Heading:
Title: BATMAN No. 20 * 1st Batmobile Cover
Publisher:DC [Indicia: Detective Comics, Inc.]
Date Published: December, 1943-January, 1944
Description: CGC certified: Fair/Good (1.5). Purple label: Restored (C-5). Off-white to white pages. Grader notes: "Detached cover; moisture damage whole book; tape cover; tape spine; TOP EDGE OF FRONT COVER TRIMMED; color touch on front cover & spine; piece added with tape cover C-5; staple rust." Provenance: The DC UNIVERSE COLLECTION.
 
CGC Census: 295 graded copies (265 Universal, 1 Qualified, 29 Restored).
 
GPAnalysis: No reported sales in this grade. A restored 2.5 (C-1) sold for $500 in 4/20; another restored 2.5 (C-3) sold for $350 in 4/19.
 
For comparison purposes, here are recent Universal sales: A 1.5 sold for $1250 in 6/23; a 1.0 sold for $863 in 3/22.
 
Credits: Cover: Dick Sprang. Scripts: Don C. Cameron, Bill Finger. Art: Jack Burnley, Bob Kane, Jerry Robinson (inks). Overstreet: "1st Batmobile cover."Bat-cyclopedia: "In December 1943-January 1944 Batman and Robin battle the JOKER; apprehend SLICK FINGERS; spend a day and night with the harbor patrol, the second in a series of adventures dealing with the various law-enforcement agencies of the United States; and agonize over the dilemma that confronts them when Bruce Wayne loses legal custody of Dick Grayson." — Michael L. Fleisher, The Encyclopedia of Comic Book Heroes Vol. 1: Batman. Macmillan: 1976, pp. 117-118.
 
Details: The Joker uses a combination of cunning and abandoned movie sets to convince a couple of crooks that he has the ability to send them forward into the future, where they will be able to make a fortune by investing funds in the present. The gullible crooks take the bait, but Batman and Robin show up and smash the plot. * Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson are dismayed when George and Clara Grayson show up at Wayne Manor, claiming to be Dick's long-lost aunt and uncle and demanding custody of their nephew. But Bruce Wayne soon figures out that George and Clara are actually swindlers eager to extort money from him in exchange for legal guardianship over their alleged nephew.
 
Batmobile's Cover Debut: This ish boasts a classic cover featuring the most famous Golden Age iteration of the Batmobile, a "car of weird design and blinding speed," which the Encyclopedia of Comic Book Heroes Vol. 1: Batman describes as "a dark blue 'super-charged car' with a hard, fully enclosed top; a distinctive bat-head front; and a single sharklike tail fin protruding backward from the rear portion of the roof." — Ibid, Fleisher, p. 55.The DC UNIVERSE COLLECTION comprises over 40,000 comic books, including a copy of every single DC comic published for retail sale from 1934 to 2014. The collection was amassed by British music producer Ian Levine over the course of several decades, and it's been hailed as the single greatest collecting accomplishment in comic book history. This collection served as the basis for former DC Comics president Paul Levitz's monumental book 75 Years of DC Comics: The Art of Modern Mythmaking, published by Taschen in 2017. PBA is proud to present this epic collection in a series of themed sales over the next two years. To join the DC Universe Collection notifications list, contact pba@pbagalleries.com.
Enjoying PBA's Batman sale? A very small number of softcover and limited edition hardcover auction catalogues are available for purchase. The catalogues are fully illustrated, thoroughly researched, and make excellent reference works for Batman fans. To order a copy, or to inquire about consignment opportunities, contact Ivan Briggs, PBA's Director of Comics: ivan@pbagalleries.com.