Batman: Tales of the Demon collects material from Batman nos. 232, 235, 240, 242-244, Detective Comics nos. 411, 485, 489-490, and DC Special Series no. 15 written by Dennis O’Neil with art by Bob Brown, Neal Adams, Irv Novick, Michael Golden, Don Newton, Dick Giordano, and Dan Adkins. In his introduction, Sam Hamm cites Rā’s al Ghūl as a turning point in the Batman mythology, wherein the character moved away from the lighthearted late-Golden and early-Silver Age stories to a more mature, imposing Bronze Age character, with al Ghūl filling a niche for Batman like Moriarty to Sherlock Holmes. These stories also forefront Batman’s skills as a detective unlike the more fantastic tales of the 1950s and early 1960s, with O’Neil even encouraging the reader to try to follow the deductive leaps and clues in various asides. Along with this focus on detection, O’Neil sends Batman worldwide, with his fighting prowess and technology aiding his intelligence, evoking James Bond at times.

These stories are the first appearances of Rā’s al Ghūl and his daughter, Talia, and so they may feel incomplete to later readers after the mythology surrounding al Ghūl was further developed. For example, the first time he is resurrected from near-death (in Batman no. 235) involves what look like large laser emitters, rather than the now-standard Lazarus Pit (which first appeared nearly 20 issues later, in Batman no. 243, also in this volume). The stories in Tales of the Demon primarily serve to introduce al Ghūl and his world, each building on the last to further develop the motivations of the Demon’s Head. The last three issues barely feature al Ghūl, instead focusing on one of his main adversaries, Sensei, who kills Kathy Kane, the Batwoman. Shocking as her death may be, less than a decade later Crisis on Infinite Earths retconned this version of Kane out of existence. For those who want to read about Rā’s al Ghūl’s history, this is a great introduction. These stories predate by seven years the first story in the post-Crisis Rā’s al Ghūl Trilogy, collected in the Batman: Birth of the Demon trade paperback, though that became the new canon following Crisis on Infinite Earths.

On a tangential note, Brian Stelfreeze’s cover for the Warner Books edition looks like an attempt to portray the main characters of these issues in the style of the then-current Batman films directed by Tim Burton. ( )