Original Batman Drawings from 1932 for Sale on eBay

original Batman drawings from year 1932 for sale
Original Batman (PRNewsfoto/Frank Foster)

The original drawings of Batman created by Frank Foster II in 1932 will be offered for sale on eBay under the title “Original Batman Drawings 1932.”

The “Original Batman” website was created in the effort to set the record straight and share the story of the original Batman drawings created by Frank Foster II in 1932. Full details and documentation may be seen on the website: http://www.originalbatman.com. For interested parties, the drawings will be offered on eBay on Aug. 16, 2018 with no reserve and a starting price of $100k. The title will be “Original Batman Drawings 1932.”

The son of a painting contractor, Frank Foster II was born in Bar Harbor, Maine in 1909. The family moved to the Bostonsuburb of Arlington where he was raised. In 1932 he graduated from “Mass Art” where he was classmate and friend of AL Capp who became known for creating “Lil Abner“. Capp got Foster interested in cartooning and he created a few characters, one of whom was the first “Batman” with an alternative name of “Nightwing”.

After graduating in 1932, he married Ruth Hardy and tried marketing his art unsuccessfully during the Great Depression years. He then started a painting and decorating business. His son, Frank Foster the 3rd was born in December 1935. A year later, the business failed and the struggling family moved to East 53rd in New York City in search of work.

From 1937 to 1939 he found work painting wall murals and piecemeal work drawing for publishers of comics. Murals were done for the 1939 World’s Fair, and a restaurant across from 480 Lexington Ave. where DC Comics was located. During this period, he was promoting his work between jobs. Times were hard and as Ruth put it, “I never knew if there would be ‘Shredded Wheat’ to put on the table.”

The promise of a regular paycheck led the family to a job in Washington, DC in early 1940 where to his amazement Foster spotted the “Batman” comic at a news stand. Ruth remembers his distress saying “Will you look at that!? They took my idea… They stole Batman!”

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