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Underground > Comic Books >

What's your most valuable comic and why?

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14:21 / 20.09.03

You can answer this as a monetary or emotionally-involved thing. For example, I have an ancient Green Lantern in perfect condition, bagged with an autographed card by the creator of Green Lantern; but I also have a Spider-Man comic starring Batroc, the annoying Frenchman in fairly shitty condition. This was the first comic my daughter ever picked off my comic spinner for me to read to her, and she's been hooked since. Off you go.

14:43 / 20.09.03

Mine'd have to be SUPERMAN VS. SPIDER-MAN from 1976. No matter how many sales, purges, and losses I suffer, I always manage to hang on to my dog-eared copy. At ten years old it blew my mind.

ADD

18:33 / 20.09.03

A dog-eared copy of Captain Amercia #175, the classic issue where the master villain >>cough<< Richard Milhous Nixon >>cough<< commits suicide. It's packed with guest-stars galore and political commentary, which of course went over my head at the time. One of my first comics, possibly THE first.

As to most expensive, I going to bend the rules and claim my run of Barry Windsor-Smith Conan's; i own all but the first issue.

02:33 / 21.09.03

My most valuable comic is, I think, according to Wizard bullshit price guides, either Swamp Thing #37 (cover price, Glasgow bus station convenience store, 2000, oh yes) first Constantine full appearance, or X-Men #25 when Magneto rips the adamantium out of Wolverine's body. Hologram cover!

I think they're worth about $10 each, which is fuck all, really.

03:05 / 21.09.03

I'm not too crazy about treating comics like cracked thermometers but it has to be Swamp Thing #32 "The Brimstone Ballet."

Or probably St. Swithin's Day.

Definitely St. Swithin's Day.

Solitaire Rose as Tom Servo

03:26 / 21.09.03

Weird Science #12 (the first issue). But then I'm a big fanboy.

13:11 / 21.09.03

I got a bunch of silver age stuff from my dad...

Thor, Dr Strange, Daredevil (first Bullseye appearance, gotta be a mint now?), first issue of Silver Surfer.
I never check to see their value tho... I couldn't sell them, they're just too fun to keep in a plastic bag in a box under the stairs.

Hmmm....

14:07 / 21.09.03

My Alan Moore run of Swamp thing, esp # 20 and 21.

15:03 / 21.09.03

Oh sure..I tell you then you find out where I live steal it, burn my house down to cover tracks. Then you realize you've left my poor kitycat inside the house so you rush in to save him and then notice how the fire has cooked the roast in the oven to utter perfection, sit down to eat it and afterwards go to get a glass of water to wash it down and then start complaining how hot water is comming out of both taps. This gets you so sad that you have to go drown your sorrows in icecream so you go to the freezer to get the icecream and get sooo pissed off that the fire has melted the icecream that you give yourself a heart attack and up getting trapped inside...I couldnt do that to you.

Um...Punisher number 1?
my father had the first issue of superman when he was a kid....oh if he'd only known....

16:45 / 21.09.03

...and, fuck, there goes my plan.

17:55 / 21.09.03

I dunno. Just found out my leather bound copy of Seasons of Mists is worth $100. Who knew?

22:18 / 21.09.03

I got rid of most of my comics that I wouldn't want people to touch. Now I have mostly indies and undergounds and I let anyone read them.

The best one is...you guessed it "Bob's Favorite Comics."

Mister Six, whom all the girls

13:59 / 22.09.03

My most valuable is probably Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's Silver Surfer graphic novel from 1976. It's a retelling of the Surfer's first appearance, sans FF and deals with the Surfer scouting the Earth, disguising himself after a billboard as a human and falling in love, going against Galactus, etc. Galactus even has a disembodied ID which is bizarre, who gives the big G ideas... kinda like Desaad. The very sad dramatic bit is that it opens with Surfer emerging from Galactus' hand, and ends with him being enveloped in it. The rebellion fails.

It's extremely rare (I see it on ebay for over $80) as Marvel was experimenting with this 'trade paperback' route in 1976, as they collected best ofs for Strange, Cap, Spidey, and an oversized Hulk edition in addition to team-ups, female heroes, battles, origins, villians etc etc. I have all these. BUT the Surfer one was unique and original. Also, I found it for 5 bucks, it's original cost. Look on half.com and you'll see it. Well worth the search for Kirby fans who want one more Surfer story.

Either this or my hardcover of Watchmen complete with story notes and slipcase would be my most valuable comic.

15:58 / 22.09.03

Fantastic Four #48, 1st Silver Surfer. Found in an attic and given to me by a friend of my brother along with a bunch of other less valuable, but still old silver age marvel back in 1978. I bought the rest of the trilogy, including a copy od #50 SIGNED by jack Kirby. This was back around 1982-83 when Kirby was doing only some crappy work for first and pacific, and most people didnt care anymore. I got it for $3

17:04 / 22.09.03

A complete run of GM's Doom Patrol. Worth twice their weight in gold (and Overstreet can fuck itself till it gets papercuts).

