ComicLink is bringing a rare higher grade example of 1939’s Detective Comics #33 CGC 7.0 Rockford Pedigree Collection (first origin of Batman) to auction in the Winter Featured Auction starting in February 2025.
“Fine or better unrestored examples of Detective Comics #33 are extraordinarily rare on the market, and this beautiful Rockford Pedigree example is the single finest unrestored example ComicLink has ever offered,” ComicLink founder and Managing Director Josh Nathanson said. “Adding to its desirability, it also has near newsstand fresh Off-White to White Pages. The opportunity to acquire this major Golden Age DC in this kind of grade should be given its due consideration – it’s an opportunity that comes along only on rare special occasions.”
Nathanson also mentioned that two other higher grade Golden Age Batman keys have also been added to the Winter Featured Auction, Detective Comics #140 CGC 9.0 (first Riddler) and Detective Comics #168 CGC 8.0 Davis Crippen Pedigree (first origin of the Joker).
Published six months after Batman’s first appearance in Detective Comics #27, issue 33 leads off with two significant pages in comic history with the first origin of Batman. This is the first time the events that birthed the Dark Knight were revealed, showing the fateful night 15 years earlier when a young Bruce Wayne and his parents leave a movie theater, and an armed thief demands that Martha Wayne turn over her necklace. Thomas Wayne attempts to interfere and is shot in the chest, then Martha is also shot dead. Days later young Bruce swears to avenge his parents’ deaths by spending the rest of his life warring on all criminals. We then see a young adult Bruce Wayne studying science and lifting weights to transform his body. One night while sitting in his family’s mansion, Bruce ponders an appropriate disguise to intimidate criminals. Just then a huge bat flies in an open window, inspiring Bruce to become the dark avenger of evil, the Batman.
The origin of Batman has been retold over 100 times in everything from comic books to movies and TV shows to video games. It was first reprinted six months after Detective Comics #33 in Batman #1, with just a modification to the splash image of Batman that appears above the origin story. The origin wasn’t told again until it appeared in expanded form eight years later in Batman #47, the story where Batman finds the killer of his parents, Joe Chill. Four years later in 1952’s Detective Comics #190, Batman suffers from amnesia and Robin tells him his origin story to refresh his memory. It was retold in Detective Comics #235 (1956), when we learn a gangster named Lew Moxon actually hired Chill to assassinate Thomas Wayne to get revenge for Wayne having testified against him in court. It was retold again in 1959’s Detective Comics #265.
In 1965, the origin story as seen in Batman #1 was reprinted in Jules Feiffer’s hardcover collection of Golden Age comic books, The Great Comic Book Heroes. A year later, during the first episode of the Batman TV show, Batman mentions that his parents were “murdered by dastardly criminals.”
Batman #198 (1968) reprinted Batman #47, the story where Batman finds the murderer of his parents. Soon after, the milestone Batman #200 retold the origin. Batman #208 (1969) showcased a new version of the origin illustrated by Gil Kane, who appears to have mistakenly shown a dead Thomas Wayne instead of Bruce yelling at Joe Chill “They’re Dead! You Killed Them!”
In 1971, master artist Neal Adams illustrated the origin in Batman #232, once again showing Chill firing at both Thomas and Martha Wayne. The original two-page origin story from Detective Comics #33 was reprinted in Secret Origins #1 (1973). Two years later, DC reprinted Batman #1 in its Famous First Edition treasury size line, and in 1976 the book Secret Origins of the Super DC Heroes reprinted both the two-page origin from Batman #1 and the expanded version from Batman #47.
The events of the origin were instrumental to the classic story in Detective Comics #457 (1976) known as “No Hope in Crime Alley.” We meet Leslie Thompkins, a kind older woman who was the first person to provide comfort to young Bruce Wayne at the scene of his parents’ murder. We learn that every year on the anniversary of the killings, Batman visits the area that came to be known as “Crime Alley” following the killings, and he visits with Leslie. In the early 1980s, the origin appeared in Untold Legends of the Batman #1, Detective Comics #500, and Batman Special #1.
In 1985, the origin was told for the first time in a medium outside comics when it appeared on the animated series Super Friends episode “The Fear.” The Golden Age Batman origin was retold in Secret Origins #6 (1986). Then the origin appeared in the first issues of Frank Miller’s Batman: The Dark Knight Returns #1 (1986) and Batman #404 (1987), the first issue of the saga known as “Batman: Year One.” This series told the revamped origin of the post-Crisis on Infinite Earths version of Batman.
The origin of Batman appeared in live-action for the first time in Tim Burton’s successful movie, Batman, in 1989. This exposed the story to hundreds of millions of people around the globe. One major change was that this version made the young man who would later become the Joker the killer of Batman’s parents.
From the 1990s on, the origin of Batman appeared with increasing frequency in comic books. Live action versions have appeared in 1995’s Batman Forever, 2005’s Batman Begins, 2014’s Gotham TV series, 2016’s Batman Vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice, and 2019’s Joker. Animated versions of Batman’s origin have appeared over a dozen times including the 1992 Batman: The Animated Series episode “Nothing to Fear” as well as animated adaptations of Batman: The Dark Knight Returns and Batman: Year One.
ComicLink and its partner firm CertifiedLink are accepting consignments for upcoming auctions taking place in early 2025. This includes the next ComicLink Focused Auction that starts on January 10 followed by the Winter Featured Auction that begins in February. Auction placement can be reserved at the ComicLink Auction Schedule. Consignors can also reach ComicLink’s sales team by emailing buysell@comiclink.com or calling (617) 517-0062 on weekdays between 8:30 AM and 5:30 PM ET.
In addition to comic books and original art, ComicLink’s partner firm CertifiedLink is seeking other categories of certified and authenticated collectibles including sports and non-sports trading cards, video games, action figures, VHS tapes, coins, and sports, historical, and entertainment memorabilia. The next CertifiedLink Auction will launch in January. CertifiedLink can be reached by emailing buysell@certifiedlink.com with details or a prospective auction list or by calling (617) 517-0072.
