Batman: The Dark Knight #1 for Sale - First Appearance of Carrie Kelley - Where to Buy

Identification plate

Series: Batman: The Dark Knight (DC, 1986 series)
Issue: #1
Publication date: [June] 1986
Key date: 1986-06-00
On-sale date: 1986-02-25
Indicia publisher: DC Comics Inc.
Price: $2.95; 4.50 CAD
Pages: 52

Match the book in your hand against this plate before paying an edition-specific price.

Why this issue matters

First appearance of Carrie Kelley - the earliest non-flashback appearance on record for this character.

Origin story on record for: Batman.

Death on record for: Martha Wayne, Thomas Wayne.

On the record: Kirby Award - Best Single Issue (1987).

The evidence

Claims here come from the story records for this issue, listed under Sources at the bottom of the file. Character hubs with full evidence tables are coming to this site.

Seq	Story	Type	Pages	Credits	Characters
0	Book One The Dark Knight Returns	cover	1	pencils: Frank Miller; inks: Frank Miller; colors: Lynn Varley	Batman, Bruce Wayne
1	-	credits, title page	1	letters: typeset
2	The Dark Knight Returns	credits, title page	1	letters: typeset
3	The Dark Knight Returns	comic story	46	script: Frank Miller; pencils: Frank Miller; inks: Klaus Janson; colors: Lynn Varley; letters: John Costanza	Batman Origin, Harvey Dent, Commissioner James Gordon, Carrie Kelley First, Lana Lang, Alfred Pennyworth, Bruce Wayne, Joe Chill, Joker, Martha Wayne Death, Thomas Wayne Death
4	Next: The Dark Knight Triumphant	promo (ad from the publisher)	1	letters: typeset
5	Credits	credits, title page	1	letters: typeset
6	-	illustration	1	script: Frank Miller; pencils: Frank Miller; inks: Klaus Janson	Bruce Wayne

Printings and variants

Edition	How to tell
Second Printing	barcode 07098939801601
Third Printing	See the GCD record for identification notes.
Fourth Printing	See the GCD record for identification notes.

Where to read it

Collection	Year
Batman: The Dark Knight Returns #[nn] ISBN 0-930289-13-7	1987	On eBay ›
The Complete Frank Miller Batman #1 ISBN 068140969X	1989	On eBay ›
Millennium Edition: Batman: The Dark Knight Returns Book One #[nn]	2000	On eBay ›
Absolute Dark Knight #[nn] ISBN 1-4012-1079-1	2006	On eBay ›
Batman: The Dark Knight Returns -- Tenth Anniversary Edition #[nn] ISBN 1-56389-341-X	1997	On eBay ›
The New Smithsonian Book of Comic-Book Stories: From Crumb to Clowes #[nn] ISBN 1-58834-183-6	2004	On eBay ›
Batman: The Dark Knight Returns #[nn] ISBN 0930289153	1987	On eBay ›
Batman: The Dark Knight Returns -- Tenth Anniversary Edition #[nn] ISBN 1-56389-342-8	1997	On eBay ›
Batman: Cover to Cover #[nn] ISBN 1-4012-0659-X	2005	On eBay ›

Reading the story costs a fraction of owning the issue. Both routes are on every file.

Before you buy

Confirm the UPC box: a publisher mark instead of a barcode means direct edition, a barcode means newsstand.
Glossy covers of this era show edge chipping easily. Check black edges closely in the photos.
Check the staples and centerfold; heavily read anniversary and key issues loosen there first.

Series context

1 of 4#2 ›

Sources

Grand Comics Database, issue record (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Found an error in this file? corrections@comicrecord.com