‘First Marvel Comic’ sold at auction for world record-breaking $1.26 million

Take good care of your comic books because someday they might be worth slightly more than the original cover price.  Case in point:  A rare copy of the very first Marvel comic, in mint condition, sold yesterday through Heritage Auctions in Dallas, for $1.26 million dollars.  This particular comic dates back to 1939 and had a newsstand price of 10 cents.

“This is a historic copy of a historic comic book” said Ed Jaster, Senior Vice President at Heritage Auctions. “Without question, this is the granddaddy of all Marvel Comics, without which we would not have the characters and stories we enjoy in today’s comics and feature films.” ~ NBC New York

The November 21 sale makes this the most expensive Marvel comic ever sold via a public auction – setting a new world record.

Reuters reported that “Marvel Comics No. 1” featured some iconic Marvel characters in their superhero debuts, heroes that are still fan favorites today, notably Ka-Zar, Sub-Mariner, Angel and The Human Torch – although a few of those characters have gone through some serious iterations.

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The Golden Age Human Torch for example, was a robot – much different than today’s Fantastic Four Johnny Storm Human Torch.  And, not to be confused with The Angel from X-Men fame, the Golden Age Angel was a detective that wore a superhero outfit, but did not have any super powers.

Prior to yesterday, the most expensive Marvel comic ever auctioned was “Amazing Fantasy #15” which featured the first appearance of Spider-Man. That comic has now slipped to the  second-highest Marvel comic ever auctioned, having sold for $1.1 million back in 2011, according to The International Business Times.

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The most expensive comic book in history remains the first issue of “Action Comics” published in 1938 in which Superman makes his debut. It sold for $3.2 million in 2014. ~ ibtimes

For more on the story, see the video accompanying this article.

~ Posted by: Richard Webster, Ace News Today   /   Follow Richard on Facebook and Twitter