*DC: Another gem from the Bat-Vaults of the Bute Collection this week. Batman #19 is a classic issue and a joy for Dick Spang fans, as he illustrates not just the cover, but all four stories as well. The inventive cover scene has Robin mixing up a batch of chemicals, in the fumes from which we see the story titles displayed. Batman Makes A Deadline is a tough thriller focusing on a crime reporter; Atlantis Goes To War involves a nazi submarine base hidden in lost Atlantis (!); The Case Of The Timid Lion has someone using the Joker’s calling card to perpetrate jokes and robberies, which doesn’t amuse the Joker, nor Batman & Robin; and in Collector of Millionaires, Bruce Wayne is kidnapped and replaced by a lookalike in a dastardly plot. Four very different but equally absorbing stories.
This issue is generally in nice shape. Wear is limited to a very slight spine roll and tiny white wear marks around the staples and at right edge. There is one short 4 cm crease breaking colour across the bottom right corner. Cover colours (on an undamaged black background) are good and the cover image is strong and unspoilt. Pages are flexible and a nice off-white with excellent staples firm and tight at spine and centrefold. The comic has been mis-cut in the production process, resulting in a sloping white edge at the bottom of the cover and the top edge being correspondingly truncated a little. The margins (only) on the inside pages are similarly affected. Also, some of the pages are a little short in the lower margin with serrated edges, which suggest they were made from paper at the beginning or end of a roll. These aspects are very slight and are of course production problems rather than being due to age or wear. They don’t spoil the look or feel of this well-presenting issue. And what a treat to get an early Batman with the Joker in such nice shape! High resolution images are available on request.
PICTURED: BATMAN #19 VG £750