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Title: DETECTIVE COMICS No. 30
Publisher:DC [Indicia: Detective Comics, Inc.]
Date Published: August, 1939
Description: CGC certified: Poor (0.5). Purple label: Restored (B-1). Off-white pages. Grader notes: "Married cover; missing interior part/page/wrap page(s) 6-16 affects story; staple removed; tape cover; tape interior cover; front cover re-glossed." Provenance: The DC UNIVERSE COLLECTION.
 
CGC Census: 66 graded copies (41 Universal, 1 Qualified, 24 Restored).
 
GPAnalysis: A restored 0.5 (C-1) sold for $2800 in 5/19.
 
For comparison purposes, here are recent Universal sales: A 0.5 (no grade, coverless) sold for $2000 in 6/21; a 1.0 sold for $1500 in 3/14.
 
Credits: Cover: Fred Guardineer. Scripts: Gardner Fox, Bob Kane, Homer Fleming, Bill Ely, Jerry Siegel, Frank Thomas. Art: Bob Kane (Shelly Moldoff backgrounds), Homer Fleming, Mart Bailey, Fred Guardineer, Tom Hickey, Sven Elven, Wayne Boring. Overstreet: "Dr. Death app.; classic Batman splash panel by Kane." Fourth appearance of Batman.Bat-cyclopedia: "In August 1939 Batman renews his battle with DOCTOR DEATH.... [who] managed to survive the fire in his laboratory by escaping through a secret doorway. His face, however, now a ghastly brown color, has been virtually 'destroyed' by the flames, leaving him with no lips and almost no nose.
 
When Doctor Death's assistant MIKHAIL attempts to steal some jewels from the widow of John Jones... Batman intervenes and knocks Mikhail unconscious, only to allow him to escape soon afterward in the hope that Mikhail will lead him to the hideout of Doctor death.
 
Mikhail, however, leads Batman only as far as the headquarters of an underworld fence known as Ivan Herd, and Batman kills Mikhail soon afterward without learning anything further about the whereabouts of Doctor Death.... Batman [soon] learns to his astonishment that Ivan Herd is none other than Doctor Death himself, his identity concealed behind a clever disguise. After binding his captive with rope, Batman hands him over to the police, thus bringing to a close Doctor Death's brief but diabolical career." — Michael L. Fleisher, The Encyclopedia of Comic Book Heroes Vol. 1: Batman. Macmillan: 1976, pp. 115, 191-192.
Gotham's Avenging Fury: "In... Detective Comics #30, Gardner Fox's script gave us our first hint that demons might roil in the unguessed-at depths of our hero's psyche. The story's introductory caption matter-of-factly informed readers that Batman was a 'winged figure of vengeance.'
 
"Vengeance. It was an odd, conspicuous word choice, and a concept that Superman — even the frequently brutal Golden Age Superman — would piously disdain. It was also a deliberate pivot: in his previous adventures, Batman 'fought for righteousness' and spent his nights 'righting wrongs and bringing justice' — par for the hero course. But vengeance?
 
"That was new, and it underscored the character's ties to the flawed antiheroes of the noir tradition. Readers wouldn't have to wait long to learn exactly why he thirsted for vengeance, to witness the tragedy that formed him and the oath that defined him, in issue #33." — Glen Weldon, The Caped Crusade: Batman and the Rise of Nerd Culture. Simon & Schuster: 2016, pp. 23-24.