Stan Lee's Tales of Suspense #39 & Bob Kane's Detective 27 1st Batman & Iron Man

The Ultimate "Billionaire Playboy Superhero" set! Batman and Iron Man are both not only Billionaire Superheroes, they are the biggest heroes in comic book movies. Batman is consistently the biggest earner among the DC heroes and Iron Man is the main man in Marvel's Cinematic Universe. They are often compared and contrasted, as fictional multi-billionaire heroes who are billionaire franchises, beloved all over the world. 2019 marks the 80th anniversary for Batman.

It's also the 80th anniversary of the first Marvel comic book. Batman and Iron Man's first appearances are two of the most important and sought after comics in the hobby. But, beyond that these copies are completely unique, because. These comics were both once owned by their creators.

The Detective Comics #27 -- 1st appearance of Batman -- was given to Batman's co-creator, Bob Kane by DC Comics. The Tales of Suspense #39 (1st appearance of Iron Man) was a Marvel office copy owned by Iron Man's co-creator, Stan Lee. Both comics have been professionally certified as authentic creator copies, one by CGC and the other by CBCS (and, so it's clear, either company would certify both books as creator copies).

Neither Bob Kane nor Stan Lee saved any other complete copies of these issues. Stan Lee started working in comics in 1940, just shy of his 18th birthday and, at first, the youthful Lee reportedly saved copies of "every book he worked on" (which would be an amazing set of rare "golden age" issues). But, those comics, alas, were destroyed in a flood -- apparently about the same time the comic book market crashed, in the late 1950s, when Lee had to let go nearly the entire staff and many comic artists, even the "stars", fled to advertising. Lee was devastated and disillusioned and by early 1961 he was prepared to quit comics altogether, when Joan suggested Stan write one comic the way you want to do it. " That led to Lee's co-creation of the "Fantastic Four with Jack Kirby, which was an immediate success and led to his co-creation of Iron Man (with Larry Lieber, Jack Kirby, and Don Heck), as well as Spider-man, Thor, the Avengers, the X-Men, the Silver Surfer, Black Panther and thousands of other characters that made up the Marvel Age of Comics and then the Marvel Cinematic Universe -- which, as if I need to tell you, became a worldwide phenomenon and is unassailably the most successful and critically acclaimed franchise in history. This time around, Stan was no longer young and bushy-tailed, so he did not meticulously save copies of each comic he worked on in the silver age. But, while Stan did not "collect" comics, he had copies in the office so that he (and other staffers) could refer to them.

Photos of Marvel offices in the 60s show many comics laying around or stacked on Stan's shelves. But not every issue got saved. Some were parceled out to new staffers for reference (which was necessary because, for the first time in comics, the stories were continuous and interconnected). And many were just given away. What remained were, Stan said, the "only copies" of the books he still had, which I've read and referred to over the years.

Lthough Stan worked on thousands of books in his career from 1940 on, he had accumulated. Only about 500 books in all. Many were well-thumbed (and some were battered) and he had retained more copies of "Millie the Model" than he had for most of the superheroes that have gone on to star in the MCU.

He had no "golden age" hero books at all and comparatively few silver age hero books, including only 2 comics! Starring Iron Man -- this copy of his debut in Tales of Suspense (dated March, 1963 but on newsstands in December, 1962) and the first issue of Iron Man's 1968 title. The provenance of this book was verified by Stan Lee himself via Heritage Auctions and the Comics Guaranty Company (CGC).

This copy looks quite nice and you have to look very close for the structural flaws that distinguish its technical grade from a newsstand copy. This issue was displayed at the Skirball Museum in Los Angeles for their comic book exhibition. Batman's co-creator, Bob Kane, saved even fewer books than Stan Lee. In fact, by all accounts he didn't hang onto any of his original copies at all.

Not because he didn't try. Like Stan Lee, Kane was young when he began his career and had saved things, But nearly all of Kane's comic books and original art was set ablaze by Kane's angry and estranged soon-to-be-"ex" wife in the late 50s (again, the late 50s; that was a really bad time for comics and comic creators). What she didn't burn was tossed into a dumpster, including bound volumes of the earliest Batman comics (including this copy of Detective Comics #27).

