Heading: The Rarest DC Publication" — Ian Levine"
Author:
Title: HOW YOU CAN DEFEND YOUR HOME * WWII Preparedness Pamphlet
Place Published:
Publisher:Jolaine Publications
Date Published: No date [1942?]
Description: CGC certified: VG (4.0). Grader's notes: "Staple detached bottom of cover; light creasing to cover; light spine splits to cover; light tears to cover. Manufactured with hole punch." Off-white to white pages." Provenance: The DC UNIVERSE COLLECTION.

GPAnalysis: No reported sales in any grade.

Overstreet: Not listed CGC Census: 6 graded copies (6 Universal, none Restored). This is the 3rd highest-graded copy, following a 5.5 and a 5.0. Gerber's Photo-Journal Guide Scarcity Index: Not listed.

Credits: M.C. Gaines, Hubert Mathieu, Edward Gruskin?Super Rare Air Raid Mag: According to demon DC collector Ian Levine, amasser of the DC Universe Collection, this is the rarest DC promo mag you will ever see. Only six graded copies exist, of which this is the 3rd highest-graded example. The Library of Congress has a raw copy, and it's said that two as-yet unidentified university libraries do as well. Comics dealer Harley Yee sold a copy for $1000 around 2009, but aside from that, there is no reliable sales data available anywhere. So what is this strange, ultra-esoteric DC obscurity, exactly?

It's a public-service booklet, the size of a Golden Age comic book, intended to help keep American citizens safe in the event of a Japanese or German air attack on domestic soil, undated but clearly published during WWII. The booklet is packed with illustrations and descriptions of Allied and Axis aircraft to enable sharp-eyed citizens to distinguish friends from foes, and the text covers "How to 'Blackout,'" "Putting Out Incendiary Bombs," "What To Do At School" (a precursor to the "Duck and Cover" A-bomb drills of the Cold War era), how to design and supply a "refuge room," and other handy skills to cultivate in times of all-out war.

Although the DC name and insignia do not appear on this mag's cover or interior, the indicia lists the publisher as "Jolaine Publications," which was one of the sub-imprints used by Max Gaines' All-American Comics line. All-American was, of course, a closely-linked affiliate publisher to DC, and "Jolaine Publications" is named as publisher in the indicia of All-American's All-Flash Comics #s 2-26, Comic Cavalcade #26, and Green Lantern Comics #s 1-23. Additionally, an ad promoting this mag appears in All-Flash Comics #s 4 and 5, and the indicia names M.C. Gaines as the editor.

Every known copy of this mag has a hole-punch in the top right corner, as issued by the publisher, allowing the book to be hung by string or nail in an easily-accessible spot; however, sfcityduck (a commenter on CGC's discussion boards) says "it is rumored DC might have an unpunched copy in their archives." Sure enough, an unpunched copy is pictured in DC Comics Year By Year: A Visual Chronicle (p. 38): "DC placed its expertise at the disposal of the government, publishing a number of public information leaflets and pamphlets."

Another chap on the CGC boards, 50YrsCollctngCmcs, mused rather interestingly over this mag: "Funny how things go; I think this was actually a pretty common book when I was a kid in the Sixties. I seem to remember seeing this book in piles at garage sales and flea markets. But who wanted it!! I bet these were a dime a dozen in their time and then with the war over mostly hit the dustbin. By the way, it probably was the nine year olds who did warn Mom and Dad. My Dad was ten in 1942 and he talked about going outside and watching the plane convoys fly over and trying to identify them.... This is hard to imagine today, but he said that literally dozens and dozens would fly over in formation, a sight to behold. We don't see anything like that today; in fact most planes fly so high you rarely notice them."****************************************
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.