Rare copy of first Marvel comic book sells for $3.3m

NEW YORK • A rare piece of Marvel history, a publisher's annotated copy of the first Marvel comic book, sold at auction last week for US$2.4 million (S$3.3 million).

The book, Marvel Comics No. 1, published in 1939, is so valuable because it is known as the pay copy, in which the publisher recorded the payments he owed to the illustrators, said Mr Stephen Fishler, chief executive of ComicConnect, an online comic auction house.

Mr Fishler declined to identify the buyer, but said that the winner of the auction was a long-time comic collector in his 40s who lived outside the United States.

"He loved the condition of the copy and the story of how it was found," Mr Fishler said on Sunday, three days after the auction.

For collectors, comics that contain the first appearances of superheros like Batman and Spider-Man are precious. A 1962 copy of Amazing Fantasy No. 15, featuring Spider-Man's debut, sold last year for US$3.6 million, which was believed to be a record.

In January this year, a buyer spent US$3.18 million on a 1938 copy of Action Comic No. 1, which featured Superman's debut.

Marvel Comics No. 1 introduced several recurring characters to what became known as the Marvel universe, though they are less notable than the likes of Thor and Captain America.

The 68-page comic, published by Timely Comics, a forerunner of Marvel, features short stories about characters including Namor the Sub-Mariner, a mutant who lives under the sea; and the original Human Torch, whose body can catch fire (not to be confused with the similarly named Fantastic Four character introduced in 1961).

"They continue to return to that title to talk about the long history of Marvel Comics," said Dr Julian Chambliss, an English professor at Michigan State University who researches comic book history.

The copy sold last week is in remarkable condition for a book that is more than 80 years old, perhaps because it had been hidden in a file cabinet until it was discovered in 1993 or 1994, Mr Fishler said.

The cabinet had belonged to Mr Lloyd Jacquet, who started a company, Funnies, which sold comic book stories and artwork to publishers. He died in 1970.

On the cover and seven of the pages, Mr Jacquet wrote how much his company owed artists such as Frank R. Paul, who had been paid US$25 to illustrate the cover, Mr Fishler said. Had the book left the publisher's office, it would have sold for 10 US cents in 1939, or just over US$2 today.

The publisher printed 80,000 copies in October 1939 and 800,000 the next month, according to comics.org.

The copy passed through several hands from the time it was discovered in the cabinet. In 2003, it fetched as much as US$350,000, according to itsjustallcomics.com.

Over the past few years, old comic books have skyrocketed in price, Mr Fishler said. They may become even more valuable as more comics are adapted into movies.

Mr Fishler said the most recent owner of the annotated Marvel Comics No. 1 had auctioned it because he wanted to buy a house. "That worked out very well," he said.

NYTIMES