DETECTIVE COMICS #9 * CGC 8.0 Purple * Highest-Graded Restored Copy

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Title: DETECTIVE COMICS No. 9
Place Published:
Publisher:DC [Indicia: Detective Comics, Inc.]
Date Published: November, 1937
Description: CGC certified: VF (8.0): Restored (B-3). Grader's notes: "Light crease bottom of front cover; light fingerprints/smudges/staining full top of front cover; pieces added top & bottom spine A-1; small amount of color touch on spine; spine & centerfold reinforced; spine split sealed top spine Conserved; tear seals top front cover B-1." Off-white to white pages. Provenance: The DC UNIVERSE COLLECTION.

GPAnalysis: No reported sales in this grade. A Restored 7.5 (MP) sold for $1311 in 2012; more recently, a Restored 4.5 (C-1) sold for $2400 in 5/20. For comparison purposes, a Universal 8.5 (Lost Valley pedigree) sold for $10,800 in 11/20, and a Universal 7.0 sold for $7950 in 9/20.

CGC Census: 17 graded copies (11 Universal, 6 Restored). Highest-graded Restored copy; there are only two higher-graded Universal copies (8.5 and 9.2). Gerber Photo-Journal Guide Scarcity Index: 6 ("Uncommon: 50-200 copies").

Credits: Cover: Creig Flessel. Scripts: Creig Flessel?, Whitney Ellsworth, Bill Ely (credited as Will Ely), Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson, Russell Cole (credited as Alger), Jerry Siegel (credited as Jerome Siegel), Homer Fleming (credited as H. Fleming). Art: Creig Flessel, Whitney Ellsworth, Bill Ely (credited as Will Ely), Sven Elven, Tom Hickey, Russell Cole (credited as Alger), Joe Shuster, Homer Fleming (credited as H. Fleming)."Slam" Survives: "Private eye Slam Bradley was one of the stars of Detective Comics... and a typical, no-nonsense hero of the mid-1930s. Conceived by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, Slam debuted in March 1937, a full year before the same team revolutionized the comic book hero with Superman. Slam survived until 1949. He was back in 1981 in the pages of Detective Comics #500, and in 2001 began a long association with Catwoman. In 2009, Slam featured in the 'Heart of Hush' story arc (Detective Comics #846-850)." — Alan Cowsill, Alex Irvine, and others. DC Comics Year By Year: A Visual Chronicle. DK Publishing, 2010, p. 23.

More About the Major: "During World War I [the Major] served in military intelligence in Japan and Siberia while the Bolshevik revolution raged, and he went on secret missions to the Mongolian border. After the war, he was posted to Paris where he met a beautiful Swedish aristocrat, Elsa Bjorkbom. The Major convinced her to marry him while dancing to 'Fascination' at the top of the Eiffel Tower.

"The romance of Paris ended when Wheeler-Nicholson clashed once again with a superior officer, who the Major claimed ill-treated his men. The Major was placed in Class B with discharge imminent and sent back to the United States. The situation rapidly escalated into a court martial and on November 19, 1921, while attempting to enter his lawyer's quarters at Fort Dix, he was shot in the head by a guard, who allegedly mistook him for an intruder. Miraculously he survived and from his bed at Walter Reed Hospital penned a letter to President Warren G. Harding about corruption in the army. It was published in the New York Times and his trial became a media sensation. All charges were dropped with the exception of one charge arising from his letter to Harding. Wheeler-Nicholson left the army at the end of 1922 and began a career as a writer of pulp adventure stories. Unlike many pulp writers, his tales were based on the adventures he experienced firsthand around the world." — Nicky Wheeler-Nicholson, "The Major Who Made Comics," Famous First Edition: New Fun #1, C-63. DC: 2019 (unpaginated).****************************************
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.