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DETECTIVE COMICS No. 34 Provenance: DC Universe Collection Publisher: DC [Indicia: Detective Comics, Inc.] Date Published: December, 1939 Description: CGC certified: G/VG (3.0). Off-white pages. Grader notes: "Spine split top of spine; tape cover; tape interior cover; multiple crease cover breaks color; staining to cover; tears to cover." Provenance: The DC UNIVERSE COLLECTION. CGC Census: 83 graded copies (52 Universal, 1 Qualified, 30 Restored). GPAnalysis: A 3.0 sold for $2378 in 8/12. More recently, a 1.0 sold for $2900 in 3/22. Credits: Cover: Creig Flessel. Scripts: Gardner Fox, Jerry Siegel, Sven Elven?, Tom Hickey. Art: Bob Kane (Shelly Moldoff backgrounds), Mart Bailey, Homer Fleming, Don Lynch, Fred Guardineer, Sven Elven, Tom Hickey. Overstreet: "2nd Crimson Avenger cover by Creig Flessel; last non-Batman cover; classic Batman splash panel used later in Batman #1 for origin story." Eighth appearance of Batman. Bat-cyclopedia: "In December 1939 Batman encounters the nefarious DUC D'ORTERRE.... a diabolical Parisian villain, headquartered in an 'unearthly den in the Paris sewers,' who is known and feared as 'master of the Apaches,' members of the Parisian underworld noted for their crimes of violence. By December 1939 Duc D'Orterre has become determined to marry lovely Karel Maire and seize control of [her] inheritance.... and has responded to [her brother] Charles's strenous objections to the courtship by viciously obliterating Charles's facial features with a 'terrible ray.' Finally... BATMAN... rescues the frightened Karel from the villain's clutches. During the ensuing struggle, however, Duc D'Orterre's car is sent hurtling out of control, and it careens crazily off a high bridge, carrying the villain to his doom." — Michael L. Fleisher, The Encyclopedia of Comic Book Heroes Vol. 1: Batman. Macmillan: 1976, pp. 115, 193. Flowers of Fear: The demented Duc D'Orterre is as bizarre a character as you'll ever find in an old funnybook. The Duc's shtick is as disturbing as it is surreal: he kidnaps women, removes their faces with his diabolical ray, and transfers their miniaturized mugs onto blossoms in his hellish hothouse, causing a squeamish Batman to question his own sanity ("Am — am I going mad?"). "In addition to plundering gothic novels, pulp fiction and syndicated newspaper strips, the Batman creative collective must have been watching lots of movies – not just Hollywood films, but the works of the German Expressionists like F. W. Murnau and Robert Wien and the surrealists like Salvador Dali and Luis Buñuel " — Anonymous, "The First Days of the Dark Knight," myfavoritefunnies.wordpress.com, December 23, 2015. The DC UNIVERSE COLLECTION comprises over 40,000 comic books, including a copy of 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 over the next two years. To join the DC Universe Collection notifications list, contact pba@pbagalleries.com. Enjoying PBA's Batman 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 Batman fans. To order a copy, or to inquire about consignment opportunities, contact Ivan Briggs, PBA's Director of Comics: ivan@pbagalleries.com. Item#: 360008 Headline: DETECTIVE COMICS #34 * Classic BATMAN Splash