DETECTIVE COMICS #24 * Major Kicked to the Curb

Heading:
Author:
Title: DETECTIVE COMICS No. 24
Place Published:
Publisher:DC [Indicia: Detective Comics, Inc.]
Date Published: February, 1939
Description: CGC certified: Fair (1.0): Restored (B-1). Grader's notes: "Multiple wraps completely split & detached 1st & 2nd wrap; spine of cover completely split & cover detached; front cover re-glossed". Brittle pages. Provenance: The DC UNIVERSE COLLECTION.

GPAnalysis: No reported sales in this grade; the lowest-graded Restored copy is a 7.0 (SP) that sold for $1673 in 2016. For comparison purposes, a Universal 0.5 (Detective #24 interior, Detective #14 front cover, wrong back cover) sold for $543 in 2014.

CGC Census: 14 graded copies (8 Universal, 1 Conserved, 5 Restored). Gerber Photo-Journal Guide Scarcity Index: 8 ("Rare: 11-20 copies").

Credits: Cover: Fred Guardineer. Scripts: Bob Kane, Gardner Fox, Bill Ely (credited as Will Ely), Jerry Siegel, Don Vincent, Leo O'Mealia, Sax Rohmer, Terry Keane, Jim Chambers?, Tom Hickey?, Homer Fleming (credited as H. Fleming), Jerry Siegel. Art: Bob Kane, Fred Guardineer, Bill Ely (credited as Will Ely), Sven Elven, Joe Shuster, Don Vincent, Leo O'Mealia, Jim Chambers, Tom Hickey, Homer Fleming (credited as H. Fleming), Joe Shuster.The Major Gets Ousted: "Jerry and Joe were grateful to the Major but were worried about his finances, so they made the difficult decision to continue to wait for something better. That something was Harry Donenfeld. Though the Major's partnership with Donenfeld and his partners, Sampliner and Liebowitz, had allowed Detective Comics to be published, the Major was quickly racking up more debt, or so he was told. So in late 1937, Harry, through his company Donny Press, sued the Major's Nicholson Publishing, Inc., for the $5,878 they owed him. Since the Major obviously couldn't pay it, Harry Donenfeld, after a simple but cold court maneuver, bought out his debt and became the primary content partner of Detective Comics, Inc., and Nicholson Publishing.

"The Major was out. Indeed, this might have been Harry's plan all along." — Brad Ricca, Super Boys: The Amazing Adventures of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the Creators of Superman. St. Martin's Press, 2014, p. 147.****************************************
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.

Enjoying PBA's DC Universe Collection: Pre-Hero, Ashcans and Oddities sale? A very small number of softcover and limited edition hardcover auction catalogues are available for purchase. The catalogues are fully illustrated, thoroughly researched, and make excellent reference works for DC diehards. To order a copy, or to inquire about consignment opportunities, contact Ivan Briggs, PBA's Director of Comics: ivan@pbagalleries.com.