Superman No. 183 80-Page Giant (1966)

 

Seeing this cover posted at a Curt Swan Facebook page yesterday certainly brought back memories.

The comic book was Superman number 183, an 80-Page Giant (they used to be called Annuals) with a cover date of January 1966. The cover (with reproductions of classic covers) was by Curt Swan and George Klein. Cover price: $.25.

It probably hit the newsstands a couple of months before (around November 1965). I got this comic at a liquor store on Normandie Ave. near 105th Street in Los Angeles when my dad and I went there one night. I think he bought it for me.

This comic contained several Golden Age Superman stores circa the 1940s. It was the first time I had ever read a Golden Age Superman story. I've read many more since then.

LiveAuctioneers estimated value of this issue was $400-$600 in near-mint condition. It sold for $600.

I still have it in my collection.

The Joker Becomes Pregnant

Above, Batman and Joker of the Golden Age of comic books.

I don't know what's going on with DC Comics these past few years, but they've definitely gone bizarre. But they've gone even further, as a new graphic Batman novel featuring the Joker indicates. "Grotesque" is the operative word.

From Fox News:

The latest chapter in the Joker’s nefarious story arc may be the DC Comics arch villain's most unusual yet: He becomes pregnant.

In the latest issue of DC Comics’ series, "The Joker: The Man Who Stopped Laughing," Batman’s nemesis actually carries and gives birth to a child. 

If that sounds strange, that’s the way the graphic novel company intended it. On its website, DC Comics advertised the issue as containing Joker’s "most bizarre caper yet."

Readers may be tempted to think this is part of DC’s attempt to do some woke, LGBTQ-inclusive storytelling with The Joker being a transgender man undergoing a typical pregnancy, though it’s not quite that simple.

In this volume, created by Matthew Rosenberg and Carmine Di Giandomenico, the "Clown prince of Crime" becomes pregnant by some unnatural curse and gives birth in a vomit-inducing way, literally. 

Reaction on social media has been intense:

DC has already screwed up Superman, so I guess it's Batman's turn starting with this.

If you want to read more, go here. (If you dare.) 

80-Page Giant Superman No. 183

Above, Superman no. 183.

Back in the days when comic book reading and collecting was fun (mid-1960s), DC Comics used to publish 80-Page Giants of their different titles. The 80-Page Giants were originally called "annuals" with their own numbering. They were collections of reprinted stories.

One of my favorite 80-Page Giants was Superman number 183 that was published in 1966. It was my first exposure to stories from the Golden Age of comic books. I still have my copy.

I was reminded of this in a Facebook Curt Swan (who drew the cover with inker George Klein) page.

Rare Golden Age Comics Nets $3.5 Million

A lucky California man was able to make $3.5 million on auction sales of a collection of Golden Age comic books his great-uncle collected.

The Washington Post reported:

DALLAS — Billy Wright plunked down dime after dime for comic books while growing up in the late 1930s and early 1940s, caring for the collection he started around the age of 9 until his death more than half a century later. On Wednesday, most of that collection sold for a whopping $3.5 million.

Wright’s 345 comics, nearly all of which were published from 1936 through 1941, included many of the most prized issues ever, including Detective Comics No. 27, which features the debut of Batman, and Action Comics No. 1, in which Superman’s first appears.

The copy of Detective Comics No. 27, from 1939, drew the highest bid Wednesday, selling for $523,000, including a buyer’s premium, Allen said. Wright’s Action Comics No. 1, from 1938, sold for about $299,000; Batman No. 1, from 1940, sold for about $275,000; and Captain America No. 2, a 1941 issue with Adolf Hitler on the cover, sold for about $114,000.

To read the full article, go here.