Spotlight
First Marvel comics issue auctions for $1.26 million
Recently, a perfectly-preserved copy of Marvel’s first-ever comic book was sold to an anonymous buyer for a record $1.26 million by Dallas-based Heritage Auctions. The copy was published in 1939 by Timely Comics, which later became Marvel Comics, it features an android superhero called The Human Torch, a costumed detective known as Angel, and a mutant anti-hero dubbed Namor the Sub-Mariner.
The graphic novel was first purchased in 1939 for a mere 10 cents by a Uniontown, Pennsylvania, mail carrier, well-known for his penchant for buying first issues of comics and magazines. Though it has changed hands a few times since, the issue is in ‘outrageously’ good condition, scoring 9.4 on a scale of one to ten.
“This is a historic copy of a historic comic book,” Ed Jaster, Heritage Auctions senior vice president, said of the graphic novel. “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.”