Detective Comics #27 (DC, 1939) CGC VF 8.0

From the Heritage newsletter:

This exceptional copy of the comic featuring the very first Batman story will be auctioned by Heritage in our February 25-27, 2010 event in Dallas. It's being sold without reserve.

CGC has graded the comic Very Fine 8.0. It's one of two in this grade on CGC's census, with none graded higher.

"This is probably the most desirable comic Heritage has ever auctioned," said Lon Allen, Director of Sales for the Comics division of Heritage. "The eye appeal is absolutely outstanding. Most comics from 1939 are smudged, torn, creased, and so on — this one's got really bright colors and looks fresh. It has no restoration which is a major plus as well. We've never handled a copy that's anywhere near this nice."

This amazing book is part of an excellent collection of highly desirable Golden Age known as the Pinnacle Hill Collection. Look for more on the book and the collection in the weeks to come!

If this book doesn't set the record for a price paid for a comic book it will be a bitterly disappointing result. Personally I'll be disappointed if it doesn't crack $500,000.

Put another way, this book is good enough that it should really give us an idea of what the ceiling is for comic book sales. If this sells for the $500,000 it deserves then all the talk of seven figures for the Allentown Detective 27 and the Church Action #1 become that much more realistic. If it fails to break that level, then maybe we have to set our sights a little lower.

I went through the catalog yesterday. I limited myself to picking twelve lots of interest to share with you guys. It was tough because this is an auction full of some interesting material. The Joe Kubert lots themselves could have produced a decent set of 12 items to ogle.

The Incredible Hulk #1 (Marvel, 1962) CGC NM- 9.2

This is clearly the book of the auction. I don't get excited easily by Silver Age marvels, but this book brings a smile to my face. It's tough to find in high grade and it's the HULK.

Hulk smash!

As of this writing it sits at $45,000. Still plenty of room for a thrill bid, I think.
(more…)

What's cool out there? Here's a quick scan. What am I missing?

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

One of the interesting things about running a site is seeing the searches that people enter into Google in order to arrive at my door. Sometimes they're interesting. Other times they're goofy. Looking over the list this week, I thought it might be interesting to share some of those questions and actually answer them directly.

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.

1. It seems like The Showcase 4 basically made 9.5 money. 179k is nothing to sneeze at, but it's only 19k more than the 9.4 sold for at ComicConnect. I know people were skeptical about the grade, feeling it had gotten an unfair bump over the 9.4. The price seems to reflect that.

   Of course, the loss of the 160k buyer has to have hurt this book as well.

2. The Marvel Mystery Comics #9 result was right where I figured it would end up. A gorgeous book and a stellar result.
3. $15,535.00 for the MT 10 Wolverine Limited Series #1. Think about that for a few minutes as you make your way through your day.

   Me? I'm thinking about the cases of that book I used to have access to.

4. If that doesn't shake your brain to its core, try 11,950.00 for a CGC MT 9.9 X-Men 141. I love that book, but… wow! That's a lot of money for a book that likely still exists in unopened cases. Those later Byrne X-Men were hoarded. I'd be really scared to have that much money in one of those books. What happens if a 10 comes along?

   Still, a very cool book!

5. Proof that I won't own an unrestored Detective Comics #27 any time soon came in the form of an $83,650 price tag for a 1.5. That sets the bar for basically every other unrestored copy at over $100,000.

   I guess I'll be dreaming about a restored copy. Still, I can't complain- it couldn't happen to a better book.

Based on that Detective 27 result and the previous Action #1 1.8 result I added every copy of each above 2.0 in the Census to the $100,000 club. I also added all the qualifying (or near qualifying) Heritage results.

The Flash book has stalled. $155,350.00 is a magnificent amount of money for a comic book, but I really want to see this book sell for something north of 200k.

The low grade Detective 27 is currently at 50k. I'm seriously interested to see where that one will end up. Just like the recent Action #1 these low grade unrestored copies set a great bottom bar for the major keys and are supremely useful for me in setting price points. As an example- I'm going to put every unrestored Action #1 above GD in the $100,000 club.

The hot book? I think it's going to be the Marvel Mystery Comics #9. Even I'm excited about that one.

How about you?

Heritage's May auction is live and before I even had time to think about doing an article on it, the Showcase #4 CGC 9.6 is already at $107k and counting.

If there's any justice in this world, this book will set the Silver Age record.

Showcase #4 The Flash (DC, 1956) CGC NM+ 9.6 White pages

Incredible book. I fear it won't get the kind of numbers I think it deserves, but it will still be interesting to see what it does sell for when the smoke clears.

Showcase #4 The Flash (DC, 1956) CGC NM+ 9.6 White pages.

Showcase #4 The Flash (DC, 1956) CGC NM+ 9.6 White pages. Surely the best Silver Age comic book Heritage has ever offered at auction, this copy is a serious contender for the most desirable copy of any Silver Age comic. If you leave Marvel aside and consider only DC books, we will commit to saying that there's nothing to top this.

