Two Great Tales from Batman's Two Greatest Decades
The two greatest eras for Batman stories were the 30s-40s, and the 70s-80s. Both featured a Batman with emphasis on detective work and street level crime over superhero theatrics and gadgetry. Death (even at Batman's hands) was not unusual. This comic features great stories from both those eras.
'Night of the Reaper' is a bit contrived in set-up, but once it gets going it's great. The story is told by what is perhaps the best writer/artist team to ever work on Batman, Denny O'Neil and Neal Adams, but they also credit Bernie Wrightson and Harlan Ellison for having a hand in this one too. It certainly shows the trademark influences of those two, Bernie's flair for horror (it's set on Halloween, and the origin story of The Reaper), and science fiction writer Ellison's gift for moral dilemma's, along with, of course, O'Neil's talent for mystery writing.
The story takes place at the now-infamous (among comic fans) super hero themed parade and after-party in Rutland, VT (parade organizer Tom Fagan is a character in the book), which allows the creators to slip in references to D.C. and Marvel heroes and villains, as well as 4th wall cameo appearances by certain creators (the disclaimer reads, "Any similarity to actual persons or places depicted in this tale is probably a stranger tale than you'd ever believe").
But all of that is just window dressing. The actual story presents not only a mystery, but also a very personal investment by Batman when a man's death leaves his children orphaned, and a moral dilemma when he realizes that the Reaper's goals, while far from admirable, are not too far from his own.
If that excellent story weren't enough, the backup is a reprint of 'The Spies', a great noir-like Batman Adventure from Detective Comics #37. See my review for that story here.
Oh, yeah - and as an added bonus it's the first appearance of Jonah Hex, in a two panel ad for All-Star Western #10