Approximate
Condition Profile
DC COMICS · 9/68
UNIT ECA-038227
DETECTIVE COMICS #379
Silver Age Batman adventure from DC's New Look era, September 1968
// Unit specification
// Copies in archive
| Unit | Grade | Variant | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| ECA-038227 | ~6.5 | — | AVAILABLE |
// Run position
// Condition analysis
Cover shows moderate wear typical of Silver Age books: mild corner blunting at bottom corners, slight edge wear along the right and bottom margins, and a few faint surface scuffs on the green background. No major creases or color breaks are visible in this photo, and the colors remain bright with good gloss retention. Book is in a protective sleeve, and the interior and back cover were not assessed.
// Valuation — market reference
| Bracket | Grade | Est. market value | Marker |
|---|---|---|---|
| LOW_RAW | 0.5 – 1.5 | $18 | |
| MID_RAW | 4.0 – 6.0 | $47 | |
| HIGH_CERT | 9.8 SLAB | $550 |
// Archive commentary
Detective Comics #379 arrived in September 1968 during the height of DC's "New Look" Batman era, when editor Julius Schwartz had reoriented the title toward tighter detective plotting and moody, modern art direction. The issue features a Batman and Robin story with a cover credited to Irv Novick, interior art by Bob Brown, and a script from Frank Robbins, all mainstays of the Caped Crusader's late-1960s output. It carries no first appearance, origin, or landmark creative milestone, but it is a representative example of the era's house style and fits squarely into the long run of Batman procedural stories that defined Detective Comics before the character's early-1970s gothic reinvention under Denny O'Neil and Neal Adams.
Demand for the issue is modest and largely tied to Batman Silver Age run-builders rather than speculative key-issue buyers. Certified population data shows a healthy but unremarkable spread across grades, with no CGC 9.8 yet recorded and 9.6 standing as the practical ceiling; sales activity thins noticeably above 9.2, indicating that high-grade survivors are scarce even though raw and mid-grade copies are readily available. Pricing across the graded spectrum climbs gradually through the mid grades before accelerating past 9.0, a pattern typical of common-but-collected Silver Age Batman issues where condition scarcity, not story content, drives the premium.
This is an accessible entry point for collectors assembling a complete Silver Age Detective Comics run or a Batman New Look art collection, rather than a book pursued on its own merits. Raw copies in low and mid grade change hands cheaply and are widely available, making the issue a low-risk addition to a larger set. Certified examples become meaningfully harder to source as grade rises, and a well-preserved 9.6 or better example would appeal to registry-set collectors chasing census-topping copies of an otherwise overlooked issue.
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