The Latest Batman Item You've Acquired?

[AndyFish]

Got this last week from the very store that Jczernich won his costume contest-- That's Entertainment in MA-- they don't get a lot of Golden Age books anymore, but this is the same store (different location) where I bought my first early Detective-- #34 -- I got it 43 years ago for $90 and the clerk at the time tried to talk me out of spending that much money on a comic book. "A kid like you shouldn't be spending that kind of money!" Today that very copy is worth about $8k!

As for the #40--it's the first appearance of CLAYFACE-- and not the shape shifting one-- the ORIGINAL serial Killer one who turns out to be deranged movie horror star Basil Karlo! Spoiler Alert!

And at Heroes Con in Charlotte NC TODAY I picked up this great book-- it's bright colors really pop.
It's been a good week!

Next buying show is Chicago Fan Expo in August and then Baltimore Comic Con in either September or October.

[BiffPow]

Great looking finds! What fun!

[Mr. Comic Book]

Recently purchased this off eBay at a discount ($25 off the cover price). Not for myself, but for the assistant pastor and choir director at my church. The item's still available on the seller's page.



Long story short, I was showing the pastor, assistant pastor, and choir director different Batman artists, as Scott McDaniel regularly opens his commission list and often does Bible-based artwork. (They're still debating whether or not to ask McDaniel to draw something for the church, with money and subject matter being the issues.) Along the way, Kelley Jones came up and the choir director took a liking to his art samples on Instagram. Since all involved have young kids, Jones' work on the regular Batman title seemed the best way to go, and this oversized edition was the best value for the money. I took it with me to church this morning and the assistant pastor and choir director both loved it. Not only did they both dig Jones' version of Batman, but they also loved his takes on Killer Croc, Scarecrow, and Mr. Freeze (and were shocked to find out that Jones' Freeze costume was the basis for Arnold Schwarzenegger's movie suit).

They did, however, argue against me buying one for each of them just due to the price; they'd rather just share the one copy between them. And they're both looking forward to reading this with their kids. So that was money well spent!

[AndyFish]

Great find-- for those that don't know-- the Kelley Jones book is one of the Artist Edition Lines-- they are released as oversized books that are the actual size of the original art-- the black and white artwork is scanned in COLOR-- why? So that you can see all the white out, the blue line notes, and sometimes other things that give original art it's charm. This one is put out by Graphitti Designs while a larger number (including an upcoming one with Neal Adams Batman and another featuring Batman Year One by Dave Mazzuchelli and Frank Miller) are put out by IDW.
Great books-- huge, but great!

[Mr. Comic Book]

Great find-- for those that don't know-- the Kelley Jones book is one of the Artist Edition Lines-- they are released as oversized books that are the actual size of the original art-- the black and white artwork is scanned in COLOR-- why? So that you can see all the white out, the blue line notes, and sometimes other things that give original art it's charm. This one is put out by Graphitti Designs while a larger number (including an upcoming one with Neal Adams Batman and another featuring Batman Year One by Dave Mazzuchelli and Frank Miller) are put out by IDW.
Great books-- huge, but great!

For this Batman book, 54 of the original pages were already sold to art collectors, so production stat scans and Gregory Wright's hand-colored color guides were used to fill the gaps. But the book is over 200 pages, so most of it was still taken from the original art. And to be honest the production stats and color guides look good in and of themselves, so nothing was lost by using them in place of pages that were no longer available.

[Therin of Andor]

Batman Story Book Annual UK World (1967) (Origin) (Unclipped) (Uninscribed) (VG)
IMG_4429.jpeg

I just received one of these but the low price was too good to be true. It has one page half-ripped away. Have tried to get another one.

This pic took some studying, though. A first glance, it looked like Batman was hitting the tied-up Robin. I guess it is a Bat laser beam?


Batman Annual 1967 - tied Robin by Ian McLean, on Flickr

Loved this promotion for the Corgi Batmobile. This was the one I coveted as a kid -- and found buried in the dirt at a public cricket oval!


Batman Annual 1967 Corgi Batmobile toy by Ian McLean, on Flickr

[rsaffle]

Batman Story Book Annual UK World (1967) (Origin) (Unclipped) (Uninscribed) (VG)
IMG_4429.jpeg

This pic took some studying, though. A first glance, it looked like Batman was hitting the tied-up Robin. I guess it is a Bat laser beam?

I think Batman is branding Robin with an "R" on the left side this time.

[BiffPow]

I think Batman is branding Robin with an "R" on the left side this time.

[Mr. Comic Book]

Just ordered two sets of the 1995 Batman Forever Metal card set off eBay.



I already have one of these that I bought from my comic book store at the time, but the two I've just purchased will be going to my sister and her husband and to the Batman nerds at my church, respectively. Say what you will about the movie, but these cards were one of the best collectibles to come out of it. (Although I do wonder why Neal Adams' art -- originally done for the film's licensing -- isn't credited on the cards while everyone else's is.)

[AndyFish]

Probably my favorite cover in the history of the character- major grail accomplished!

[BiffPow]

That is a classic. If I recall correctly from my youth, Steranko featured that cover in his “History of Comics.”

Fantastic addition to what must be an amazing collection. And I do not use the word “amazing” very often, because it is overused.

[Jczernich]

Probably my favorite cover in the history of the character- major grail accomplished!

TEC 031.jpg

They also say it is the most homaged Batman cover of all time! Great score!

[Lou Szabo]

Detective 31. I wonder if the artists who drew it knew it would become as iconic as it has?

[AndyFish]

I've always assumed this is one of the rare cases where Bob Kane actually did some of the work (It's early enough) but I'm sure he had help (Shelley Moldoff had said he worked on it) but I think it pre-dates Jerry Robinson joining the team.

[BiffPow]

First appearance of the Batplane and the batarang!

I believe the art has been attributed to Bob Kane, but I do not know how accurate that is.