DETECTIVE COMICS #361

Cover shows moderate wear typical of the grade: soft corners, light surface scuffing and a few small nicks along the edges, and a faint diagonal crease visible near the lower left corner area. Spine appears mostly tight with only minor stress lines, no major color break noted. The book is in a protective sleeve which limits full assessment of edge chipping; interior and back cover were not assessed.

Detective Comics #361 arrived in March 1966, squarely within the celebrated "New Look" period that Carmine Infantino ushered in for the Dark Knight beginning in 1964. The redesigned yellow oval bat-emblem, leaner Batman, and detective-forward storytelling defined this stretch of the title, and the issue lands at a moment when the ABC Batman television series had just premiered, driving unprecedented newsstand demand for the character across DC's line. While the issue is not associated with a first appearance, origin, or other landmark event that price guides single out as a key, it is a representative example of the era's house style, with Infantino's kinetic layouts and figure work anchoring the story alongside period-appropriate inking.

Market data shows a healthy, well-populated census of roughly 130 CGC Universal copies, reflecting steady collector interest in the run without the intense competition seen around recognized Batman keys of the same era. Values climb gradually through the mid grades before accelerating sharply above 9.0, a pattern typical of Silver Age comics where high-grade survivors are scarce relative to raw supply. The absence of any certified 9.8 on census, despite six copies reportedly graded at that tier, underscores how thin the top of the population remains and how a fresh 9.8 to market would likely command a substantial premium over the current 9.6 benchmark.

This issue suits collectors building a complete run of Silver Age Detective Comics or Batman New Look material rather than key-issue speculators, and it trades accordingly: modest and stable in low and mid grades, with value concentrated almost entirely in the top few points of the grading scale. Raw copies in worn condition move as affordable reading or filler pieces for run-builders, mid-grade examples appeal to collectors assembling presentable sets, and any high-grade certified copy would draw attention primarily from Batman TV-era specialists and registry competitors chasing census-topping examples.