MORE FUN COMICS #51 * CGC 2.5 * 1st SPECTRE Appearance

Heading: 1st SPECTRE Appearance In Ad Panel * One of 12 Universal Copies
Author:
Title: MORE FUN COMICS No. 51
Place Published:
Publisher:DC [Indicia: Detective Comics Inc.]
Date Published: January, 1940
Description: CGC certified: Good+ (2.5). Grader's notes: "2" tear left top of back cover; 3.5" of spine splits; 4 extra staples re-attach cover; tanning interior cover." Cream to off-white pages. Provenance: The DC UNIVERSE COLLECTION.

GPAnalysis: No reported sales in this grade. A 2.0 sold for $1635 in 2013; a 3.0 sold for $2356 in 2018; and more recently, a 1.5 sold for $3853 in 12/22.

Overstreet: "The Spectre app. (in costume) in one-panel ad at end of Buccaneer story." CGC Census: 18 graded copies (12 Universal, 6 Restored). Gerber Photo-Journal Guide Scarcity Index: 8 ("Rare: 11-20 copies").

Credits: Cover: Sheldon Moldoff. Scripts: Tom Hickey, Alan Sulman, Paul Lauretta, Bernard Baily, Maurice Kashuba, Bob Hirsch, Bob Kane, Terry Gilkison, Joe Donohoe, Jack Lehti, Bart Tumey, Fred Schwab. Art: Tom Hickey, George Papp, Joe Sulman, Paul Lauretta, Bernard Baily, Maurice Kashuba, Rusty Lehman, Bob Kane, Terry Gilkison, Joe Donohoe, Jack Lehti, Bart Tumey, Fred Schwab.The Pre-Hero Era Draws to a Close: Last pre-hero ish of More Fun. Attentive readers would have noticed a single-panel ad introducing the Spectre at the conclusion of this ish's "Buccaneer" feature, a harbinger of the impending superhero takeover. Although adventure and humor stories would remain a small part of DC's publishing agenda, Superman and Batman had changed the rules of comics, and their progeny would soon transform the comics medium forever.

"The advent of the super-hero was a bizarre comeuppance for the American dream. Horatio Alger could no longer make it on his own. He needed 'Shazam!' Here was fantasy with a cynically realistic base: once the odds were appraised honestly it was apparent you had to be super to get on in this world." — Jules Feiffer, The Great Comic Book Heroes. Dial Press: 1965, p. 18.****************************************
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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