Comic Book Questions Answered is a column where I answer any questions you might have about comics (feel free to email me questions at brianc@cbr.com). Today, I’m going to go over the most collectible Batman comics.
This isn't a specific question, per se, but rather a matter of a general question I get asked a lot, and one that gets asked in comic book stores all over America by people who come in with boxes of old comics, namely, “Are these old comics worth anything?” It's a very reasonable question, of course, when people get their hands on comics they collected as kids, or if they inherited collections from their parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, neighbors, and so on. It can be very confusing, and I thought I'd try to explain the basics here.
Note that in the modern era, things like “comic book price guides” are basically a thing of the past, as the great leveler in terms of “price guides” is the online auction site, eBay, which serves as the best price guide around, as it shows you exactly how much people ARE paying for the comics in question. You may not believe me when I say your comic is worth around $25, you may not believe your local comic book dealer when he says your comic is worth around $25, but you sure BETTER believe it when you see that Comic Book X has been selling on eBay for $25 on a regular basis. Sonja Grunfeld, an account executive at Edelman, recently told CBR some fascinating facts about how popular Batman comics have been on eBay lately. She noted that Global users searched for “batman” items over 4,000 times per hour during the first half of 2024! That's pretty crazy. He added that sales of issues like Batman 428 increased nearly 140% and Batman 251 increased 30% in 2023 over the previous year on eBay globally.
Well, with all that in mind, let's take a look at how you can quickly figure out if your comic book collection is worth anything!
Which era of Batman comics is worth reading, regardless of the subject matter?
Sonja noted that there is actually a restored copy of Batman's first appearance in 1938 Police Comics #27 is currently up for sale on eBay for $2.5 million!
You don't really need me to tell you if you have Police Comics #27 (the first appearance of Commissioner Gordon, and also of a masked rodent of little importance), Batman #1 (the first appearance of the Joker and Catwoman), and Police Comics #38 (Robin's first appearance), you're doing very well.
However, in general, if you have any problems with Batman before #80, and any problems of Police Comics before #200, you're doing very well. All of those issues are very collectible, though obviously some are MORE collectible than others, and I'll detail a couple of particularly noteworthy issues from those years. Police Comics #58 is the first appearance of The Penguin (whose TV show debuted this week), Police Comics #66 is the first appearance of Two-Face, Police Comics #140 is the first appearance of the Riddler, and Police Comics #168 is the first origin of the Joker…
The thing to keep in mind is that, generally speaking, once you reach a certain point after a comic book character is introduced, first appearances are the name of the game in terms of collectibility. That's why it's so easy for me to say, “Issues X through Y aren't particularly collectible,” since I know there are no notable first appearances in those issues. Batman comics up to about 1951 are generally quite collectible (Police Comics had a more regular release schedule than Batmanwhich is why the issue numbers don't match up particularly well, so it's not like “The next 100 issues of both series”).
During the 1950s, Batman titles aren't particularly collectible. I mean, you'd be happy to have comics from this era, but we're looking at less than $100 per comic, and probably closer to the $20-40 range. That era is Police Comics #200-350, and Batman #81-200.
Some of the notable exceptions you should watch out for are Batman #121, the introduction of Mister Freeze (then Mr. Zero), Police Comics #225 (Martian Manhunter's first appearance in a backup series in the book), Police Comics #233 (the first appearance of the original Batwoman), Batman #181 (Poison Ivy's first appearance), and Police Comics #298 (the first appearance of Clayface that everyone thinks of when they think of Clayface)…
Now, in the 60s, the Batman TV series were a sensation, but while comics from this era definitely SELL, they are much less expensive. One notable exception is Police Comics #359, the first appearance of Barbara Gordon, Batgirl…
During this time, comic book COVERS tend to become more important, as a very collectible comic book during the late 1960s and early 1970s is Batman #227, known only for its classic Neal Adams cover (an homage to an early Bob Kane cover)…
Batman Issue #232 is the first appearance of Ra's al Ghul, so it's a great issue from a collectible standpoint. Batman Issue #251 marks the return of the Joker, along with an iconic cover by Neal Adams…
While there are one or two moderate exceptions, in general, Batman #201-300 and Police Comics Numbers 350 through 450 are not noteworthy numbers from a collector's point of view.
What are some of the more recent and notable Batman comics?
Once you get to the 80s, in general, numbers aren't worth much anymore, period. Even something as iconic as Batman #404, the start of the classic storyline, Batman: Year One, is selling for less than $20 on eBay (note that we're talking about ungraded comics here, not, like, 9.0 copies of the books. If you have comics in such good condition that it's worth having a professional grade them, then it's a different story for most comics, as those books command a higher price)…
Batman: The Dark Knight #1, the first issue of the classic Batman: The Dark Knight Returns history, stands out from the others during this era…
where also Batman: The Deadly Joke (by Alan Moore and Brian Bolland) costs less than $50…
Some notable issues that stand out a BIT from the rest of the pack during the 80s include two comics involving Jason Todd, the second hero to become Robin. There are Batman #357, the first appearance of Jason Todd, and Batman #428, the DEATH of Jason Todd…
By the 90s, things get REALLY cheap, as comics were selling so well that they made too many of them for them to be really hard to find, collectible-wise, and then after that, the books are too new to be valuable anymore (there's usually a “30 year rule” for collectibility, where you have to wait 30 years before things really start to become “collectible”). One BIG exception you should watch out for is The Adventures of Batman #12, Harley Quinn's first appearance in the comics…
Other modern comics that stand out a bit are Batman #608, the beginning of the plot of “Hush” by Jim Lee and Jeph Loeb, Batman #612, part of “Hush” with Batman fighting Superman, Batman #656, the introduction of Damian Wayne, the fourth Robin, Police Comics #880 (a comic printed in a reduced format with a classic Joker cover) and Batman #1 (the first issue of the New 52)…
Now, don't get me wrong, there are always the occasional “hot” book, like Year of the Villain: Hell Resurrected #3, the first appearance of a new Batman character, Punchline, a comic that was not very organized and came out right before the pandemic, so it hit the mark and is still sold for $40 today…
So, regardless of the era, you MAY have an exception to the rule, but in general, if you follow the general guide above, you can quickly figure out if you have a comic book collection worth selling.
If anyone has a comics question they'd like answered, hit me up at brianc@cbr.com! Thanks again to Sonja Grunfeld at Edelman for the interesting eBay facts and figures.