For about four months from September 2021, the most expensive comic book in the world was not Action Comics #1. It was Amazing Fantasy #15, the first Spider-Man, after a CGC 9.6 copy brought $3.6 million at Heritage. That is the only time in the hobby’s history that a Silver Age book has held the all-time record, and it says everything about this era: the books your generation actually read are the ones the market now fights over.
This page ranks the hundred most valuable Silver Age comics, 1956 through 1970, from Showcase #4 (the book that starts the era) to the last days before comics turned grim. Same rules as the modern list: every price is either a documented sale with its date and venue attached, or a figure labeled “reported” so you know it is secondhand. And one honest thing up front that most lists will not tell you: this market peaked in mid-2022 and has cooled since, hardest on mid-tier Marvel keys, least on DC keys and the great books. Where that changes what your copy is worth, the entry says so.
If you grew up in Southern California in the sixties, or your parents did, this is the list your boxes are most likely to be on. Text a photo of anything below to (951) 515-9604 and I will tell you what I see.
Prices last checked August 9, 2026.
It’s a long page. Jump to where your books are:
- The books that broke half a million
- The rest of the hundred, ranked by record
- Entry 50 and the halfway point
- Three books that closed the list unpriced
- The reprint trap that fools Silver Age sellers
- What a beaten copy is really worth
- Get a cash offer
The books that broke half a million
Eight Silver Age books have publicly cleared five hundred thousand dollars. Every record below belongs to a census-top or pedigree copy, which means it is proof of the ceiling, not a quote for your copy. The floors and the entries tell the rest of the story.
1. Amazing Fantasy #15 (Marvel, 1962): the first Spider-Man
| Documented high | $3,600,000 for a census-top CGC 9.6, September 9, 2021 (Heritage Auctions) |
| Floor | Documented 2.0 to 3.0 copies bring $22,000 to $28,500 (recorded sales, June and July 2026) |
| Current market | $6,215 average for raw, ungraded copies, a figure dragged down by incomplete and coverless books; complete graded copies bring far more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
The most valuable Silver Age comic, full stop, and for about four months after that sale it was the most expensive comic of any era, the only time a non Golden Age book has held the all-time record. Understand what the record copy is: one of just four 9.6s on the census with nothing graded higher, so that price belongs to a finest-known copy and is not repeatable. The grades underneath are still enormous, with a 9.0 at $540,000 and a 7.5 at $156,000 in a September 2024 Heritage sale. Even a coverless-adjacent beater of this book is a five-figure comic, so if you think you own one, call me before you do anything else. If an Amazing Fantasy #15 is genuinely in your family, treat it like the winning ticket it is: photograph it where it lies, tell no one else yet, and call me for a quiet next step.
More copies of this book have been faked, facsimiled and reprinted than any other I handle. How to spot a real one →
2. Fantastic Four #1 (Marvel, 1961): the birth of the Marvel Universe
| Documented high | $2,040,000 for a CGC 9.6 with white pages, September 12, 2024, Heritage Auctions |
| Floor | Documented low-grade sales run $4,900 for a 0.5 (June 2026, eBay) up to $7,011 for a 3.0 (July 2026) |
| Current market | $3,553 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
Marvel as we know it starts with this book, and the record copy is one of only two 9.6s in existence with none higher, making its first auction appearance. The price level under it is real too: a 9.2 brought $1,500,000 at Heritage in April 2022, and another 9.2 made $600,000 there in June 2025. One warning before you celebrate: the 1966 Golden Record reprint looks very similar but has no cover price box, and the gap is brutal, with a reprint 9.0 selling for about $690 at Heritage in June 2025 while an original 9.0 brought $231,800 in July 2026. Same protocol as the book above: photos first, silence second, and I will help you confirm the printing before anyone knows what you have.
