- Release Date
- May 1939
- Overstreet 38 NM- Value
- $525,000
- Best Known Copy
- Allentown Pedigree copy (approximate value $2,000,000)
- Highest Unrestored CGC Grade
- 8.0
- Record Price Paid
- $1,075,000 at Heritage Comics Signature Auction February 2010. The highest price ever paid for a comic book.
- Significance
- 1st appearance of Batman by Bill Finger and Bob Kane.
- Why it's profiled
- When I first thought of doing this comic profile series, I knew immediately which book would start off the festivities. While Action Comics #1 is obviously the most important and most valuable American comic book- in my house, Detective Comics #27 rules the roost, so it's batting lead-off.
Batman has always been one of my favorite characters. Kane's design was brilliant from day one and the people that have followed him in the years since have created a rich body of work that just happens to include some of the best superhero comics ever created. With talents like Frank Miller, Marshall Rogers, Neal Adams, Jim Lee and Brian Bolland all doing some of their best work illustrating Batman's adventures it's hard not to see why Batman, and his first appearance in Detective Comics #27 are personal favorites of mine.
Of course, the impact of Batman and Detective Comics #27 is far-reaching and stretches far beyond my humble walls. With the movies, the campy (but popular) TV series, the excellent various animated adventures and the decades of excellent comics stories, Batman has proven to be a vibrant part of the American (and world) pop culture landscape. One needs to look no further than the recent, runaway success of the Dark Knight to see how well this timeless character still resonates with fans around the world.
And it all started here, 70 years ago, with Detective Comics #27.