DETECTIVE COMICS #20 * 1st Crimson Avenger

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Author:
Title: DETECTIVE COMICS No. 20
Place Published:
Publisher:DC [Indicia: Detective Comics, Inc.]
Date Published: October, 1938
Description: CGC certified: VG (4.0): Restored (B-1). Grader's notes: "Spine split bottom of spine; stain bottom of front cover; large crease left top of back cover; multiple crease right bottom of; multiple tape interior cover; small amount of color touch on right bottom spine". Off-white to white pages. Provenance: The DC UNIVERSE COLLECTION.

GPAnalysis: A Restored 4.0 (SA) sold for $978 in 2004; a Restored 3.0 (SA) sold for $854 in 2007. For comparison purposes, a Universal 3.5 sold for $4320 in 9/20.

Overstreet: "The Crimson Avenger begins (1st app.)." CGC Census: 22 graded copies (16 Universal, 6 Restored). Gerber Photo-Journal Guide Scarcity Index: 7 ("Scarce: 21-50 copies").

Credits: Cover: Leo O'Mealia. Scripts: Gardner Fox (credited as Paul Dean), Bill Ely (credited as Will Ely), Homer Fleming (credited as H. Fleming), Jerry Siegel (credited as Siegel), Leo O'Mealia, Sax Rohmer, Jim Chambers. Art: Fred Guardineer, Bill Ely (credited as Will Ely), Homer Fleming (credited as H. Fleming), Joe Shuster (credited as Shuster), Leo O'Mealia, Tom Hickey (signed as TH), Jim Chambers, Sven Elven.Crimson Avenger Debuts: "Alongside more typical fare like 'Larry Steele, Private Detective' came the debut of the Crimson Avenger, the first masked crime fighter in comics. Not exactly a super hero, this befriender of the helpless from writer/artist Jim Chambers wore a heavy overcoat, head-topping fedora, and a simple domino mask, and carried a gas gun. Like Superman, the Crimson Avenger had his secret identity — that of newspaperman Lee Travis, who used his position to get the latest scoops, following up on those that required bit of vigilante justice. The character also shared some similarities with the popular 1930s radio star the Green Hornet, including an Asian sidekick named Wing (mirroring the Green Hornet's Kato) and a fast car. The Crimson Avenger earned modest popularity among readers, taking over the cover on Detective Comics #22 in December. He reappeared in the comic on a semi-permanent basis until the mid-1940s, and became a founding member of the Seven Soldiers of Victory." — Alan Cowsill, Alex Irvine, and others. DC Comics Year By Year: A Visual Chronicle. DK Publishing, 2010, p. 21.****************************************
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