This is “Just a Reminder,” when I look back at comic book history whenever I think there’s something worthwhile to look back at on in connection with things going on today.
Recently, a CGC-graded copy of Action Comics #1 sold for $3.25 million, making it to highest amount that anyone has ever paid for a single comic book. In the CBR write-up on the sale, my pal Kelvin Childs quoted the co-founder of the company that auctioned off the comic book as saying that Action Comics #1:
“really is the beginning of the superhero genre.” There aren’t more than 100 copies remaining from the original print run, and few are in good condition. This particular copy was well-preserved, Zurzolo said, noting, “There’s no comic book that you could value higher in terms of a comic book than Action Comics #1.”
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At a glance, it sure looks that way, right? The record that this sale broke was a $3.2 million sale in 2014 of…Action Comics #1. The previous record before THAT was a 2011 $2.16 million sale of…Action Comics #1. The previous record before THAT was a 2011 $1.5 million sale of….Action Comics #1 (I believe it was actually the same copy that just sold for $3.25 million. The $3.25 million copy also previously sold for $2 million in 2018, but I’m not 100% positive it is the same one that also sold for $1.5 million in 2011. The $2 million sale, of course, came after the 2014 $3.2 million sale, so it did not set a record at the time).
So this sure seems to suggest that Action Comics #1 is the most valuable comic book of all-time, right? And honestly, that MIGHT be true, but if so, it’s not because of the sales we have seen already. This is because the most valuable comic book of all-time is either one of two comic books, neither of which has been sold in over THIRTY YEARS.
I was actually pretty set in dismissing Action Comics #1 as being the most valuable comic book PERIOD, but while getting images for this piece, I came across a great Rob Larsen article where he concedes that the comic book that I’M thinking of for tops overall as being the 1A to his pick for #1, and while I disagree, he makes such a good argument that I have to at least present his position along with mine.
Okay, let’s open up by first discussing three very important letters….CGC. The Certified Guaranty Company, better known as CGC, was founded in 2000. Now obviously, ever since comic books were bought and sold, they were graded, but it was sort of a willy nilly thing, where each vendor had their own philosophy, so one vendor’s “near mint” was another vendor’s “very good,” etc. Luckily, other collecting groups like coin collectors and stamp collectors had established the basic concepts for grading and so in 1970, Robert Overstreet released the first “official” comic book price guide (the great Jerry Bails helped form that first guide. I’ll be talking about Bails in an upcoming Comic Book Legends Revealed very soon. Look for it!), where Overstreet established the basic comic book grading scale that has lasted ever since. Overstreet also cleverly came up with the idea of scoring the grades on a 1-10 scale, as well as “Near mint,” “Very fine,” etc. So that way, you could have three books all be considered near mint, but one a 9.6, one a 9.4 and one a 9.2.
The issue, though, is that those numbers were long theoretical at best because, again, even though Overstreet gave the industry the number scale, those same theoretical vendors that I mentioned earlier who disputed grades would now dispute a 9.2 versus a 9.4 versus a 8.5 or whatever. Overstreet long argued that there should be an impartial, third party grading system and that is what CGC became, with their original chief grader, Steve Borock, soon establishing the standards most third party graders presumably use to this day (By “presumably,” I just mean to note that I can’t personally vouch for any of these companies. I mean that not as a shot against them, but more a matter of me not wanting to sound like I’m doing PR for them, either). Borock later founded a rival to CGC, Comic Book Certification Service (CBCS).
So obviously, when these rare comic books were first sold, it was without a third party grading them, so that DRAMATICALLY limited the market for rare comic books, especially over the internet. Can you even IMAGINE spending thousands, let along MILLIONS on a comic book based solely on the word of somebody on the internet? With the establishment of CGC, suddenly there was at least the perception of protection out there and it led to a huge spike in comic book sales. For instance, when CGC was formed, the highest a comic book ever sold for was $137,000 (and yes, it was, in fact, an Action Comics #1). Within three yeas, that went to $350,000 and in 2010, the first comic book cracked a million dollars (and yes, it, too, was an Action Comics #1). And obviously, 11 years later, prices have just continued to go up seemingly exponentially.
But here’s the trick….all we are seeing are the copies that are being sold since CGC came into existence. What about all of the comic books that were sold BEFORE then? Naturally, there are copies that are in BETTER shape than the ones that have sold recently, the owners of the comics just haven’t sold them, leading to our current “predicament.”
Therefore, that is why that I propose that the most valuable comic book of all-time is a comic book that hasn’t been sold since 1990!
I noted earlier that a copy of Action Comics #1 set the (then) record in 2010. Well, here’s the thing. It set that record in March of 2010, but just a month earlier, the record was briefly held by Detective Comics #27, featuring the first appearance of Batman. The Detective Comics #27 copy was graded 8.0.
NONE of the Action Comics #1 that have set records since then have been as low as 8.0. The one that set the record the other day was an 8.5 and the previous record holder was a 9.0.
At one point, the record for the most expensive comic book was a Detective Comic #27 in 1990 that sold for $80,000. Again, since this was pre-CGC, we’re just going by guesstimates, but other comics from this collection (dubbed the Allentown Collection since that’s where it was found) have been graded at 9.4 and 9.6 and, again, anecdotally, people who saw the Allentown have said it’s at LEAST a 9.4. Therefore, since an 8.0 Detective Comics #27 was briefly the most expensive comic book ever sold, I think a 9.4 copy would be THE most valuable comic book.
However, now would be a good time to discuss Edgar Church. Church was a commercial artist and avid collector of pulp magazines and comic books. Due to where he lived in Colorado, his basement (where he kept his books) worked as a sort of humidor, keeping the books in stunning condition. Most of the best quality Golden Age comics in the world come from his collection (most of which were purchased by Chuck Rozanski of Mile High Comics, leading to books from this collection being referred to as either being from the “Mile High Collection” or the “Church Collection.” Church had a copy of both Action Comics #1 and Detective Comics #27, but the Detective is “only” an 8.5. The Action, though, hasn’t sold since 1984, when it went for $25,000 (which was the record until the Allentown Detective Comics #27 sold six years later). There is debate over whether it is a 9.2 or a 9.4, but let’s just split the baby and say that it’s a 9.4 and the Allentown Detective Comics #27 is ALSO a 9.4. Which one would be more valuable?
Rob thinks that Action Comics #1 would take the cake, and hey, I’m certainly not saying it wouldn’t have a real shot, but just look at how rarely people even SELL their Detective Comics #27s! Not only that, but a 9.4 Batman #1 sold for $2.2 million earlier this year. Yes, it is both the first Joker and the first Catwoman, but come on, it’s not the first Batman or Superman! So for it to sell for THAT much sure lends me to believe that the current market places the first appearance of Batman to be a bigger deal than the first appearance of Superman, and that the Allentown Detective Comics #27 is THE most valuable comic book in the world, with the Church Action Comics #1 being a super close second (pun unintended). Rob believes the opposite, and he’s extremely well informed about this stuff, so hey, whatever, it’s close, feel free to agree with him over me, but the main thing is that whichever one is the most valuable comic book, it ISN’T the 8.5 copy that just sold for $3.25 million. So we’re probably talking, like, $6 million at LEAST if either the Church Action or the Allentown Detective ever hit the market.
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