Holy attic find, Batman! Rare comic grabs huge price

Most of us find spiderwebs and old diaries when we clean out our attics; not so for a Pennsylvania man who found a near-mint copy of Detective Comics No. 27 in his attic. The DC comic series, then its infant stages, began before the start of the Second World War. The significance of No. 27--both historically and financially--is that it marks the first appearance by none other than the Caped Crusader, Batman.

No. 27 first appeared on newsstands in May 1939, a continuation of the series first begun in March 1937 with Detective Slam Bradley as its central character (the "D" in "DC"). That character was invented by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the creators of Superman (Canadians would recognize our countryman Shuster from the Heritage Minute in which he first conceives of Superman and draws him for Lois). Slam Bradley remained the central character until No. 27, when the popularity of Batman--then called "The Bat-Man"--gradually shifted the focus towards him. After that, DC's cover often read "Detective Comics featuring Batman."

In 1990, an issue of No. 27 sold for $80 000. It's estimated that that copy is now worth in excess of $500 000.

Aside from the obvious coolness of the find itself, the other cool part is this: McDevitt has been saving up since 1986--that's twenty-one years--to make a major comic purchase. The seller of No. 27 just walked into his shop in Pittsburgh. Pretty super, no?