Expert: Mark Harmon - 3/9/2009

Question
so my girlfriend's brother works for WB and he lets her pick from his collection of comics that he has free access to. she is a hardcore Jim Lee (artist) fan and has been following the batman and robin all star series, so she grabs one. from what i can tell, the issue she has is from BEFORE the recall and still has visible cuss words over the black lines, making it an instant collectable. however it ALSO has two covers, front and back, completely identical. is this common, did they do it on purpose, is it a misprint?

Answer
Hi Tommy,

Not that common and not intentional.  This is mistake that sometimes occurs during the process of assembling the comic book.  The interesting thing, at least for older comics, is that there are collectors who will pay more for comics with a double cover than those without.  I'm guessing that the reason for this is that the outer cover acts as a kind of shield and keeps the inner cover protected and looking new.

The recall issue was definitely hot for awhile there and I'm sure there are still collectors trying to get their hands on a copy.  Combine that with the double cover and I'm sure it would do well if she decided to sell it.

- Mark