The Batman Legend Archive

Curated by Martin Nealon

Black and yellow Batman logo with a bat silhouette inside an oval.

The archive continues to evolve.

The Batman Legend Archive is an independent reference resource dedicated to documenting the 2012 Cryptozoic Batman: The Legend trading card series. The archive aims to preserve information about the artists, artwork and creative process behind one of the most ambitious licensed sketch card projects ever produced, whilst showcasing an evolving private collection of original cards and commissioned works.

Batman running through a city street during a fire storm, rain pouring and smoke billowing from burning buildings, with the iconic Empire State Building in the background.

When it comes to comic book super heroes, few are bigger than the Dark Knight. 2012 Cryptozoic Batman: The Legend trading cards highlight a mix of characters and art styles that help make the Caped Crusader so memorable and timeless.

The base set is a character-focused one, highlighting a lot of Batman’s friends and foes from more modern times. The artwork comes from several artists and Adam Beechen, who has worked on many DC comic books, provides the text on the back.

All 63 base cards have Holo-foil parallels that combine to land 1:8 packs. One-of-one Printing Plates can also be found every 576 packs.

Leading the way as far as inserts go are Sketch Cards. Collectors should find one in every hobby box. Nearly 150 artists did original artwork for these.

Carnival of Criminals has cards of eight different villains. Each of these are done to resemble circus posters. Falling 1:12 packs, most boxes should have two.

The Batmobile (nine cards, 1:12 packs) highlights different models of Batman’s wheels. The Batcave (1:12 packs) is a nine-card puzzle showcasing the corners and crannies of his headquarters.

Although released very early in 2013, the copyright on the back has 2012.

2012 Cryptozoic Batman:

Cover of a Batman trading cards binder featuring Batman in a dark cityscape with the Bat-Signal in the background.

The artists currently represented within the archive span four continents and nine countries, reflecting the truly international nature of the Batman: The Legend project.