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Title: CANCELLED COMIC CAVALCADE Nos. 1 and 2 * Lot of Two Books * Bootlegs or True First Edition"?"
Place Published:
Publisher:DC
Date Published: [1978-1990s?]
Description: Cancelled Comic Cavalcade #s 1 and 2, blue medium-weight cardstock photocopied covers over black-and-white photocopied interiors, pages printed on one side only, with clear acetate outer covers and plastic comb bindings. Both books are in Very Fine or better condition, spines slightly leaning from storage, small crease to clear plastic back cover of #1, a few small specks to clear plastic cover of #2. Provenance: The DC UNIVERSE COLLECTION.

Overstreet: "In June, 1978, DC cancelled several of their titles. For copyright purposes, the unpublished original art for those titles was xeroxed, bound... published and distributed. Only 36 copies were made. Beware of bootleg copies." Sales Data: Heritage sold a set of Cancelled Comic Cavalcade #s 1 & 2 for $2629 in 2007, and sold a set of bootleg copies for $900 in 2019. Remnants of The DC Implosion: "Cancelled Comic Cavalcade featured a two-volume collection of unpublished stories, artwork and other material that was originally slated as 'next issue' stories for over thirty-five comic book titles which were discontinued as a result of the 1978 DC Implosion. The purpose of the collections were to preserve copyright on the material, despite it being from cancelled comics.... a total of 35 copies of the two volumes was produced, 34 of which were distributed to artists and writers, and a 35th copy given to the publisher of the Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide 'to show the world it actually happened.' The two books are, as a result, highly sought-after collectibles." — DC.fandom.com.

Bootlegs or "True First Editions"? We strongly suspect that these books are bootlegs, circa 1980s-90s. But according to British music producer Ian Levine, who amassed The DC Universe Collection over the course of several decades, these are "the true first editions" of Cancelled Comic Cavalcade #s 1 and 2. These have illustrated blue covers, rather than the blank outer covers with illustrated inner covers found on the standard edition. They have plastic "comb" bindings, while the spines of the standard edition are bound with black tape. The known bootlegs of Cancelled Comic Cavalcade that we've seen also have comb bindings, but with illustrated white covers.

The Lowdown from Levine: We asked Ian about these in a recent video chat, and he explained: "I bought them off eBay, and as I recall, the people who made them had gotten ahold of the original art for the comics that had been cancelled. The original copies [given to DC staffers] were made en masse, but these were the original originals, too expensive for wider production. These were made first, and the others were made after. I paid at least $1000 for them, going back to the late 1990s. They were sold as the originals from which all the others were copied. Mine were the true originals. I certainly paid money for them on the basis that they were the private first copies, the best copies you could ever get of them."

Cavalcade Controversy: It boils down to this — either Ian Levine scored a previously-unknown ur-version of Cancelled Comic Cavalcade from an eBay seller with inside connections at DC, or else he got snookered by a bunko artist who soaked him for a grand. We asked former DC prez Paul Levitz if he thinks these are "true first edition" copies, and he replied: "Don't think so. The taped spines were the first ones done." Still, even bootleg Cancelled Comic Cavalcades are coveted by collectors — a set of bootlegs fetched $900 in 2019 — and as far as bootlegs are concerned, this set's backstory probably makes it the most interesting example to own. And it's in Ian Levine's favor that, having handled more DC obscurities than anyone else on Earth, his expertise outweighs almost everyone's on the subject of heretofore unknown DCs. As Ian remarked while brandishing an ultra-obscure Warlord giveaway, "Paul Levitz said the Warlord mini-comic didn't exist, yet here it is....."****************************************
The DC UNIVERSE COLLECTION comprises over 40,000 comic books, encompassing 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, including The DC UNIVERSE COLLECTION Part 3: The GOLDEN AGE, coming this summer. To join the DC Universe Collection notifications list, contact pba@pbagalleries.com.

Enjoying PBA's DC Universe Collection: Pre-Hero, Ashcans and Oddities 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 DC diehards. To order a copy, or to inquire about consignment opportunities, contact Ivan Briggs, PBA's Director of Comics: ivan@pbagalleries.com.