How to identify rare comics
Among all the global categories of collecting, comics are relatively new. At one point, only children were interested in reading them for entertainment. In June 1938, Superman, the first superhero appeared in Action Comics #1, most kids were drawn to the man dressed in blue and red holding and crashing a car over his head. Suddenly, a host of other types of superheroes had most kids paying a pretty penny to buy one. If they had a dollar, they could have bought ten books with zero tax. However, children read them up to a certain age and their mothers usually throw them away, which is a shame because they would have been valuable.
So can comics still be lucrative investments? Absolutely. This is why so many serious collectors wish they had time machines, so they could go back in time and buy those good oldies. You could imagine getting your hands on Action Comics #1, or Detective Comics #27 (Batman’s first appearance) and selling them for millions of dollars today. However, collectors should put fantasy aside and look for newer and possibly less expensive prospects.
What kind of comic is it? For this article, I am referring to the most popular superheroes. Although they are usually worth more than other genres that include: Cowboy; Romance; Famous cartoon characters like Disney, Warner Brothers; War; Comedy and others.
Period: The comic books belong to different “epochs”: “Platinum Age” (Printed in or before 1938); “Golden Age” (1938-1955); “Silver Age” (1956-1969); “Bronze Age” (1970-1981); “Copper Age” (1981-1991).
Is the book “DC” or “Marvel”? Some more well-known DC superheroes include Superman, Batman, Robin, Wonder Woman, Flash, and Green Lantern. Marvel Comics began in 1939 with Captain America, the Human Torch, and the Submarine. Before 1961, Marvel Comics was originally called “Timely Comics”. Some titles were popularized, such as: “Stories to amaze”; “Amazing Fantasy”; “Tales of Suspense”. These titles featured some of the famous characters that movies feature widely today: Tales to Astonish 27 featured Antman; Amazing Fantasy #15 introduced the world to Spiderman; Tales of Suspense #39 featured the first appearance of Iron Man. Other well-known comics brought groups of superheroes: Fantastic Four #1 (1961); The Avengers #1 (1963), The X-Men #1 (1963).
Edition numbers: The lower the edition number, the more the book is worth. As you know from the last paragraph, the first appearance of many heroes did not originate in issue #1. Superman originated in Action Comics #1, but a year later he got his own comic: Superman #1 (1939). Also, Batman had his first appearance in Detective Comics #27, but he soon got his own comic with the first appearance of Batman’s sidekick Robin in Batman #1 (1940). Wonder Woman’s first appearance occurred in Sensational Comics #1, which later became “Wonder Woman”.
Original price: Comic books have been increasing their newspaper prices. The lower the original selling price, the older they are and in most cases they are worth more: $.10, 12, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 50, 60, 75 (1938 to 1988). Today, the lowest priced comics are around $3.99-$4.99.
Condition: If your book has tears, a partially torn spine, or missing pages, it will be worth much less. They can be restored, but repairing them costs more money and will sell for less. The more pristine the condition, the more it will be worth, of course. All books must be placed in Mylar sleeves with cardboard backings. The ultimate protection for comic books would be to seal them airtight in a hard plastic display case, which is provided by “CGC”, or “Certified Warranty Company”. CGC is one of the only organizations that can truly give the collector peace of mind that the book has been graded correctly and can almost never be damaged.
Recommended: Buy the “Overstreet Comics Price Guide” that comes out every year.