Up, up, and away as comic book auction results reach – biff! zow! – incredible prices.
A decent grade issue of Superman #1 (1939) auction at over two and a half million dollars, while a not-so-great condition of Action Comics #1 (1938), Superman’s first appearance, went for more than one and a half million. A 7.0 grade issue of Spider-Man’s first appearance from 1962 auctioned off for a quarter of a million dollars, while the more recent but much better condition Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 (1984) went for about the same as the Amazing Fantasy.
Those winning bids all went down on at a Comics Connect sale.
The Superman comic was bought in 1979 for $2,000.
So is it time to include comics in your investment portfolio?
Market Watch explores that option:
Bart Brewer of California-based Global Financial Advisory Services says collectibles can have a small role in a balanced portfolio. He suggests committing no more than 5% of total assets to it and considering it an “exotic” investment. “I view this like emerging-markets stuff,” he said.
Wish I had read that earlier, ’cause that 2.6 million represents about 10% for me.
Comic Book Resources readers voted for the top 100 comic book storylines.
The list is, of course, very heavy on super heroics.
Though Art Spiegelman’s Maus makes the top ten. Frank Miller’s Daredevil and Batman stories get very high marks while his non-superhero Sin City doesn’t make the list at all. An early Jeff Smith Bone episode gets in there, as does Don Rosa’s Uncle Scrooge biography. Alan Moore may have more more stories on the list than any other writer (I didn’t check it that closely), his super stories rating higher than those not of that genre. Half of Neil Gaiman’s Sandman story arcs made it onto the list with the highest ranking in the top ten. Silver Age Lee and Kirby make it once and Ditko and Lee do it twice (interesting to see if the Kirby Is God crowd complains about Lee listed before Kirby but after Ditko).
Elsewhere Jeremy Dauber, author of a new comics history, has a much shorter list of only six.
There is some crossover with the Storyline list. This one includes a comic strip compilation.
Alison Bechdel tops yet another poll.
The Secret to Superhuman Strength (Mariner) by Alison Bechdel lands on the top spot of PW’s annual Graphic Novel Critics Poll, garnering seven votes from a panel of 15 critics. A groundbreaking queer author and a true household name in contemporary comics, Bechdel is best known for her widely acclaimed 2006 graphic family memoir Fun Home.
Publisher Weekly’s Annual annual Graphic Novel Critics Poll for 2021.