cover Price:  $2.25 NM Guide Price:  $3.00 2 copies available from $2.25			Bill Matheny	Christopher Jones
	#3 Date:  1/1/2005 Cover Price:  $2.95 NM Guide Price:  $6.50 3 copies available from $5.00			Bill Matheny	Christopher Jones
	#4 Date:  2/1/2005 Cover Price:  $2.25 NM Guide Price:  $3.50 1 copy available for $4.00			Bill Matheny	Christopher Jones
	#5 Date:  3/1/2005 Cover Price:  $2.25 NM Guide Price:  $3.50 2 copies available from $4.00			Bill Matheny	Christopher Jones
	#6 Date:  4/1/2005 Cover Price:  $2.25 NM Guide Price:  $4.00 2 copies available from $4.00			Bill Matheny	Christopher Jones
	#7 Date:  5/2/2005 Cover Price:  $2.25 NM Guide Price:  $3.50 1 copy available for $4.00			Bill Matheny	Christopher Jones
	#8 Date:  6/3/2005 Cover Price:  $2.25 NM Guide Price:  $3.50 1 copy available for $4.00			Bill Matheny	Christopher Jones
	#9 Date:  7/4/2005 Cover Price:  $2.25 NM Guide Price:  $8.50 2 copies available from $8.00			Bill Matheny	Christopher Jones
	#10 Date:  8/1/2005 Cover Price:  $2.25 NM Guide Price:  $3.50 1 copy available for $3.75			Matthew k. Manning	Wes Craig
	#11 Date:  9/1/2005 Cover Price:  $2.25 NM Guide Price:  $3.25 2 copies available from $1.29			Matthew K. Manning	Christopher Jones
	#12 Date:  10/1/2005 Cover Price:  $2.25 NM Guide Price:  $4.50 2 copies available from $4.00			Bill Matheny	Christopher Jones
	#13 Date:  11/1/2005 Cover Price:  $2.25 NM Guide Price:  $3.75 1 copy available for $4.00			Bill Matheny	Christopher Jones
	#14 Date:  12/1/2005 Cover Price:  $2.25 NM Guide Price:  $3.50 1 copy available for $4.00			Bill Matheny	Christopher Jones
	#15 Date:  1/1/2006 Cover Price:  $2.25 NM Guide Price:  $3.75 1 copy available for $4.00		Story concluded in Batman vs. Dracula DVD.	Matthew K. Manning	Wes Craig
	#16 Date:  2/1/2006 Cover Price:  $2.25 NM Guide Price:  $7.50 3 copies available from $5.00			J. Torres	Christopher Jones
	#17 Date:  3/1/2006 Cover Price:  $2.25 NM Guide Price:  $3.75 2 copies available from $4.00			Bill Matheny	Christopher Jones
	#18 Date:  4/1/2006 Cover Price:  $2.25 NM Guide Price:  $9.50 2 copies available from $7.99			Bill Matheny	Christopher Jones
	#19 Date:  5/1/2006 Cover Price:  $2.25 NM Guide Price:  $5.00 3 copies available from $1.00			Bill Matheny	Christopher Jones
	#20 Date:  6/1/2006 Cover Price:  $2.25 NM Guide Price:  $4.25 2 copies available from $4.00			Jai Nitz	Christopher Jones
	#21 Date:  7/1/2006 Cover Price:  $2.25 NM Guide Price:  $4.00 2 copies available from $4.00			Bill Matheny	Christopher Jones
	#22 Date:  8/1/2006 Cover Price:  $2.25 NM Guide Price:  $4.00 3 copies available from $4.00			Bill Matheny	Christopher Jones
	#23 Date:  9/1/2006 Cover Price:  $2.25 NM Guide Price:  $7.00 No copies available			J. Torres	Christopher Jones
	#24 Date:  10/1/2006 Cover Price:  $2.25 NM Guide Price:  $6.50 1 copy available for $8.79			Matthew K. Manning	Wes Craig
	#25 Date:  11/1/2006 Cover Price:  $2.25 NM Guide Price:  $7.50 No copies available			Jai Nitz	Christopher Jones
	#26 Date:  12/1/2006 Cover Price:  $2.25 NM Guide Price:  $3.50 1 copy available for $4.00			Bill Matheny	Christopher Jones, Terry Beatty
	#27 Date:  1/1/2007 Cover Price:  $2.25 NM Guide Price:  $20.00 1 copy available for $24.99		Includes 3-D Heroscape glasses; Includes Teen Titans: Sparktop mini-comic	Scott Beatty	Christopher Jones
	#28 Date:  2/1/2007 Cover Price:  $2.25 NM Guide Price:  $15.00 1 copy available for $15.99			Jai Nitz	Christopher Jones
	#29 Date:  3/1/2007 Cover Price:  $2.25 NM Guide Price:  $9.00 No copies available		Includes The Adventures of Finn & Friends insert comic	J. Torres	Christopher Jones
