Book excerpt: American popular culture has produced few heroic figures as famous and enduring as that of the Batman. The dark, mysterious hero who debuted in 1939’s DETECTIVE COMICS #27 as the lone “Bat-man” quickly grew into the legend of the Caped Crusader. After his landmark debut and origin story, the Dark Knight was given many seminal elements including his partner in crime-fighting, Robin, the Boy Wonder, and such adversaries as the Joker, the Penguin and Scarecrow. This second volume of BATMAN: THE GOLDEN AGE collects the Dark Knight Detective’s early adventures from BATMAN #4-7, DETECTIVE COMICS #46-56, WORLD’S BEST COMICS #1 and WORLD’S FINEST COMICS #2-3.