DC File Copies? 0

[gadzukes]

I bought some super low grade coverless "reader" Batman comics and many of them have a typed number on the splash page.

I'm assuming the numbers were "typed" and not printed when the pages ran thru the presses.

It's not something you usually see on a comic.  Do you think it might be an indicator of being a DC file comic?

The spines of the comics are sewed together which is something I see every once in a while but not very often.

Here's some examples.

Edited April 29, 2020 by gadzukes

[Chicago Boy]

1 hour ago, gadzukes said:

I bought some super low grade coverless "reader" Batman comics and many of them have a typed number on the splash page.

I'm assuming the numbers were "typed" and not printed when the pages ran thru the presses.

It's not something you usually see on a comic.  Do you think it might be an indicator of being a DC file comic?

The spines of the comics are sewed together which is something I see every once in a while but not very often.

Here's some examples.

Very interesting !  I own 1 certified DC file copy ( coverless ) and there is no number typed that is similar. The pictures of a couple that I’ve seen also do not have a number. Just my experience. 

[gadzukes]

21 minutes ago, Chicago Boy said:

Very interesting !  I own 1 certified DC file copy ( coverless ) and there is no number typed that is similar. The pictures of a couple that I’ve seen also do not have a number. Just my experience. 

What is the spine like on your copy?

These are all sets of Batman story pages that have the ads pulled out and then sewn together at the spine.  Looks like they had a simple cover at one point but that's been ripped away.

I bought a bunch of them, maybe 20 or so.  They were part of that giant auction of "Original Batman Card art from the 1940s".  

To me it looks like a reference tool for the artist who made the cards (They were pulled out of the same attic).

The cards look like Bob Kane original art so I was thinking maybe these were his personal file copies.  When I saw the typed numbers it made me think "DC file copies"

[Jeffro.]

If the spines are sown that leads me to speculate that these comics were once part of a bound volume that was taken apart. I have no idea about the numbers on the corners.

[gadzukes]

42 minutes ago, Jeffro. said:

If the spines are sown that leads me to speculate that these comics were once part of a bound volume that was taken apart. I have no idea about the numbers on the corners.

I think the typed numbers are the issue numbers.  

[Chicago Boy]

5 hours ago, gadzukes said:

What is the spine like on your copy?

These are all sets of Batman story pages that have the ads pulled out and then sewn together at the spine.  Looks like they had a simple cover at one point but that's been ripped away.

I bought a bunch of them, maybe 20 or so.  They were part of that giant auction of "Original Batman Card art from the 1940s".  

To me it looks like a reference tool for the artist who made the cards (They were pulled out of the same attic).

The cards look like Bob Kane original art so I was thinking maybe these were his personal file copies.  When I saw the typed numbers it made me think "DC file copies"

Cool additional pieces. The holes in my copy are a lot larger and match the holes pictured I’ve seen of books from the DC library.  Here’s a pic from the library. You’ll have to zoom in to see the large binding holes 

[gadzukes]

1 hour ago, Chicago Boy said:

Cool additional pieces. The holes in my copy are a lot larger and match the holes pictured I’ve seen of books from the DC library.  Here’s a pic from the library. You’ll have to zoom in to see the large binding holes 

 

Cool, thanks for sharing that.

[Chicago Boy]

42 minutes ago, gadzukes said:

Cool, thanks for sharing that.

The action 1 holes I’ve seen are large like the Tec 27.

[gadzukes]

12 hours ago, Chicago Boy said:

The action 1 holes I’ve seen are large like the Tec 27.

Have you ever seen typed numbers on ANY comic?

I mean.... a kid sure wouldn't do that.   That's what made me want to buy them.  It made me think someone in DC comics made these up for file purposes.

When I get the comics I will scour them for other clues.

Edited April 30, 2020 by gadzukes

[pemart1966]

Just to be clear - are these numbers typed; printed; or stamped?  I can't imagine them being typed - after all, how the heck does one get a comic into a type writer?

[Crowzilla]

20 hours ago, gadzukes said:

I bought a bunch of them, maybe 20 or so.  They were part of that giant auction of "Original Batman Card art from the 1940s".  

To me it looks like a reference tool for the artist who made the cards (They were pulled out of the same attic).

The cards look like Bob Kane original art so I was thinking maybe these were his personal file copies.  When I saw the typed numbers it made me think "DC file copies"

There is no way Bob Kane drew any of those cards.

[gadzukes]

35 minutes ago, pemart1966 said:

Just to be clear - are these numbers typed; printed; or stamped?  I can't imagine them being typed - after all, how the heck does one get a comic into a type writer?

I don't have the comics in hand yet so I need to examine them closer to find out.  

I don't see a kid typing,printing, or stamping any of these so I figured there's a good chance that they might be some kind of file copy for someone in the industry.

Having those villain cards there deepened the mystery.

Edited April 30, 2020 by gadzukes

[pemart1966]

As a point of clarification, these are Detective Comics and NOT Batman...

[gadzukes]

17 minutes ago, pemart1966 said:

As a point of clarification, these are Detective Comics and NOT Batman...

They're actually sets of the Batman Stories from Detective comics, Batman comics, and World's Finest comics.   Each set has 3 stories sewn together it looks like.

[pemart1966]

24 minutes ago, gadzukes said:

They're actually sets of the Batman Stories from Detective comics, Batman comics, and World's Finest comics.   Each set has 3 stories sewn together it looks like.

Thanks - the 97 and 110 are Detective - those are the 2 that I randomly looked up.  

I'll be curious as to whether those cards, and there must be at least 60 of them, are printed or original art.  I hope that you display them all once you receive them.  

Did the seller give you any indication as to where/from whom he/she got them?

[gadzukes]

13 minutes ago, pemart1966 said:

Thanks - the 97 and 110 are Detective - those are the 2 that I randomly looked up.  

I'll be curious as to whether those cards, and there must be at least 60 of them, are printed or original art.  I hope that you display them all once you receive them.  

Did the seller give you any indication as to where/from whom he/she got them?

I actually think there were 91 total cards.  I'm going to go through all the auctions and print up the images.  So cool.

I did ask the seller where all this came from.  He said it was a consignment item and the seller told him they were all found together in a box in the attic of a 100 year old house (that sounds like the same story you hear of everything like this)

[pemart1966]

33 minutes ago, gadzukes said:

I actually think there were 91 total cards.  I'm going to go through all the auctions and print up the images.  So cool.

I did ask the seller where all this came from.  He said it was a consignment item and the seller told him they were all found together in a box in the attic of a 100 year old house (that sounds like the same story you hear of everything like this)

Sounds as if one of the former owners of this 100 year old house might hold the key to this mystery...

[Straw-Man]

[Chicago Boy]

11 hours ago, Straw-Man said:

Love this ! 

[Macedoniagreece]

On 4/29/2020 at 11:44 AM, gadzukes said:

I bought some super low grade coverless "reader" Batman comics and many of them have a typed number on the splash page.

I'm assuming the numbers were "typed" and not printed when the pages ran thru the presses.

It's not something you usually see on a comic.  Do you think it might be an indicator of being a DC file comic?

The spines of the comics are sewed together which is something I see every once in a while but not very often.

Here's some examples.

Congratulations on these. From asking the seller I got some additional info which can bring some light into this.

The seller did tell me that the owners grandfather was an employee at the DC offices during the 40s for about 5 years. So the former employee got a hold of these somehow. So we can conclude that these are definitely from the DC offices. 

Now are the cards from Bob Kanes hand? There Is a possibility. There should be more research because if they are, these are one of a kind then.