EXCLUSIVE! The original Clayface’s first appearance!
DC has three Facsimile Editions in the hopper for October and each deserves its own spotlight. Click here and here for the other two.
Meanwhile — get used to a lot of attention for Clayface, any version. He’s getting a movie in 2026 and DC is getting in early on the action with a Facsimile Edition of the original’s first appearance, in 1940’s Detective Comics #40.
Dig the solicitation info, which will be released formally by DC later Friday:
DETECTIVE COMICS #40 FACSIMILE EDITION
Written by BILL FINGER, JERRY SIEGEL, JACK LEHTI, GARDNER FOX, and CHAD GROTHKOPF
Art by BOB KANE, HAL SHERMAN, FRED GUARDINEER, CHAD GROTHKOPF, JACK LEHTI, KEN ERNST, DON LYNCH, and MAURICE KASHUBACover by BOB KANE
Foil variant cover by BOB KANE ($9.99 US)
Blank sketch cover ($7.99)
It’s a dark day for the silver screen when the stars of the latest remake of the classic horror film Dread Castle start getting killed off one by one—and Bruce Wayne’s fiancée, Julie, may be next! Learn the terrifying, twisted origin of the original Clayface in this chilling tale of jealousy, murder, and revenge!
$6.99 US | 36 pages
ON SALE 10/1/25
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Several thoughts:
— This is one of Robin’s earliest adventures. You probably recognize the cover right off because of the house ad in the much-reprinted Batman #1. Love that DC keeps tapping into the Golden Age in this line.
— Ah, Julie Madison. She’s also in this fall’s The Bat-Man: Second Knight, by Dan Jurgens and Mike Perkins.
— Nice capper to go with Batman and Robin: Year One #12, also out in October. Clayface has been a big factor in that story too, though it’s the shape-shifting kind. (The original Clayface had no such powers. But you knew that).
— Obligatory Price Comparison: Finding an original unslabbed is very rare. A slabbed, 6.5-rated Detective Comics #40 recently sold through Heritage Auctions for $45,600, including buyer’s premium.
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MORE
— ACTION COMICS #252: SUPERGIRL’s Debut to Get Facsimile Edition. Click here.
— HOUSE OF MYSTERY: DC to Release 1973’s Treasury Edition as a Facsimile. Click here.
July 18, 2025
This is great. I’m guessing this one is the standard format and not the original dimensions?
I’d love to see facsimile releases for New York World’s Fair Comics 1940 and World’s Best Comics #1, ideally in the correct dimensions.
July 18, 2025
I agree with Mike’s Amazing World, the figure on this cover was intended to be the Joker. We know comic covers got shuffled around a lot in the Golden Age, as did stories. The Hugo Strange story in Batman #1 was intended for Detective #38, but the Robin intro was slotted in instead. The Joker debuted around this same time. Was this cover created for his first appearance in Tec? Look at that figure: No cape, face isn’t hidden in shadows like Clayface. Long coat and bolo tie like the Joker. I wonder if they didn’t just recolor him to make him more Clayface-like, or just a generic baddie with caucasian skin. This is what the late Mike Voles had to say:
“This issue’s cover which features the Joker, was originally intended for the fifth story of Batman #1. The Joker does not appear in this issue.”
https://www.mikesamazingworld.com/main/features/comic.php?comicid=8296
July 18, 2025
Fiancée? Wow!