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Title: BATMAN No. 80
Publisher:DC [Indicia: National Comics Publications, Inc.]
Date Published: December, 1953-January, 1954
Description: CGC certified: VG- (3.5). Off-white to white pages. Grader notes: "Staple detached bottom of cover; heavy creasing to cover; light foxing to cover; light spine splits to cover; light staining to cover." Provenance: The DC UNIVERSE COLLECTION.
 
CGC Census: 91 graded copies (84 Universal, 3 Qualified, 4 Restored).
 
GPAnalysis: A 3.5 sold for $135 in 6/20.
 
Credits: Cover: Win Mortimer. Scripts: Bill Finger (?) and Bill Woolfolk. Art: Dick Sprang, Charles Paris (inks), Bob Kane (Batman and Robin only), and Lew Sayre Schwartz. Overstreet: "Joker story."Bat-Bibliography: The DC Universe Collection copy of Batman #80 is illustrated in Taschen's 75 Years of DC Comics: The Art of Modern Mythmaking (page 120), with the following commentary: "Returning to life after execution in the electric chair in Detective Comics No. 64, the Joker was a changed man. Mark Waid observed that 'his felonies became less macabre and more zany, his crimes revolving around gimmicks such as committing bizarre thefts in mysterious patterns or around weird themes.... It was a pretty fair trade: Joker stories became less moody but, on the whole, more memorable.'"
 
Bat-cyclopedia: "In December 1953-January 1954 Batman and Robin battle the JOKER and meet ERIC GOLAR. During the same period, while Batman is away in Chicago attending a murder trial, Robin apprehends five criminals in the act of robbing a warehouse." — Michael L. Fleisher, The Encyclopedia of Comic Book Heroes Vol. 1: Batman. Macmillan: 1976, p. 124.
 
Details: In his latest moneymaking hustle, the Joker launches Joker Film Productions. By filming the crimes he commits, the Joker aims to create educational films to sell to other underworld criminals. However, after viewing his humiliating depiction in Batman's film The Return of Batman and Robin, the Joker switches gears and decides to create a revenge film. By luring Batman and Robin into a series of "scripted" battles, the Joker makes a movie depicting Batman and Robin as bumbling buffoons, and himself as a victorious conqueror. Titled How to Handle Batman and Robin, the Joker sells this film to every important criminal in Gotham. Unbeknownst to the Joker, however, Batman and Robin were wise to his scheme all along, and allowed themselves to be filmed in order to get their mitts on the Joker's list of Gotham's top criminals.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.