*DC: Another Joker gem from the Midas Collection this week, with a classic cover portraying the Joker undergoing a series of unlucky mishaps – walking under a ladder, a broken mirror, a black cat and Friday 13th (a copy of the Daily Bugle with that date – an early inter-company crossover? HHOK). Cover by Jack Burnley. All art on the three Batman stories by Dick Sprang. Lead story by Bill Finger, where the Joker attempts to make money out of the 13 Club, who debunk superstition. The second story by Don C Cameron is about a successor to Batman following Bruce Wayne’s apparent death, and the third story by the same author concerns a murder mystery at the Grand Opera. A reasonable copy with strong cover colours and a nice image. There is some spine wear with a narrow colour-breaking reading crease close inside the spine and a 3 cm lower spine split. The cover is off at the lower staple; the upper staple is firm, although the centrefold is loose. Some corner blunting and a couple of small faint stains on the Joker’s arm and leg. Supple off-white pages. 
PICTURED: BATMAN #40 GD/VG £475