VALUE JUDGEMENT The most sought-after comic books are now approaching half a million dollars in “value.” The surge in demand for these brightly colored volumes comes as collecting grows in sophistication. A comic book investment index and a grading service, for example, recently became industry standards. Some lament the new attention to condition, saying it shifts the focus from the adventurous tales found within. Still others caution that comics remain a perilous investment that, like all bubbles, will eventually deflate.

Like many fans of Superman, Hecht would like to someday own a high-quality copy of Action Comics #1, which sold on newsstands for 10 cents in 1938. Featuring the first appearance of Superman—who could lift a car and leap tall buildings, though not yet fly—issues of Action Comics #1 in top condition are the current Holy Grail of DC Comics’ superhero fans. In 2003, a sale of one of these books by Dallas-based Heritage Galleries and Auctioneers netted $120,750. Industry bible Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide lists the 2005 retail value of a very well-preserved Action Comics #1 as $485,000, 10 percent higher than the 2004 figure.

Superman is hardly the only character in tights to routinely command six figures in today’s red-hot retro comics marketplace. The Overstreet Guide includes the Metropolis Index of 30 blue-chip vintage comic books chosen by New York–based MetropolisComics.com’s experts. The index is heavily weighted toward superhero books published by both DC and rival Marvel (home of Spider-Man), although other types of comics, including Vault of Horror and Walt Disney Comics & Stories, also earn places. The index had a total value of $832,086 in 1995, and $2.8 million in 2005. (The index is not adjusted for inflation.) Batman made his first appearance in DC’s Detective Comics #27, and the index lists that issue, with a condition grade of 9.2 Near Mint Minus at $410,000. The compound annual growth rate for the group between 1995 and 2004 was 13.04 percent, and the total return 240.8 percent—both of which compare favorably to stock market returns over the same period.

James Halperin, cochairman of Heritage, one of America’s largest auction houses and the dominant player in the comics field, estimates that the market for all U.S. comic books, including new issues, is worth about $1 billion, with vintage books making up just 10 percent of this total. While he contends that the outlook for comics collectors is “very bright,” his optimism is somewhat guarded. Noting the recent history of astronomical sale prices for rare, high-quality vintage books, he cautions: “You can’t be sure history is going to repeat itself.”

Making the Grade
Comics Guaranty, known as CGC, is arguably the single most influential driver behind the comic book market. The company, formed five years ago, is a grading service similar to the type used for rare coins and baseball cards. For a fee, experts at the Sarasota, Fla.-based firm will scrutinize every inch of a book for possible flaws, such as corner creases and rusty staples—or for signs of restoration, now considered a serious flaw. CGC will then assign a grade on a scale of 1 to 10, and seal the book in a tamper-resistant plastic shell.

In addition to spurring collecting by giving investors a sense of security about their purchases, CGC ratings have sharpened the focus on condition as the primary component of the value equation. Meanwhile, the Internet has made it easy for newcomers to enter the collecting field, enabling them to learn about rare comics and transact deals from the comfort of their own computer screens. There is even a new online source of real-time market data on CGC-rated comics, through a subscription-based website run by GP Analysis of Melbourne, Australia.