The comic book in which Spider-Man made his first appearance went for an amazing $1.1 million in a transaction Monday night. That’s gonna buy a lot of web shooters.
Amazing Fantasy #15, written by Stan Lee , with a cover by Jack Kirby and interior art by Steve Ditko, was originally published in 1962 and sold to many for just 12 cents. (Sales for the issue were some of the highest for Marvel at the time.) These days, they’re a little harder to come by. This particular comic was graded 9.6 or near-mint, plus, and was sold by ComicConnect.com from a private seller to an undisclosed buyer. Aren’t they always? WHO ARE THESE RICH GEEKS AND DOES ONE WANT TO HELP ME OUT WITH MY CAR INSURANCE?!
I digress.
The sale now makes Amazing Fantasy #15 the second most expensive comic ever behind Superman’s debut in Action Comics which went for $1.5 million last year. However, it is the most money ever shelled out for a Silver Age book.
Chief Executive and Founder of ComicConnect, Stephen Fishler, said in a statement Tuesday, “People have often wondered how much this near-perfect condition book would sell for, and today we found out.”
March 9th, 2011 at 2:31 am
Whenever I hear something like this, I always assume the anonymous buyer is Nicolas Cage.
March 9th, 2011 at 2:58 am
I think he sold all his comics when he married Lisa Marie! I guess you’ve got to grow up sometime, and on the eve of a 108 day marriage is as good as any! Ouch!
March 9th, 2011 at 4:09 am
I live in Greece and here is a story a comicbook-shop owner told me a few years ago:
Somebody came to his shop with a comic that was in really bad shape, torn pages etc. It was an ignored item in his family’s possesion for years and a child had cut off bits and pieces out of it while playing. The book was very old and the owner who knew very little about comics and stuff wanted to know if it had any value despite its terrible state. The shop owner told him that it was worthless in this condition but dared not mention that he would be a millionaire if the book was in better shape. You see the book was an ACTION COMICS#1!
March 9th, 2011 at 4:11 am
The anonymous buyer could very well be a successful hedge fund manager. Movie stars and pro athletes make plenty of money but what they earn can be peanuts compared to what the guys on Wall Street make.
March 9th, 2011 at 5:43 am
RE: Whenever I hear something like this, I always assume the anonymous buyer is Nicolas Cage.
Haha yeah, I’m thinking that too….either that or Bill Gates is a secret Marvel fan.
Or….How about the President of the U.S., mister Barack Obama? He is a fan of Spider-man too right?
March 9th, 2011 at 6:44 am
Obama better not be spending that kind of money on a comic book.
March 9th, 2011 at 7:09 am
obama cant afford that…if he did buy it he would be spending government money not his 400 000 yearly salary
March 9th, 2011 at 8:03 am
haha, car insurance
March 9th, 2011 at 8:07 am
Great to see it pass the 1 million dollar mark. These specific comics that are the foundation of all comics need to keep rising in price to keep it all interesting. At least from the collecting angle.
March 9th, 2011 at 9:26 am
Dang. I wonder what kind of effect, if any, it will have on other key silver age books? I think my dream of one day owning the complete ASM run is becoming more and more of an impossible dream…Sigh…
March 9th, 2011 at 12:33 pm
Man… AF #15 is the only Spider-Book I need to complete my Spider-Man collection… have owned #1 to current sicne 2001 (when I finally got my hands on an ASM #2), and these high prices will make that seem like a pipe dream these days…
Saw one in VG in Toronto back in 2004 for about $3000… should have taken out a loan back then…
sigh…
March 10th, 2011 at 9:51 am
oooopppss did I just reveal my secret identity? Forget all that Peter Parker stuff.
March 11th, 2011 at 6:53 am
Seeing the story made me think: “I know I still have one of those around somewhere. I wonder where it is?” Took a day or so, but we found it (My brother had it at his place). A New England dealer offered me $8,000 for it about ten years ago, and I passed. Today, I’d say $15k could take it away. It’s about a VG-VG+ Pretty nice copy, but nowhere near 9.6. Still a lot nicer than the one I rolled up and used as a fly swatter at a con back in the mid 90′s. That was fun, freaking people out. It was pretty heavily tape “repaired”, so my stunt wasn’t going to damage it any more than it already was. Ended up raffling it off as a hospital fund-raiser. Another one I sold went in a 2-for-1 deal: Customer bought an Amazing #252 (first black costume) for “$1500″ (clearly stickered as guided around $25) and got a Fantasy 15 for free. That was maybe 12-13 years ago, and if that customer still has that AF15, he’s a very happy man today, because I recall it being in pretty decent condition. I may be a dealer/retailer, but I don’t see that as any reason not to have the odd bit of fun with these things.