YORK, PENN. — A 1936 Wolverine Gum “Strange True Stories” complete gum card set, including “The Bat Man,” PSA graded with wrapper, flew high in Hake’s two-day auction November 14-15, which totaled $2.4 million. The set realized $64,906, including buyer’s premium, among the most ever paid for a non-sport card set, according to Alex Winter, Hake’s president. The set of 24 cards certainly contained compelling card art, all under the rubric “True Stories from the Files of One of the World’s Greatest Collectors of Strange Tales,” and their backs contained some truly strange and macabre subject matter. These included “Drowned by a Giant Clam,” “In the Grip of the Python,” “Torture of Galileo,” “Hari Kari,” “The Iron Maiden” and “Poisoned,” just to name a few. The apex for collectors, however, was a highly sought-after card on many levels, #24 “The Bat Man.” This card was created three years before the first appearance of the superhero Batman in Detective Comics #27, published in 1939. On its own, the card recently sold at auction, in a much lesser grade (PSA 1 Poor) than the example Hake’s offered in this complete set, earning $4,320. “It was a great auction with many incredible results,” said Winter after the sale. More of these will be covered in a later review.