Five CGC 9.0 copies have sold since 2022, the closest thing to a controlled experiment this hobby produces. What those five sales settled →
3. Amazing Spider-Man #1 (Marvel, 1963): Spider-Man gets his own title
| Documented high | $1,380,000 for the CGC 9.8 Curator pedigree copy, January 11, 2024, Heritage Auctions |
| Floor | Documented sales: a 6.5 brought $32,969 (July 2023, Hake’s); recent 2.0 to 3.0 copies run $5,500 to $9,995 (June 2026) |
| Current market | $3,837 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
The record here is a pedigree story, not a market price. That copy is one of only two 9.8s, kept in a museum vault as part of the Curator collection, and it was the first 9.8 ever offered at public auction; a 9.6 made $520,380 in July 2023 at Hake’s, which tells you the 9.8 lives in its own tier. Check the cover price box before you get excited, because this is one of the four books reprinted in the 1966 Golden Record sets, and those reprints are worth a tiny fraction of an original.
That $1.38 million belongs to a pedigree copy at a grade almost no surviving example reaches. What the rest actually bring →
4. Showcase #4 (DC, 1956): the book that starts the Silver Age
| Documented high | $900,000 for a CGC 9.6, January 2024 (Heritage) |
| Floor | Documented 2.0 to 3.5 copies bring $3,801 to $21,000 (2024-2026 sales) |
| Current market | $4,000 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
The book the whole era is named for: Barry Allen debuts, and the Silver Age officially begins with this October 1956 cover date. The record copy is the only CGC 9.6 in existence and had sold for $179,250 back in 2009, a five-times climb in fifteen years, and it stands as the highest price ever paid for a Silver Age DC comic. Only about eight copies grade 9.0 or better, and the documented sales keep even beaten copies in four and five figures. If any copy of this book surfaces in your collection, call me before you let anyone touch it. DC keys from this era hold their value better than almost anything else in comics right now, and I buy them in every grade.
A try-out anthology nobody expected to matter became the start of an era. Every documented sale of the first Silver Age Flash →
5. X-Men #1 (Marvel, 1963): the first X-Men and Magneto
| Documented high | $871,999 for the CGC 9.6 Mound City copy, September 2022, ComicConnect |
| Floor | Documented low-grade sales: $5,000 for a 2.0 (April 2026) and $6,000 for a 3.0 (July 2026) |
| Current market | $3,762 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
The record copy is a pedigree book at the very top of the census, and it has the unusual distinction of setting the record twice, selling for $807,300 at ComicConnect in June 2021 and then $871,999 about fifteen months later. That is a trophy changing hands between wealthy buyers, not a price curve. The market underneath is still serious, with a 9.2 bringing $156,000 at Heritage in June 2025 and even heavily worn copies holding four figures. A real 1963 X-Men #1 has a 12-cent cover, a 1963 indicia, and no Reprint or Facsimile wording anywhere. If yours checks out, I will make time the same day.
Two comics are called X-Men #1 and the gap between them is enormous. Which one do you have? →
6. Tales of Suspense #39 (Marvel, 1963): the first Iron Man
| Documented high | $840,000 for the single CGC 9.8 on the census, April 7, 2024, Heritage Auctions |
| Floor | Fair-value estimates put a 5.0 near $9,774 and a 3.0 near $6,544 (aggregator model estimates, not recorded sales) |
| Current market | $2,550 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
That record belongs to a one-of-one: there is exactly one 9.8 on the CGC census, so the sale is a fact about a unique object, not a benchmark for the issue. The next tier down is reported around $375,000 for a 9.6 at ComicLink, though I could not put a date on that figure. First Iron Man remains one of the strongest Silver Age keys in any grade, and mid-grade copies are solidly four to five figures.
The $840,000 belonged to the top of the census; every other sale of this book lives in a different world. The whole Iron Man ladder →
7. Incredible Hulk #1 (Marvel, 1962): the origin of the Hulk
| Documented high | $825,000 for a CGC 9.2, January 2024, Heritage Auctions |
| Floor | Documented June 2025 Heritage results: $78,000 for a 7.5, $30,000 for a 5.5, $19,200 for a 5.0; a 2.5 brought $13,000 in June 2026 |
| Current market | $2,650 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
Unlike some records on this list, this price level is proven twice: a different 9.2 brought $780,000 at Heritage in June 2025. Be careful with 9.0 figures on this issue, because the venues split them badly; a 9.0 made $490,000 in a December 2021 private sale through ComicConnect, while the public auction record for a 9.0 is $312,000 at Heritage in April 2025, and quoting either without saying which kind of sale it was will mislead you. This is one of the few Silver Age books where even a midgrade copy is a five-figure comic.