Some odds and ends from the same trash dump were reportedly salvaged by others, but no Batman art or complete comics were retained and authenticated. Only a few pieces from other, torn up copies of Detective 31 and Detective 27; but no covers or intact interiors, just random loose pages (with only the last page of the Batman story from 27).

In the 1960s, as Batman's fame surged, Kane sought and acquired used copies of Batman comics from others, but never acquired another copy of Detective 27. Only the books from Kane's original bound DC volumes have been verified as from his original collection. The provenance of this copy of Detective Comics #27 has been verified by many experts and historians, as well as by DC Comics and Warner Brothers, which displayed the book in their Burbank Studio Museum for Batman's 75th anniversary.

It was DC comics which presented the book to Kane, in a binder which dates to 1939-40 and was embossed with "Bob Kane" on the front. That binder will be included with the book, along with scans of every page of the comic book, so you can see it as it appears and read it without having to remove it from its certification holder (which, of course, you would also be free to do, if you choose) A picture of the front cover before encapsulation shows how the cover colors are very bright, as they often are with bound volumes. The binding process DC used involved trimming the book on all sides, so that it could be laid flat on a table for reference. For years the book was in Kane's studio, where it was likely referenced not only by Kane but by the Batman creative team, which included co-creator and writer Bill Finger, occasional writer Gardner Fox and artists Sheldon Moldoff and Jerry Robinson, among others.

I've chosen not to restore the book, but it can be restored to achieve a much higher apparent grade, and still retain the provenance on the label, if the grading company that's used is one whom they approve, and the graders are informed prior to the work being done. In a collecting world where guitars sell for millions because they were used by rock stars in recording a famous album, and where game bats and baseball jerseys go for millions because they were used by star players, the values of superhero comic-related items have much room to grow before it catches up to them, even though top superheroes' may have made a cultural impact far greater and their names are recognized worldwide.

In most areas of c. Ollectibles, items owned by a core individual central to the item's popularity (such as the author, famous musician, artist, performer or player) generally rival or exceed the value of an example in better condition without the provenance. The highest public sale of Detective #27 was 1.075 million, but that was 9 1/2 years ago and that copy was graded several notches below other known examples.

The price of the 9.8 copy, presuming it's unique at the time of sale, can only be guessed at, but could likely be 7 figures. The price difference between the two books is not because one is more significant or popular but because Detective #27 is older and thus far more rare than Tales of Suspense #39. Few people saved comics in 1939 versus the 1960s.

So, the entry point for "just any" copy of the first Iron Man is a few thousand, but more like several hundred thousand for the first Batman. And, individual pages from disassembled books fetch five figures! While comics collecting has become increasingly more like other hobbies and creator copies may be eventually be worth as much as or more than the best condition examples, it is not yet the case. Even the basic recognition of provenance books is a fairly new phenomenon. No recent sales for any major 1st appearance comics with similar provenance as these books. However, there are some precedents which can be used as a base.

As for books owned by Stan Lee, there's been no sales of any key issue since before the advent of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and before Stan's ascendance to worldwide fame. Using those metrics as a guide would put Bob Kane's "Detective Comics" #27 at about 700-800K and Stan Lee's "Tales of Suspense" #39 at 262-375K, which brings us to the asking price of 1,175 million. That said, reasonable offers will be given fair consideration (including offers for one or the other). As the username implies, some of the proceeds will ultimately be used for paying off several students' tuition loans.

If any serious interested parties want to examine the books and their provenance in person, we can do so at the bank for our mutual. But I can and do guarantee that these copies are unique -- and will remain unique. They are the only complete copies owned, and proven as such, by Bob Kane and Stan Lee, the co-creators of these most popular and consequential comicbook superheroes -- without whom every comic rack, toy store, TV set and movie theater would never be the same. The item "Stan Lee's Tales of Suspense #39 & Bob Kane's Detective 27 1st Batman & Iron Man" is in sale since Friday, June 28, 2019.

This item is in the category "Collectibles\Comics\Golden Age (1938-55)\Superhero". The seller is "comix4college" and is located in West Hills, California. This item can be shipped to United States.

Modified Item: Yes
Certification: CGC
Main Character: Batman and Iron Man
Series: Detective Comics and Tales of Suspense
Signed: Yes
Publisher: DC