1966 O-Pee-Chee Batman Crime Czar Joker #10 Canadian Printing Black Bat Series

Description

1966 O-Pee-Chee Batman Crime Czar Joker #10 Canadian Printing Black Bat Series The Clown Prince of Crime looms over his gang in this 1966 O-Pee-Chee Batman Crime Czar Joker #10, one of the finest Joker portraits in the entire Black Bat series and a card that belongs in any collection built around Batman's greatest enemy. Norman Saunders painted the Joker with his trademark green hair, chalk white skin, and manic grin as he addresses a henchman at a bank of gleaming control panels, while Bob Powell's layout crowds the scene with shadowy thugs and gadgetry that feels lifted straight from a Saturday matinee serial. Issued in 1966 by Topps as the first of its Batman card series, the 55 card Black Bat set rode the tidal wave of Batmania set off by the ABC television series starring Adam West as Batman and Cesar Romero as the Joker, and its painted villain cards are consistently the most sought after commons in the set. This copy is the Canadian O-Pee-Chee printing, identified by the T. C. G. PRTD. IN CANADA line on the reverse, produced in London, Ontario, for Canadian distribution and encountered far less frequently than the American Topps version, which gives it added appeal to variation collectors and Canadian set builders. It is not a bilingual back and not a puzzle back; the reverse carries the standard English only orange story back with the running Batman figure, the number 10 inside the black bat logo, and the line No. 8 of 11 Batman vs. The Joker Cards, placing it near the climax of the opening Joker storyline. The story text has the Joker accusing one of his crooks of being a traitor and threatening to march the whole gang into the next room for a lie detector test, a wonderfully theatrical bit of writing that captures the campy menace of the era. this card shows heavy surface wear, with a dense pattern of fine scratches and scuffs across the dark background behind the Joker's head, a vertical crease running from the top edge down through the centre of the card that is most visible on the back where it cuts through the story text, a second lighter crease across the lower right near the title box, all four corners rounded with the upper right corner worn nearly smooth, and edge chipping with white stock showing on all four sides, most noticeably along the top and right edges. Centering is roughly 60/40 left to right with the wider border on the left and about 45/55 top to bottom. The orange back shows the creases clearly, light soiling along the left edge, general toning, and scattered small scuffs, but the text is complete and legible with no writing, tape, or paper loss. Given the scuffing, the two creases, and the heavily rounded corners, we conservatively estimate this card at Fair 1.5, and while the eye appeal from arm's length remains surprisingly strong thanks to the bold Joker portrait, close inspection confirms this is a well loved filler rather than a grading candidate. For anyone assembling a Joker collection or working through the scarce Canadian Black Bat checklist, this is an affordable original example of one of the set's most desirable villain cards. Grade Estimate: FR 1.5