One June 2025 auction sold a 7.5, a 5.5 and a 5.0 on the same night. What ordinary copies really do →
8. The Brave and the Bold #28 (DC, 1960): the first Justice League of America
| Documented high | $810,000 for a CGC 9.6, January 2024, Heritage Auctions |
| Floor | Documented 2.0 to 3.5 copies bring $1,234 to $3,650 (2023-2026 sales) |
| Current market | $630 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
First JLA and first Starro, sold in the same January 2024 Heritage auction that set the Showcase #4 record. That 9.6 is the sole highest-graded copy, and no copy above 9.4 had ever publicly traded in the CGC era before it, so don’t price an ordinary copy anywhere near the headline. The prior record of $120,000 for a 9.2 in 2013 is a better picture of what an exceptional but non-unique copy does.
The famous number was a private sale, not an auction, and that distinction changes how to read it. A private record, unpacked →
The rest of the hundred, ranked by record
Same rules as everywhere on this site. A “documented” figure is a sale with a date and a venue. A “reported” figure comes from price guides or secondhand coverage, is usually undated, and on this era it is often stale in a specific direction: Silver Age prices peaked in mid-2022 and most of the Marvel keys have come down since, while the DC keys and the true grails held. Where that matters to a specific book, the entry says so.
You do not have to reach the bottom to get an answer. Text a photo to (951) 515-9604 and I will tell you what I see.
9. Journey into Mystery #83 (Marvel, 1962): the first Thor
| Documented high | $432,000 for a CGC 9.4, April 10, 2022, Heritage Auctions |
| Floor | Documented 2.0 to 3.5 copies bring $2,275 to $8,499 (2023-2026 sales) |
| Current market | $3,500 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
Thor’s origin and first appearance, and one of the sturdiest keys of the era, with a record set at the top of the 2022 market. The floor figures are documented sales now, and they are the busiest part of this book’s market. One check before anything else: this is one of the four books reprinted in the 1966 Golden Record sets, so make sure your copy has a cover price box and original ads, because the reprint is worth a small fraction of the real thing. Thor’s debut hides in a horror-anthology costume, which is exactly why people sell it short. Check your Journey into Mystery run before you let a box go.
Six documented sales run from $432,000 down to $42,000, and most of the drop happens inside two grade points. Where the cliff sits →
10. Avengers #1 (Marvel, 1963): Earth’s mightiest heroes assemble
| Documented high | $432,000 for a CGC 9.6, April 2024, Heritage Auctions |
| Floor | Documented 2.0 to 3.5 copies bring $1,126 to $3,500 (2025-2026 sales) |
The first Avengers team book matches Journey into Mystery #83 dollar for dollar at the record level, and its record is recent, which I trust more than a stale one. High-grade copies are genuinely scarce, with only about 35 CGC copies at 9.0 or better. The floor is documented sales now, not guide scale: beaten copies of this book genuinely bring four figures.
Two CGC 8.0 copies sold two years apart, at different houses, for $21,800 and $21,960. The steadiest grade on this list →
11. Daredevil #1 (Marvel, 1964): the first Daredevil
| Documented high | $360,000 for a CGC 9.8, April 7, 2024, Heritage Auctions |
| Floor | Fair-value estimates near $3,422 in 5.0 and $2,202 in 3.0 (aggregator model estimates, not recorded sales) |
| Current market | $1,275 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
Matt Murdock, Foggy Nelson, and Karen Page all debut here, and the record is about as clean as they come, a 2024 public auction result at the top of the census. This book gets less hype than the 1962 and 1963 keys but has quietly held a six-figure ceiling. Mid-grade copies are firmly four-figure books.
