Posted in: Comics | Tagged: amazing fantasy 15, amazing spider-man 129, Beast, golden age, punisher, Silver Age

Amazing Fantasy 15, Action Comics 252, and Jerry Siegel's Hair

Wednesday morning, there were a few auctions I spotlighted outside of the obvious Action Comics #1 to watch for Wednesday night. Here's how those comics did, along with a few additional noteworthy sales.

• In two previous sales of Action Comics #6, the first appearance of Jimmy Olsen, in CGC 5.0, we saw prices of $3,450 and $3,700. That was quite a while ago, however, with the last one coming in 2006. More recently, a CGC 6.0 sold this past April for $9,000. The Action Comics #6 that Comic Connect posted came very close to that, with their CGC 5.0 going for $8,032.
• Action Comics #7 features the second cover appearance for Superman, and is thus a highly-coveted comic that doesn't come up for sale every day.  This CGC 6.5 Moderate (P) copy closed at a respectable $26,185. By comparison, an unrestored CGC 3.0 sold for $20,315 in November of last year and a CGC 5.0 sold in 2009 for $47,800.
• Action Comics #47, Lex Luthor's first cover appearance, had looked like it might end up being a bargain when Wednesday morning opened, but in the end it would sell for more than $700 over the last previous recorded sale at CGC 7.5, with Comic Connect getting a winning bid of $1,788.
• Arguably, one of the biggest DC keys of the night outside of the first appearance of Superman was Action Comics #252, the first appearance of Supergirl. Graded CGC 9.2, this was the best condition copy yet to go on sale, and its final price of $25,500 is almost double the price paid for CGC 9.0 copy back in August.
• Of course, if you are a Legion of Super-Heroes fan, you might argue that Adventure Comics #247 was the DC key of the night (well, outside of that Action #1, but that's probably obvious by now…). Up for auction was a very nice looking CGC 7.5 copy, and it fetched an equally nice price, selling for $5,099, almost $2,000 more than the last CGC 7.5 copy that sold.
• Looking for a key that was a lot easier on the wallet? Try Action Comics #267, the third overall appearance of the Legion of Super-Heroes and the first appearance of Chameleon Boy, Invisible Kid, and Colossal Boy. Graded 8.0 by CGC, this copy sold for $320, making it the most expensive copy in this grade since 2008, and $95 from a sale this past August.
• The Legion's sixth appearance, and the first appearance of Brainiac 5, Sun Boy, Phantom Girl, Triplicate Girl, Shrinking Violet, and Bouncing Boy, was not so cheap though, but that's also because it's also the highest graded copy ever to go on sale. The previous best for Action Comics #276 was $1,972 for a CGC 9.2 copy back in August 2010. Wednesday night, a CGC 9.6 condition copy sold for $5,500.
• Sticking with the Legion, there's this CGC 9.0 copy of Adventure Comics #300, featuring the beginning of the Tales of the Legion of Super-Heroes feature and Mon-El joining the team. There is just one previous sale in this grade, for $1,400 in October 2006, and this one went for very close to that, closing at $1,510.
• On the Marvel side of things, there's this Amazing Fantasy #15, graded 9.0 by CGC. At $140,000, $10,000 less than the previous 9.0 sale, with just seconds to go in the auction, a flurry of last second bids poured in, driving the final price up to $151,555.
• Looking for some Spider-Man keys but working on a budget? The auction featured multiple low-grade copies of Amazing Spider-Man #1, with the highest-graded one graded at 4.0 by the Comic Connect staff (but not, oddly, graded by CGC or PSX like the overwhelming majority of comics up for auction). Whether it was the lack of CGC authentication of the grade, or simply that lower grade copies have been on the decline in price, this copy sold for just $2,051, which is over $1,000 less than one sold in October.
• Another Spider-key selling for significantly less is Amazing Spider-Man #129, the first appearance of the Punisher and the Jackal. Graded 9.4 by CGC, this auction closed at just $825, $125 less than one sold in the same grade just weeks ago, and $200 less than the average price over the last two years.
• Closing things out, we have a CGC 9.6 copy of Amazing Adventures #11, featuring the first appearance of Hank McCoy in his furry form, albeit in a different color than fans are used to. After selling for $2,500 in 2004 in this condition, the price has been progressively dropping with each sale, with the last one before Wednesday night's auction selling for $709. That decline has been arrested, at least temporarily, with Wednesday's sale closing at $1,160.

… oh, wait. There was one other auction that needs mentioning. There were 49 bids Wednesday night on some hair that presumably once rested upon the head of the creator of Superman, driving the price up to $1,000. Creepy.

Thursday night, we will have plenty more to talk about, as more auctions close out, with significant keys from the Silver and Bronze Ages being the main attraction.

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