THE BLACK BAT VOLUME 5:
"Markets of Treason" & "The Black Bat's Triumph"
The Nemesis of Crime returns in classic pulp novels by Norman A. Daniels.
First, murder runs rampant as gruesome cloaked hunchback killers terrorize a city until "The Black Bat's Triumph," in a bizarre thriller edited by future Batman editor Mort Weisinger!
Then, the Cowled Crimebuster tackles the toughest racket he's ever confronted when ex-bootleggers band together to manipulate "Markets of Treason."
Plus, The Mask returns in a Golden Age classic from Nedor's Exciting Comics #5.
Softcover, 7x10, 128 pages, B&W $14.95
Sanctum's selection for this volume follows the pattern of the previous one. Rather than reprint every story in its exact order, they include one early tale and one from later on in the Black Bat's publishing history.
Stories one through six were published in volumes one through three. Volume four included the seventh, so now volume five will have the eighth in The Black Bat's Triumph from September 1940.
Markets of Treason, meanwhile, is from winter 1944 and the 27th Black Bat story published. It is notable for being the story in which The Black Bat ceases to wear his wings. He continues to dress in black and blend into shadows but does not resemble a bat as such, a significant turning point in his "career".
While arguably making him far less distinctive, it doesn't appear to have hurt his popularity. He continued to have stories published regularly right into the 50s.
