The Man Behind The Red Hood
The Original Cover Art to Detective Comics #168
After a five-year pursuit, I have finally acquired the original cover art to my favorite book of all time. A combination of the cover and splash page, no other art in comic book history captivates my love for the Joker and comic books altogether like this one does. It is rare that a Golden Age cover has survived all these years, let alone the cover for this monster of a book. Signed by Lew Schwartz and possibly Bob Kane, this piece is the cover to Detective Comics #168, the book that explains the origin of the Joker as The Red Hood, who he was for about a decade before he became the Joker. As he escapes Batman at the Ace Chemicals plant, he leaps into a toxic river to swim back to his hideout. He removes his helmet to see that the acid from the river has burned his skin pale-white, his lips a burning red, and his hair dyed green. And what does he do? He erupts in laughter as the Joker is born. This piece has been in hiding for over 30 years until I was finally able to pry it out of the previous owner's hand, which was no easy task and required that I sacrifice everything in my personal collection to make it happen. But here it is now, my prized possession, and the piece that started the newest chapter of my life.
The Story Begins..
My name is Rob, and I was previously affiliated with Torpedo Comics until a freak accident turned me into a self-employed comic dealer with my own business....
After pacing the hallway for several days over what path to take and for a name and a theme, I decided to model my business after my favorite book, Detective Comics #168, the Origin and First Appearance of the Joker as The Red Hood! The second most-important Joker book only to his First Appearance in Batman #1, with cover art by Lew Schwartz and story by Bill Finger, the Joker removes his Red Hood helmet on page 13 to realize who and what he had become, finding this madness hysterical simply left me in love with this book long ago and found that the theme has applied very well to different aspects of my own venture.
Based out of Las Vegas, Nevada, this comic book business will focus on shows and conventions, while building and arming the best comic-selling web site and maintaining an eBay store of the same name! I have had much support from fellow dealers, mentors, and my relationships with so many in this business that have become friends over the years and customers too, just the same, that it feels the universe has pushed me in this direction and I am consistently finding new excitement in this business.
Thank you for reading, thank you for browsing the site and I very much look forward to seeing and meeting more and more people with every show all while learning new things every day in this industry, STILL.
Thank You,