Capital Treasures

CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP, Pa. — It’s the rarest of finds, a collector’s dream come true — or is it?

Todd McDevitt thought he bought a copy of one of the most valuable comic books ever printed. But now, he’s surrounded by claims that it has been altered.

Detective Comics issue No. 27, which came out before World War II, is so famous because it’s the first one in which Batman appears.

“Everyone knows it’s out there,” said McDevitt, who owns a chain of comic book stores, including one in Cranberry. “Everyone knows it’s one of the most expensive comic books, and it’s kind of the Holy Grail.”

He recently bought a copy of the book from a man who claimed to have found it while cleaning his attic.

McDevitt said his copy is worth about $250,000, and a pristine copy can be worth as much as $500,000. Action Comics edition No. 1 is widely considered by collectors to be the only one more valuable, since it marks Superman’s first appearance.

But some collectors are calling McDevitt’s purchase into question, saying the book might have been altered, which would affect its value.

Greg Eide, who runs Eide’s Entertainment in the Strip District, said he believes the person who sold to McDevitt first tried to sell him the same precious comic at his store.

Eide said he thinks the issue had been “trimmed,” which is comic talk for cutting the edges of a book to make it look better.

“I think he was scammed,” said Eide. “Plain and simple.”
McDevitt disagrees.

“I do not feel (the comic) was trimmed,” he said. “I’ve shown it to other experts, and they are all fascinated by its quality.” [see video]

McDevitt won’t say how much he paid, but says he’s been saving money for 20 years, hoping for just such a find.

“I just ended up being the lucky guy they came to, and I treated them very fairly,” McDevitt said. “That’s what was important.”

For now, he’s keeping the Batman comic in an airtight bag in a bank vault, bringing it out occasionally to give friends and customers a peek. He said he hasn’t even read it yet.

Eide has proposed a $1,000 wager for an independent evaluation of McDevitt’s comic, but McDevitt declined, saying he was concerned the process might injure Batman’s brittle pages