DETECTIVE COMICS #21 * CGC 6.0 * 4th Highest-Graded Copy

Heading: Fourth Highest-Graded Copy
Author:
Title: DETECTIVE COMICS No. 21
Place Published:
Publisher:DC [Indicia: Detective Comics, Inc.]
Date Published: November, 1938
Description: CGC certified: Fine (6.0). Grader's notes: "spine split bottom of spine; spine split top of spine; tape top of spine; small, multiple crease full top of back cover; very light subscription crease". Off-white to white pages. Provenance: The DC UNIVERSE COLLECTION.

GPAnalysis: No reported sales in this grade; only two Universal sales in higher grades than this: a 6.5 (Billy Wright pedigree) sold for $8963 in 2012, and a 7.0 sold for $5015 in 7/18. The next closest-graded sale is a 4.0 that sold for $2629 in 11/16.

CGC Census: 20 graded copies (13 Universal, 1 Conserved, 6 Restored). This is the 4th highest-graded Universal copy (following a 7.0 and two 6.5s). Gerber Photo-Journal Guide Scarcity Index: 6 ("Uncommon: 50-200 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, Don Lynch."Slam" Stands in for Siegel & Shuster: "Slam Bradley would finally be [Siegel and Shuster's] shot at a real adventure strip, both in subject and in process. They didn't even have a script most times; they just reeled their way, for the next several years, through story after story. The formula was that Slam and Shorty (the short, cartoonlike, comedy relief) assumed a new job or identity in order to catch a crook, punches would fly, and in the end, Slam always — always — kissed the girl in the final panel as Shorty watched in awe. In their adventures, Slam and Shorty posed as actors, boxers, lumberjacks, swimmers, college students, magicians, and women. [In one adventure] Slam and Shorty visit their old stomping grounds — a barely disguised 'Glendale' High School — where they are asked to solve a mystery. Not only are some of the teachers actual Glenville instructors, including Principal Davies — who looks exactly like her yearbook photo — but Joe himself makes an appearance in class when he aces a question about physical fitness. The fantasy of the story is very much a real one: the return of the successful, triumphant graduate to the school that once scorned him. Slam, posing as a teacher, gets the praise that school-age Jerry had always wanted to hear, making the comics as entertaining as they are autobiographical." — Brad Ricca, Super Boys: The Amazing Adventures of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the Creators of Superman. St. Martin's Press, 2014, p. 115.****************************************
The DC UNIVERSE COLLECTION comprises over 40,000 comic books, encompassing every single DC comic published for retail sale from 1934 to 2014. The collection was amassed by British music producer Ian Levine over the course of several decades, and it's been hailed as the single greatest collecting accomplishment in comic book history. This collection served as the basis for former DC Comics president Paul Levitz's monumental book 75 Years of DC Comics: The Art of Modern Mythmaking, published by Taschen in 2017. PBA is proud to present this epic collection in a series of themed sales, including The DC UNIVERSE COLLECTION Part 3: The GOLDEN AGE, coming this summer. To join the DC Universe Collection notifications list, contact pba@pbagalleries.com.

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