We’re back with another look at our Chartbusters! These are the comics that sold for the highest prices in the month of July. It was an interesting month with comics making the list from different eras moving on a number of different selling platforms. Let’s dive deep to determine what these sales tell us about the market for the comics every collector wishes they could own.
DC Movers
We’ll start things off with the book that made the top of our July Chartbusters – Showcase #4, the first appearance of Barry Allen as the Flash and the comic that launched the Silver Age. A 7.5 graded copy sold in the July 20 Goldin auction for $62,200. The sale marks a 23% drop from the previous sale in the grade: $80,500 in a June 2022 ComicConnect auction. The sale also caused a 1.2% drop in the index value for Showcase #4 in our Big Spenders Club CPI (found here) that measures values across multiple grades. The issue had been on a fairly flat trajectory throughout multiple sales in 2024 across grades ranging from 0.5 to 9.6. However, the beginning of the year marked a steep incline in the book’s value that began with the record setting sale of $900,000 for a 9.6 graded copy in the January 14 Heritage auction. It’s hard to tell if this July sale marks the start of a downward correction since the elevation began, or if it’s a momentary negative blip. Caution is warranted, though, based on the 23% drop in the grade.
The only other DC comic to make the Top 20 on our Chartbusters List was the book that many credit with starting the Bronze Age, Green Lantern #76. A 9.6 graded copy brought in $14,099 in a July 12 fixed price eBay sale that marked a scant 2.2% increase in the grade. Overall, the sale is in keeping with the flat trajectory of this comic over the past couple weeks after dropping 2.4% across all grades earlier in July, as can be seen in our Bronze Age Collectible Price Index. It’s a good sign that the bleeding may have stopped. It’s worth keeping an eye on Green Lantern #76 as it’s now selling at its lowest price since 2021.
A Web of Sales
The July 23 Heritage auction had a number of key Silver Age Spider-Man issues moving, but we’ll start off with one earlier in the month: two 4.5 graded copies of Amazing Fantasy #15 going for $36,000 in both the July 2 and July 9 Heritage auctions. Both sales are fairly in line with the prices paid for 4.5 copies since March, with the price fluctuating between a low of $34,800 and a high of $37,200. It’s also similar to Amazing Fantasy #15’s showing in our Big Spenders Club CPI where we see a relatively flat line across all grades with minimal peaks and valleys. The correction for this comic since the boom has been very slight (down just 3.4%) and it should be noted as a fairly safe investment even during these chaotic times.
The surprising top draw of all the issues of Amazing Spider-Man available in the July 23 Heritage auction was a 9.4 graded copy of Amazing Spider-Man #7, which brought in $28,800 and placed number 3 on our July Chartbusters. It was a huge bump in a grade that last sold in an August 2023 ComicConnect auction for $10,000 and previously peaked in a June 2022 Heritage auction at $15,600. It’s the earliest issue in the series that isn’t considered a key issue. As a result, prices tend to be lower. This has drawn interest from collectors who either already have the higher priced issues or can’t afford them yet would like to own an early issue. 30-day and 90-day averages across multiple grades are exceeding the one-year averages, showing that demand may be outpacing supply. Keep an eye on this issue and other non-key issues of Amazing Spider-Man; there may be other worthy investments in the series that could have upside potential.
Interesting eBay Sales
In addition to Green Lantern #76, there were a number of other eyebrow-raising, five-figure eBay sales. A 4.5 graded copy of Fantastic Four #1 sold in a July 24 fixed price sale for $20,000. Surprisingly, it’s not even the first time this year that a 4.5 sold in a fixed price sale. The previous went for $23,000 in a January 27 fixed price sale for $23,000 just 10 days after one sold in a Heritage auction for $20,880. Overall, as seen in our Silver Age CPI, Fantastic Four #1 is on the rise once more, and just this week reached its highest index level in the past year.
An 8.5 graded Promise Collection copy of Law Against Crime #1 – with its L.B. Bole electric chair cover – sold in a July 23 eBay fixed price sale for a slashed $15,000. Even assuming as much as a 20% lower selling price, it’s still a tidy profit for the exact same book that sold in a June 2021 Heritage auction for $10,200. This is one of three copies in the top grade of 8.5 out of an entire census consisting of just 39 copies. It should be noted that Pedigree books tend to go for much higher amounts than non-pedigree books. If you’re looking for a more affordable copy, one in a non-pedigree 8.5 grade last sold in January 2022 for $5,040. All in all, though, it’s still an eBay sale you don’t see very often.
A far less surprising eBay sale was a 6.0 copy of Fantastic Four #5 going for $11,700 right on the heels of the MCU’s announce that Robert Downey Jr. would be playing Dr. Doom. It’s only the second fixed price sale of a 6.0 this year and both have fetched the top dollar amounts – this one at $11,700 and a February 17 sale for $12,100. Auctions across Heritage, ComicConnect and eBay have all seen lower prices in the grade. Smart buyers in this market will focus on auctions looking for deals and not pay top dollar for fixed price options. Patience, keeping your emotions in check, and not falling for FOMO, are all tried and true tips for saving money, especially in a buyer’s market.
Perhaps the most surprising eBay sale of the month, though, was an 8.0 graded copy of Green Lantern #2 selling for $8,650 in a July 10 fixed price sale. That’s 87% higher than the previous sale of this exact same copy in a March 3 eBay auction, and yet another sign that auctions are the way to go in our current market. There is nothing about this book that screams, “Buy It Now!” to the tune of nearly double the previous sale. While the Golden Age is the only era that’s currently up over the past year, it isn’t up enough to justify coughing up this much more for a book that has sold for significantly less in the recent past.
