DC Universe Collection of Over 40,000 Comic Books Goes to Auction With PBA Galleries : That Collectibles Show

There’s never been a collection like this come to auction before. PBA Galleries will be auctioning off every single comic book published by DC Comics from 1934 to 2014 in a series of auctions starting with The Batman collection on Thursday, November 9 at 11 AM PT. ComicBook.com visited PBA Galleries earlier this month to film two episodes of That Collectibles Show and was given a rare inside look at this historic collection of over 40,000 comic books. 

The collection includes such highly valuable, sought after Golden Age comic books as Action Comics #1, Detective Comics #27, Sensation Comics #1, Superman #1 and Batman #1. It also includes certain rare DC Comics, which virtually never come to market, such as a Flash Comics #1 Ashcan Edition, which there have only been two previously reported sales of. 

Because the collection is so massive, it will be auctioned off through a series of auctions. The Batman Auction, launching on Thursday, will feature such gems as the first appearance of Batman in Detective Comics #27, the first appearance of Robin in Detective Comics #38, the first appearance of The Joker and Catwoman in Batman #1, and the first appearance of The Riddler in Detective Comics #140. The first auction will end with an auction of Flash Comics #1 Ashcan Edition to serve as a preview of the rare comics that will be up for sale in future auctions.

During a visit to PBA Galleries to film two new episode of That Collectibles Show, ComicBook.com spoke with PBA Galleries Director of Comics Ivan Briggs about the history of the collection.  

“The collection was built by a British chap named Ian Levine, who is a music producer in London back in the seventies and eighties, very popular sold 40 million records. Now, Ian was obsessed with DC when he was a kid and now he had the resources to make his dreams come true, to build the world’s finest and most complete DC collection,” said Ivan Briggs. 

Because of the historic nature of the collection, Certified Guaranty Company (CGC) awarded the collection its own provenance designation as The DC Universe Collection. The key issues in the collection will all be graded by CGC. ComicBook.com visited CGC earlier this year and spoke with CGC President and renowned comic book expert Matt Nelson about why CGC gave this collection its own designation. 

“Because it’s a complete DC run and also because the story behind it is very fascinating, so just for those two reasons alone, we felt it was prudent to give this collection a name,” said Matt Nelson. “This is the first time that something of this magnitude has come up for sale.”

The first episode of That Collectibles Show: DC Universe Collection, which focuses on The Batman collection is included in the video in this article. A second episode focusing on the remaining parts of the DC Universe Collection will air at a later date.  The Batman auction starts this Thursday at 11 AM PT. For more information on how to bid or future sales, visit www.pbagalleries.com.