Auction Name: 2026 February 26 - 28 Comic Books Signature® Auction

Lot Number: 91010

Shortcut to Lot: HA.com/7461*91010

Detective Comics #1 (DC, 1937) CGC Apparent FN+ 6.5 Moderate (A-3) Cream to off-white pages. This is a famously hard book to find in any grade -- unrestored or not! CGC has yet to grade a copy of any sort with a grade above VF+ 8.5. In our 25 years of auctions, we've encountered only three restored copies with a higher grade, and no unrestored copy with a grade above FN+ 6.5.
This was one of the first comic titles devoted to a single theme, hitting stands one year before the arrival of a certain super-powered man altered the course of the medium forever.
Also of significance: this was the comic book that DC Comics was named after. It features the first appearances of Slam Bradley and Bart Regan, aka Spy, with scripts by Jerry Siegel and story art by Joe Shuster -- the co-creators of Superman. It also contains the first appearance of Speed Saunders, with story and art by Creig Flessel. Vin Sullivan's cover features a Fu Manchu knock-off named Chin Lung. The Photo-Journal Guide to Comic Books rates this issue a "7" ("scarce"). It is currently one of Overstreet's list of Top 100 Golden Age Comic Books. CGC notes, "Restoration includes: color touch, pieces added, tear seals, spine split sealed, reinforced, staples replaced." Overstreet 2024 GD 2.0 value = $22,300; VG 4.0 value = $44,600; FN 6.0 value = $66,900.
From the James Baxter Collection.

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