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The Marvel Comics #1 that Helped a Comic Shop Chain Get Through Hurricane Harvey

Published Fri, 08 Dec 2017 13:02:23 -0600

I might normally headline a story about the sale of a copy of Marvel Comics #1 in a completely different way than I have here. This comic has important things going on from cover to cover: Human Torch by Carl Burgos, Angel by Paul Gustavson, and the Sub-Mariner by Bill Everett (an expanded version of the previous, little-known tale in Motion Picture Funnies Weekly). And there's that spectacular Frank R. Paul cover art. And it's the first Marvel comic. This particular copy sold for $215,000 this week at ComicConnect.

It also helped the Houston-area Bedrock City comic shop chain make it through the turmoil in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey. Bedrock City owner Richard Evans states:

I'm happy that I was able to fall back on consigning this book and getting the advance to cover the tremendous financial burden that Harvey has been for us. Five stores that were shuttered for five days, one of those sustaining some fairly significant flood damage, then two weeks more with no new product to sell, and all of that being uninsurable even though we had business interruption insurance…you can guess the math. So not to toot my own horn or ask for a pat on the back or anything…but the choice between a Marvel 1 and getting all of my employees their paychecks is a super easy one and I am so thankful that I had that option.

And one other thing…I know that Vincent and Stephen take a lot of heat on these boards (heck, I have been right in the middle of it on many occasions), but I really need to give credit where credit is due. On the Tuesday after the storm I realized that our payroll transfer had bounced because the banks had been closed since the previous Friday and were probably not reopening for a few days. I started doing some math and suddenly realized that we could potentially have no cash flow for two weeks with both rent and another payroll due in that time. I called Vincent and simply said how much loot I would need to be solvent. He wired it before even knowing what I would be consigning. Thank you Vincent, and all the folks at ComicConnect. I can't tell you how much I appreciate it.

Hopefully the Marvel does well in the auction!

My hat's off to Vincent Zurzolo of ComicConnect and Richard Evans of Bedrock City for coming up with a quick solution in a tight spot here. I happen to know that Evans is one of the biggest Timely collectors out there anywhere, and suspect that he'll get a shot at another copy of Marvel Comics #1 down the road.