With 2024 nearly in the rear view mirror, it's a great time to reflect upon the year that was in the comic book market. So before you ring in the New Year, let's take a look at the biggest comic book sales of 2024 using GoCollect's Chartbusters tool!
Without further ado, here are the Top 10 biggest comic book sales by price in 2024:
1. Action Comics #1: CGC 8.5 Kansas City Pedigree sold by Heritage Auctions for for $6,000,000 on April 7, 2024;
2. Superman #1: CGC 7.0 sold by Heritage Auctions for $2,340,000 Heritage Auctions on January 14, 2024
3. Fantastic Four #1: CGC 9.6 sold by Heritage Auctions for $2,040,000 Heritage Auctions on January 14, 2024;
4. All-Star Comics #8: CGC 9.4 sold by Heritage Auctions for $1,500,000 on January 14, 2024;
5. Amazing Spider-Man #1: CGC 9.8 Curator Pedigree sold by Heritage Auctions for $1,380,000 on January 14, 2024;
6. Showcase #4: CGC 9.6 sold by Heritage Auctions for $900,000 on January 14, 2024;
7. Tales of Suspense #39: CGC 9.8 sold by Heritage Auctions for $840,000 on April 7, 2024;
8. Incredible Hulk #1: CGC 9.2 sold by Heritage Auctions for $825,000 on January 14, 2024;
9. The Brave & The Bold #28: CGC 9.6 sold by Heritage Auctions for $810,000 on January 14, 2024; and
10. Captain America #1: CGC 9.2 sold by Heritage Auctions for $750,000 on April 7, 2024.
Here are a few quick observations about the Top 10 Chartbusters of 2024; there are some common themes that may provide some insights into the state of the comic book market.
The bear market may have scared away wealthy investors as the year progressed
It looks like the long-running bear market continued to affect comic book sales even at the highest levels. After the comic book market popped in mid-2022, comic values for most Silver, Bronze, Copper and Modern Age key issues began a two-plus-year decline that continues to this day. According to GoCollect's CPI, only the Golden Age has managed to weather the storm unscathed.
While some of the wealthiest members of our community were willing to shell out big bucks for the holiest of grails early in 2024, they became less inclined to do so as the year progressed. Perhaps even the 1% became worried about catching a falling knife?
Heritage Is Still the King
Although there are more online auction houses than ever, it's clear if you want to get the biggest bang for your buck for your Holy Grail, then you still want to sell your comic with Heritage Auctions. Sellers have a plethora of auction houses to choose from: Heritage, Goldin, ComicConnect, Hake's, eBay, PWCC, among others. And even though Goldin Auctions (recently acquired by eBay) received the most attention this year as the "King of Collectibles," Dallas-based Heritage still has the most (wealthy) eyeballs watching their auctions at least for comic books. Heritage was responsible for all ten of the biggest publicly verifiable comic book sales of the year.
Batman Is Nowhere To Be Found
Although I don't think these sales say anything about Batman's ongoing popularity, it is notable at least to me that the Top 10 doesn't include a single sale for a Detective Comics #27 or Batman #1. And quite a few copies did come up for public sale during 2024; four copies of Detective Comics #27 and 11 copies of Batman #1 sold during the past year. This fairly high grade copy of Batman #1 did sell early in the year (January 14th) on Heritage, but still didn't crack the Top 10:
That surprises me that during the same January 14th auction on Heritage that buyers were willing to pay more for Silver Age key issues like Showcase #4, Incredible Hulk #1, and Brave & The Bold #28.
