As a note, for me personally, this is one of the toughest auctions in recent memory in terms of knowing where to place my bids. I could probably bid on 50 books in this auction. I've got it narrowed down to probably six, but it's hard to choose.

Sigh.

Anyway, here are some other books that you should know about:

ARCHIE COMICS #1

Interested in an Archie #1? Just go all in right now. They're not going to get any cheaper. Go back in time and buy one five years ago.

And get a Pep #22 while you're at it.

Archie.

DAREDEVIL #1 NM+ 9.6 Curator

I'd like to see the 9.8, but… that sure is a pretty copy.

Based on the above listing the consignor of the Curator copy just got the 9.8. Upgrading from a 9.6, pedigree copy. How often does that happen?

FANTASTIC FOUR #2 CGC 9.6

$100,000?

It damn well should sell for that much.

DAREDEVIL #7 CGC 9.2 Rocky Mountain Pedigree

Between this and the Pedigree Bogota book, you'd think we'd get another 9.4 or even better. Nope. This really is a tough book (and I've got to buy one…)

GREEN LANTERN #7 CGC 9.4

This is a gorgeous copy of a key book. Sinestro is such a big deal in the DC Universe right now.

DETECTIVE COMICS #359 CGC 9.6 Rocky Mountain Pedigree

A sharp book. I love the cover in general and this one just pops.

BRAVE AND THE BOLD #28 CGC 9.0

A great copy of the coolest Silver Age DC key.

FANTASTIC FOUR #48 CGC 9.8

I will never tire of this book. NEVER.

BATMAN #251 CGC 9.8

BATMAN #232

Bronze Age Batman are where it's at, as far as I'm concerned.

WHERE DWELLS THE SANDMAN Dave McKean painting

I wouldn't even have them ship it with that frame. I mean, wow. I get the point, but it totally detracts from the painting. If McKean had intended it to be assemblage, that's what it would have been. This display is interfering with McKean's vision for the piece.

That'll do for now. Good luck everyone, with your bids.

I have no real info on the 9.8, other than what everyone else has. I will tell you it's on the $100,000 club list.

Failing a scan of the 9.8, here are scans of the three 9.6s for sale right now so we can all compare and contrast.

ComicLink

For my money, this is the best copy of the bunch. All three are nice, solid copies, but this one just looks like a jaw-dropper. Assuming there's been no slab damage (it is an old holder) this would be the one I'd be going for if I were bidding on one of these babies.

Heritage

The 9.8 is so new, this sentence from the Heritage listing is now wrong:

NM+ 9.6 is as good as it gets. Of the ten main Marvel superhero titles, only a single copy of Amazing Spider-Man #1 and two copies of X-Men #1 have earned grades higher than CGC NM+ 9.6 to date.

The off-white really shows on the edges. Still, it looks every bit a 9.6, even at the super-Heritage zoom.

Pedigree

I know it's sales copy, but Doug's comment about this book being a 9.7 isn't all that out of line. It just looks ridiculous. Still, it doesn't have the same perverse preservation as the Curator.

AMAZING FANTASY #15 CURATOR PEDIGREE CGC 9.0 VFNM

This will clearly be the headline book as Amazing Fantasy continues to generate ridiculous results. $135,000 as of this writing.

X-MEN #1 CGC 9.4

So is a 9.4 X-Men #1 really a 100k book? This one is at 70k right now.

INCREDIBLE HULK #1 CGC 9.0 VFNM

I'll never tire of Hulk #1. Apaprently neither will collectors.

SHOWCASE #4 CGC NM- 9.2

This won't sell for what it should. Showcase #4 needs to see some of the love that Showcase #22 has seen over the past few years so that it can get it's rightful place near the top of the Silver Age tables back. It's never going to tbe the #1 book again, or even #2, but it should be a strong #3.

SUPERMAN #1 CGC 2.0

It'll be interesting to compare results on this and Heritage's copy.

DETECTIVE COMICS #1

A book I love. I'll never tire of that red cover.

SHOWCASE #22 CGC 8.5 VF+

I shudder to think what this book will sell for, especially since I was in the market for a copy in this range a few years ago

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #17 CGC 9.8

Obscene amount of money? Maybe. Anything for a Spider-man book is too much in my opinion (I kid!)

PELLUCIDAR PAINTING JEFFREY JONES

Gorgeous, no?

I'll quote myself:

If a 9.4 sells for $10,000 what’s this worth? $25,000? The Earth shudders.

It ended at a tidy $26,250.

I wish I was always that good.

Yes it is. Here are a few lots I'm watching:

WEB OF SPIDER-MAN #1 CGC 10.0 MT

Sue me? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Modern drek. Copper crapola. Whatever This is cool to me.

STAR WARS #1 CGC 9.6 NM+ 35 CENT PRICE VARIANT

If a 9.4 sells for $10,000 what's this worth? $25,000? The Earth shudders.

