Surprising new data shows comic readers are leaving. Well, wait no longer, heres a list of the 20 most expensive comic books in the world. There are so few of these comic books on the market that its very hard to say, but a lot. Read over 75,000 comics and over 700 free comics available from publishers such as marvel, dc, image, boom, idw, top shelf, and oni press on your iphone, ipad.
Dcs attempts to bravely find a new workable format for the ailing comic book cost it its market dominance to marvel in the early 70s, and one respects them for continuing to try throughout the decade, but the other big problem with comics in the 1970s was the readership. I have about six comic boxes with mostly 80 s and 90s era comics. A handful of early comic book specialty shops first appeared in. Collecting the most valuable comic books of the 80s and. You look at the sheer diversity of books on that list and its clear how much of a wasteland todays market is. Comic book marketplace gemstone, 19932004 jump to issue. We have values for any marvel, dc, image, idw, darkhorse, or dell comic book that is in your collection. Fox was, at that time, an accountant for dc comics, and he lost no time in leaving dc and setting up his own comic titles, starting.
Rare 80year collection of every dc comic book going to. Now some comics that contain first appearances from a less know characters at the time, that were not pushed had by marvel or dc, can actually get more on auction if they are in mint co. Since our founding in 1992, first book has distributed more than 175 million books and educational resources to programs and. Dc announces green lantern 80th anniversary special. Comic books for sale at the big apple comic book, art, and toy show.
When it comes to rare comic books, few are as important as the origin and 1st appearance of batman. Comics market forum only selling area cgc comic book. Top 50 most valuable comic books of the bronze age. Sizing the market for comics has become a complicated process. We monitor the fire hose of online comic book sales across various marketplaces and report on the sales of cgc and cbcs graded books in our comics price guide. For 80 years, marvel has reflected the world outside your window inspiring millions of fans with iconic characters and timeless stories that brought the marvel universe to the forefront of pop culture today. Are comic books your thing, or are you just curious how much the most expensive ones sell for. First book is a nonprofit social enterprise that provides new books, learning materials, and other essentials to children in need. Well also talk with creators about what its like to write and draw these icons compared with other characters. Collecting the most valuable comic books of the 80s and 90s october 6, 2017. Our daily content contains the fact driven info you need delivered quickly to.
It currently consists of diamond comic distributors, which has monopolized such distribution having exclusive deals with major comic book publishers, and the majority of comics specialty stores, as well as other retailers of. This inquiry can be transferred to any comic book sold exclusively to the direct market. The 20 most expensive comic books in the world 2020. The latest adaptation of frank herberts dune will be split into two films, and this is the perfect way to capture the book s ethos.
The hidden history of comic book shops marketplace. This comic was launched during march 1989 alongside the existing big comic fortnightly which was considered to be the best comic on the market until 1994. A handful of early comic book specialty shops first. It is then in the same ballpark, datawise, with the market beat. Here are the key issues to look for when youre at garage sales yes, they do turn up. Batman is one of the worlds bestknown and mostloved superheroes. Comic books and magazines have been bleached with acid and remains in the paper, to prevent further loss use comic book boards to absorb the acid. Following the departure of founder and editor gary carter, comic book marketplace went on hiatus for a few months as its fate was decided. Comics price guide was the first online price guide for comic books back in 1995. Comic book marketplace is the magazine for serious collectors of platinum age, golden age, silver age and bronze age comics.
The comic book crash of the 90s and why comics are safe. Join the newsletter to stay uptodate on new features and great deals. Comic books from the 70s, 80s and 90s do you remember. The premier online comics price guide free comic book values. Comic book value guide how to value your comics in 3 easy steps. Comic book realm use our database to track your comic. The 20 most expensive comic books in the world the list of comic books and figures mentioned below have. Comic book marketplace volume 3 gemstone publishing. The market will settle by as much as 25 percent or more following the film s release.
The direct market is the dominant distribution and retail network for american comic books. Comic book movie news rumors videos trailers and more. During the very late 80s and early 1990s there was diamond distributors and capital city who shared the burden of delivering comic books to all of the comic book shops across america. In the 1970s, the development of the direct market allowed a. In this video we discuss some of the best comics that were published in the 1980s. Estimated overall north american market size, including estimates for newsstand comics and book channel tpb sales joint calculation by comichron and. Subscribe to marvel unlimited to access thousands of digital comics for one low price. Please like and subscribe if you enjoy this video and check out the channel for other videos like this. Click here for the leading comic book speculation and investing resource. The concept of the direct market was created in the 1970s by phil seuling. How to sell your old 80s comics sparkle city comics.
I collected for over 20 years 19802000ish, i am 42 now. The unbelievable world of 80s comics sales the beat. Directmarket distributors serviced comic shops almost exclusively, offering comics at a much cheaper nonreturnable rate than did newsstand. Albedo was created by independent publisher thoughts and ideas. There are many epic comic book collections out there, but few have garnered intrigue and infamy quite like the ian levine collectionalleged to be one of the few complete collections of dcs. Currency all prices are in aud currency all prices are in aud. Comicconnect the online marketplace for comic buyers. Coincidentally around that time, russ cochran and his team in the missouri office of gemstone had just wrapped their ec comics reprint program gemstone publishing found itself with a californiabased magazine without an editor and.
The comic market peaked in late 80 s through midlate 90s. It will have enough minor defects that it is in clearly worse condition than a brand new freshly published comic, magazine, or book. Cbm salutes bob overstreet and the comic book price guide. A comic book in a cgc holder is encapsulated in a new cgc holder. Indie comics routinely sold 50,000 copies, even ones forgotten today, and. You can also connect with others in the comic industry to further and enhance everyones comic experience. Comics market forum only selling area 62 62 a forum for direct selling offers to other board members without an intermediary no ebay, or other outside sites, etc. A similar sentiment is being repeated over and over by collectors of highgrade key issue comic books from the 1980s and. For each sale discovered, we match it to the specific comic in our massive database which also includes variant covers and printings. The press is about one month old and works fantastic. During that time i worked 7 years in a comic book store. You will receive our email newsletters, promotions and site updates regarding comic industry news, comic book sales and auctions. I find collectors to be like gamblers, where they tell you the big wins but truly forget all their losses and sunk costs. Hint, collectors should probably not buy this book at this time.
From our humble beginnings, we have grown to the largest, most complete comic book price guide with well over 1,000,000 comics in our database. Celebrate marvels historic 80th anniversary all year long with your favorite marvel comics, games, shows, collectibles, fashion, and. The grade assigned to the book should not change, unless any damage occurred postencapsulation, in which case the grade will be adjusted accordingly. German comics are comics written in the german language or by germanspeaking creators, for the major comic markets in germany, austria, and switzerland, with spillovers into the neighboring, but lesser, comic markets of liechtenstein, luxembourg and germanbelgium the german language comic market is not as large or strong in sales as in most other european countries. Comic book expert who specializes in buying and selling pre1980 comics. This is the third article in our series, following from most valuable golden age comics and most valuable silver age comics. During the height of the boom, that number of shops reached somewhere around 10,000. In what is undoubtedly the biggest comics announcement in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, diamond comics distributors has told publishers that it. Collecting the most valuable comic books of the 80s and 90s. Ill drive up to four hours in any direction to meet halfway.