	#30 Date:  4/1/2007 Cover Price:  $2.25 NM Guide Price:  $3.50 1 copy available for $4.00			Russell Lissau	Sanford Greene
	#31 Date:  5/1/2007 Cover Price:  $2.25 NM Guide Price:  $4.50 2 copies available from $4.00			Matthew K. Manning	Christopher Jones
	#32 Date:  6/1/2007 Cover Price:  $2.25 NM Guide Price:  $13.00 1 copy available for $11.99		Includes Batman/Cal Ripken Jr. Insert comic	Scott Beatty, Ernest Mayes, Mike Spinnaraque	Christopher Jones
	#33 Date:  7/1/2007 Cover Price:  $2.25 NM Guide Price:  $10.00 1 copy available for $8.79		Includes Batman/Cal Ripken Jr. insert comic	Jai Nitz, Ernest Mayes	Christopher Jones
	#34 Date:  8/1/2007 Cover Price:  $2.25 NM Guide Price:  $8.50 1 copy available for $9.99			J. Torres	Christopher Jones
	#35 Date:  9/1/2007 Cover Price:  $2.25 NM Guide Price:  $43.00 1 copy available for $34.95			Russell Lissau, Christopher Jones	Christopher Jones
	#36 Date:  10/1/2007 Cover Price:  $2.25 NM Guide Price:  $3.50 1 copy available for $4.00			Josh Elder	Christopher Jones
	#37 Date:  11/1/2007 Cover Price:  $2.25 NM Guide Price:  $8.50 No copies available		Includes Superman Airheads insert comic	Bill Matheny, Richard C. Troy	Christopher Jones, Adam Dekraker
	#38 Date:  12/1/2007 Cover Price:  $2.25 NM Guide Price:  $9.50 1 copy available for $8.79		Includes The Adventures of Finn & Friends insert comic	Russell Lissau, Paul Larson	Christopher Jones, Vincent Deporter
	#39 Date:  1/1/2008 Cover Price:  $2.25 NM Guide Price:  $25.00 No copies available			Jai Nitz	Christopher Jones
	#40 Date:  2/1/2008 Cover Price:  $2.25 NM Guide Price:  $6.00 No copies available			Jai Nitz	Adam Archer
	#41 Date:  3/1/2008 Cover Price:  $2.25 NM Guide Price:  $22.00 1 copy available for $19.19			Russell Lissau	Christopher Jones
	#42 Date:  4/1/2008 Cover Price:  $2.25 NM Guide Price:  $1.50 No copies available		DC Super Friends preview	Stephan Nilson	Andie Tong
	#43 Date:  5/1/2008 Cover Price:  $2.25 NM Guide Price:  $35.00 No copies available			James Peaty	Christopher Jones
	#44 Date:  6/1/2008 Cover Price:  $2.25 NM Guide Price:  $28.00 No copies available			Josh Elder	Christopher Jones
	#45 Date:  7/1/2008 Cover Price:  $2.25 NM Guide Price:  $7.50 No copies available			Jai Nitz	Christopher Jones
	#46 Date:  8/1/2008 Cover Price:  $2.25 NM Guide Price:  $2.50 No copies available			Russell Lissau	Christopher Jones
	#47 Date:  9/1/2008 Cover Price:  $2.25 NM Guide Price:  $13.50 No copies available			Josh Elder	Christopher Jones
	#48 Date:  10/1/2008 Cover Price:  $2.25 NM Guide Price:  $13.50 No copies available			Josh Elder	Christopher Jones
	#49 Date:  11/1/2008 Cover Price:  $2.25 NM Guide Price:  $13.50 No copies available			Matthew K. Manning	Christopher Jones
	#50 Date:  12/1/2008 Cover Price:  $2.25 NM Guide Price:  $10.00 No copies available		Final Issue	Matthew K. Manning	Christopher Jones
	Book #1 Date:  Cover Price:  $6.99 NM Guide Price:  $6.99 No copies available		Collects #1-5; Pocket-sized; ca. 2005	Bill Matheny	Christopher Jones
	Book #2 Date:  12/1/2005 Cover Price:  $6.99 NM Guide Price:  $6.99 No copies available		In Darkest Knight; Collects Batman Strikes #6–10	Bill Matheny	Terry Beatty, Wes Craig, Christopher Jones
	Book #3 Date:  12/1/2005 Cover Price:  $12.99 NM Guide Price:  $12.99 No copies available		Collects Batman Strikes #11–14, 16–18	Bill Matheny, J. Torres	Terry Beatty, Christopher Jones
	Free Comic Book Day #2005 Date:  Cover Price:  $0.00 NM Guide Price:  $0.70 5 copies available from $0.70		Reprints The Batman Strikes #1	Bill Matheny	Christopher Jones