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Title: BATMAN Nos. 137, 138, 139, 140, 141 * Lot of 5 Comics
Publisher:DC [Indicia: National Comics Publications, Inc.]
Date Published: 1961
Description: #137: VG (4.0). Moderate spine stress, corners slightly rounded, mild edgewear, bindery (?) ink rub to cover, sun shadow, tiny chip at top spine, small dogeared nick. reseller's rubberstamp to front cover. Tan pages.
#138: VG (4.0). Spine stress, mild edgewear, tiny corner chip, corner crease, pencilled reseller's price on back cover. Cream to light tan pages.
#139: Good- (1.8). Spine stress, spine reinforced and partially attached to pages with TAPE, creases, rubs, small dogeared tear and shallow edge chips to back cover. Light tan pages. Overstreet: "Intro 1st original Bat-Girl."
#140: Poor (0.5). Spine entirely split, tears and creases to covers, covers loose and barely attached with yellowing TAPE, reseller's rubberstamp to cover. Cream to light tan pages. Overstreet: "Joker story; Batwoman cover/story; Superman cameo."
#141: Good- (1.8). Cover detached at top staple, bottom staple pulled, 1" spine split, corner creases, some soiling, distributor's mark in ink. Light tan pages. Overstreet: "2nd app. original Bat-Girl."
 
Cover pencils and inks: Sheldon Moldoff. Stories and art: Bill Finger, Jerry Coleman, Sheldon Moldoff, and Charles Paris.Sci-Fi Shenanigans: "Under the aegis of editor Jack Schiff, Batman comics doubled down on the science fiction plots in the Wertham era of the late fifties. Crime and violence were out; aliens, robots, monsters, and more than a few alien robot monsters showed up with increasing regularity. Batman rocketed into outer space without a second thought and continued to hop back and forth in time like he was changing subway trains.
 
"But this had less to do with Wertham and the Comics Code and more to do with the prevailing zeitgeist. The Space Age had dawned. The evening news was suddenly full of satellites and test flights, rockets and UFOs. Hollywood had largely abandoned the gangster movies and noir detective yarns that inspired Batman's creation.... The Space Age was the reason that superhero comics, which had gone fallow in the postwar era, were now undergoing a resurgence." — Glen Weldon, The Caped Crusade: Batman and the Rise of Nerd Culture. Simon & Schuster: 2016, pp. 57-58.
 
Note: At the buyer's discretion, this lot of raw comics can be submitted by PBA to CGC for grading and encapsulation with a "DC Universe Collection" provenance designation on the labels. To request this service, contact PBA's comic book department for terms and conditions.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.