You are purchasing the item pictured, framed. Item will be bagged to protect from dust, packed in packing peanuts and boxed. Just open box and hang it on the wall… Makes a perfect gift! When they weren’t breathing new life into Green Lantern, Denny O’Neil and Neal Adams were taking Batman back to his dark, baleful roots – with a touch of gothic horror thrown in for good measure. It was a refreshing change in tone following the high camp of the late’60s and the Batman TV show era. Adams’ striking covers of the early’70s invariably featured swooping man-bats, ominous barren trees, nooses, cemeteries, and fog enshrouded castles – even as the interior stores centered, like this one does, on katate-style fight scenes. The League of Assassins in this cover could almost be a pack of zombies or ghouls from beyond the grave. They are, in fact, an elite army of killers created by Ra’s al Ghul, the deathless wraith who emerged as the Dark Knight Detective’s principal tormentor during this period and whose morbid visage looms over many a classic Neal Adams comics. The League of Assassins was founded by Ra’s al Ghul (exactly when is unknown) to be “the fang that protects the head” (Batgirl #67, 2005). Members of the League demonstrated willingness to die at a word from Ra’s. They have included some of the most dangerous assassins in the world including Lady Shiva, David Cain, and Merlyn. For much of its current history, any member who failed in an assassination was in turn targeted by the League. Indeed, one of its best-known members, the master-archer Merlyn, was eventually forced to flee from the League, fearing for his life, having failed to assassinate Batman. In more recent years, this policy has apparently relaxed somewhat. Ebeneezer Darcel, aka Doctor Darrk, was the first known individual assigned to head the League of Assassins by Ra’s al Ghul. Darrk himself was seconded by The Sensei, a martial arts master from Hong Kong. Although many of the League’s leaders over the years have been accomplished martial artists, Darrk himself did not depend on physical prowess, and as an assassin he instead relied upon careful planning and manipulation, ambushes and death traps, as well as a variety of cleverly concealed weapons and poisons. Although the League apparently had an inner circle of elite fighters as well as a large number of warriors trained in the martial arts, the League during Darrk’s tenure as leader reflected his personal methodology. Neal Adams (born June 15, 1941) is an American comic book and commercial artist known for helping to create some of the definitive modern imagery of the DC Comics characters Superman, Batman, and Green Arrow; as the co-founder of the graphic design studio Continuity Associates; and as a creators-rights advocate who helped secure a pension and recognition for Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. Adams was inducted into the Eisner Award’s Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 1998, and the Harvey Awards’ Jack Kirby Hall of Fame in 1999. If you have any questions please be sure to ask BEFORE purchasing! Can’t find what you’re looking for? Search my titles AND description by clicking here. You’ll notice your search bar now says “Search only this store”… Quite a powerful tool! Please check my other listings HERE. Please add me to your favorite sellers. List as I have new listings on the way! PLEASE TAKE A MOMENT AND CHECK MY OTHER LISTINGS! If you don’t see it- ask! It MAY be in stock! We’ll be glad to put a listing up for you! Respond to messages in 24 hours or less!