Comic Book Cats, number 182: Batman #40 cover penciled by Jack Burnley, inked by Charles Paris and lettered by Ira Schnapp, published by DC Comics in April-May 1947.
Oh the irony! I discover the perfect cover artwork to showcase on Friday the 13th and I’m a day too late! That’s just typical Friday the 13th bad luck for you! 
Anyway, this Golden Age cover featuring Batman, Robin and the Joker sees the Clown Prince of Crime falling plague to a number of traditional unlucky phenomena, including a black cat crossing his path. Of course in real life black cats are NOT unlucky… well, okay, except if you don’t wake up in time to feed them and they start scratching up your comic book collection!
Jack Burnley was a prominent artist at DC Comics during the 1940s. Among his earliest published work was the cover for the New York World’s Fair 1940 special, aka World’s Fair Comics #2, which was the first time Superman appeared together with Batman and Robin. Burnley, with writer Gardner Fox, co-created the superhero Starman in 1941. He was one of Bob Kane’s main ghost artists on the Batman comic books and newspaper strip during the 1940s. In 1947 Burnley left comic books for newspaper sports cartooning. He retired in 1976 and passed away in December 2006 at the age of 95.
Thank you to the very talented John K. Snyder III for posting this great cover on his FB timeline!
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