Now if only I could have found Richard Case at MegaCon...

"Just found out my leather bound copy of Seasons of Mists is worth $100. Who knew?"
I didn't! Jayziss, is that the brown leather, "gold key" cover?

Mister Six, whom all the girls

17:37 / 22.09.03

Oh, I've also got a GM and Richard Case signed/numbered Doom Patrol "Crawling from the wreckage" part One issue. The coolest bit is the drawing of the group for the certificate. I could post it if people are interested.

19:43 / 22.09.03

Monetary wise, I think is Sandman#2, which isn't much. Emotionally has to be my Invisibles run, plus Kill Your Boyfriend... I still have the complete Sandman run at my parents' house, which I look over in nostalgia every once in a while...

Solitaire Rose as Tom Servo

20:20 / 22.09.03

The Surfer Graphic Novel was reprinted by Marvel a few years ago, and it sold fairly well.

It was really an amazing book, and in a lot of ways, Kirby's last Great project.

I have an original and the reprint for loaning out to people who say Kirby sucked.

05:03 / 23.09.03

Grant Morrison's JLA #1, Detective Comics #700 Collection Edition, Alan Moore's League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Complete First Series, Frank Miller's 300 #1-5, Mike Mignola's BPRD #1-3.

16:32 / 23.09.03

my most valuable comic is a chery copy of miracleman book 3 which i picked up for half cover price at a used book store last year. I also got mircleman book 1 at the same store a few years ago

17:11 / 23.09.03

I've got full sets of the original Miracleman, Watchmen, Dark Knight, Alan Moore Swamp Thing, Sandman, etc. but I don't really know how much any of them are worth. I suspect the most valuable item is the Russ Cochran MAD boxed set. Or some old Peter Arno collection.

If you're talking original art, it's a whole 'nother story . . .

07:35 / 24.09.03

I think its Penny Century number 3. When I finished it I just had the feeling that it was the most perfect comic I had ever read.

Regrettable Juvenilia

16:01 / 24.09.03

Ignoring the question of 'monetary value' (which is all it deserves), I have to say either Paul Pope's 100%, or Morrison/Bond's Kill Your Boyfriend. Because they're my favourite comics - specifically, they're the most inspiring. They made me want to write the things.

06:12 / 28.09.03

mine is the first comic i ever read *ahem* Captain America #105, featuring Cap against Batroc(that french sonofabitch), The Living Laser, and The Swordsman. most valuable???
don't know, don't care.

13:35 / 29.09.03

Most expensive would be the Cages HC. Definitely worth it as I refer back to it a lot & it is what I show people as what I mean when I say graphic novel (while asking them to keep their greasy mitts to the edges of the pages). Finding a cheap used Stray Toasters tpb broadened my ideas of what comic art could be. But most inspirational would be the Dune adaptation I copied from as a kid & the Hard Boiled issues I freaked out over as a teenager.
Monetary might be my Miller Daredevil run, but if I can sell them for enough to get the reprints on nice white paper Ill do it.

captain yossarian

01:53 / 09.11.03

it´s interesting that "valuable" is usually connected with materialistic valuability... i think we could do this better.

my most MENTALLY/EMOTIONALLY/SPIRITUALLY valuable comics are:

- le garage hermetique - by moebius. for its extreme creativity and beautiness

- the invisibles - by ... well you know ..., for ... well, you know...

- from hell - by alan moore, for its great and complex story

- retrospective glance-the memories of j.f.sebastian/anger diaries 1/THE CITOYEN - by ... well, myself, (i know: fucking vanitas)..., because it was my first published album

at the scarwash

03:34 / 09.11.03

Ummm...

The Watchmen trade. Just gorgeous art, amazing writing. A perfect pice of work.

Supreme: The Story of the Year trade. Not always gorgeous art, but glorious Superfun.

Nick Fury: Agent of Shield trade. Because it's Steranko, you silly.

02:08 / 10.11.03

In order of Importance:
Doom Patrol #42- The Origin of Flex Mentallo. Signed by the MadMessiah Himself. The reason why it is so valuable to me is because I bought it and actually the whole series for .25 a piece scooted over and had Grant sign it. His comment-"This is my favorite issue".
Watchman 1-12.
Entire run of Invisibles
Entire Moore Run of Swamp Thing (entire run of Veitch and Millar also)
Earth X run. Krueger and Superheroes as Antibodies. Very Morrison like.

21:01 / 10.11.03

money - My Greatest Adventure #80, first app. of the Doom Patrol.

emotionally - Animal Man #5, Flex Mentallo #4, Invisibles v.3 #1, Astro City v.1 #2, so many others but they're the main ones.

