Beschreibung:

WORLD'S BEST COMICS No. 1 (With Original Art, Signed: "BOB KANE") Author: Place: Publisher: Date: Description: DC (Indicia: "World's Best Comics, Inc."). [Spring], 1941. Good (2.0). Cover creased, light handling soil, small color flakes from bottom edge of front cover, ¾" split with tear at bottom spine, paper loss at spine crown to a maximum depth of 3mm, spine rubbed with partial losses to lettering. There's a spot of black ink on the spine between the "M" and "I" in "COMICS"—it has a sheen consistent with India ink, and matches the ink of the "BOB KANE" signature and art on the inside covers. Off-white pages, nice and supple. First page partially attached to inside front cover at spine gutter, probably from glue. First two pages badly torn but with no losses; pages throughout otherwise fully intact and unmolested. Inside front cover is signed "BOB KANE," with original brush, pen and ink illustrations of a man's profile. The inside back cover has an illustration of a man's eye, as well as the faintly-visible imprint of an erased pencil drawing of man's face in profile, with equally faint imprint of the name "Orlando Busino." An enigmatic comic book worthy of further research, possibly signed with original sketches by Batman creator Bob Kane Cover by Fred Ray. Scripts by Jerry Siegel, John B. Wentworth, Gardner Fox, Bill Finger. Art by Wayne Boring (ghosting for Joe Shuster , Harry Lampert, Stan Asch, Jack Lehti, Fred Ray, Henry Boltinoff, Joseph Sulman, Ed Moore, Howard Purcell, Bob Kane First issue of a title that would soon change to "World's Finest Comics." The inside front cover features two sketches of male faces in profile, signed "BOB KANE" in black India ink. There are a few pencilings as well, but these appear to be in the clumsy hand of a child—possibly the same child who ripped the first two pages. On the inside back cover is a pen and ink drawing of an eye. The signature and the drawings are consistent with Bob Kane's style. On the inside back cover there is also the barely-visible outline of an erased pencil drawing of a man's head. The drawing appears to be in a different, less developed hand than the ink sketches. The erased signature of "Orlando Busino" can barely be detected under magnification. An Internet search reveals that Orlando Busino was born in 1926 and started drawing at an early age. He sold his first cartoon to the New York Daily Mirror in 1940, at the age of 14 (one year before World's Best #1 was released). He went on to a successful career as a gag cartoonist, having appeared in McCalls, Reader's Digest, Good Housekeeping, Saturday Evening Post, and many other magazines. His only known comic book work was done for Archie Comics' Tales Calculated to Drive You Bats in the 1960s. Mr. Busino is 94 years old and lives in Ridgefield, CT. According to Grand Comics Database, he lists Will Eisner and Bob Kane as influences. PBA reached out to Mr. Busino but received no reply. Nothing is known about the provenance of the "BOB KANE" signature and sketches, which were present when the consignor acquired this mag decades ago. A fascinating enigma from the early Golden Age. A limited edition of 100 softcover and 15 hardcover catalogues are available. Over 200 pages, fully illustrated. Fun reference, great keepsake. Softcovers $40, dust-jacketed hardcover with limitation plate $200. To order, contact ivan@pbagalleries.com or visit: https://www.pbagalleries.com/content/comics/. R. Crumb says, "I found [PBA's catalogue] so interesting that I am saving it for the texts that accompany the comics which were put up for auction. This is some of the best commentary I’ve yet seen on the quality of the content of comic books. I especially enjoyed the reviews of the post-war horror comics. Great. Priceless." Consignments welcome for PBA's Spring 2021 Comic Book sale. Pre-Code Horror, Golden Age and Silver Age comics, original art and ephemera sought. Send inquiries to ivan@pbagalleries.com. Lot Amendments Condition: