Collecting Old Comic Books As a Hot Investment

In recent years there have been some incredible prices paid for certain issues of old comic books, a copy of Action Comics #1 the book which contains the very first appearance of Superman has sold for as much as $2 million dollars and Batman's first appearance in Detective Comics # 27 has also gone over the $1 million dollar mark, obviously the two comics previously mentioned are very rare and the chances of finding one lying around your loft are very slim indeed however there are many other comic books that were published between 1940 and 1980 that are much worth looking for or worth buying as an investment opportunity.

When purchasing a comic book as an investment always go for the best copy that you can afford, comic books are graded on a scale of 0.5 to 10 with 0.5 being poor and 10 being Mint.

So you have decided to buy a few comic books as an investment what books do you look for? Much depends on how much money you are prepared to invest, first appearances of major comic book characters such as Spider-man, Iron Man etc are obviously going to command a far greater price but the good news is these issues constantly gain in value, comic books seem to be quite low risk in that respect with the important issues gaining in value incrementally year on year. The important old books to look out for are in the main books printed by the two main comic book publishers Marvel and DC, these two publishers have introduced us to some of the best known and beloved characters in popular culture, Flash, Green Lantern, X-Men, The Incredible Hulk, Wonder Woman to name just a few, these characters are seen today in movies, television series, video games etc and remain constantly in the public psyche, other old publications to look out for are the horror comics printed before 1955 especially the ones published by EC such as Tales From The Crypt, The Haunt of Fear and The Vault of Horror, some of the Walt Disney comic books that feature artwork by Carl Barks are also worth looking at.

I think it is fair to say that if you want to invest in comic books then spend as much as you sensibly can on the best condition most important issue you can find, however what if you want to invest but are on a limited budget or just want to start off investing in a small way?

One of the ways to buy investment worth comic books without spending a minor fortune is to buy books that feature the first appearances of characters or villains that are not in the first tier of the public conscience and yet are well known enough to comic book fans to gain in value as the years go by, also books that are the beginning of a well known story arc or the first comic featuring the work of a well known artist can also prove great investment opportunities, if you were to research this subject you would soon find books that are obviously collectable for example Amazing Fantasy # 15 ( the first appearance of Spider-man ), Incredible Hulk " 181 ( the first full appearance of Wolverine ) but i am going to list some books that i believe will make super investment opportunities without breaking the bank.

1. DAREDEVIL # 158 This book features the first artwork on Daredevil by Frank Miller who would go on to become one of comic books best loved storytellers and artists and begins his famous run on this title.
2. TALES OF SUSPENSE # 52 The first appearance of the Black Widow, having featured in Iron Man 2 and the Avengers movie Black Widow will be getting plenty more exposure in the near future.
3. WEREWOLF BY NIGHT # 32 Moon knight makes his debut in this one, although not one of comic books major characters this book steadily rises in value every year.
4. DAREDEVIL # 168 Another one from Frank Millers run on Daredevil, features the death of Elektra, only released in 1980 so great condition copies of this are not too hard to find.
5. NICK FURY AGENT OF SHIELD # 1 With beautiful pop art / Warhol inspired artwork by Jim Steranko.
6. BATMAN # 181 First appearance of Poison Ivy, make sure the copy you buy has the Batman and Robin pin up complete on the inside.
   
7. BATMAN # 171 The Riddler seen in a Batman comic for the first time since the 1950s, a hard one to find in decent condition.
8. FANTASTIC FOUR # 50 Part 3 of the famous Galactus trilogy and the third appearance of the Silver Surfer.
9. TALES OF SUSPENSE # 57 Anything to do with Hawkeye is red hot at the moment he makes his debut here in a classic from Sept 1964.
10. AMAZING SPIDER-MAN # 50 Very hard to find in exceptional condition, a classic John Romita cover and the first appearance of the crime lord and major Spider-man villain the Kingpin.

I have only listed ten books here that i think if invested in will make you money in the long run there are probably hundreds more if you are prepared to do some research, for short term profits and quick gains read my article on Modern Comic Books linked below , many thanks for reading and good look investing.