As much as I have always loved Action Comics and Adventure Comics, there’s no doubt in my mind that the most collectible of the three classic DC anthologies has always been Detective Comics. From the 1960s on, more collectors have sought out the title that brought Batman to the world than any other Golden Age anthology, with the possible exception of Marvel Mystery Comics. If you’re a DC enthusiast, you’ll pick Detective; if you’re a Marvel collector, you’ll prefer Marvel Mystery.
What’s really intriguing about Detective is that, in many cases, the issues from 1948–54 are actually better than many of the earlier issues (though not nearly as valuable), with two glaring exceptions. You’ll never find Detective #140 (Oct. 1948), with the debut of the Riddler, or Detective #168 (Feb. 1951), with the origin of the Joker, for less than hundreds of dollars, even in “good.” For that matter, it’s becoming increasingly tough to find any pre-Code issue of Detective for less than $50 to $100 in “good,” depending on the cover. They’re just highly appealing comics.
The issues we’re covering here start with #131 (Jan. 1948) and run through #216 (Feb. 1955), the last pre-Code issue. Thankfully for Batman fans, DC has published six volumes of archives with all the 109 Batman stories from Detective #s 27–135. Detective, however, is far from just Batman.
Air Wave, one of DC’s least-known costume heroes, ran through #137 (July 1948) and was replaced by the far superior Robotman in #138 (Aug. 1948), after Robotman moved over from Star Spangled Comics. Likewise, the entertaining but somewhat dated Boy Commandos ran through #150 (Aug. 1949) before a much more creative strip, Pow-Wow Smith, began in #151 (Sept. 1949). Robotman and Pow-Wow Smith both ran through #202 (Dec. 1953), when they were replaced by the inferior Captain Compass and Mysto, Magician Detective. Robotman disappeared, but thankfully Carmine Infantino’s beautifully rendered version of Pow-Wow Smith was shifted to Western Comics, where his wonderful adventures ran through 1961.
Mysto, one of DC’s least-known characters of the 1950s, ran only from #203 (Jan. 1954) through #212 (Oct. 1954). Captain Compass fell victim to the Martian Manhunter’s debut in #225 (Nov. 1955), but that’s in the post-Code era, when Detective was limited to three characters per issue. When DC downsized Detective from 44 pages to 36 pages with #212, Mysto’s days were numbered.
DC completed its late 1940s revamp of Detective when Slam Bradley ended his 152-issue run in #152 (Oct. 1949) and was replaced by the more imaginative Impossible — But True starring Roy Raymond in #153 (Nov. 1949). The title was updated to Roy Raymond TV Detective with #201 (Nov. 1953), but the strip remained the same. Impossible — But True was one of the most underrated of all DC strips, full of intriguing stories with unusual twists. These are nothing but fun, and Ruben Moriera’s art makes them even better.
The 50 consecutive issues of Detective all with Batman, Impossible — But True! Pow-Wow Smith and Robotman — #s 153–202 — can’t be beat! These are among the most highly entertaining comics to be found from the early 1950s. If you haven’t collected these, you’re in for a treat. Nicely illustrated, highly readable, just plain fun — these are well worth collecting. You simply can’t go wrong with any of them. It’s a real example of how DC improved in terms of art and stories over much (but certainly not all!) of its 1940s product.
As good as the backup stories were in Detective, though, Batman has always been the main attraction. It’s a tribute to his popularity and collectability that the Gerber Photo-Journal gives almost all of his 1950s issues 4s, along with a few 5s. Indeed, it really isn’t difficult to find old issues of Detective Comics — if you have the cash!
Two issues after #202, however, should be on every Batman enthusiast’s want list. Mysteriously, the Catwoman made a long-awaited return to the pages of Detective in #203 (Jan. 1954), in “Crimes of the Catwoman!” and in #211 (Sept. 1954), in “The Jungle Cat Queen!” after being absent from Detective since #122 (April 1947), although Selina Kyle appeared in Batman’s own title several times in the interim.
Along with the previously mentioned
#140 and #168, some of the best Batman stories can also be found in Detective #142 (the second Riddler story), #144 (a guest appearance by Big Band leader Kay Kyser), #152 (Vicki Vale in a rare cover appearance), #56 (“The Batmobile of 1950”), #164 (“The Untold Tales of the Bat Signal”), #169 (“Boss of the Big House”) and #179 (“Bruce Wayne, Mayor of Gotham City!”)
Vicki Vale had been introduced in Batman’s own title only a year earlier when Detective #152 (Oct. 1949) appeared, so she was still a fresh, original addition to the storylines. This was the only appearance of the Goblin, one of many one-shot or two-shot villains in Batman. Vicki also played a prominent role in “Bruce Wayne, Private Detective” in Detective #155 (Jan. 1950), also an outstanding story with a nice twist leading the Vicki’s declaration to Bruce as they dance: “You’re no Batman!”
Other Batman gems include #185 (“The Secret of Batman’s Utility Belt”), #187 (“The Double Crimes of Two-Face!”), #191 (“The Man with the License to Kill!”), #195 (“The Original Batman!”), #205 (“Origin of the Batcave!”) and
#214 (“The Batman Encyclopedia!”). One of the most underrated of all 1950s DC comics is “The Original Batman!” in Detective #195, an intriguing story of a Batman imitator who turns out to be a good guy.
I’m actually partial to creative stories in which the Joker or the Penguin does not appear, so that’s another reason I’m so partial to Detective, in which those two villains did not often appear in the l950s (although you can find them more often in Batman and World’s Finest). But if you like those two, you’ll find the Joker cover-featured from 1948–54 in #137 (one of the worst of all Batman covers), #149, #168 (in disguise), #180 and #193. The only 1948–54 Penguin cover is #171, thank heavens, because I never liked the Penguin.
If you’ve never really looked at Detective during this period, give it a try. I think you’ll be surprised by how good these issues are.
This is a guest article. The thoughts and opinions in this piece are those of their author and are not necessarily the thoughts of the Certified Collectibles Group.