INCREDIBLE HULK #1 CGC 9.4 NM Slight Professional Restoration

I'm seriously curious where this ends up. Color touch and a trim means it might have been, what- a 9.0 before it was doctored? Interesting to speculate on how much value was pulled out of the book by the work.

GREEN LANTERN #59 CGC 9.8 NM/MT

I'm a fan of this book in general. A shiny, pedigree 9.8 copy? Yes.

GREEN LANTERN #76 CGC 9.4 NM

Ho hum. This would be exciting, except Doug's selling this $40,000 bronze age beast right now.

DAREDEVIL #159 PAGE 1 TITLE SPLASH DAREDEVIL VS BULLSEYE FRANK MILLER/KLAUS JANSON

I have a clear memory of the first time I saw this page. I'm all nostalgic right now.

MARVEL GRAPHIC NOVEL #5 PAGE 20 X-MEN! "GOD LOVES MAN KILLS" BRENT ANDERSON

Not the greatest page from the book. But this is one of the best X-Men stories of all time, so how bad a page can it be?

Heritage

How about a couple of Mile High Detectives?

Detective Comics #26 Mile High pedigree (DC, 1939) CGC VF

Detective Comics #114 Mile High pedigree (DC, 1946) CGC NM/MT 9.8 Off-white to white pages

Now? How about a killer run of Flash?

This won't sell for enough:

The Flash #105 (DC, 1959) CGC NM- 9.2 Cream to off-white pages.

Neither will this:

The Flash #123 (DC, 1961) CGC NM 9.4 Off-white to white pa…

Dare I say, Hulk Smash!

This will sell for silly money

The Incredible Hulk #1 (Marvel, 1962) CGC NM- 9.2 Off-white pages.

And of course, the Joe Kubert collection

wow

ComicLink

Two books caught my eye. Your mileage, etc.

GREEN LANTERN #76 CGC 9.4 NM

STAR WARS #1 CGC 9.2 NM- 35 Cent Variant

eBay

Jack Kirby!

Jack Kirby/Joe Sinnot Fantastic Four Original Art FF Issue #70 Page 7–Sue Storm, Crystal & Human Torch

Jack Kirby Original Art Mister Miracle #13 page # 16

Gene Colan Iron Man

IRON MAN #1 PG. 9 1968 ORIGINAL MARVEL ART GENE COLAN

This ought to be fun.

What is the most valuable comic book?

This is an easy one, but it's also a very common query, so I figure I ought to give it an official answer.

In general terms , it's Action Comics #1, the first appearance of Superman. The Mile High/Edgar Church copy is the finest copy in existence and is the most valuable comic book in the world.

How do you know if a comic book is valuable?

Have you seen this man outside your house with a bag of money?

How about this man?

Yes? Then your book is worth big bucks

Failing that, most comics are actually worthless.

There are exceptions. If your comic book is from the 30s, 40s, 50s or 60s it's got a much better chance of being valuable- but even then you might be sitting on a worthless piece of crap.

If it's from one of those decades and features a character you've seen in a movie, you might be onto something. From there it's all about condition, the specific issue and overall demand for that character/title.

Are modern comic books good investments?

Compared to what? Bear Stearns?

Okay, okay… There are certainly some books that have increased in value rapidly over the past few years, but most comics are worth less than cover price. Will that change over the years? It's possible. Bulls say: The print runs now are smaller than they've been in a long time, so any key comics released now will be that much harder to find in 20 years. Bears say: Those lower print runs might just be the death knell of the monthly pamphlet. What would that do to the value of new comics over the next 10-15 years?

Best Amazing Fantasy 15 in existence?

The best we know of is the CGC 9.6 copy. I personally wouldn't be surprised if there's an even nicer copy than that out there somewhere.

Maybe I'll be the guy to uncover it.

I can dream can't I?

I know, it'll be one of these guys.

How much is an Alf comic book worth?

Nothing? Probably. Still, a CGC 9.8 copy did manage to sell for $29, so there's some hope.

How to sell high grade comics

Check with Bob first?

Seriously? If you've got a really nice collection you might want to contact one of the usual suspects, to ask about consignment opportunities:

• Heritage
• Comic Connect
• ComicLink

If you'd like to meet someone local to get a better sense of what you've got, you can actually send me an email and I'll see if I know someone local to you who knows what's what.

Most valuable non-superhero comics?

Tough question…

According to the Overstreet Guide the top book is Detective #1 with a VF value of $70,000. From what I can tell the Denver copy is the best, having sold for $90,000 a few years ago, so that might be the most valuable single issue.

The CGC 9.4 Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories #1 sold for $116,512.50 at Heritage, so that's another option. As of right now it's the record holder for a non-hero book.

To my mind, another option is the Mile High/Edgar Church Pep 22. Although… is that a superhero book? I guess it is, technically, even though no one is buying it for The Shield (t's the first appearance of Archie Andrews, for those of you unfamiliar with the book)

The Mile High Archie #1, then? Maybe.

I told you this was a tough question.

This is what it should have been:

Where will it end?

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #1