The district attorney whose face is destroyed in this issue is named Harvey Kent.
DC changed it to Dent shortly afterward, almost certainly because Kent was already doing a great deal of work at that company. He is Harvey Kent in this comic, not Harvey Dent, and knowing that is the difference between a listing that reads as informed and one that does not.
This is Detective Comics #66, August 1942, and it is the first appearance and origin of Two-Face — the third of the Batman villains that a general audience can name without prompting.
What it brings
| Grade | Result | Where and when |
|---|---|---|
| CGC 9.0 | $53,538 | ComicConnect, September 2025 |
| CGC 9.2, top graded | $85,000 (reported, undated) | — |
| any condition | around $4,000 (reported, undated) | — |
One documented sale near the top of the scale tells you about the ceiling, not about your copy. A 9.0 on a 1942 comic is exceptional; most survivors are nowhere near it.
The $85,000 reported figure belongs to a single top-graded 9.2 and carries no date, so it is a ceiling on a ceiling. The reported floor near $4,000 is undated too. Between $4,000 and $53,538 there is a great deal of room and no public evidence, and I am not going to fill it in.
Why 1942 Batman comics survive badly
Print runs were large — Batman sold enormously through the war — so the scarcity is not about how many were made.
It is about the paper and the salvage drives. Wartime stock was poor because the better grades went to the war effort, so copies brown and turn brittle faster than a 1940 book. And the paper drives of 1942 to 1945 actively collected old magazines from households, with children encouraged to hand comics in.
The result is a population skewed low, which is why a 9.0 commands what it does on an issue where the reported floor is four thousand dollars.
Selling a Detective Comics #66
- Describe it correctly. First appearance and origin of Two-Face, named Harvey Kent in this issue. That detail signals to a buyer that the seller knows the book.
- Do not price off the 9.0. I will tell you plainly when the only number I have describes a better copy than yours, and on this issue it almost certainly does.
- Expect tanning. Normal for 1942 and priced in.
- Check the run. Wartime Detective issues carry value unevenly and rarely arrive alone.
Have a copy?
Send three photos: front, back, and the small print. That is all I need to tell you where your copy really sits.
Related
- Detective Comics #27, where Batman starts.
- Batman #11, from the same wartime stretch.
- The 100 most valuable Golden Age comics, and what each one really sold for.
Cover images on this page are shown small, for identification, with the publisher credited in the caption. If you are a rights holder and want an image removed, contact me and it comes down.
