Why are comics so expensive? The most expensive comic in the world is worth $ 2 million. Amazing Fantasy # 15 - $ 442 thousand

While not all comic books are worth the money that collectors hope to bail out for them, some editions can really be worth a fortune. And what is most interesting, many owners are ready to give them up for next to nothing, unaware of the true cost. One lucky person was even lucky to find the first issue in the wall of his own house. Action comics in which Superman debuted. You might be interested in the article 10 Most Valuable Collectibles. In front of you 10 most expensive Marvel comics.

There are, of course, Captain America editions, which are even more expensive, but given the popularity of the X-Men, the first issue of the series dedicated to them has every chance to grow in price further. The idea of a comic book about a whole team of superheroes belonged to Stan Lee, who did not want to write another story of the formation of a separate character. " X-Men"First saw the light of day in September 1963 and presented to the public five mutants, who are now considered the main characters of the series:

Angel,
Of the beast
Cyclops,
Iceberg,
Wonder Girl (aka Jean Gray).

At the same time, the readers met with Professor X and Magneto. The title of the series was explained in the monologue of Professor Xavier: the letter X (x) - in honor of the extra abilities of mutants, which are not endowed ordinary people... The cost of a copy of the first edition in good quality estimated at approximately $ 85,000.

9. Amazing Spider-Man # 1 - $ 110,000

The first release of Spider-Man, while falling short of the cost of some of the other Marvel comics, definitely deserves a spot on this list. After the first appearance in " Amazing Fantasy # 15 Spider-Man has his own comic book series by Stan Lee and art by Steve Ditko and Jack Kirby.

The first issue was published in March 1963 and in addition to Spider-Man himself and his acquaintance with the Fantastic Four, it introduced a supervillain nicknamed the Chameleon. Currently, the first issue of the famous series is estimated at $ 110,000.

« Red Raven”, Which went to press in August 1940, is notable for the fact that it is the only issue of the series printed under this title. Starting from the second issue, the series was printed under the title “ Human torch", And the Red Raven himself disappeared from the pages of comics right up to 1968 and again appeared before readers only in the forty-fourth issue" X-Men", Already in the role of a villain.

The approximate cost of the rare first issue is $ 124,000. There is, however, an attempt by a comic book collector named Chuck Rozanski to sell a copy for half a million. His efforts were even included in the 2011 Comic-Con documentary.

The third edition of Captain America, authored by artist Jack Kirby, was published in May 1941. The plot of the comic is about the revenge of the Nazi villain Red Skull Bucky Barnes and Captain America. What makes this release special is that it is the first Marvel edition Stan Lee worked on..

Peru Lee owns a text story called “ Captain America foils the traitor's vengeful plans", In which, by the way, the superhero first uses the famous round shield as a boomerang. Those wishing to purchase the issue will have to fork out: the cost is estimated at $ 126,000.

Fantastic Four, released in 1961, was conceived as Marvel's answer to DC's mega-popular Justice League superhero series. Human Torch, Invisible Lady, Thing and Mister Fantastic gained their super powers after being exposed to radiation on board spaceship where they were on a research mission.

Children Silver Age comics, these superheroes have cemented Marvel as a competitor to DC. The cost of the first issue of the story about the legendary four hovers around $ 160,000.

The ninth installment of this series presents the first example of a crossover in the history of Marvel: the collision of heroes from different story series... Namor the Submariner and the Human Torch face off in an epic battle, the first round of which ends in a draw ... so readers will have to wait for more in the next episode.

The cover art for the issue was drawn by legendary comic book illustrator Bill Everett, “ father»Namor and Daredevil. It is his participation that the publication owes its high cost (although so far the maximum price that has ever been paid for it is $ 107,000).

The Incredible Hulk, the brainchild of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, debuted in the comic of the same name in May 1962. The Hulk's alter ego, an introverted physicist named Bruce Banner, in an attempt to save a boy who accidentally wandered into a test site, is hit by a radiation bomb.

As a result of severe radiation, he gains the ability to transform into the Hulk, a huge green monster, whose character entirely depends on the psychological state of Benner. Today, a copy of the edition will cost the collector about $ 228,000.

3. Amazing Fantasy # 15 - $ 405,000

« Amazing adult fantasy"- the name given to the anthology of comics published by Marvel in 1961-1962. It was here, in the final installment of the series, authored by Lee, Ditko and Kirby, that the now famous superhero Spider-Man first appeared.

In those days, Peter Parker was perceived as a rather non-standard hero: an ordinary neurotic teenager with completely everyday problems. Today, for the right to own the comic strip, which first introduced the world to Spider-Man, will have to shell out more than $ 400,000.