In terms of historical significance, few books can hold a candle to Showcase #4 — it introduced a new superhero at a time when only Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman had their own titles (and not a single superhero was being published at Atlas/Marvel after that firm's failed revival attempt a couple of years previously). As Paul Kupperberg noted, "frankly, anything would have been a welcome relief from the tedium of the day, when Superman was pitted against gangsters in suits and Batman fought aliens in outer space."

Though all of the creators involved (editor Julius Schwartz, writer Robert Kanigher, penciler Carmine Infantino, and inker Joe Kubert) had worked on the Golden Age Flash Comics title in some capacity, it was agreed to create a new Flash character rather than attempting a revival… and the target audience for comics was too young to remember the older series anyway. Even a reference to the old series showing a copy of Flash Comics #13 went over readers' heads — Gary Carter noted that that panel was "the first time I ever saw the Golden Age Flash as a child. At the time though, I had no idea it was a 'real' comic book, so to speak."

The new Flash, Barry Allen, not only had a sleek look unlike any costume seen in the Golden Age, the art style was exciting and new, courtesy of Carmine Infantino. The character was a hit, and three more Showcase appearances and his own series would soon follow.

A beautifully unblemished copy front and back, as are the others in this amazing run.

$56,762.50 realized for a book that guides at 5,600 in 9.2

Wow.

In other results, Marvel Comics #1 continues to underwhelm at auction. At this rate, not only will Golden Age books pass it in value, some Silver Age books will start to lap it as well. In the case of the hottest book in the universe, Amazing Fantasy 15, $118,977 isn't all that far away from $155,350.00 and that's a straight comparison at the 8.5 grade. Comparing relative condition (5th best or whatever) and AF15 would probably smoke Marvel Comics #1 right now.

Crazy.

Contratulations Steve! A great move for Steve and for the hobby in general.

Read the press release:

Heritage Auction Galleries has added Steve Borock to its staff of comic experts, the Dallas-based firm announced today, Jan. 29 ,2009.

"Steve is one of the best-known and most respected figures in the vintage comic hobby, and we couldn't be more pleased to have him on board," said Ed Jaster, Vice-President of Heritage. "Steve's expertise is only going to further cement our status as the leading auctioneer of vintage comics and original comic art. Steve will help us with major collections and private clients, and will help us take our ComicMarket for third-party sellers at HA.com to the next level."

Borock was a key figure in introducing third-party certification to the comic book hobby. He was hired by Comics Guaranty Corporation as its Primary Grader when the firm started up in 1999 due to his knowledge of vintage comic books and, especially, the trust he enjoyed among both sellers and buyers. He was promoted to President of CGC soon thereafter, a post he held until late 2008.

During his tenure at CGC, he had the final word on every grade that CGC assigned, and his reputation for fairness, honesty and impartiality was a key component in CGC's gaining acceptance among the community of collectors and dealers. It was Borock, along with colleague Mark Haspel, who established the grading standards used by CGC and — these days — most of the collecting community as well. In the 36th edition of his annual Comic Book Price Guide, Bob Overstreet stated: "…. probably the most important event (in our hobby) to date was the arrival of comic book certification with CGC."

Prior to his time at CGC, Borock was a high-end collector who has owned, bought, or sold many of the most sought-after high grade and "pedigree" comic books in the hobby. He is known for taking new collectors "under his wing" and teaching them the subtleties of collecting to ensure a safer and friendlier hobby. Borock had also graded for Sotheby's and Christie's auction houses in the days before the founding of CGC, when auction firms would use panels of experts to determine accurate grades.

During his time at CGC, to ensure neutrality, he decided to withdraw from buying and selling vintage comics and began to collect original comic art, an area in which he's also extremely knowledgeable. As a lifelong comic fan, however, he never stopped buying the latest new comic books at his local comic shop, and he avidly reads and enjoys them to this day.

Borock takes particular pride in being on the board of the comic hobby's greatest charity, The Hero Initiative, a not-for-profit corporation dedicated strictly to helping comic book creators in need.

"I believe that if we all enjoy comic books, we should help those in need that brought us such joy to our lives," he says.

Hero creates a financial safety net for yesterdays' comic creators who may need emergency medical aid, financial support for essentials of life, and an avenue back into paying work.

"I am really looking forward to my next journey in the comics field at Heritage," Borock says. "They've been innovators in our hobby for the last nine years, bringing live and Internet auctions to an entire new level while setting record prices. Not only that, but the transparency that Heritage offers to the collecting community, especially with their on-line archives, makes me feel secure in the fact that I am in the correct place to help our hobby grow in the right direction. Comic books and the friends I have made in this hobby are very important to me, and I have to be somewhere I know will be beneficial to all of us."

"Steve is a real 'comic book ambassador' who knows just about everyone in the hobby, and incidentally he's also one of the nicest guys in the hobby," said Heritage Co-Chairman of the Board Jim Halperin. "He was a major factor in CGC's success, and we expect him to have an equally strong impact at Heritage."