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Title: BATMAN No. 36
Publisher:DC [Indicia: Detective Comics, Inc.]
Date Published: August-September, 1946
Description: CGC certified: VG+ (4.5). White pages. Grader notes: "Creasing to cover; light staining to cover; spine stress lines to cover; stacking bend; tears to cover; writing on cover." Provenance: The DC UNIVERSE COLLECTION.
 
CGC Census: 206 graded copies (194 Universal, 4 Qualified, 8 Restored).
 
GPAnalysis: A 4.5 sold for $321 in 6/22.
 
Credits: Cover: Dick Sprang. Scripts: Al Schwartz, Don C. Cameron, Bill Finger. Art: Paul Cooper (signed as Bob Kane), Ray Burnley (inks), Jerry Robinson. Overstreet: "Penguin app."Bat-cyclopedia: "In August-September 1946 Batman and Robin match wits with the PENGUIN; meet JERRY McGLONE; and journey through the time barrier to the court of the legendary KING ARTHUR." — Michael L. Fleisher, The Encyclopedia of Comic Book Heroes Vol. 1: Batman. Macmillan: 1976, p. 119.
 
Details: The Penguin hatches a scheme to gather the signatures of Gotham's richest citizens by opening a new, exclusive restaurant which requires each patron's order to be handwritten and signed. The Penguin plans to use the writing samples as part of an elaborate forged-check scheme, but Dynamic Duo get wise to the Penguin's plot, and the Caped Crusader puts the Felonious Fowl's eatery out of business. * Famous Hollywood stuntman Jerry McGlone receives a head injury after a stunt, leaving him amnesiac and delusional. He comes to believe that he is Phantom Phelan, the villain he was portraying, and turns to crime. Batman and Robin track him down, rescue him from certain death, and help him recover his memory.
 
Crooked Compulsions: "Each archvillain [Batman faced] over the course of his first decade came at him with an individualized quirk that grew out of a warped worldview — corny gags, cats, the number two, fear, the mystifying combination of birds and umbrellas. These signifiers helped readers keep them straight, of course, but they also strongly hinted that these criminals were something more than merely crooked: they were twisted. Not merely criminal but crazy." — Glen Weldon, The Caped Crusade: Batman and the Rise of Nerd Culture. Simon & Schuster: 2016, p. 39.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.