Set Description:
If anyone wants to see the full range of Batman looks, stories, art and covers then this run covers it. Starting in the early 1980s and stretching right across through to 1989, Detective Comics in the 500s has several things that should strike the heart of every collector and investor.
Firstly, the low print run- DC had an across the board reduction in print run from 1982 to about 1986, and Detective for some reason was way down on the company’s list for sales and copies. This can be reflected in the tiny census data and the fact that so few copies have been submitted, let alone high grade ones. For a major character and such a major title to have issues with less than 100 submitted copies is rare, but in this run there are issues where the population for 9.8s is 2 or 4 or 8. Now while in some cases in the 580s and 590s, this is due to collectors keeping their raw copies and waiting to get them slabbed (what’s the wait?), those in the know realise that the rarity of some of the issues up to 1986/7 is startling. This is clear with most issues from the early 500s up to around Year Two, in which raw copies are available, but not many and not many in top condition, but still to see issues with census data saying ‘2’ is something that if it occurred in some other sets, would be a major talking point in the hobby. The fact that the 530s-560s came out in low numbers and did not sell that well results in a set that is quite hard to complete in prime grades. At the time that the low print run occurs, the Canadian price variants were also available and for Detective Comics we have the situation in which some Direct Editions are harder to find than the newsstand versions!! Finding 9.8 copies is already a hard task for this set, but if you are looking for strictly Direct Editions you will find the Bizarro land of newsstand editions being easier to find in some issues. Whether the industry reflects this difficulty in the pricing is irrelevant, but it adds to the challenge and splendour of this run.
Another factor that makes this set special is that it covers Batman from the early 80s to mid 89, so while some of the early covers are bright and closer to a silver age look, there is a definite development to the grittier, stylised look in the 580s and 590s, while in between you have artists and covers by McFarlane, Davis, Breyfogle and Mignola to name a few. Having the extra stories in the first half such as Green Arrow, Batgirl and others adds another dimension to this set. Being a young kid in the late 80s , I remember buying the issues just after Year Two ended and it was my conversion back to collecting when those memories were triggered. While I was too young for the run when it came out, it is amazing to see the variety. Not just the Rogue’s Gallery of Batman, but there is Sherlock Holmes, a solo Robin story, a Harvey Bullock issue and Harlan Ellison contributing, to list just a few of the occurrences. It is virtually impossible to see a 100 issue run present so much variety, while at the same time highlighting the superhero of our generation.
As noted earlier, this set is a challenge and the goal is get it somehow, so as I add issues have a look at the issue write-up and see what it is that makes this set so collectable.
Building the Set
It was mid 2021 when I seriously set my self the task of completing the project of collecting the 500s run. I had been looking through various registry sets and reading lots of blogs, watching videos and just generally immersing myself back in the hobby before I finalised the decision in my head. I decided immediately that I was only going to look for 9.8 CGC copies, and I also made the decision of staying strictly to direct editions, which is a key question for 1980s comics. As it can seem that in the early 80s, newsstand editions seem pretty common against the direct editions, even more plentiful; but by the late 1980s (and later in the run here) the opposite occurs, where newsstands become the ‘rarer’ variant. So based on my personal preference for direct editions I decided to look strictly for the direct variants. This stems from my younger collecting days, when the barcodes were viewed as ugly and actually were to be avoided. This modern phenomenon of comics being double the price because one has a barcode and the other has a spider-man head or cool message seems to me to be weird. Especially for those Spidey Macfarlane runs, where the direct box has some additional cool artwork from the artist. But anyway, that’s my whinge about the market today, back to Detective Comics…
So with the decision made, here are some tales of the story so far:
-interestingly enough, the very first official addition to my set is my proudest issue, #547. I spotted it on eBay and having been familiar with the CGC census data, I was shocked to discover that this was one of only two in existence at the time(and still is). I immediately purchased it and could not believe that my timing worked out so well. I know that if I did not have that issue now, it would be a great worry for me as to how I would get it due to its scarcity.
-I decided not to chase the year 2 issues as they were readily available and I felt that I would get chances to get them eventually, so it was no use paying over the top prices or being desperate in my attempts to source them straight away. As a result, it wasn’t until I found a nicely priced copy privately that I got Part one and managed to get part 3 in an auction at a good price
-one of my early purchases included 586 (2nd Ratcatcher), which I bought as a package with 595. 586 was a 9.8, but off white to white pages. Unfortunately, when I received it, the CGC slab had some slight damage to it. It may have been a blessing, because I was offered the choice of returning it or waiting (a long time) to get it reslabbed. With the shipping costs associated, it would have been close to half the cost of the book to be going back and forth to the seller and CGC and me, so the offer of a return was accepted. This was fortuitous, in that it solidified my decision that I would only look for and stick to white pages copies for the run.
-there have been a couple of occasions when I was about to buy a certain issue and a better copy, or better priced copy, came up. This has helped me greatly when the comic gods have smiled upon me, but….
-I have missed out on some very hard to find issues. Some have been due to my intransigence, others my bad luck. I did have a #532 for a very good price, but I waited a day too long and it was gone. I then had 3 more opportunities to purchase it at a more standard price but held out, hoping I would eventually find one at the price I had been offered previously. Well, if anyone has seen this issue on eBay this year- one copy went to auction, starting at $1 and ended up at $775.. since then, any copies that have popped up online have been starting at $599. This is over 3-4x what I could have got it for… it has been the highest priced issue of any copy I have seen from the run. As you can see, that slot is still open, so I will have to be patient…
-I do have an issue which is a 9.8 CBCS of an issue that I had not seen elsewhere. I bought it with a view to eventually sending it in to CGC to do a crossover
-I won’t go into every single story in how I have been going in filling this set. But needles to say, it has so far been a journey. Periods of happiness and relief followed by periods of anger and anxiety ??
-there was a period where my eyes wandered and I got pulled in by the Marvel tractor beam. So for a couple months , my concentration and buys were directed at Amazing Spider-Man, and in that time I inexplicably let some issues get away. But a refreshing auction loss and the realisation that the Spidey runs are a life hazard brought me back to Detective
-I did also (and still) wander my eye over to the Batman series. Especially the 400s (and 300s). I have looked at this run as being ‘next’, but every time I may get an issue from that run, I realise that I need to concentrate on the task at hand
So far, so good. I have almost half the set at this point , and all are 9.8 white pages and direct editions.
Most are in the ‘new’ (post 2016) holders, some are in the 2nd generation holders, none in the old small-text, thin ones. I will continue to search the auction houses, eBay, ComicLink, ComicConnect/metropolis, mycomicshop, my Canadian friends (who have helped quite a bit), the various collectors that have nudged me certain directions and anyone else i may have encountered so far on this journey…
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