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First mention of "Gotham City": is it Batman #4 or Detective #48?
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Started by Joseph Ragno,

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Joseph Ragno

Joseph Ragno

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Hello all.  Please help settle an issue for all us that like to collect “firsts”.  The problem is there seems to be conflicting information about when the term “Gotham City” is first used.  Here are pics of CGC slabs claiming the first mention of Gotham City in both Batman #4 and Detective #48.  Note that the cover date for Batman #4 is Winter 1940 (ambiguous), and for Detective #48 it’s February 1941.

b4.jpg

d48.jpg

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Joseph Ragno

Joseph Ragno

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Perhaps… *perhaps* a clue that Detective #48 came before Batman #4:  there is an ad in Detective #48 for Batman #4.  It states that Batman #4 goes on sale January 13 (1941).  I don’t know how far in advance Detective #48 would be available before its February cover date. I don’t know if there is an ad in Batman #4 for a Detective Comics issue.  I can’t tell from the story lines in either comic which would have preceded the other. Does anyone have any more definitive evidence to settle this debate?

d48adb4.jpg

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Professor K

Professor K

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It's Detective 48. It came out before Bat 4. That is a fact. 

And you know what they say , "whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts".

I just hope that "things that are different are not the same" guy doesn't show up here. 

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Primetime

Primetime

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On 1/1/2024 at 4:58 AM, Joseph Ragno said:

Perhaps… *perhaps* a clue that Detective #48 came before Batman #4:  there is an ad in Detective #48 for Batman #4.  It states that Batman #4 goes on sale January 13 (1941).  I don’t know how far in advance Detective #48 would be available before its February cover date. I don’t know if there is an ad in Batman #4 for a Detective Comics issue.  I can’t tell from the story lines in either comic which would have preceded the other. Does anyone have any more definitive evidence to settle this debate?

d48adb4.jpg


Tec 48 approx release date 12-31-40

http://www.mikesamazingworld.com/main/features/comic.php?comicid=8304

Bat 4 release date 01-13-41

http://www.mikesamazingworld.com/main/features/comic.php?comicid=3527

 

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waaaghboss

waaaghboss

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On 1/2/2024 at 12:47 AM, Telegan said:

Stupid question, but are you talking about strictly in comics?  Because NYC was called "Gotham" or "Gotham City" long before its comic book appearance (I think it goes back to the 1700s or 1800s).

Yah, which is kind of strange once you think about it.

Found this interesting, from Wikipedia.  Time to hunt down a copy of Sqlmagundi   😀

 

In Jim Steranko's History of the Comics, writer Bill Finger, on the naming of the city, said, "Originally I was going to call Gotham City 'Civic City.' Then I tried 'Capital City,' then 'Coast City.' Then I flipped through the New York City phone book and spotted the name 'Gotham Jewelers' and said, 'That's it,' Gotham City. We didn't call it New York because we wanted anybody in any city to identify with it."[9][21]

"Gotham" has been a nickname for New York City that first became popular in the 19th century; Washington Irving had first attached it to New York in the November 11, 1807, edition of his Salmagundi,[22] a periodical which lampooned New York culture and politics. Irving took the name from the village of Gotham, Nottinghamshire, England: a place inhabited, according to folklore, by fools.[23][24]"

Edited by waaaghboss
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Joseph Ragno

Joseph Ragno

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On 1/2/2024 at 3:47 AM, Telegan said:

Stupid question, but are you talking about strictly in comics?  Because NYC was called "Gotham" or "Gotham City" long before its comic book appearance (I think it goes back to the 1700s or 1800s).

Yes, particularly how it relates to the Batman world.

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Cat-Man_America

Cat-Man_America

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On 1/2/2024 at 11:14 AM, waaaghboss said:

Yah, which is kind of strange once you think about it.

Found this interesting, from Wikipedia.  Time to hunt down a copy of Sqlmagundi   😀

 

In Jim Steranko's History of the Comics, writer Bill Finger, on the naming of the city, said, "Originally I was going to call Gotham City 'Civic City.' Then I tried 'Capital City,' then 'Coast City.' Then I flipped through the New York City phone book and spotted the name 'Gotham Jewelers' and said, 'That's it,' Gotham City. We didn't call it New York because we wanted anybody in any city to identify with it."[9][21]

"Gotham" has been a nickname for New York City that first became popular in the 19th century; Washington Irving had first attached it to New York in the November 11, 1807, edition of his Salmagundi,[22] a periodical which lampooned New York culture and politics. Irving took the name from the village of Gotham, Nottinghamshire, England: a place inhabited, according to folklore, by fools.[23][24]"

:canofworms: So, where does this leave Metropolis???:shy: :Rocket:

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