*DC: A real gem from the Bute Collection this week. Dick Sprang is my favourite Batman artiist; his angular style epitomises the Batman of the 40s and 50s, and he is omnipresent in Batman #23 from 1944, where he contributes the cover and all Batman stories (the Alfred story is by Jerry Robinson). The classic chess cover shows the Caped Crusaders cornering the Joker’s chess piece in an icomic scene. In the lead story, Batman and Robim encounter the Joker in The Upside Down Crimes; the middle story is Damsel In Distress and the end story is Pelt Plunderers (a Police Division story where Batman & Robin team up with the Mounties). This is a copy with amateur restoration and is priced as such, with an Apparent grade assigned. The spine is securely taped with clear magic tape, which is partially off at the centre with a small scuff mark. Small pieces of tape internally reiniforce the staples and seal a small tear at the right edge. Beneath the spine tape, there are tears which look as if they may have been colour touched (minor). There is a central vertical subscription crease which only breaks colour above the logo and a very thin white line (which looks more like a printing defect than a crease) extending from Robin’s head to the right edge. Corners are blunted and the back cover has small grubby patches. Tape repairs make it difficult to ascertain the status of the staples at spine, but they are firm at centrefold and the pages are a flexible cream with minor edge tanning. For all that, the copy presents well and represents an opportunity to acquire an iconic Joker cover Batman at a very reasonable price. High resolution images are available on request.
PICTURED: BATMAN #23 App GD £500 SOLD