Adventure Comics #73 for Sale - First Appearance of Manhunter - Where to Buy

Identification plate

Series: Adventure Comics (DC, 1938 series)
Issue: #73
Publication date: April 1942
Key date: 1942-04-00
On-sale date: 1942-02-24
Indicia publisher: Detective Comics Inc.
Price: $0.10
Pages: 68

Match the book in your hand against this plate before paying an edition-specific price.

Why this issue matters

First appearance of Manhunter - the earliest non-flashback appearance on record for this character.

First appearance of Paul Kirk - the earliest non-flashback appearance on record for this character.

Origin story on record for: Manhunter.

The evidence

Claims here come from the story records for this issue, listed under Sources at the bottom of the file. Character hubs with full evidence tables are coming to this site.

Seq	Story	Type	Pages	Credits	Characters
0	-	cover	1	pencils: Jack Kirby; inks: Joe Simon	Manhunter; Starman (inset)
1	Editorial Advisory Board	promo (ad from the publisher)	0.33	letters: typeset
2	Knight of the Revolution	in-house column	0.67	script: Josette Frank
3	The Case of the Murders in Outer Space!	comic story	13	script: Gardner Fox; pencils: Jack Burnley; inks: Jack Burnley, Ray Burnley; colors: Raymond Perry; letters: Betty Bentley	The Starman [Ted Knight]; Woodley Allen; Doris Lee; Clifford Taylor (death); Colonel Matt Taylor; Jim Taylor; The Hooded Hunchback [Lt. Governor Morgan]; his gang [Muggsy; Rasp; others unnamed] (villains, introduction)
4	Smiles	cartoon	0.5	script: Henry Boltinoff; pencils: Henry Boltinoff; inks: Henry Boltinoff
5	What a Cast!	promo (ad from the publisher)	0.25	letters: typeset
7	The Secret of the Buzzard's Revenge	comic story	10	script: Jack Kirby; pencils: Jack Kirby; inks: Joe Simon; letters: Howard Ferguson	Manhunter First, Paul Kirk First
9	Adventure in the Past	comic story	6	script: Jack Lehti; pencils: Jack Lehti; inks: Jack Lehti	Steve Conrad
10	The Golden Quest	comic story	11	script: Henry Lynne Perkins; pencils: Louis Cazeneuve; inks: Louis Cazeneuve	The Shining Knight [Sir Justin]
11	Remember the Maine!	cartoon	0.5	script: F Ray; pencils: F Ray; inks: F Ray
12	All-Star Comics; The Justice Society of America	promo (ad from the publisher)	0.5
13	Criminal Quiz	comic story	8	pencils: Bernard Baily; inks: Bernard Baily; letters: Bernard Baily	The Hourman [Rex Tyler]; Jimmy Martin; Professor Q [David Manders] (villain, WABX Radio President)
14	Gunfighter's Test	text story	1.75	script: John Hilton
16	-	comic story	1	script: Henry Boltinoff; pencils: Henry Boltinoff; inks: Henry Boltinoff
17	Bells of Madness	comic story	10	script: Jack Kirby; pencils: Jack Kirby; inks: Joe Simon; letters: Howard Ferguson	The Sandman [Wesley Dodds]; Sandy [Sandy Hawkins]; Lois Mansfield; Frank Scata; Martha Mansfield (death); Ernest Mansfield (villain)
18	Now on Sale	promo (ad from the publisher)	1

Plus 2.5 pages of advertisements and other matter across 4 sequences, as published.

Where to read it

Collection	Year
The New Gods #4	1971	On eBay ›
Golden Age Starman Archives #1 ISBN 1-56389-622-2	2000	On eBay ›
The Sandman by Joe Simon & Jack Kirby #[nn] ISBN 978-1-4012-2299-4	2009	On eBay ›

Reading the story costs a fraction of owning the issue. Both routes are on every file.

Before you buy

Golden-age paper is brittle. Ask about page suppleness and check edges for chips in the photos.
Check for trimmed edges, married covers, and clipped coupons - all common on books this old.
Confirm the indicia matches this plate; many golden-age titles changed names mid-run.

Series context

‹ #7242 of 472#74 ›

Sources

Grand Comics Database, issue record (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Found an error in this file? corrections@comicrecord.com