Authentic Comic from a Reprint 0

[Rich Boren]

New to this site and just looking for some help.  I inherited some comics and do not know anything about them.  I noticed this oversized comic with Batman on the cover.  How can I tell if this is an actual 1939 comic or just a reprint?  Is there any markings or something that can prove it?  Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[SOTIcollector]

If the comics you inherited are from the 1970's or later, which I suspect they are, that's a huge clue that this is not authentic.  I don't believe there has ever been a collection of 1970's (or newer) comics that had as its only "Golden Age" (1930's-1950's) comic book the first Batman comic book.  So that's a clue, but dot definitive.  There is something that is definitive in what you wrote, though.

You used the term "oversized" which tells me right away that it's a reprint and not an original.  Comic books in 1939 had more pages than they do today, and were a little bit wider, but in general they were about the same size as today's comics.  I take your term "oversized" to mean 10" x 13 1/2".

In the 1970's, there were reprints of some important comics from the 1930's and 1940's, such as the first Superman comic book and this one, the first Batman comic book.  Although these are for the most part exact reprints of their predecessors, they are much larger.  The reprints are 10" by 13 1/2".  The reprints were issued with stiff outer covers that clearly identified them as reprints, but over the years many people have removed the outer covers in hopes that they could convince somebody that their reprint is an original.  The reprint with the outer cover removed, such as yours, has virtually no collector's value.  Search eBay sold listings for "Famous First Edition Detective 27" to see how much the reprint sells for with its outer cover intact.

The following link has additional information about identifying an original Detective Comics #27. 

http://www.bipcomics.com/showcase/fakes/index27.php

 

So it's not an authentic Detective Comics #27, but it's still fun to sit down and read what Batman was like when he was first introduced.  Enjoy!

 

[Rich Boren]

THANK YOU!!!!    That's the type of information I needed to know.  I appreciate your time and informing me on this....