This kickstarts a new series when I picked one comic book (usually monthly or biweekly) and lets you know why I am buying it. This format is different from the list article who tend to cover a boarder area such as bronze age key issues or silver age undervalued comics.  There is no particular theme as I picked comics that in my personal opinion has some fundamental value that is overlooked.

This article pick comes from comic book speculation‘s blog. It is the first appearance of Joker’s daughter, which hasn’t receive much interest until last week, where catwoman 23 came out and features a revised Joker’s daughter (see image below). If you don’t know it, this issue has caught fire on Ebay with some prices going over $10 even though it is 1 week old comic. This interest in the Joker’s daughter has filtered to the character’s first appearance which can be found in Batman Family 6.

Now, a little clarification on the character. Currently, it is unknown who is under that joker mask in Catwoman 23. For all we know, the person can be different from the character that was introduced in Batman Family 6, Duela Dent. To me that is not really important. Even if the character under the mask is different, there is no denying that the concept of a “joker’s daughter” was introduced in Batman Family 6.

This is fundamentally important. Just like no matter who is behind the mask in Batman, his first appearance will always in Detective Comics 27. We don’t go around saying that a particular issue is the first appearance of a new batman just because somebody might assume that identity for a while (“see battle of cowls” for nightwing becomes batman).

Prices wise, batman family 6 is heating up on ebay. A month ago, this is probably a dollar bin book but prices since have increased to many times. A VG condition batman family 6 now goes for over $15 while a F/VF condition book has reached over $50 in auctions.  I believe a VF or better book will be a $70 book soon. If you seen one in your stores for prices less than what I have mentioned, grab and sell them now!

Long term wise, the value of this book will depend on whether Joker’s daughter will become the next harley quinn. If fans reasonate with the character, batman family might become a bronze age key issue that rivals batman adventures 12.