*DC: The Midas Collection: Batman #8 from 1941/42 leads off this week’s updates. This is an issue with strong, quality content, four excellent Batman stories, all by Bill Finger and Bob Kane. In the first, Batman has to infiltrate a prison and ends up facing the gas chamber. In the second, The Strange Case Of Professor Radium, a scientist finds a way to use radium to bring the dead back to life, and he uses himself as a guinea pig; it doesn’t end well. The third story involves a murder mystery set at a stage production where superstitious practices are carried out. The Joker stars in the fourth story, as Batman and Robin pursue him cross country. All this within an outstanding infinity cover by Fred Ray and Jerry Robinson.
This copy, sadly, is a wreck. HANDLE WITH CARE! The front cover is completely, and raggedly, detached, with a strip 1-2 cm wide by 10 cm deep missing in from the spine on the lower half. The upper half of that side of the cover has several tears with some loss, including a long diagonal tear right across the top of Robin’s head (small piece of tape partially covering that inside cover). Top and bottom edges have wear, nicks and creases and the right edge of the whole comic is ragged, uneven and torn. There is a long crease down the right side of the cover about 4 cm in from the edge which deepens to a tear at its most severe. The back cover is also detached and in a similar state, with losses at spine and ragged corners off at top and bottom left. The staples hold everything firm except the centrefold which is loose. The pages are not too bad (apart from the ragged right edge) and are a creamy colour with some tanning at edges. Apart from the missing parts of cover, the comic is complete and perfectly readable, but I don’t think you’d want to handle it too much. Still, the condition does bring the price down! High resolution images are available on request.
PICTURED: BATMAN #8 PR £500 SOLD