We had to dig through ten long boxes of old DC Comics to find one advertising the May 1940 issue of Batman #1. Kidding! (We can dream, can't we?) The ad's legit, though. DC -- which at the time wasn't yet known as DC, but as National Comics -- began running their in-house advertisement for the Caped Crusader's solo series in April, just a month before the ten-cent Batman hit newsstands across the nation in a country not yet on the verge of a Great War.
Chances are Bill Finger and Bob Kane's Batman wouldn't have received his own book if not for the overwhelming popularity of his teen-aged sidekick, Robin, The Boy Wonder. Robin was first introduced in Detective Comics #38 , which had only been published one month prior to the ad's circulation. That's not to say Batman, the second superhero, wasn't popular. On the contrary, Bruce Wayne's alter ego has been big business since Day One; indeed, Batman himself had appeared in just thirteen issues of Detective Comics before Batman's debut.
Both Batman and Detective Comics have consistently been published by DC Comics since their very first issues. Today, Batman #1's estimated value stands at over $100,000; Batman #693, the November 2009 issue, carries a price tag $2.99, and can be found at the local comics retailer nearest you.
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