2. Captain America # 1 - $ 629,000

The cover, released in March 1941 of the comic strip, was truly topical: it depicts, no less, the Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler, receiving in the face from Captain America. Marvel was still called Timely Comics at the time, and artist Joe Simon worked on the release in addition to Jack Kirby.

Narrated a comic strip about how brave Steve Rogers, nicknamed Captain America, and his faithful friend Bucky Barnes are fighting the Nazis, catching spies and protecting home country... Those wishing to purchase the first issue of Captain America (it is worth noting that it is steadily growing in price) will have to spend about $ 629,000.

1. Marvel Comic # 1 - $ 859,000

Like the first " Captain America", This comic was released back when the publishing house was called Timely Comics, back in 1939. Its heroes were Namor the Submariner, Ka-Zar the Great and the Human Torch (significantly different from the later version, which was included in the Fantastic Four), who first appeared before the public.

The first edition of eighty thousand copies was sold out almost instantly - like the second, ten times more than the first. The edition, which would have cost a dime in 1939, is now worth over $ 850,000.

Despite the fact that the recent "boys" have already matured, their literary predilections have remained the same. But what has changed dramatically is the price of the issue.

In 1992, a big comic book fan and visionary collector actor Nicolas Cage acquired Action Comics No.1 for $ 82.5 thousand. He purchased the rare edition from executive director Comic Connects by Stephen Fisher. In 2000, the celebrity's apartment was robbed. Among the stolen items was this very magazine.

Since then, the hype has died down and the missing comic seems to have been forgotten. Exactly ten years. The Action Comics No.1 story resurfaced in 2012 when an anonymous seller requested $ 2.89 million for that very first issue. It is known that there are nine copies of Action Comics No.1 in the world (one was found walled up in the wall of a dilapidated house in Minnesota), eight of them belong to private collectors who do not plan to sell printing treasures in the near future.

Nicolas Cage was the first to respond to the sensational news, and for a year now he has been trying to prove that the very copy that was stolen from him was put up for sale.

What's so special about the old magazine?

First of all, it was this number of the popular American series that changed appearance comics.

Secondly, this is the first independent appearance of Superman in public and the story of his adventures in a separate publication authored by Jerome Siegel and Joe Schuster. There is no mention of Krypton in the magazine, it is only known that the alien child was sent to Earth by his father from "one distant planet", destroyed by cataclysms. He grows up in an orphanage, and at school he learns that he has super strength and super speed, can jump higher and farther than anyone (no hint of flying). With age, he chooses a name for himself - Clark Kent (formed by the merger of the names of two movie stars - Clark Gable and Kent Taylor), solves convoluted murders and saves the reporter Lois Lane from criminals. And all this on 13 pages!

The second most expensive comic book and popular Marvel character - Detective Comics 27 (1939), worth $ 2.57 million, has gone not far from the favorite. At one time, its cost was also only 10 cents. This is the first book in which (albeit as a minor character) Batman is mentioned, and the setting is Gothan City.

Rounding out the top three is Superman 1 for $ 715,000. Since Action Comics No.1, the protagonist has undergone several changes and transformations. The "re-release" of the first episode went brilliantly: Superman got a foster family, additional superpowers and many super enemies. This is the beginning of the story of the "man of steel" in a more familiar sense for us, which laid the foundation for the famous film character. Which added even more value to the rare edition during open sales in 2011.

Collecting comics is not easy. It is necessary to store individual publications in special packaging, protect them from light and dust, and hope that their condition will eventually turn out to be good enough to bring the owner a profit. Plus, not all collectible editions end up becoming, in fact, collectible. Most remain in the boxes.

Comic book evaluations are generally the responsibility of CGC (Comics Guaranty LLC), the main independent comic book evaluator. The assessment is given on a ten-point scale, and a lot depends on it. As you can see from the list below, where the most expensive copies of famous comics are indicated, a few tenths - and the comic is already twice as expensive. Who knows, maybe the first issue of "Funny Pictures", lying around on the mezzanine of my grandmother, is worth something?

10) Incredible Hulk # 1, CGC score 9.2; Price $ 326,000

The Stan Lee and Jack Kirby comic, with the first appearance of the Hulk in 1962, has become one of the most coveted in recent years. There is only one copy in the world with a CGC rating higher than 9.2 and it was sold in August 2014. Almost immediately, in July, another copy was sold for $ 320,000. Within a few months, more than three hundred thousand for the comic with the first appearance of the radioactive monster was paid twice. After such a jump in price (the same copy was sold two times cheaper five years ago), other issues of the series, of different quality, appeared on the market.

