Batman (1940) Annual #20

Cover by Vincent Giarrano. “Fables of the Bat-Man,” script by Doug Moench, art by Vincent Giarrano;

In the future, set in a domed city ruled by a government that mind-controls its citizens on an unnamed planet, an old man spins tales for a group of children who are unwittingly being groomed for re-education; The fables revolve around the mythological “Bat-Man,” who resided on the once-thriving planet Earth, each story coming with a special moral imparted by the old man to the children as a way of subtly warn them against their own government’s sinister plans. The stories he tells include The Mad Jester, Cat-Fem, Split-Face, and The Scarecrow.

52 pgs., full color. Cover price $2.95.