Detective Comics #27 - Bob Kane File copy

Recently we chronicled the Bob Kane File copy of Batman #1 being auctioned by ComicConnect (Batman #1 -Bob Kane File Copy). In that same auction ComicConnect also included the Bob Kane file copy of Detective Comics #27 in their current auction.

As you know Detective Comics #27 is one of the rarest, most sought after comic books ever made. It contains the first appearance of Batman. A copy of it sold a couple of years ago for over $1 million.

The Bob Kane/DC File Copy

Currently ComicConnect, the worlds best online comic auction house, has the copy of Detective Comics #27 used for reference by Bob Kane and DC comics. The low grade given to the issue is a result of it being included in a bound volume at DC offices. You can see the bounding holes along the side.

This issue comes from Batman creator Bob Kanes personal collection. Mr. Kane later gifted his bound volumes to DC comics which they used as their file copy. So what does this bound file copy all mean? Basically this is the specific copy of Detective Comics #27 used first by Bob Kane as a reference point for future work and then held in the DC files as a reference for all later Batman creators. It also means that because it was in a bound volume for so many years it retained much of its color. This copy is all sorts of cool, it was used by Bob Kane the creator and then possible by everyone who worked on Batman for many years after Mr. Kane. It is a one of a kind copy.

This unique copy was up for auction in August, but did not meet the reserve price, I would expect it to come up again or call them an offer some cash for it, ComicConnect Detective Comics #27

You can also call on ComicConnect Batman # 1 Bob Kane Copy, as it to did not meet its reserve. What a dynamic duo that would make to any collection if you could buy both.

Good Luck on Your Hunt!
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Flash Comics #1 - One of the Rarest Comics

We have been discussing in recent posts which comic would be the fourth most important. See those that we have looked at already, Which is Fourth?

Flash Comics #1 is one of the legendary rarest comics in the world. Published in January 1940, Written by Gardner F. Fox, penciled & inked by Harry Lampert, Flash Comics #1 featured the first appearance of the Flash, along with the first appearance of Hawkman. It was printed in a very limited number of copies, and over the years has become sought after by collectors.

Like most comics of the 1940's Flash Comics was an anthology book, it contained an assortment of different stories which contained different characters.

Here are a list of the stories contained in Flash Comics #1

"Origin of the Flash", Written by Gardner F. Fox, penciled & inked by Harry Lampert. This 15 page story sees The Flash face the Faultless Four, who have kidnapped Joan Williams' father. We also see how Jay Garrick becomes the Flash.

Origin of the Flash

"The Disappearing Plane", Written by Gardner F. Fox, penciled & inked by Sheldon Moldoff. This 6 page story stars Cliff Cornwall

"The Origin of Hawkman", Written by Gardner F. Fox, penciled & inked by Dennis Neville. A 12 page story that is the first appearance of Hawkman, in the story weapons collector and research scientist Carter Hall discovers that he is the re-incarnation of an ancient Egyptian. Shires Sanders who would become Hawkgirl also makes her first appearance in this story.

"The Kidnapping of Johnny Thunder" Written by John B. Wentworth, penciled & inked by Stan Aschmeier. 10 page story about Johnny Thunder.

"Warfare in Space, Part 1" a two page text story Written by Gardner F. Fox, penciled & inked by Sheldon Mayer.

"The Demon Dummy, Part 1"  Written, penciled & inked by Ed Wheelan.

"The Origin of the Whip"  Written by John B. Wentworth, penciled & inked by George Storm. 10 page story about the Whip,  Rod Gaynor decides to take on the guise of the Whip a famed adventurer from the past in order to help the poor from unscrupulous viglantes.

On March 12, 2010, a CGC highest graded Flash Comics #1 so far with a Near Mint plus grade (9.6) was sold at an auction for $450,000. Lower grades can be added to your collection for much less, a 5.0 sold for $14,000. 

This issue contains the first appearance of three key DC comic characters, The Golden Age Flash, Hawkman and Hawkgirls secret identity. One of the most important comics in history but is it the fourth most important. You tell us? Leave an opinion below or email us at Farleyclan003@yahoo.com

Good Luck on Your Hunt!
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Action Comics #1 - eBay Copy Update

Last month we broke the news that eBay would be auctioning off a copy of Action Comics #1 with the sale going to the Christopher Reeve Foundation, you can read about it by clicking on Action Comics #1 - eBay Copy.

Since then the auction has started and it has already gone over $1.5 million with over a week left. Experts believe this could be the first comic to go over $3 million.

You can view the auction at Actions Comics #1 eBay auction, check it out. If you have the means bid on it.


