Comic Books

Top Golden Age & Silver Age Comic Books Seeing Very Strong Start to 2022

As 2022 gets off to a start, comic book collectors have some incredible comic books coming up for auction early in the year. There are multiple Silver Age and Golden Age comic books that will entice comic book fans to open their pockets. Actually, they might have to sell some stocks or bonds for some of the great comic books that are already up for grabs.

Auction houses like Heritage Auctions and others have auctions already underway or scheduled soon. You may know the top comic books by heart, but seeing these come up for sale is a feast for the imagination of true comic book fans.

Collectors Dashboard evaluates high-end collectibles as an alternative asset class. The same capital that could have been invested into stocks or bonds is being used to buy high-end collectibles, and comic books that cost tens of thousands of dollars (or much more!) definitely fall into this theme. True comic book collectors are now having to compete directly against investors who only wish to sell for a profit at a later date.

The first true big grab for 2022 will be Heritage’s first appearance of Superman. Action Comics #1 Rocket Copy (DC, 1938) CGC FN 6.0 (white pages) is up for auction ending on Jan. 13, 2022. The current bid price is already at $$1,625,000.00 and that was against a represented $920,500 price guide report on their auction page. This auction already had 23 bids so far as of this time, with 487 people tracking it and the piece having 7,635 page views. (Image below by Heritage Auctions)

Action Comics #1

According to Heritage’s explanation for the “Rocket Copy”:

It’s aptly named “The Rocket Copy” because the front cover bears the stamped imprint of a rocket ship that was applied by the 13-year old who bought this copy of Action Comics #1 off the stands in 1938. It’s the first original-owner copy of the issue we’ve offered since the Billy Wright copy in 2012, and it’s the highest-graded copy we’ve ever presented.

Another top auction will be Bat-Man’s first appearance. Detective Comics #27 (DC, 1939) CGC VG+ 4.5 (Tan to off-white pages) was already at a current bid of $587,500.00 after 17 bids. (Image below by heritage Auctions) Heritage gave a strong detail here:

Golden Age (1938-1955):Superhero, Detective Comics #27 (DC, 1939) CGC VG+ 4.5 Tan to off-white pages....

To legions of Batman fans, it’s the most important comic book ever published, and it comes to auction about as infrequently as its milestone older DC brother Action Comics #1. The issue is so revered, that even single pages from the book have brought five figures in recent years! Over the past 10 years, restored copies outnumber unrestored copies by nearly 2 to 1 in our archives, making this offering even more special. In fact, we’ve offered just five other unrestored copies over the past decade!… Overstreet 2021 VG 4.0 value = $490,000. CGC census 12/21: 1 in 4.5, 19 higher.

The third ranked comic by pricing at the present time was Marvel Comics #1 (Timely, 1939) CGC VG+ 4.5 (Off-white to white pages). This unrestored copy features the first appearances of the Human Torch, Angel, Ka-Zar, Jungle Terror, and Masked Raider, and it’s the origin of the Sub-Mariner in his first newsstand appearance. There have already been 33 bids and the last price with 10 days to go was $210,000.00. (Image below by Heritage Auctions)

Golden Age (1938-1955):Superhero, Marvel Comics #1 (Timely, 1939) CGC VG+ 4.5 Off-white to white pages....

There are three examples of the first appearance of Spider-Man at Heritage as well (Image by Heritage Auctions):

  • Amazing Fantasy #15 (Marvel, 1962) CGC FN/VF 7.0 (Off-white to white pages) last seen at $130,000.00 after 30 bids.
  • Amazing Fantasy #15 (Marvel, 1962) CGC FN- 5.5 White pages last seen at $77,500.00 after 12 bids.
  • Amazing Fantasy #15 and Amazing Spider-Man #1-20 as a Bound Volume (Marvel, 1962-65) with a current bid of $24,000.00.

Silver Age (1956-1969):Superhero, Amazing Fantasy #15 (Marvel, 1962) CGC FN/VF 7.0 Off-white to white pages....

Another comic in high demand from the Golden Age is Superman #1. This is an “Incomplete” example graded CGC PR 0.5 Off-white pages. Its bid was last seen at $52,500.00 after 26 bids despite the back cover missing and the book being incomplete with a detached cover. This comic book should see much more interest.

Golden Age (1938-1955):Superhero, Superman #1 Incomplete (DC, 1939) CGC PR 0.5 Off-white pages....

More Fun Comics #73 (DC, 1941) CGC FN+ 6.5 Off-white to white pages…. this is listed as being the origin and first appearance of Aquaman and the first appearances of the Green Arrow (Oliver Queen) and his sidekick Speedy (Roy Harper). Its bid was last seen at $39,000.00 after 39 bids.

Sensation Comics #1 The Promise Collection Pedigree (DC, 1942) CGC VG 4.0 (Off-white pages) is Wonder Woman’s second appearance anywhere, and it is the origin and first appearances of Wildcat, Mr. Terrific, and the Gay Ghost are highlights of the issue. The last bid was $25,005.00 after 25 bids.

X-Men #1 (Marvel, 1963) CGC VF- 7.5 White pages also has a current bid of $38,000 after 21 bids.

Turtlemania Special #1 Gold Edition (Metropolis Comics, 1986) CGC Qualified NM+ 9.6 (White pages) was last seen with a bid of $32,000.00 and Heritage must feels it’s going to get a lot higher. (Image by Heritage Auctions)

Modern Age (1980-Present):Superhero, Turtlemania Special #1 Gold Edition (Metropolis Comics, 1986) CGC Qualified NM+ 9.6 White pages....

Talk about a small print run: only 10 copies of the Gold edition were produced; consequently, it’s safe to call this the rarest Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic in the world. We offered a CGC Qualified 9.2 copy earlier this year that sold for $72,000, so suffice it to say, we think demand for this Qualified 9.6 copy, the highest-graded copy of the issue, will be very strong indeed.

There are many other great comic books up for auction in this Heritage event and we did not even include the comic art listings. There were six different original comic book art pages being sold that already had $50,000.00 bids — and one was over $200,000 and two were over $100,000 on last look.

It’s also important to consider that the current prices above do not include the 20% buyer’s premium and do not include other charges that will drive a net purchase price up even further.