Today's Spinner Rack post takes us back to June 1940 and Detective Comics#40.
DC Comics released a facsimile edition of this class comic appearing exactly as it did nearly 85 years ago except for the cover price.
Can anyone who handed over a dime for this comic back in 1940 could have imagined paying $7 for a comic book now?
I enjoy getting these facsimile editions as they provide a snap shot of an earlier time, a time that was at once innocent and hard at the same time.
The cover by Bob Kane and Jerry Robinson prominently features Robin who had just debuted 2 months before in Detective Comics#38.The lead story was written by Bill Finger with art by Bob Kane and Jerry Robinson. (In these early days, Kane was actually doing the pencilling before he would go on to foist the art onto various ghost artists.)
The lead story has Bruce Wayne's fiance Julie Madison working as an actress where the film set has been marked... for MURDER!
The murderer is the cloaked menace known as Clayface aka disgruntled actor Basil Karlo.
The more famous version of Clayface, the shape shifting Matt Hagen, would debut in the 1950's and would come to greater prominence in Batman: the Animated Series and in the more recent Harley Quinn animated series.
The Matt Hagen Clayface is an antagonist in the current Batman and Robin: Year One and will be the subject of a movie coming on in 2026.
The rest of the issue is a collection of short stories featuring an interchangeable series of white guys in suits and hats in the roles of secret agents, cops and private detectives. At about 6 pages a pop, there's not much in the way of character development or nuanced plotting.
Speed Saunders, Ace Investigator gets on the trail of jewel robbers because he happened to be walking by a car that looked suspicious.
There's an installment of private eye Slam Bradley with the same start to the story. Slam happens to be walking by when suddenly there's CRIME!
Slam Bradley was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster a year before their more famous creation, Superman, appeared in print. By this issue, Howard Sherman was providing the art while Joe was busy with Superman.
The mechanics of actually how to make a comic book story are still being worked out. Steve Malone, District Attorney has very smushed lettering with caption boxes at the bottom of panels. It was very hard to read.
Besides Batman & Robin in the front of the book, the only other costumed adventurer in Detective Comics#40 is the Crimson Avenger.
Crimson Avenger was appearing in Detective Comics about a year before Batman made his debut in issue #27.
This installment features the issue's only foray into what might be called a super powered menace. A mad scientist has a mysterious ray gun that can incapacitate people across long distances.
As for the actual edition of the real Detective Comics#40, it recently sold through Heritage Auctions for $45,600.
So maybe $7 ain't so bad.
The facsimile edition of Detective Comics#40 was mostly a fun experience as well as an enlightening visit back to when the language of comic books was still in it's nascent formative stage.
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