Daredevil wore yellow for six issues before the red suit everyone pictures. The 1964 first appearance, grade by grade →
12. Justice League of America #1 (DC, 1960): the JLA get their own title
| Documented high | $348,000 for a CGC 9.6, April 2024 (Heritage Auctions) |
| Floor | Documented 1.5 to 3.0 copies bring $355 to $1,500 (2023-2026 sales) |
| Current market | $150 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
The team graduates from its Brave and the Bold tryout to its own book and picks up a lasting villain, Despero, in the bargain. Documented sales now reach $348,000, for a CGC 9.6 at Heritage in April 2024, and that figure needs no hedge at all. Worth knowing as a seller: Silver Age DC keys held their value noticeably better than comparable Marvel books through the market slide that began in 2022, which makes an older record here a floor more often than a ceiling.
The League actually debuted in a different comic a year earlier, and confusing the two is expensive. What the first issue itself brings →
13. Amazing Spider-Man #14 (Marvel, 1964): the first Green Goblin
| Documented high | $210,000 for a CGC 9.8, September 12, 2021, Heritage Auctions |
| Floor | A documented 9.4 brought $38,615 (July 2023, Hake’s); fair-value estimates near $2,313 in 5.0 (model estimate) |
| Current market | $1,099 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
The most important Spider-Man villain debut there is. Know that this record came out of the same September 2021 Heritage auction that sold the $3.6 million Amazing Fantasy #15, the single hottest comic auction of the market peak, so read it as an auction record rather than today’s value. The July 2023 result for a 9.4 gives you a more grounded sense of where strong copies actually trade. Selling any early Amazing Spider-Man starts with a photo of the cover and the corner box; that is all I need for a first number.
The first Green Goblin is the issue that pulled the whole early Spider-Man run upward. Every documented Goblin sale →
14. Tales to Astonish #27 (Marvel, 1962): the first Hank Pym
| Documented high | $66,000 for a CGC 9.0, June 2022 (Heritage Auctions); the $200,000 in circulation for a 9.4 has no date or venue behind it |
| Floor | Documented 2.0 to 3.5 copies bring $1,034 to $3,180 (2023-2026 sales) |
| Current market | $1,750 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
Hank Pym first shrinks in this low-print monster-era book, months before he puts on the Ant-Man costume, and surviving copies are scarce in every grade. The $200,000 that circulates for a 9.4 still has no date or auction house attached; the documented record is $66,000, for a 9.0 at Heritage in June 2022. Worth knowing as well that this issue gave back about ten percent of its value in 2025, so price expectations should sit below the peak-era numbers. Ant-Man’s debut looks like a monster book, and monster-book boxes are where I find it. I want to see yours.
The first Hank Pym is not the first Ant-Man; the costume arrives eight issues later. Which book you actually need →
15. Fantastic Four #49 (Marvel, 1966): the full Galactus story
| Documented high | $192,000 for a CGC 9.8, November 20, 2022, Heritage Auctions |
| Floor | Fair-value estimates near $1,966 in 8.5 and $1,071 in 7.5 (aggregator model estimates, not recorded sales) |
| Current market | $360 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
“If This Be Doomsday!” gives you Galactus in full and one of the great Silver Surfer covers, and it out-prices the more famous first-appearance issue before it. A caution for anyone doing their own research: several price sites pin this $192,000 sale on Fantastic Four #48, but the sale records split the two issues cleanly and it belongs here. Sharp copies of this book are four-figure comics all day.
Galactus fills this cover, but he arrived at the end of the issue before it. The full Galactus, priced →
16. Amazing Spider-Man #4 (Marvel, 1963): the first Sandman
| Documented high | $174,000 for a CGC 9.6, September 12, 2021, Heritage Auctions |
| Floor | Fair-value estimates near $2,184 in 5.5 and $974 in 3.0 (aggregator model estimates, not recorded sales) |
| Current market | $593 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
Sandman debuts in what many collectors consider one of the best early Ditko issues. This is another record set on September 12, 2021, in the same Heritage auction that produced the Amazing Fantasy #15 record at the absolute top of the market, and several early Spider-Man grades have not traded at those levels since. Treat the headline as what one perfect night produced, not what a 9.6 fetches today.