Zoom.

16:18 / 11.04.05

This is an interesting thread I discovered while trolling through this forum.

I stopped collecting comics in '99, except for the occasional Grant Morrison book. These days I mostly just get trade paperbacks through the local library.

However, I was able to get some valuable and great comics during my '96-'99 collecting heyday:

The entire Morrison Doom Patrol run (w/Doom Force)
The entire Invisibles run
Flex Mentallo 1-4(at one point in early '97, stores basically had to GIVE these 4 issues away, no one wanted them!)
Complete Alan Moore Supreme run (those published up to '99, anyway)
Complete Moore Miracleman run (#15 cost the most...a whopping $20. I checked Ebay the other day, and it was going for insane prices)

I also have a probably-rare Jonah Hex story, I think it's like "DC Special Series" or something. From '78, has the final Jonah Hex story. Very Vertigo-esque. Hex is killed as an old man, and his stuffed corpse travels around as part of a Wild West show!

17:17 / 11.04.05

Gotta agree buttergun. Moore's Supreme is fucking fantastic. I re-read it every now and then just to remind myself that if I could never read another super-hero comic again, I could just read this one and that would be enough. I just wish those last 2 issues had been published. Well, maybe one day...

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

17:56 / 11.04.05

Only read Supreme a few weeks ago... and BOY does it rock.

My faves probably have to be my old trades of Watchmen and Dark Knight Returns... they've gotta be 16, 17 years old now, and I wouldn't swap 'em for new ones for nuffink. I don't even remember the name of the kid I lent DKR to and got it back with a big rip on the back cover, but that rip's part of it now. (I DO, however, remember that he never gave me back a New Mutants trade I lent him at about the same time. Cunt.)

18:03 / 11.04.05

1. I love the thought of Jonah Hex's taxidermed body. That *has* to show up in other comics.

2. My most valuable comic is, I think, according to Wizard bullshit price guides, either Swamp Thing #37 (cover price, Glasgow bus station convenience store, 2000, oh yes) first Constantine full appearance...I think they're worth about $10 each, which is fuck all, really.

About a year and a half ago, there was a back issue sale on at the shop I went to and I bought a run of Alan Moore Swamp Things, the ones after the two TPBs. That issue was in there, and I sort of bought it by accident. It was $20. (I was buying in bulk so I didn't notice until I got home.)

3. My most valuable money-wise is probably Sandman #1, first printing, which I think is upwards of $50 now (although I used to read comics in the bathtub so I don't know what condition it's in).

I also have that Mike Grell (?) Green Arrow:Longbow Hunters three-shot which was getting big dollars at one point. For whatever reason.

Hmm. I sometimes wonder if my run of Moonshadow -- the original, Eclipse printing -- is worth anything. I feel differently about that comic than most others, and I'm not sure why. I think it's because it feels like literature for kids, and the illustrations are so gorgeously fey.

I think I have a couple Dark Knight Returns issues from when they first came out, but not all four.

I also have what I think is a complete run, first printing, of Matt Wagner's Grendel, which *feels* like it has to be worth something. It's so *of its time*, and put out by a company that is no more. I reread 'em a couple years ago, and fell back in love with the Pander Bros' artwork. So poppy! So designed!

4. The comics that make me feel the most like a collector all come from the 50cent bins -- P. Craig Russell's Elric, something Mike Allred did art on called Tales of Ordinary Madness, and Bernie Mirault's Jam: Urban Adventure, of which I have two or three issues out of six or seven.

Those are the things if I find in some shop somewhere make me get all excited. They seem like perfect collectibles, too -- adorable despite (or because of) their flaws.

18:16 / 11.04.05

I was just thinking of starting a thread asking “How Many Comics Do You Own”? Maybe the topic could be subsumed into this thread. I don’t know if it’s interesting or important enough to have its own thread...

I own about 25 [long] boxes of about 300 comics each (totaling approx. 7,500 comics), plus maybe 80-100 graphic novels. I seem to accumulate about 1 long box of comics per year. Been buying them weekly since 7th grade.

As for which comics of mine are most valuable, I’ve got the aforementioned hardcover edition of Watchmen (bought it for $50, now it’s worth around $100-150 from what I’ve read), early printing (probably 1st or 2nd printing) of Swamp Thing #21, first printings of all the original Dark Knight Returns issues – are the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles first few issues still worth anything, I wonder...? Old original Byrne/Claremont X-Men, old Paul Smith X-Men, Spidey’s black costume first appearance, Spawn #1 (shitty comic but I think it’s worth something).....

19:23 / 11.04.05

Justice League test cover for issue 3, from the Geffin, DeMattis run.

I coverted it for ages, then finally bought it for a silly amount of money, then watched as it's so called value plummeted, but I still love that I have it, and that it there, my complete JL collection.

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