The Baseball Fandom of Robert Kanigher in Zip Comics #25, at Auction

Best remembered for his lengthy affiliation with DC Comics and his co-creation of characters starting from Sgt. Rock to Barry Allen, comedian ebook author and editor Robert Kanigher appears to have had at least a passing curiosity in America’s Pastime.  He featured baseball in uncommon methods throughout a number of comedian ebook tales, together with the Flash story in Flash Comics #90 known as “Nine Empty Uniforms,” a Wonder Woman #78 story in which Wonder Woman teaches a gorilla tips on how to play baseball, and a G.I. Combat #59 story concerning the exploits of a soldier and former main leaguer nicknamed “Boy Wonder.”  But the Zip Comics #25 Steel Sterling story written by Kanigher and drawn by Irv Novick holds its personal amongst these unusual baseball tales, and it appears to have been impressed by the 1941 World Series between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Yankees.  An enchanting reflection of sports activities historical past in a Golden Age superhero comedian ebook story, this challenge additionally has one other nice Irv Novick cowl, and there is a Zip Comics #25 Trimmed (MLJ, 1942) Condition: Apparent FR/GD up for public sale in the 2022 May 15-16 Sunday & Monday Comic Books Select Auction #122220 at Heritage Auctions.

The story opens with common Steel Sterling associates Looney and Police Officer Clancy exiting a baseball sport that the Brooklyn Dodgers have misplaced, with Clancy complaining bitterly concerning the end result, which appears to have value the Dodgers the championship.  Notably, Zip Comics #25 hit the newsstands in late January 1942, which makes the timing proper for this story to have been written shortly after the New York Yankees beat the Brooklyn Dodgers in the World Series Oct 1 – Oct 6, 1941.  The Yankees had been already a dynasty at this time, and the 1941 win was their fifth World Series victory in six years and their ninth general.  By distinction, that 12 months had marked the Dodgers’ first National League pennant in 21 years, they usually had by no means received a World Series as much as that point.

As a long-suffering Dodgers fan, Officer Clancy determined to purchase a “victory cup” and current it to the Dodgers himself.  He buys an affordable previous trophy with an uncommon historical past from a second-hand store, and as he is sharpening it, he disappears.  Looney and Steel Sterling himself quickly observe, and the three of them discover themselves in the distant previous of Ancient Greece 2,000 years in the past.  Steel Sterling should then fulfill an historic prophecy to get them again to the longer term of 1942, and whereas he is doing that, Looney and Clancy put collectively a baseball collection among the many Greeks.  By the tip, it appears comparatively doubtless that this saga was put collectively simply in order that Kanigher might use the punchline, “It took 2,000 years for us Dodgers to win the series, but it was worth it!”

While the Dodgers misplaced to the Yankees in the 1941 World Series and would lose to them once more in 1947, 1949, 1952, and 1953, they lastly received their first World Series in 1955 — one thing quick of 2,000 years, however it may be laborious to maintain perspective on the passage of time whenever you’re a long-suffering sports activities fan.  Zip Comics #25 would not come up on the market too typically in any grade, however there is a nicely-presenting instance of this glorious mixture of sports activities and superhero historical past up for public sale with this Zip Comics #25 Trimmed (MLJ, 1942) Condition: Apparent FR/GD up for public sale in the 2022 May 15-16 Sunday & Monday Comic Books Select Auction #122220 at Heritage Auctions.

Affiliates of Bleeding Cool purchase from and/or consign to Heritage Auctions.