DETECTIVE COMICS #355

Pre-1977 book so no direct/newsstand distinction applies. Cover shows moderate wear: visible spine stress with a crease line near the top, some surface scuffing and minor color rubbing especially along the left edge and top corners, and slight corner softness at top left and bottom right. There is a small stain/discoloration area near the bottom right corner and general handling wear consistent with a mid-grade Silver Age book. The book is in a protective sleeve, which limits full assessment; interior and back cover were not evaluated.

Detective Comics #355 (September 1966) presents "The Million Dollar Debut of Batgirl," scripted by Gardner Fox with art by Carmine Infantino and inks by Sid Greene, marking the first appearance of Barbara Gordon as Batgirl. Arriving the same year the Batman television series launched a wave of mainstream interest in the character, the new Batgirl was created in part with an eye toward television, and she was written into the show's third season within a year of this issue's release, cementing her as a fixture of the Batman mythos for decades. The story pits the new heroine against the villain Killer Moth, but the historical weight of the issue rests entirely on its cast debut rather than its plot.

Demand for this issue is driven almost exclusively by its status as a first appearance of an enduring DC character, a status that has only grown with Batgirl's continued presence in comics, animation, and film. Certified population data shows a fairly deep census across mid and high grades but very few copies at the top of the range, with only a handful of 9.4s and just a single 9.6 and 9.8 on record. Pricing climbs sharply and non-linearly as grade increases, consistent with a book where high-grade survivors are scarce relative to collector demand, and the thin data at the top of the census reflects genuine rarity rather than lack of interest.

This is a book that trades actively at nearly every grade, since Silver Age Batman-family collectors and character-first-appearance specialists both compete for it. Lower and mid-grade raw copies remain accessible entry points for readers assembling a Batman run or a Batgirl-themed collection, while high-grade certified copies are pursued by key-issue investors and tend to see outsized premiums whenever a fresh 9.6 or 9.8 surfaces at auction. Given the extreme scarcity of top-census copies, any well-preserved example graded above 9.4 should be expected to command a significant premium over recent comparables.