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DETECTIVE COMICS No. 62 Provenance: DC Universe Collection Publisher: DC [Indicia: Detective Comics, Inc.] Date Published: April, 1942 Description: CGC certified: VG (4.0). Off-white to white pages. Grader notes: "Creasing to cover; moderate staining to cover; tears to cover." Provenance: The DC UNIVERSE COLLECTION. CGC Census: 109 graded copies (96 Universal, 1 Signature Series, 12 Restored). GPAnalysis: A 4.0 sold for $5100 in 6/23. Credits: Cover: Fred Ray (layouts), Jerry Robinson finishes and inks. Scripts: Bill Finger, Jack Lehti, Murray Boltinoff? Art: Bob Kane (Jerry Robinson and George Roussos inks), Pierce Rice, Jack Lehti (Charles Paris inks), Lee Harris (Charles Paris inks), Cliff Young, Howard Sherman. Overstreet: "Joker cover & story (2nd Joker cover)." Bat-Bibliography: The DC Universe Collection copy of Detective Comics #62 is illustrated in Taschen's 75 Years of DC Comics: The Art of Modern Mythmaking (page 195), with the following commentary: "The Joker helped DC laugh all the way to the bank. Between 1940 and 1954, the garish villain appeared in a jaw-dropping 65 stories as well as separate continuities like the 'Batman' daily and Sunday newspaper comic strips. During his lengthy period of bouts with the Caped Crusader, the Joker shifted from a twisted murderer to a relatively benign prankster." Bat-cyclopedia: "In April 1942 Batman and Robin match wits with the JOKER.... [who], after escaping from jail... becomes outraged at having been excluded from participating in Hanson's contest [to determine the King of Jesters and win a series of clues leading to a large fortune]. 'King of Jesters,' exclaims the Joker angrily. 'How dare they? I — I am the king of all jesters — I — the JOKER himself. And they dare hold a contest of this nature without inviting me! Hah! I'll invite myself! Ha! Ha! Ha!' "Immediately, the Joker sets out to murder the competing comedians and steal their clues, each time dealing death in such a way as to create a morbid twist on some famous joke.... After a series of murders and attempted murders, the Joker accumulates all of the clues and recovers the Hanson fortune, only to be apprehended by Batman and Robin." — Michael L. Fleisher, The Encyclopedia of Comic Book Heroes Vol. 1: Batman. Macmillan: 1976, pp. 116, 238. The Joker Mellows Out: "But after April 1942 (Detective Comics #62), the editorial mandate for gentler, brighter, more kid-friendly fare manages to reach even the Harlequin of Hate. The Joker's schemes grow suddenly more baroque: increasingly elaborate jewel heists and ever-more-involved death traps (which never quite manage to live up to the term) abound. Exit Joker the maniacal murderer, enter Joker 'the cackling cut-up of the crime world.' It wasn't until the 1970s, when stories involving the newly-retrenched, badass-loner Batman needed their stakes raised, that Denny O'Neil and Neal Adams reintroduced the Joker as an archnemesis who could be counted on to add a serious body count." — Glen Weldon, The Caped Crusade: Batman and the Rise of Nerd Culture. Simon & Schuster: 2016, p. 39. The DC UNIVERSE COLLECTION comprises over 40,000 comic books, including a copy of every single DC comic published for retail sale from 1934 to 2014. The collection was amassed by British music producer Ian Levine over the course of several decades, and it's been hailed as the single greatest collecting accomplishment in comic book history. This collection served as the basis for former DC Comics president Paul Levitz's monumental book 75 Years of DC Comics: The Art of Modern Mythmaking, published by Taschen in 2017. PBA is proud to present this epic collection in a series of themed sales over the next two years. To join the DC Universe Collection notifications list, contact pba@pbagalleries.com. Enjoying PBA's Batman sale? A very small number of softcover and limited edition hardcover auction catalogues are available for purchase. The catalogues are fully illustrated, thoroughly researched, an