A few months ago, we presented to you this impressive record established during the auction pages from a 1984 comic featuring the origins of Spider-Man’s black suit. And recently it’s another marvel superheroes who managed to rise to an equally incredible level.
heading to the top
A copy of the first comics Captain Americawhose memorable cover image showed the superhero knocking out Hitler, reached over $3.1 million at auction occurred this Thursday, becoming one of the most expensive comics in the world.
The nearly new copy of Captain America #1, created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby and dating from March 1941was sold to a bidder who remained anonymous, during an event organized by Heritage Auctionsheadquartered in Dallas.
With this sale, which according to The New York Timesis the fourth most expensive comic sold at auction, Captain America joins Superman and Spider-Man, whose comics have exceeded three million dollars at auction. The comic with the highest auction price is a near-perfect copy of Amazing Fantasy #15 from 1962, first introducing the character of Spider-Man, also sold by Heritage Auctions in 2021, for $3.6 million. Two copies of Superman’s first appearance in Action Comics #1 of 1938 occupy the second and third places.
This auction is further proof that sales of high-end old comics have exploded in recent years, three of the four most expensive comics sold at auction in the last eight monthsaccording to data provided by Heritage Auctions.
superhero hype
Sales are fueled by renewed interest in superheroes, which can be attributed to blockbuster films but also to the pandemichaving then reinforced the desire to acquire collectibles, declared Barry Sandoval, Vice President of Heritage Auctions, in a recent interview. He remembers the emotion felt when in February 2010, Heritage Auctions sold his first comics for more than a million dollars, with the Detective Comics #27, marking the debut of Batman. Sandoval said:
The Covid-19 era has kind of led to a general explosion of collectibles. In part. It is also because people, from year to year, have a better idea of the rarity of these objects. Thirty years ago, we were perhaps a little more reluctant because we didn’t know how many other fine examples there might be.
And the Marvel movies didn’t hurt according to Sandoval. In just over a decade, the Captain America film franchise has seen three popular additions, with the films Captain America: First Avenger in 2011, The Winter Soldier in 2014 and Civil War in 2016. These films, including the series avengers in which we also find the character, have made billions of dollars worldwide.
Even if you buy something just because you like it, without thinking about resale or investment or anything like that, you’re still a little more comfortable if you say to yourself: “Oh ok, if I were to get rid of it, I could get my money back or even earn some”. The fact that Captain America has been in so many recent movies, I think makes people more comfortable.
The copy that was sold last week also had many advantages. It came from a respected collection, known as San Francisco Pedigree Collection, and was in near new condition according to Sandoval. And this sale perfectly illustrates the surge in prices. In August 2019, the same comic was reportedly sold for $915,000. This buyer was well aware of the price increase and then authorized Heritage Auctions to put the copy back on the market, allowing it to realize in passing, a nice added value.