The first Sandman survives in real quantity, and that shapes every price on it. What survival in numbers does →
17. Amazing Spider-Man #2 (Marvel, 1963): the first Vulture
| Documented high | $168,000 for a CGC 9.6, September 12, 2021, Heritage Auctions |
| Floor | Fair-value estimates near $4,049 in 6.0 and $2,530 in 4.5 (aggregator model estimates, not recorded sales) |
| Current market | $1,200 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
The Vulture arrives in the second issue, and early Amazing Spider-Man in any presentable grade is a book I always want to see. The record is another product of the September 2021 Heritage sale, the market-peak auction that set six of the Amazing Spider-Man records on this page in a single weekend, so it is an auction record, not a current quote. Mid-grade copies remain strong four-figure books.
The first Vulture spends its life being priced against the issue in front of it. Its record, on its own terms →
18. Strange Tales #110 (Marvel, 1963): the first Doctor Strange
| Documented high | $150,000 for a CGC 9.6, April 7, 2024, Heritage Auctions |
| Floor | Documented slide in mid-grade: a CGC 4.0 peaked at $6,600 in January 2022; recent 4.0 sales are $1,375 to $1,440 (October 2025) |
| Current market | $1,065 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
Doctor Strange, the Ancient One, Nightmare, and Wong all debut here, and the top of the census is still setting records, as the 2024 sale shows. The middle of this book is a different story: it is the clearest crash on the whole list, with mid-grade copies now selling below their 2019 levels while the graded census kept growing. If you own a mid-grade copy, price it off 2025 sales, because the 2022 numbers are gone.
Doctor Strange debuts in a five-page back-up story, nowhere near the cover. Why it sat undervalued for decades →
19. Amazing Spider-Man #3 (Marvel, 1963): the first Doctor Octopus
| Documented high | $144,000 for a CGC 9.6, September 12, 2021, Heritage Auctions |
| Floor | A documented Winnipeg pedigree 8.5 brought $12,723 (July 2023, Hake’s); fair-value estimates near $3,787 in 5.0 (model estimate) |
| Current market | $1,307 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
Doc Ock’s debut carries one more record from that September 2021 Heritage auction, the one that sold Amazing Fantasy #15 for $3.6 million and set the early Spider-Man records in a single market-peak weekend. The 2023 pedigree 8.5 result is the more useful signal for what a beautiful copy brings now. Either way, this is a cornerstone Spider-Man key worth grading in almost any condition.
Doctor Octopus wins so completely in this issue that Peter Parker considers quitting. A record thick enough to quote from →
20. Avengers #4 (Marvel, 1964): Captain America returns
| Documented high | $143,400 for a CGC 9.8, May 18, 2017, Heritage Auctions; a nine-year-old record |
| Floor | Fair-value estimates near $1,385 in 5.0 and $887 in 3.0 (aggregator model estimates, not recorded sales) |
| Current market | $557 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
Cap thaws out of the ice and joins the Avengers, which makes this the key Silver Age Captain America book. The record dates to 2017, so it predates both the 2021 boom and the cooldown after it, and I would not lean on it in either direction without fresh comps. Also check the cover price box before valuing a copy: Avengers #4 is one of the four books reprinted in the 1966 Golden Record sets, and the reprint is worth a small fraction of an original.
This is the one Silver Age Marvel with a 1966 reprint that looks almost identical to the original. How to tell them apart →
21. Fantastic Four #5 (Marvel, 1962): the first Doctor Doom
| Documented high | $132,000 for a CGC 9.2, September 2024, Heritage Auctions |
| Floor | Documented 2.0 to 3.5 copies bring $2,500 to $6,000 (2025-2026 sales) |
| Current market | $2,504 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
The greatest villain Marvel ever made debuts here, and the top end is well documented, with another 9.2 bringing $108,000 at Heritage in June 2025. That pair of sales also shows you the direction of travel, and this issue was one of the biggest Silver Age decliners of 2025, giving back about twenty percent. A great book to own; just price it off the newest sale you can find, not the older one.