Good Luck on Your Hunt!
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Red Raven #1 - Marvel Comics One Issue Wonder

In October of 1939 Timely Comics, the publishing company that would one day become Marvel Comics, released their first superhero based title called Marvel Comics #1. They followed up this high selling comic with among other titles Red Raven Comics #1, which was released in August 1940. It was the first and only issue under this title, issue #2 was renamed after one of their most popular characters The Human Torch.  Red Raven Comics was in fact the first Marvel superhero to have his own title and it contains Jack Kirby 1st work at Marvel but Red Raven wouldn't be heard from again until 1968. This issue #1 became extremely rare and somewhat impossible to find. It is valued at around $500,000 in CGC high grade.

Along with Red Raven a number of other characters were also introduced in this issue, the Human Top, a character named Mercury,  originally presented as the Roman god but later revealed to be one of the Eternals.  Also introduced were Magar the Mystic, the all-seeing Eternal Brain, space adventurer Comet Pierce, and hapless policeman Officer O'Krime. None of these characters would appear in the Human Torch title.

Red Raven

A small child is the only survivor of a crash on the floating island of the Bird-Men. Their King raises him and on his 21st birthday sends him back into his world with a gift of artificial wings as the Red Raven. Once in the human world, he fights the demons Zeelmo and Ratoga who are draining the world of its gold. Red Raven would not appear in a comic book again until 1968 when he appeared in X-Men #44, which in itself is a great issue to add to your collection.

The most well known copy of this issue comes from the Edgar Church Collection sold by Mile High Comics.

This is another one of those historic comics that I would just like to see in person and take a photo of. Very few issues are known to exist. If you see one and can afford it pick it up it is truly a piece of comic book history.

Good Luck on Your Hunt!
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Action Comcs #1 - The Jack White Copy

We continue our stories of Actin Comics #1, following our look at The Nicolas Cage copy and the The One in the Wall,we will look at the Jack White copy.
 If you didn't already know, Jack White is most famous for being one-half of the rock group the White Stripes. He recently released his first solo album Blunderbuss.

It is believed that Jack obtained his copy through a ComicConnect auction back in 2009 for the then record price of $317,200. The CGC grade on this copy is a 6.0.

Last year Jack loaned his copy to DC entertainment for a party at San Diego Comic Con  celebrating the 75th Anniversary of Superman. While most people were caught up in Man Of Steel director Zack Snyder, Man Of Steel star Henry Cavill and DC editor Jim Lee also appeared at the party. When asked abut loaning his copy to DC Entertainment for use at the event, White said, "Action Comics #1 is an important piece of history. Instead of keeping my comic locked inside a vault I want to share it with fans during key moments like Superman's 75th anniversary, much like fine art is shared in museums."

At the event Action  Comics #1 made a grand entrance being delivered by a Brinks security truck. The comic was displayed in a special, "speeding bullet-proof" display case made specifically for the event, allowing guests to get an up-close look at what many consider to be the most valuable comic of all time. 

Events such as this just add to the legacy of this issue and helps us continue our stories of Action Comics #1.

Good Luck with Your Hunt!
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Amazing Spider-Man #700 Variant, Death of Spider-Man

Variant covers have become all the rage over the last couple of years. Instead of one cover for a particular issues you get a few different cover, some more limited in distribution then others. So there are rare and there are super rare.

Amazing Spider-Man #700 featured the death of Peter Parker and was the last issue of Amazing Spider-Man. Okay he is alive again but death in comics isn't the same as the real world. This issue had 10 variant covers.

One of the variant covers was by Steve Ditko.You might be thinking, wow that is great Ditko is a legend in comics. But what makes this cover so special is that the it is axtially unused art from the first appearance of Spider-Man in Amazing Fantasy #15. This art had been reprinted previously (Marvel Tales # 137), but it has never been used for a cover and is over 50 years old. There were only about 800 of these covers sold so its rare and sells for about $500. 

The variant of AS #700 is rare but they made a rarer version. the story goes, on Stan Lee's 90th birthday (December 28, 2012) Mr. Lee signed around 99 copies of the Ditko variant cover. thesesigned issues were then graded on the Signature Series program at CGC. The things that makes these graded comics so rare is that CGC decided to give these comics special commemorative label text. If you can find one of the 99 expect to spend upwards of $1,000

So get your hunting boots on and go find yourself a copy of these rare Spidey issues. Keep an eye it for the other 9 variants as well.

Good Luck on Your Hunt!
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The Rarity of Comic Books

If you have ever attend a comic convention, been to your local comic shop or searched for comics on-line then you have surely heard the word "rarity" used more often then you would expect. As a comic book hunter rarity plays a key role in our search for pieces to add to our collection. But what does it mean when you hear the word rare, rarity or some other related word. To me it has always meant that particular comic I just can't seem to find ( right now it's The Flash #1 variant cover). 


