Posted in: Comics, Heritage Sponsored, Vintage Paper | Tagged: aquaman, green arrow, More Fun Comics

Early Green Arrow and Aquaman in More Fun Comics #76, Up for Auction

Published Sun, 24 Oct 2021 18:34:10 -0500

We've talked about this before: After decades of being considered an afterthought by most vintage comics collectors, Green Arrow and Aquaman's first appearances in More Fun Comics #73 has taken a sharp rise on the market in recent times. A More Fun Comics #73 CGC 5.0 could be had for $4495 in 2006, while a copy in the same grade sold for $74500 less than a decade later. A More Fun Comics #73 CGC 7.5 hit a record $111,000 earlier this year. But if that one has already climbed outside the range of your collecting budget, the subsequent few issues are still surprisingly affordable — and almost shockingly difficult to come by in anything above low grade. For example, there's a More Fun Comics #76 (DC, 1942) CGC FN- 5.5 Off-white pages up for auction in this week's 2021 October 24-25 Sunday & Monday Comic Books Select Auction #122143 — and only one higher CGC-graded copy has sold at public auction in the last 20 years.

More Fun Comics #76 features stories starring Green Arrow, Dr. Fate, Aquaman, Johnny Quick, The Spectre, and more, but the Aquaman story by Mort Weisinger and Paul Norris is the best of the bunch in my opinion. The story involves Aquaman foiling a plot to steal the crown jewels of three different countries which were being shipped to America to keep them safe from the Nazis. Unsurprisingly, newspapers were full of speculation that such moves were happening with the crown jewels of a number of countries in the months leading up to the release of More Fun Comics #76. While such reports appear to have been propaganda employed for a variety of purposes, the stories certainly were full of intrigue — and the real-world drama behind them made for a solid wartime plot for this Aquaman story.

A historically important WW2 era comic which includes work from Mort Weisinger, George Papp, Gardner Fox, Howard Sherman, Jerry Siegel, Bernard Baily and others, More Fun Comics #76 is tougher to get above low grade than you might think, but there's there's a More Fun Comics #76 (DC, 1942) CGC FN- 5.5 Off-white pages up for auction in this week's 2021 October 24-25 Sunday & Monday Comic Books Select Auction #122143 from Heritage Auctions.

More Fun Comics #76 (DC, 1942) CGC FN- 5.5 Off-white pages. Last Dr. Fate cover in the title. George Papp, Bernard Baily, Mort Meskin and Howard Sherman art. Overstreet 2021 FN 6.0 value = $900. CGC census 10/21: 2 in 5.5, 4 higher.

View the certification for CGC Certification ID 3727613025 and purchase grader's notes if available.