While most collectors are familiar with the big Golden Age books that sell each month, there are so many more worth investigating. Scarce high grade western comics set records in August. Plus, a Bible comic with an L.B. Cole cover makes a rare sale.
Flaming Western Romances #3
The first recorded sale this year of Flaming Western Romances #3 took place in an August 29 Heritage auction when a top-of-census 9.2 sold for $6,600. Graced by a beautiful L.B. Cole cover, this 1950 Star Publications comic smashed the previous record, a 9.4 that sold in a ComicConnect 2013 fixed price sale for $1,947. It’s the highest graded copy to be offered up in an auction since 2017. Only 18 CGC graded copies exist and none from the other graders.
Jimmy Wakely #1
A 9.4 Edgar Church/Mile High Pedigree copy of Jimmy Wakely #1 sold in the August 29 Heritage auction for a record setting price of $4,560. It was the first sale this year and the highest since the same copy sold in a May 2024 ComicConnect auction for $4,250, making for a tidy 9.6% profit for the seller. There are 16 CGC graded copies of this 1949 DC publication and none from the other graders.
Bulls Eye #6
Sporting a gorgeous Jack Kirby cover, a 9.0 graded copy of Bulls Eye #6 topped the all-time sales chart for this book when it sold for $2,500 in an August 1 Comic Book Addiction fixed price sale. It’s the first sale for this lone top-of-census copy published by Charlton in 1955, and demolishes the previous record holder: a 7.5 that sold in a 2008 Heritage auction for $598. There are 11 CGC graded copies and none from the other graders.
Texas Kid #1
Another record was set when a 9.0 graded copy of Texas Kid #1, published by Atlas in 1951, sold for $2,640 in the August 29 Heritage auction. It’s hard to find high grade copies of this white Joe Maneely rendered cover. It’s the only copy in the top-of-census grade, and it previously sold for $1,600 in a January 2024 fixed price eBay sale. There are 13 CGC graded copies and none from the other graders.
Women Outlaws #7
Who knows why a 9.0 graded copy of Women Outlaws #7 set a record when it sold for $2,880 in the August 29 Heritage auction? There are no writing or art credits listed anywhere for this 1949 Fox publication. That didn’t appear to matter to the buyer as they upped the price from an 8.5 Promise Collection copy that sold in a 2021 Heritage auction for $2,040. Yes, it’s a nice looking lone top-of-census copy, but I’m not sure how many people out there are looking for one. There are nine CGC graded copies and none from the other graders.
Tim Holt #20
There are more coveted issues from this Magazine Enterprises series, some of which also sold in the August 29 Heritage auction. However, Tim Holt #20 is easily the rarest that was offered up for sale. A 9.4 graded copy set a record with a $3,360 sale in the auction, besting the previous sale of this lone top-of-census copy - $2,640 in a 2021 Heritage auction. There are 12 CGC graded copies and none from the other graders.
The Living Bible #2
Now we come to what was easily one of the rarest graded Golden Age comics to sell in August. That honor belongs to The Living Bible #20. Published by Living Bible Corporation in 1945, it has an amazingly eye-catching L.B. Cole cover. One of seven graded copies (all CGC graded), this 8.0 sold for $5,280 in an August 12 Heritage auction, setting a record in only the third sale ever of a graded copy. And it’s not the highest graded copy. A 9.0 sold in a 2007 Heritage auction for just $359. One can only imagine the heights it could reach if that singular copy was offered up for sale in a future auction.
