Posted By Dan Greenfield on Mar 14, 2024 | 4 comments

PLUS: Batman: Gotham by Gaslight and Crisis on Infinite Earths #3 Facsimile Editions…

Now, this is cool.

DC Comics in June will re-release an all-time classic as a Facsimile Edition — 1952’s Mad #1, originally published by EC Comics. In addition, the publisher has also set the date for the Crisis on Infinite Earths #3 Facsimile Edition and there will also be a Batman: Gotham by Gaslight Facsimile Edition.

Dig the official solicitation info, which will be formally released by DC on Friday:

MAD MAGAZINE #1 FACSIMILE EDITION

Written by HARVEY KURTZMAN
Art by HARVEY KURTZMAN, JACK DAVIS, WALLY WOOD, WILL ELDER and JOHN SEVERIN

Cover by HARVEY KURTZMAN
Blank Sketch Cover

For people who like their humor in a jugular vein, we offer (again!) these tales calculated to drive you MAD. A facsimile reprint of the first landmark issue of MAD! With parodies of the leading comic book genres of 1952, this issue included the EC Horror-inspired terrorizing talkes of “Hoohah,” the expansive science fiction future world of “Blobs!”, the wacky Western-themed “Varmint!” and from our “true” crime tales department, “Ganefs!”. Prepare to have your sides split by MAD’s creators and the original Usual Gang of Idiots, Harvey Kurtzman, Will Elder, Jack Davis, and Wally Wood.

$3.99 US / 32 PAGES / Variant $4.99 US
ON SALE 6/4/24

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CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS #3 FACSIMILE EDITION

Written by MARV WOLFMAN
Art by GEORGE PEREZ, DICK GIORDANO and MIKE DeCARLO
Cover by GEORGE PEREZ

Blank sketch cover ($4.99 US)
Foil variant cover ($5.99 US)

In the far reaches of time, the first heroes fall! As an antimatter wave threatens the existence of our present-day Earth, will the combined strength of the Teen Titans, Batman, the Outsiders, and Superman be enough to stop the “Oblivion Upon Us”?

$3.99 US / 32 pages
ON SALE 6/18/24

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BATMAN: GOTHAM BY GASLIGHT #1 FACSIMILE EDITION

Written by BRIAN AUGUSTYN
Art by MIKE MIGNOLA and P. CRAIG RUSSELL
Cover by MIKE MIGNOLA

Foil variant cover by MIKE MIGNOLA
Blank Sketch Cover Variant

This now-classic tale of the Dark Knight reimagines Batman in the Gotham City of 1889, where a murderer is on the loose preying on its citizens: Jack the Ripper. The story that helped usher in DC’s Elseworlds initiative is reprinted for the first time as a facsimile edition.

$4.99 US / 48 pages / Variant $6.99 US
ON SALE 6/11/24

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A few thoughts:

G2B01146.TIF

— I was wondering whether DC would go down the Mad road and they have. This is such welcome news. I really love that the company is broadening its Facsimile Edition offerings beyond the typical, with releases such as Young Romance #125 and the upcoming Military Comics #1 and Our Army at War #81.

— A Mad #1 sketch cover is a great idea. Can you imagine how many artists will want to go town on a blank cover with that logo up top? Fabulous.

— Obligatory Price Comparison: A slabbed, high-grade original Mad #1 — a file copy owned by Gaines’ widow Annie Gaines Ashton — sold for $96,000, including buyer’s premium, through Heritage Auctions in 2019.

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MORE

— CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS: DC to Re-Release Complete Series as MONTHLY FACSIMILE EDITIONS. Click here.

— BLACKHAWK’s and SGT. ROCK’s Debuts to Get Facsimile Edition Treatment. Click here.