New York’s Ten Most Expensive Comic Books
Written by admin on February 7th, 2009 in Comic Books.
If our list of the ten most expensive comic books at the New York Comic Con is any indication, the high-end comic book market hasn’t yet experienced any fallout from the Financiapocalypse.
We spent the morning mired in “Vendor Alley” here at the 2009 New York Comic Con, wading through the boxes of mylar-clad and cardboard-backed books. The lanes of the north end of the convention floor are littered with small- and medium-sized stores peddling their wares. Heck, even my hometown web-based comic shop was here. But we were here to focus on the big dogs of the high-end comic market at the New York Comic Con – the vendors with the ten most expensive books for sale.
They weren’t as difficult to find as we expected, given the current economic climate.
But according to New Force Comics’ Rick Whitelock there’s a reason for that – the big collectors are still willing to pay big bucks. “There are some bargains to be had, but for the most part most high-end books are still going for a very high dollar amount,” Whitelock said. “It hasn’t hit us yet. The comic book industry is still strong.” Our list would seem to prove that contention.
10.) Fantastic Four #4
- Title: Fantastic Four #4
- Price: $15,000
- CGC Grade: 9.2
- Features: Silver Age Sub-Mariner
- Vendor: High Grade Comics
9.) All-American Comics #16
- Title: All-American Comics #16
- Price: $21,000
- CGC Grade: 8.0
- Features: First appearance of Green Lantern.
- Vendor: Filter Comics / New Force Comics
8.) Detective Comics #38
- Title: Detective Comics #38
- Price: $39,000
- CGC Grade: 7.5
- Features: First appearance of Robin.
- Vendor: Metropolis Comics
7.) Marvel Comics #1
- Title: Marvel Comics #1
- Price: $40,000
- CGC Grade: 7.0
- Features: It’s the first Marvel Comic, duh! Also, first appearance of the Human Torch!
- Vendor: Filter Comics / New Force Comics
6.) Superman #1
- Title: Superman #1 (Restored)
- Price: $45,000
- CGC Grade: 8.0
- Features: The first issue of Superman’s solo comic, from 1939. (Action Comics was an anthology at the time.)
- Vendor: Metropolis Comics
5.) Amazing Fantasy #15
- Title: Amazing Fantasy #15
- Price: $57,500
- CGC Grade: 7.5
- Features: First appearance of Spider-Man.
- Vendor: High Grade Comics
4.) Amazing Fantasy #15
- Title: Amazing Fantasy #15
- Price: $78,000
- CGC Grade: 8.0
- Features: First appearance of Spider-Man. (In better condition than the copy at #5.)
- Vendor: Metropolis Comics
3.) Amazing Spider-Man #1
- Title: Amazing Spider-Man #1
- Price: $80,000 – $90,000
- CGC Grade: 9.4
- Features: Spider-Man meets the Fantastic Four.
- Vendor: Metropolis Comics
2.) Human Torch #2 (#1)
- Title: Human Torch #2 (For some reason, there was no issue #1).
- Price: Hoping to reach $100,000+ (auction in March)
- CGC Grade: 9.4
- Features: First Human Torch solo title.
- Vendor: Metropolis Comics
1.) Action Comics #1
- Title: Action Comics #1
- Price: $250,000 to Priceless (auction in March)
- CGC Grade: 6.0
- Features: Obviously, with the first appearance of Superman, Action Comics #1 is the “Holy Grail” of comic books.
- Vendor: Metropolis Comics
