While most collectors are familiar with the big Golden Age books that sell each month, there are so many more worth investigating. Rare comics, top of census books, record prices – let’s take a deep dive to discover a handful of May’s unique Golden Age sales.
Foxhole #4
There are only 18 graded copies of this terrific Kirby cover that set a record in May. Believe it or not, this 4.5 is the highest graded copy to ever sell. It went for $5,498 in a May 20 fixed price eBay sale. A 4.5 had previously sold in an October 2024 Heritage auction for $2,880, so there’s clearly been a significant uptick in value. There are four copies graded higher, up to a 7.0. The holders of these four copies could be sitting on a goldmine.
Here's Howie Comics #1
This strange 1952 offering from DC, the start of a series that would only last 16 issues, has suddenly come to life. After languishing in obscurity with only 14 graded copies and seven sales prior to this year, we have suddenly seen three sales in 2025. One of three 8.5 graded copies sold in the May 6 Heritage auction for a record $4,080. However, before you start running out and looking for a copy, you should know that the price for an 8.5 dropped to $3,600 in the May 13 Heritage auction. While graded copies may be rare, there likely aren’t many buyers for a book like this. So, flooding the market by having two high grades up for auction two weeks in a row is just asking for the second one offered to sell for a lower price. Still, after no sales in three years and only seven sales in twelve years, to see three sales in the first five months of the year is certainly worth noting.
The Unseen #6 & The Unseen #11
While certainly not the most coveted of Pre-Code Horror series, The Unseen certainly made a mark in Heritage’s May 27 auction. The sole 9.0 graded copy of The Unseen #6 sold for $2,640 in the auction. A top-of-census 9.0 of The Unseen #11 did even better, going for $2,880. There are only 23 graded copies of the former, with the next highest grade being a 6.5. For the latter, the census count is 25 graded copies with the next highest grade being a 7.5. It had been three years since a graded copy of The Unseen #6 last sold, a 3.0 that went for $192, and only six sales prior to that, the highest being $870 for a 5.5. Regarding The Unseen #11, it comes up for sale much more often – four times in 2024 and 19 sales overall. A 7.5 Pedigree copy sold in a 2024 Heritage auction for $1,440. To see the two of the best copies of any issues in the series sell in the same auction brings attention to these previously overlooked issues.
New Funnies #65
Dell got its start in the comic publishing business with The Funnies #1, published as a newspaper insert in 1929. The comic series began with The Funnies #1, published in 1936.The New Funnies #65 marked a name change for the series beginning in 1942. There are 12 graded copies of this issue in the CGC census. The lone top-of-census 9.2 graded copy set a record when it sold for $2,400 in the May 8 Heritage auction. It had been nearly two years since a graded copy last sold. The previous high price paid was for a 9.0 that sold way back in a 2002 Heritage auction for $1,093. Record setting sales often bring attention to books, and Collectors Comics was smart enough to offer a 7.0 graded copy on eBay that sold in an eBay best offer sale for $1,709 on May 26, the second highest price ever paid for this comic.
Diary Secrets #22
There are 25 graded copies of Diary Secrets #22 in the CGC census. Despite its publication date in 1954, the highest graded copy is only a 6.0. So, when a 5.0 was made available in the May 6 Heritage auction – the highest grade ever offered up for sale – collectors pounced. The final price of $1,920 dwarfed all previous sales, none of which graded higher than 4.0, and that was all the way back in a 2010 Comic Connect auction. The selling price of that 4.0? Just $116.
Punch Comics #20 (Canadian Edition)
Easily the rarest Golden Age comic to sell in May was this Canadian edition of Punch Comics #20. A 6.0 graded copy – one of only three in the CGC census – sold in a May 2 Comic Book Addiction fixed price sale for $2,250. It’s the only recorded sale of any graded copy and unlikely to be surpassed unless this top-of-census copy comes up for sale again in the future.
