The Comic Book Secrets movie watchlist and picks for this movie are:
Tales of Suspense 39 – 1st Iron Man, so it’s a natural. Plus just a great key to have for the collector/investor Iron Man 1 – 1st self titles comic, has held up well and I love that deep blue cover! Tales of Suspense 52 – 1st Black Widow, played by Scarlett Johansson in the movie Tales of Suspense 97 – 1st Whiplash played by Mickey Rourke Iron Man 118- 1st War Machine, played by Don Cheadle Sergeant Fury and His Howling Commandos 1 – the Nick Fury character continues to get more and more screen time, so I am watching
Is that signed comic book worth a small fortune? Can an artist or writer signature increase the selling price? What does a comic book price guide say about signed copies?
In this article you’ll discover the, well, hazy truth about signed comic books.
I have to admit, I get a fair share of questions about how much a signed copy of a specific comic book issue is worth. Most people are familiar with signed books, sports memorabilia and pop culture items, so they logically assume comic books would be the same. Unfortunately, for the reasons we’ll discuss here, the trend does not continue in this hobby.
Before we get into the “why” and details of the situation I am going to be blunt, the chances of a signed comic book being worth more than an unsigned issue are very slim, and in many cases the signature may actually hurt the value. There is no price guide or established value increase for signatures, so every example ends up being unique. The only place you can start is with the standard comic book value steps, and then see what your particular comic will sell for in the marketplace. Be warned, it could be less than an unsigned issue (but it could be more, who knows)! That’s the simple truth.
But why is this?
The comic book hobby has its own subtleties, and this is one of them. First, for the most part we have no way of knowing whether the signature is genuine. Most collectors don’t want to take the time to have it authenticated and if it is a forgery guess what? You now have a comic book that is ruined because is has been written on by what may as well have been a 7 year old kid in crayon (more on this in a second)! An unauthentic signature is considered a condition flaw.
One way to help ensure the authenticity of a signature is to take a picture of yourself with the writer or artist as they sign the book. The second option is to attend one of the CGC Signature Series events, usually held a major convention. You can also buy these books on the secondary market and they are signified by their yellow “Signature Series” tag (see the picture below). You could also get lucky and find an expert to authenticate your comic signature.
CGC Signature Series Comic Book Label
If you have assured the authenticity of your signed comic book through one of the above methods you then have to find a buyer who not only wants the specific comic book you are selling, they also want it signed. This is why the value or selling price is an unknown quantity. When you attempt to make sale in any collectible market you are selling to a limited group – a subset of the population that collects your item, wants the specific item you have, want it in that condition, and have the money to purchase it. The signature limits that market a little more. Does someone out there meet all the criteria to purchase your signed book? You can see why this is an unknown, it is just such a small subset of the hobby. The only way to truly find the current value of the book is to attempt and sell it and see how it goes, there are no established guidelines.
Now let’s talk about one more strange part of the comic book collecting hobby. Remember earlier in this article I joked about a 7 year old kid writing his name on a comic book? Well, it just so happens that in some cases a specific kid writing his name on an old comic book can make it worth several times the price of similar comics – they are called pedigrees! The most famous example is probably the Larson collection, but that is a tale for another day.
To wrap this up, if you have a signed comic book, take a look at the value for an unsigned example as a starting point and hope for the best with your issue!
Looking for gifts for comic book fans this holiday season? Here are some great ideas at several price points.
Under $25 Marvel Encyclopedia – an indispensable research tool for an comic book collector. This book covers the Marvel character universe with first appearances, information, important facts and more.
Under $50 40 Years of the X-Men – All X-MEN comic books from September 1963 through August 2005, including debut issue. Over 485 complete printable comics, cover to cover, that’s over 17,500 pages. This is the whole enchilada for the X-men fan.
The Sky’s the Limit!
Instead of reprints or movies, why not go for the original material. Below you’ll find several key issue picks and you’re bound to find something for any comic book fan. There is nothing more treasured as a gift than a real, original, key issue comic book.
A Superman 1 in CGC 7.0 Restored Condition sold for $35,000. The reason behind this sale is interesting. Take a look at the listing. Will we see more comics sold to pay for basic survival? Only time will tell how the current depression will play out. If you compare this sale price to previous sales at both this grade level and higher this actually is a decent price for the seller. It is not a “fire sale” return, and in fact is around $4,000 more than this same book sold for 2 years ago. It looks like comic books are holding their value for the time being, let’s hope the trend continues. Here is the Superman #1:
Mark S. Zaid of Esquire Comics gave a talk about comic book history and how comics have tackled various social issues such as war, sex, civil right, terrorism, and much more! The title is Cave Art to Superheroes: Comic Books and Social Commentary. I’ve included the video below.
Spider-man is one of the most popular and sought after characters in all of comic-dom. The three recent movies have only served to make him even more popular. With that in mind today we’ll take a look at some of the must have Spider-man comic books and where they are currently for sale. If you want to discover how you could pick some of these keys up for deep discounts, check out my Comics for Pennies Videos.
Have fun!
Key Amazing Spider-man Issues:
Amazing Fantasy 15 – The old Marvel test – let’s see how this character does! Well, he did quite well, but his origin and first appearance is in this comic book.
Amazing Spider-man 1 – Spidey’s first self titled comic book.
Amazing Spider-man 14 – First appearance of one of Spider-man’s most dreaded villains – the Green Goblin
Amazing Spider-man 25 – First brief appearance of Mary Jane Watson
Amazing Spider-man 28 – First Molten Man, a forgettable villain, but very scarce in high grade due to the black cover.
Amazing Spider-man 50 – First appearance of Kingpin
Amazing Spider-man 121 – Death of Gwen Stacy
Amazing Spider-man 252 – Black suit appears
Amazing Spider-man 300 – First full Venom appearance
That should give you a good start. Make sure to check out the Amazing Spider-man comic books for sale here.
I received my catalog for the November 19-21, 2009 Signature Comic Book Auction at Heritage Auctions in the mail today and they have some amazing pieces up for auction. I spent some time this evening pouring over it and I wanted to bring your attention to some of the more noteworthy pieces.
The first comic is actually featured on the cover, and it is Incredible Hulk # 1 CGC 9.2 with off-white pages. This book is quite simply a beautiful copy. Incredible Hulk #1 is considered one of the toughest early Marvels to find in high grade. It has a very deep blue cover that shows even the slightest blemish. The Overstreet Guide lists it for $32,000 in NM- (9.2) condition and there is only one copy graded higher. I’ll be watching and keep you up to date with the final sales price for this gem. To keep this sale in perspective, take a look at some of the current sales on E-bay below.
I’ll also be following up over the next week or so leading up to the auction with other pieces being offered.
Shuler Donner made several updates to the Marvel movie stable this last week over at Empire Online.
The first of these is Wolverine 2, which she says
“That’s the furthest along of all the X-Men projects on the boil. It’s actually the story we wanted to use for the first Wolverine film, but [Fox head honcho] Tom Rothman preferred to set the character up with an origin story first. This movie will really focus on the relationship between Wolverine and Mariko, the daughter of a Japanese crime lord, and what happens to him in Japan. We’re very fortunate to have a story mostly outlined for us [from the comic book arc co-written by Chris Claremont and Frank Miller].”
– an indispensable research tool for an comic book collector. This book covers the Marvel character universe with first appearances, information, important facts and more.
– All X-MEN comic books from September 1963 through August 2005, including debut issue. Over 485 complete printable comics, cover to cover, that’s over 17,500 pages. This is the whole enchilada for the X-men fan.
– The entire Spider-man movie series in one collection.