9) Captain America Comics # 1, CGC score 9.2; Price $ 343,057

What would you spend $ 2 million on? Would you buy a mansion in England? Or maybe a Bugatti Veyron Vitesse? Or, like Father Fyodor from "12 Chairs", would you look after a candle factory in Samara? There are many options. Not so long ago, for example, one collector gave 2.16 million dollars for ... a comic! He bought the first issue at auction Action comics, the magazine in which Superman debuted. How much do rare numbers of other popular series cost? I'll tell you everything now.

Almost all of the comics featured in this post can be purchased from collectors' sites. There would be money, but the goods will be found. However, the first issue does not mean that it is the most expensive. The price depends on both the content and the state, whether the first release or a pre-print, and many other factors. For example, recently the 700th, the last issue The Amazing Spider-Man left for "only" $ 2800. Why? And besides, that on the cover was the autograph of Stan Lee himself.

If you suddenly decide to collect rare comics, you have a direct road to ComicConnect, perhaps the most famous site for collectors. Everything is auctioned there, even real treasures. If you want to buy right away, without participating in the auction, there are many "speculators" sites. For this article, I used the prices listed on one of them, quite large and well-known - Rare Comics.

The Amazing Spider-Man

The first issue of The Amazing Spider-Man in average condition (6 out of 10 on the CGC scale of the American evaluation company Comics Guaranty LLC) is given for $ 7,500. For comparison, with this money you could buy yourself, as Yakubovich says in his weekly program, "A-a-a-a-a-car!" True, perhaps the "Lada Granta". Better a comic book. Its price has been increasing over the years.

Batman

First edition Batman, in the spring of 1940, who introduced the world to the Joker and Catwoman, is already worth 16 thousand dollars. Enough for Kia rio or Chevrolet Aveo. Moreover, for 16 thousand they sell a comic in a rather poor condition, you can easily find and more expensive.

X-Men

The first issue of X-Men in a state of 8.5 on the CGC scale is offered for $ 22,000. Equivalent to buying a Mazda 3 or Mitsubishi Lancer.

Avengers

"Avengers # 1" with Hulk, Thor, Iron Man and Ant-Man sells for 19500. Nobody needs a Wolkswagen Polo for an hour?

Daredevil

For the first issue of the Matt Murdock comic (April 1964), they ask for $ 2,750. What can you buy for $ 2750? Well, maybe a used CB 400 Super Four bike.

Fantastic Four

The first issue of Fantastic Four, which, in fact, brought back the fashion for superheroes in the early 60s of the XX century and made Stan Lee and Jack Kirby superstars, will cost $ 9,500.

Some collect comics "for the love of art", others - to then sell them at a higher price. The first issue of Action Comics cost 10 cents at the time of release, and now it is being bought for 2 million. Amazing Fantasy # 15, the magazine in which Spider-Man first appeared, sold for 12 cents in 1962 and now sells for a million. To date, the ten most expensive comics (approximate price is indicated taking into account the condition of 9 points on the CGC scale) looks like this:

10 More Fun Comics # 52 - $ 250k
9. Archie Comics # 1 - $ 260k
8. Captain America Comics # 1 - 350 thousand dollars
7.Marvel Comics # 1 - $ 375k
6. Flash Comics # 1 - $ 385k
5. Batman # 1 - 400 thousand dollars
4.Superman # 1 - 600 thousand dollars
3. Amazing Fantasy # 15 - 1 million 100 thousand dollars
2. Detective Comics # 27 - $ 1.4 million
1. Action Comics # 1 - $ 2 million 160 thousand

It is the rare issues in very good condition that are valuable. First issue X-Men Jim Lee, released in October 1991, has sold eight million copies and is still the best-selling comic of all time. Collectors took five copies at once, with different covers. They did not take into account that with such a circulation, comics would never become a rarity. Even after more than 20 years, X-Men # 1 can be easily purchased on eBay for ... 100 rubles. Delivery will cost more.

The other day, at the opening of the International Book Fair at VDNKh, Minister of Culture Vladimir Medinsky said that comics were created "for those who cannot read well", and to be carried away by them in adulthood is "squalor". We took the principle of money talks as a basis and remembered seven copies, for which whole fortunes were given.

Action Comics # 1, 1938 - $ 3,200,000

In 1938, the retail price of the dear comic in history - Action Comics magazine No.1 - was only 10 cents. Any teenager could afford to buy the comic, on the cover of which Superman first appeared. It is now considered by collectors to be the "Holy Grail" that marked the beginning of the Golden Age of comics. And by his example it is easy to explain what constitutes the price of rare copies.

