Everyone remembers their first time.
For me it was a sweltering summer’s day in 1988. My father was an avid reader of pulp crime novels, in particular by James Hadley Chase, and we tagged along on an excursion to the local book exchange. For those that don’t know, a Book Exchange was merely a second-hand book depot where you could either swap books or buy dog-eared pre-owned copies of pretty much anything. My father, although loving, was a man of little patience, so while he perused the overcrowded shelves, my 8-year old brother and I were perched on the floor next to two piles of old comics, under the menacing and judgemental gaze of the store owner. She was an older woman who obviously had no love for children and maintained her stereotype by telling us to behave and not make a mess once my father was out of earshot. We had comics at home, mostly Archie and Casper, and the 2 piles we were flipping through were mostly superheroes. My brother watched over my shoulder, hands in lap while I was in the driving seat, gently displacing comic after comic, trying to keep the pile neat, lest our warden unleash another grumbling remark. That’s when I saw it.
Batman was holding a gun.
Batman.
The cover of Detective Comics number 575 (Batman: Year 2, by Bar, Davis and Neary) changed my perception of the character. My only real reference thus far had been the campy Adam West version, and this couldn’t of been any further from the gun toting Batman I now saw before me. Underneath was the next part (number 576) and Batman was in shreds at the mercy of a sickle wielding villain. I had to have these comics. As I mentioned before, my father wielded little patience so to convince him to get me these two comics was an easy feat to cease my begging, and because my brother was along I had to select 2 comics for him – I hastily took 2 issues of The Flash, promising him they also continued from each other. They didn’t.

Guess that’s why I still keep in shape.
Written by: Batfan 1214
‘I’m Batfan!’
