Somebody finds a 1943 comic with Captain America, the Human Torch and the Sub-Mariner all on the cover and reasonably concludes it is a compilation — a reprint annual of stories that ran elsewhere.
The assumption I have to correct is that a team-up title is a reprint book, and on wartime Timely it usually is not. All Select Comics carried new material, and issue one from 1943 is a genuine first issue with a Schomburg cover.
What it actually brings
| Grade | Result | Where and when |
|---|---|---|
| CGC 8.0 | $36,160 | ComicConnect, September 2025 |
| CGC 9.2, top graded | $63,000 (reported) | reportedly 2017 |
One recent documented sale beats a reported record from nine years ago, and here I have exactly that trade-off.
The 2025 result is the one to work from. It is dated, it is sourced, and an 8.0 is a grade a genuinely well-kept copy can reach — unlike the 9.2, which on a 1943 Timely is close to the ceiling of what survives.
The 2017 figure I have left labeled. It may well be accurate and it is nine years old on a book whose market has almost certainly moved, so it tells you about a ceiling rather than a price.
The pattern this book shares with its siblings
Something worth noticing across the Timely team-up titles: the visible record is almost always set by the single highest-graded copy, and there is very little published underneath it.
That happens because these titles have small certified populations. When only a handful of copies have ever been graded, the ones that sell publicly are the exceptional ones, and everything ordinary trades privately or through dealers without a public record.
The consequence for a seller is that the published numbers systematically describe the best copies rather than typical ones. It is why I keep pushing back on records in this program, and it is why a documented 8.0 like the one above is disproportionately useful — it is a rare glimpse of the middle of the market rather than the top.
Why Timely put three heroes in one book
The team-up titles were a business decision worth understanding, because it explains why several of them exist and why they are collected together.
Paper was rationed during the war, and a publisher’s allocation limited how many titles it could print. Putting three established characters into one book was an efficient use of an allocation: it sold on three names at once, it gave readers a reason to buy something new without launching a risky character, and it kept the flagship heroes visible while their own titles ran on tight schedules.
All Select, All Winners and USA Comics all come out of that logic. They are collected as a group by people assembling wartime Timely, which gives them demand beyond any individual character.
It also means they turn up together. If one is in a collection, look for the others before anything gets sorted or sold.
Selling an All Select Comics #1
- Confirm it is 1943 and issue one. The title ran for a while and later issues are worth substantially less.
- Work from the 2025 sale. I would rather you knew the 2025 number than the 2017 one, and so would a buyer.
- Expect wartime paper. Tanning is normal on 1943 Timely and it is priced in.
- Keep the run together. Timely team-up titles are collected as a group and a run rarely surfaces with only the first issue.
Have a copy?
Send three photos: front, back, and the small print. That is all I need to tell you where your copy really sits.
Related
- Captain America Comics #1, the flagship.
- Sub-Mariner Comics #1, the third of the big three.
- The 100 most valuable Golden Age comics, and what each one really sold for.
Cover images on this page are shown small, for identification, with the publisher credited in the caption. If you are a rights holder and want an image removed, contact me and it comes down.
