August 2010 | Jonathan Shipley

Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na BATMAN!

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The Christian Science Monitor recently took note of a comic book auction coming soon. Up on the blocks, being sold at Heritage Auction Galleries in Dallas? One of the rarest and most desirable comics around - Batman No. 1 (Spring, 1940). Batman first appeared in Detective Comics No. 27 (May, 1939), but this was his first stand-alone comic book that also introduced his soon-to-be arch nemesis, the Joker.

Owned by Mike Wheat, a comic book collector hailing from Alaska, it is one of only about 300 Batman No. 1 comics known to still exist. It is supposed to fetch around $40,000. Not a bad return for Wheat, who bought the comic with a couple others in 1974 for $300.

Also under the hammer at Heritage this week is the "Aloha copy" of Detective Comics No. 27. Bought in Honolulu in the 1970s, it is estimated to bring in $400,000.

UPDATE: The "Aloha Copy," sold for $657,250 and the Batman No. 1 sold for $55,269, according to the Honolulu Star Advertiser.