Rare Batman Pages Saved From Trash Could Sell For Thousands

We’ve seen several copies of Detective Comics #27, the first appearance of “The Batman” sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars but what price will the original 1939 production proofs for pages 2-6 of Detective Comics #27 fetch? The original art for the comic book hasn’t surfaced but these rare pages, part of Heritage Auctions’ Signature Vintage Comics & Comic Art Auction on February 24, are perhaps the next best thing. A proof page in comics is a test run of the uncolored page.

The pages were rescued in 1975 from an old steamer trunk sitting on a curb awaiting trash pick-up in Queens. Sharp-eyed Mario J. Sacripante saw the trunk outside of the building where he lived, and Bob Kane, Batman’s creator, had also lived for many years. Sacripante had an idea about what he had found and later learned that Kane had lived there. The treasure trove also includes original Bob Kane sketches, gag panels, art class notebooks and an incomplete copy of Detective #27. “Holding some of these pages next to the printed comic I was struck by the details of the art that are better visible here,” said Barry Sandoval, Director of Comics Auction Operations at Heritage. “Very little original comic book art from the 1930s has survived, so this is probably the closest a collector would ever get to owning original art from one of the most collectible comic book stories ever.”