Coverless Batman #1 sells for £8200 in UK comic auction

By John Freeman on May 28, 2018

A coverless copy of Batman #1, estimated to sell for between £2000 – 2,500 (somewhat less than its US valuation) has just sold for an astonishing £8,200 in an online auction yesterday.

Batman 1 coverless (1940). Clear taped spine, 2 clear taped repairs to splash page, 1 clear taped repair back page. The first four pages have ragged edges, with edge tears to back four pages.

Comic Book Auctions offered the rarity along with its usual mix of British comics and art US titles. The auction that closed yesterday.

Published in 1940,this copy of Batman #1 was offered alongside more Golden Age Batman, Detective Comics and World’s Finest plus strong runs of Avengers, Daredevil and Fantastic Four.

• Click here to visit The Saleroom and place realtime bids | Click here to browse and search auction lots at the Compalcomics website

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John Freeman

John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.

He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.