What makes a comic book rare? Everyone who is involved in the comic book industry will tell you that Rarity is ultimately what determines a comic's value, it is a fact of supply and demand. This is why Walking Dead #1 has sky rocketed in price and those "rare" comics from the early 1990's are worth near nothing (but still fun to read). 


If there is more demand for a particular comic and a lower supply price goes up and it becomes rare or less available to everyone. Back to the Walking Dead #1, there were only about 7,000 copies made, once it became popular everyone wanted a copy so prices went upwards of $1,200, which is usually heard of for a recent comic. The market demand determined the price increase. When it first came out not a rare comic but as demand went up became rare.

Lets define rarity as applies to comics using Webster's Dictionary  1. rarity (noun) Object or event: Something that happens rarely or that is particularly interesting or valuable because it is so unusual. 
Now lets define scarcity 

• n.noun 1. Insufficiency of amount or supply; shortage 2. Rarity of Appearance or occurrence, comics are valued for their scarcity.

  I would say that these two words are interchangeable when it comes to comic books.
  
  
  There are other factors that help determine the rarity/scarcity of a comic book. As we mentioned in the Walking Dead example the print run was 7,000, that is the number of copies that was initially printed. By today's standards that is really low. So demand also plays a role. If I printed 2 copies of a comic it doesn't mean it would be worth anything because who would want it.
  
  
  Condition has continued to become important in regards to rarity, especially since grading of comics has grown. If you just want to read a particular comic it isn't that hard to find a readable copy but mint copies are harder to find because people read comics. Also note the older the comic the harder it is to find in better condition. This is because people before the 1970's didn't see comics as valuable, they were like magazines read them , toss them around, carry in your back pocket, lend them to friends. So this leads to age being a factor many older comic which may have had huge print runs, Action Comics was selling over a million copies in the early 1940's but issues from that time still sell for thousands of dollars. Had every kid saved the they wouldn't be worth as much as they are.
  

  

  Action Comics #23

  One of the biggest determining factors regarding rarity/ scarcity is what actually happens in the comic. Is an important ever occurring,  first appearance of a major character comes to mind. Most of the time when a character first appeares they do not have a fan following yet, over time it grows as the characters popularity grows. The example that comes to mind is New Mutants #98, all the issues near #98 are easy to find and not expensive ($2 to $4 ) while #98 is about $150 and not readily available. This issues has the first appearance of everyone's favorite anti-hero, the merc with a mouth, Deadpool. His popularity has gone up, up and up. Wait until his movie comes out. This goes back to definition of rarity. Something that happens rarely or that is particularly interesting or valuable because it is so unusual.

So what does this all mean when it comes to hunting comics to gather into your collection. Well the ones that are hard to find are considered rare. They are rare because of a number of factors all of which contribute to the scarcity of the particular comic. 

Bottom line is what makes hunting comics fun is that there are some that are rare, we should all have             

Issues on our want lists that are rare, that we have spent some time and effort hunting for. It is this aspect of collecting which keeps up connecting to our pre-historic ancestors.

Good luck on your hunt no matter how rare the prize may be!
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The Importance of New Fun Comics #1

New Fun #1

When comic books first started as inserts in the Sunday paper, they included reprints of  past comic strips no original material. As time passed they began including some original material but still mainly reprinting past works.

That all changed with the release of New Fun #1 in February 1935. Published by National Allied Publications New Fun was a tabloid-sized, 10-inch by 15-inch, 36-page magazine with a card-stock, non-glossy cover, it was an anthology of stories which ranged from humor to Western to adventure. The thing that set New Fun apart from all other comic books at the time is it contained all -original material, no reprinted content.

New Fun was edited by future Funnies, Inc. founder Lloyd Jacquet, it contained 33 original Stan-alone stories.  In a memo dated 1-11-35, editor Lloyd Jacquet wrote this statement: "New FUN - hot off the Daily Eagle press - goes on sale today coast-to-coast." That tells us when this issue went on sale, and was printed on the presses used by the Brooklyn Daily Eagle newspaper.

New Fun #6

It is important to note that New Fun went on for six issues, Issue #6 (Oct. 1935) played an important role in it brought the comic-book debuts of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the future creators of Superman, who began their careers with the musketeer swashbuckler "Henri Duval" and, under the pseudonyms "Leger and Reuths", the supernatural adventurer Doctor Occult.

The original cover price of New Fun #1 was a dime. If you can actually find one today it will cost you about $50,000, yes that is a five and five zeros. Issue #6 goes for about half that.

This is truly a piece of comic book history and worth a look if you actually are lucky enough to even see one. If you can purchase one, way to go!

I am currently hunting one down just to take a photo of it. I really enjoy the history of comics.

Enjoy your hunt!
#jointhehunt