The 15 rarest and most valuable comics worth between £400 and £5.3million – do you have one in your attic?
YOU’LL want to keep an eye out for any rare comics in your garage or loft as they could be worth a small fortune.
The collectables have been known to sell for anywhere between a few hundred and millions of pounds in the past.
But which are the most rare and valuable of them all? The Sun spoke to Martin Averre, owner of Ace Comics in Essex, to find out more.
Bear in mind, a comic is only worth what the bidder is willing to pay, but some are of course more highly sought after than others.
Generally, the older a comic, the more valuable it is, specifically those printed between 1939 and 1945, which were printed on brittle paper meaning few survived.
But comics printed in the last few decades can fetch hundreds and sometimes thousands of pounds too.
In any case, here are the top 10 most rare and valuable comics you could stumble upon.
Bear in mind with this top 10, you are likely to only find between 10 and 100 copies of them in circulation, so they are incredibly rare.
Action Comics #1 – Superman story, cover date June 1938 – £5,280,000
The June 1938 Action Comics #1 cover is the first time several superheroes appeared in a comic, including the legendary Superman.
The anthology comic was met with public fanfare and sales boomed following its release.
The Action Comics #1 comic is highly prized because it was the first time Superman had appeared in printed form.
It has seen the comic, of which there are only thought to be a dozen or so copies of, sell for over £5million previously.
Detective Comics #27 – First Batman story 1939 – £3,600,000
Similar to the Action Comics #1 print, the Detective Comics #27 featured an iconic character for the first time – Batman.
The story of the caped crusader sold millions of copies and saw the superhero earn its own comic just a year later.
Martin said the Detective Comics #27 is worth so much because it’s the original and “classic”.
Find one of these and you could earn up to £3.6million.
Superman #1 – Summer 1939 – £2,160,000
Superman’s first appearance in the Action Comics #1 saw him earn his own strip the following year.
The comic itself comes with mostly reprints from the original Action Comics #1 plus some new pages.
But Superman’s popularity around the time is enough to make this the third most valuable rare comic out there.
It has been known to sell for over £2.1million.
Marvel Comics #1 – October 1939 – £960,000
This comic features a number of notable superheroes for the first time, including the Submariner.
The iconic Human Torch, The Angel and Masked Raider made their first appearance too.
The comic has been known to sell for almost £1million in the past.
Batman #1 – March 1940 – £880,000
Like the Superman #1 comic, this was the first time Batman appeared in his own strip.
It features the Dark Knight and Robin pitted against classic enemies Professor Hugo Strange and The Joker.
It’s made the comic highly coveted and worth up to £880,000.
All American comics #16 – July 1940 -£780,000
This comic features The Green Lantern for the first time, meaning its highly-prized among collectors.
There’s so few of them in circulation too, because the original printing paper is so brittle.
The comic, published by DC, has been known to sell for up to £780k in the past.
Captain America Comics #1 – December 1940 – £570,000
This 1940 issue, written by Joe Simon and Jack Kirkby, shows the famous Captain America for the first time.
The 45-page comic tells the story of the shield-clad superhero taking on the might of Adolf Hitler in the midst of World War Two.
The original issue sold for just 10 cent, but is now worth much more to anyone with a copy.
In recent years, it has been known to sell for up to £570,000.
Action Comics #7 – November 1938 – £500,000
This comic features the “Superman” name for the first time making it a worthwhile purchase for collectors.
It was first published around November 1938 by DC Comics.
Land yourself one of these and you could sell it on for up to £500,000.
Detective Comics #31 – September 1939 – £390,000
This 1939 comic features a number of new elements for the first time, including the Baterang and Batgyrocopter.
The story sees Batman investigating a hypnotist who has ensnared his fiancee Julie Madison, who makes her first ever comic book appearance.
The book was written by Gardner Fox and Bill Finger, and drawn by Bob Kane and Sheldon Moldoff.
Land yourself one of these and you could earn £390,000.
Whiz Comics #2 – February 1940 – £360,000
This comic was produced by rivals to DC, Fawcett Publishers, and features Captain Marvel for the first time.
The 64-page issue was written by Bill Parker and originally cost readers a paltry 10 cent.
But it is now worth considerably more, having sold for £360,000.
What can I get for less rare comics?
Even if you don’t have one of the top 10 rarest comics, you can still pick up a handsome sum for some of the more common ones.
Here’s five worth keeping an eye out for.
Marvel Spotlight Volume One #5 – May 1972 – £7,200
This 1972 comic features the Ghost Rider for the first time, and has been known to sell for over £7,000.
The mag also features first appearances from other notable comic heroes, including Johnny Blaze, Zarathos and Crash Simpson.
The 36-pager, written by Gary Friedrich and Roy Thomas, originally sold for just 20 cent.
Cerebus #1 (Aardvark) – December 1977 – £5,500
This irreverent action humour comic was created by Canadian cartoonist Dave Sim and has sold for over £5k in the past.
It is the first in a series of 300, chronicling the adventures of an aardvark taking on a number of roles including barbarian and even prime minister.
The first edition was launched in 1977, with further versions being released until March 2004.
NYX #3 – December 2003 – £400
This Marvel mag was first published in December 2003 and features character X-23 for the first time.
Anyone with one might be able to pick up around £400 for it too.
The original features 44 pages chronicling the mysterious story of a dark-haired teenage girl.
The Batman Adventures #12 – September 1993 – £500
The Batman Adventures #12 comic has been known to sell for up to £500 in the past, originally going on sale for $1.25.
The mag features the iconic Harley Quinn, re-popularised by Australian actor Margot Robbie in 2016 film Suicide Squad.
The comic was published by DC and written by Kelley Puckett, coming in at 36 pages long.
Ultimate Fallout #4 – September 2011 – £1,000
Any fans of Miles Morales will want to snap this comic up – this is the first time he appears in one.
First published in September 2011, sellers have seen their copies snapped up for between £800 and £1,000.
How to find a vintage comic
Martin said comic shops and online are your best bet in bagging a valuable comic, rather than charity stores.
Facebook Marketplace and eBay are both useful portals for online, but look out for scams.
Martin said some sellers will lie about the quality of a comic, which can impact what you can then go on to sell it for.
To avoid this through Facebook Marketplace, avoid paying for anything up front and take cash with you when you collect.
If you’re buying on eBay, the platform should refund you if you’ve been scammed out of any money through its Money Back Guarantee.
How to sell a valuable comic
You have three options when it comes to selling a comic, Martin said.
Smaller ticket items are worth selling on eBay, you just have to upload good quality pictures and specific details about the comic such as issue date.
But you will usually be charged to sell on the platform – around 15% – and you may have to pay extra to ship abroad.
The next way is auction houses, like Sotheby’s.
But again, bear in mind you will have to pay charges to use an auctioneers’ services.
They have independent graders who inspect your comic at a cost, and they charge you for selling it as well.
Third, you can sell it to a dealer, like Martin.
They don’t tend to charge you a lot and can be a good way of shifting lots of comics.
But bear in mind, you might not get paid for all the comics if the dealers wants a specific amount.
For example, a dealer might want just 200 versions of a comic and you may have 2,000, but they could take the 2,000 for the price of 200.
You might be willing to take the hit if you want to shift a large amount of magazines though.
Either way, bear in mind the condition of a comic is fundamentally what will make it worth a high price though.
“You have to understand the condition of the comic because that’s crucial to the price,” Martin said.
“The top price you will get will be for a comic with white pages, glossy cover and without any creases or blemishes.”
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