First, the rarity and preservation: today there are nine surviving specimens in the world (one was found walled up in the wall of a house in Minnesota), and eight of them belong to private collectors who do not plan to sell treasures in the near future.

Second, the story itself: Action Comics # 1 brought Superman to the world for the first time. But this is not quite a classic version of it, because it does not yet contain many of the familiar details: the adoptive family of the Kents, the home planet of Krypton. All these details the story is overgrown only in the next issues. Superman's alien origin is mentioned in passing: he is just a good guy from an orphanage who fights criminals and rescues his girlfriend.

Third, the price skyrockets if among former owners there were celebrities. In 2000, one original copy Action Comics # 1 was stolen from American actor and comic book collector Nicolas Cage: it was discovered in March 2011 in California's San Fernando Valley. But the comic was not returned to Cage because the actor had already received the insurance payment. The magazine was put up for auction: at first it was sold for 2.16 million, and three years later, in 2014, for 3.2 million dollars on eBay.

The pricing patterns here are the same as with any other works of art: rarity, preservation (it is assessed on a special ten-point scale developed by CGC Comics), provenance, that is, previous owners, the actual history of the comic. It is paradoxical that sometimes the price is raised by a typographical marriage, that is, a mistake turns it into a rarity - the same situation is with the most expensive postage stamps. For example, they originally wanted to make the Hulk gray, but then technologies printed gray with defects, ripples, and as a result it turned green.

Detective Comics # 27, 1939 - $ 2,570,000

Published by DC Comics (in fact, the publisher is named after him) since 1937. It is known for the fact that it was there that the classic superhero Batman made his debut in May 1939, and Gotham City became the scene of action. Was created by artist Bob Kane in collaboration with writer Bill Finger. Almost immediately after his appearance, Batman became so popular that in less than a year, he became the hero of a separate series. Batman is now officially one of the three greatest superheroes alongside Superman and Spider-Man.

Cover design for Tintin in America, 1932 - $ 1,700,000

The hero, who became the symbol of Belgium, was created in 1929 by Georges Remy. Sketches for comics - unlike the United States, in the Old World they value not circulation more, but unique author's drawings - are sold at antique fairs, including the oldest BRAFA, along with Egyptian antiquities and antique figurines. In the first issue, Tintin, a reporter for a Belgian newspaper, travels with his fox terrier Milou to Soviet Union that appears to be the Empire of Evil. Then Remy took up the then topical topic of the colonies ("Tintin in the Congo", 1931). Later, he opposed both the Japanese imperialists in China and against fascism - Tintin immediately became a bright cultural phenomenon and an acute political satire.

Amazing fantasy # 15, 1962 - $ 1,100,000

The series was published by Marvel Comics from 1961 to 1962, from 1995 to 1996 and from 2004 to 2006. Most famous for the fact that Spider-Man first appeared in it - just in the 15th issue. Remarkably, the slogan was printed on the covers: "The magazine that respects your intelligence" - "The magazine that respects your intelligence." By 1962, sales had dropped and production was about to stop. Then the publisher Martin Goodman ventured to introduce a new superhero, not quite familiar: an ordinary teenager with problems typical for a teenager - insecurity, lack of friends and a difficult love story. Readers loved it so much that it soon developed into a separate comic strip - The Amazing Spider-Man.

Batman # 1, 1940 - $ 527,625

Here one of the main opponents appears for the first time. Bat- Joker. In general, during its 79-year history, this ominous clown, as befits a real trickster, has repeatedly changed his biography. According to the canonical version, the man who later became the Joker was an unlucky comedian - who took the main prize of the Venice Film Festival, just supports this theory. In the comic, the villain is pursued by the entire police of Gotham, and after another skirmish with Batman, the first is taken to the Arkham hospital, where another negative character, the Puppeteer, cuts off the Joker's face, before informing him that he is his devoted fan.

X-Men # 1, 1963 - $ 492,937.5

Rounding out the top five are "X-Men", the protagonists of a commercially successful film series, several animated series and a number of computer games. The title of the comic was coined by co-creator Stan Lee, after Marvel publisher Martin Goodman rejected the original Mutant. The first X-Men team consisted of Cyclops, Gina Gray, Beast, Angel, and Ice Man. In the first issue, they fought Magneto, who would later create his Brotherhood of Mutants, consisting of Mercury, Scarlet Witch, Toad and the Lord of Mind.

Flash Comics # 1, 1940 - $ 450,000

The lesser-known Flash and Hawkman first appeared here. The Flash can travel faster than the speed of light and use superhuman reflexes. DC Comics' Hawkman features antique weapons and faux wings attached to armor.

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