Posted in: Comics, Heritage Sponsored, Vintage Paper | Tagged: Avon Publications

The Rarest Avon Comic? All-True Detective Cases Giant, Up for Auction

All-True Detective Cases #nn (Avon, 1952) might be the rarest Avon giant and includes a Joe Kubert story from the heart of the Pre-Code Crime era.

Published Fri, 10 Jul 2026 20:18:09 -0500

by Mark Seifert

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Article Summary

All-True Detective Cases #nn may be the rarest Avon giant, a scarce 1952 Pre-Code crime comic long overlooked by collectors.
Avon published just seven giants from 1951 to 1954.
The Avon giant reflects why comic book giants are scarce today: lower survival rates, lighter demand, and odd distribution.
All-True Detective Cases #nn reprints Avon crime comics including a Joe Kubert story and adds a new Everett Kinstler

Heritage has called All-True Detective Cases #nn (Avon, 1952) the single rarest Avon comic, and it's no surprise that they've identified a giant edition from the publisher as its rarest issue. Fellow pre-Code publisher St. John released several rare and highly sought-after giants in exactly this period. Comic book giants have historically been less collected, less well-preserved, and sometimes had unusual distribution. This all makes them harder to find for collectors today. Per GCD data, roughly 350 comic book giants were published between 1945 and 1960, and a few have become highly sought after by serious collectors. All-True Detective Cases #nn has been an overlooked rarity from this period, but there's a CGC VG 4.0 Light tan to off-white pages copy up for auction in the July 9 – 11 Comic Books Signature Auction #7467 at Heritage Auctions.

Vintage comic-style cover art for All-True Detective Cases Giant, showing a detective aiming a gun at a tense man in a brown suit. Bright yellow background and a red burst reading — All-True Detective Cases #nn (Avon, 1952)

Dell, St. John, Archie, and Ziff-Davis were the most prolific publishers of giants during the pre-Code era. Avon weighed in with seven comic book giants published between 1951 and 1954, and five of those were published in 1952. Interestingly, Avon and St. John seem to have had an odd little back-and-forth over naming their giants in 1952-1953.

The All-True Detective Cases giant was published in 1952, presumably before Fall of that year. In issues dated October-November 1952, St. John also used the All-True prefix on two of its own giant titles (St. John published a staggering 24 giants that year), a naming convention not uncommon among publishers of true crime-style material. But this included the first issue of St. John's All True All Picture Police Cases giant title, dated October 1952, and an obvious brand extension of their Authentic Police Cases title. Avon seemingly countered with a Sensational Police Cases giant, perhaps in a bid to extend its Detective Cases brand. But Avon essentially gave up on the giant concept after that, publishing only one additional giant, Peter Rabbit Jumbo Book #1, in 1954.

Like many comic book giants of the period, All-True Detective Cases #nn consists of rebound copies of previously released comics: Gangsters and Gunmolls #3, Parole Breakers #2, and Crime on the Waterfront #4. with a new cover — by Everett Kinstler in this case. It also includes a Joe Kubert story from Parole Breakers #2. A rare pre-Code crime giant, there but there's a CGC VG 4.0 Light tan to off-white pages copy up for auction in the July 9 – 11 Comic Books Signature Auction #7467 at Heritage Auctions.