A Modern Batman Grail

This is as perfect an example of a modern NON KEY book that fetches an insane amount of coin. I’m talking about Detective Comics #880. This book has been hot for years now and it shows no signs of slowing down...at all. This was released in July of 2011 just before DC started their New 52 rebranding. At the time, this title was selling under 40k copies. That’s low for a flagship Batman title.

This run between Scott Snyder and Jock is actually a kickass run that spanned from issues #871-#881. They actually all fetch a few bucks and are a slight pain to piece together if hunting in back issue bins. The standouts in this run are of course the #880 and then I’d say the #871 as it’s the first of their run. We ***ALWAYS *** sell these in the shop...I can’t keep #880’s on the Wall long. As soon as they go up...someone is taking it home.

Which makes me happy as we were just able to snag a copy in a tiny collection we just got in. This weekend, a customer came in and while I’m not exactly sure what we ended up paying as it was my partner who made the purchase, I can bet it’s not much. (I’ll update when I speak with him later.) It was a small box filled with lots of cool covers featuring the Joker throughout various titles. Ours is in decent shape and I expect to move it quickly in the $200 range.

Weirdly enough, there were also 2 Joker latex masks with the tags still on them. Sadly these don’t sell for much. Between $15-$30 bucks each it seems. The one I’m wearing goes for a bit less...maybe because it more resembles Leatherface than the Clown Prince of Crime.

Back to the book...this is a Modern Grail for many. The reason is simple. The absolutely stunning cover by the always talented Jock. There is nothing of significance that happens in this issue. No first appearance. No death or big reveal. Just one of the more iconic and memorable covers to come out in decades. To have a $2.99 book under 10 years old that is not a variant and not a key, fetch the coin this fetches is extremely impressive.

I remember a few years back, you’d still be able to find these in comic shops or at shows for a few bucks. Many folks simply didn’t know of the draw. A few years ago I had a stack of these that were either traded or sold to us in collections or that we dug out of a long box ourselves. I remember when these were selling for $75-$100 bucks and being stunned...today they are fetching over $200 on the regular.

Want a tasty 9.8 slab??? You are looking at $600-$750 bucks!!!

They recently released a Foil Virgin Variant as a Convention Exclusive. Those while cool and should be in any “hard core collector’s” collection...it does not have the same feel as the original. The Foil only fetches around $40 bucks anyway.

Expect this book to continue to keep rising as they slowly get stashed away in collections. It is becoming much harder to find in recent years...at least for a few bucks. The word is out. Most copies you’ll come across these days are lining a wall in shops or at conventions. You’ll see hefty price tags on these from this point forward...unless you are super lucky. I just saw someone in one of the comic groups I am in found one for a few bucks at a Half Priced Books store along with a few other gems...so it’s still possible.

Thx for reading folks.

Blewitt

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