The first Doctor Doom is the book whose high-grade decline is documented sale by sale. Twelve results, one direction →
22. Amazing Spider-Man #9 (Marvel, 1964): the first Electro
| Documented high | $132,000 for a CGC 9.8, September 12, 2021, Heritage Auctions |
| Floor | Fair-value estimates near $1,960 in 6.0 and $892 in 4.0 (aggregator model estimates, not recorded sales) |
| Current market | $766 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
Electro’s first appearance is another entry whose record traces to that single September 2021 Heritage auction, the market-peak sale built around the $3.6 million Amazing Fantasy #15. Records from that weekend have mostly not been retested since, so treat this as a high-water mark. Solid mid-grade copies are dependable four-figure books.
One enormous record sits above a readable-grade market in the low four figures. The distance between them →
23. Detective Comics #359 (DC, 1966): the first Batgirl
| Documented high | $132,000 for the CGC 9.8 Boston pedigree copy, January 2021 (Heritage Auctions) |
| Floor | $9,600 for a CGC 9.2, August 2023, Heritage (Greenwich Collection sale) |
| Current market | $250 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
Barbara Gordon’s debut cleared six figures in January 2021, when the Boston pedigree 9.8, one of four at that grade with none higher, crossed the block at Heritage. That copy has a story of its own: it was stolen and recovered in 2019 before it ever sold. The prior record was $22,500 for a 9.6 in 2018, so the jump tells you how much a census-top copy distorts the picture. The documented 9.2 at $9,600 in 2023 is the useful benchmark for a very nice ordinary copy. Batgirl’s debut still turns up in ordinary Detective runs. If you are selling one, I pay real attention to spine and staples on this issue.
The first Batgirl is one of the era’s most famous firsts, and a readable copy is still under a thousand dollars. Why, and what would change it →
24. Fantastic Four #48 (Marvel, 1966): the first Silver Surfer
| Documented high | $108,000 for a CGC 9.8, June 19, 2021, Heritage Auctions |
| Floor | Fair-value estimates near $2,402 in 8.0 and $906 in 5.0 (aggregator model estimates, not recorded sales) |
| Current market | $440 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
The Silver Surfer arrives and Galactus looms, but the top grade here behaves differently than the other keys on this page: there are 44 copies in 9.8, which is a crowd, and later 9.8 sales in 2023 and 2024 ran $81,000 to $96,000, well under the record. This issue has also been a repeat name on the Silver Age decliner lists since 2022. The book is an all-time great; the record price is a 2021 number, so do not quote it as current.
The top grade sold eleven times in two years, at prices nearly three times apart. The first Silver Surfer, read honestly →
25. Richie Rich #1 (Harvey, 1960): the six-figure funny book
| Documented high | $108,000 for a CGC 9.6, June 2023 (Heritage); only four copies grade 9.6, none higher |
| Floor | Documented 2.0 to 3.0 copies bring $510 to $1,195 (2023-2026 sales) |
| Current market | $738 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
A humor comic outselling most superhero keys surprises people, but the record is no fluke: the same issue brought $48,995 at Heritage back in May 2016, so high-grade demand has been proven twice. The catch is the gulf underneath it. Kids read these to death, which is exactly why a 9.6 is nearly impossible and why the beat-up copy in your box is worth pocket change, not six figures. Also know that Richie Rich actually debuted in Little Dot #1 in 1953, so don’t confuse the two books. Harvey books hide in every inherited collection in Southern California, and the early ones are worth pulling. Text me the covers and I will sort them fast.
Eighty-one documented sales in twenty-three years make this the scarcest book in its neighborhood. What that scarcity is worth →
26. Iron Man #1 (Marvel, 1968): the first solo Iron Man title
| Documented high | $106,000 for a one-of-a-kind CGC 9.9, June 8, 2023, ComicConnect |
| Floor | Fair-value estimates near $2,510 in 9.2, $815 in 7.0, and $508 in 5.0 (aggregator model estimates, not recorded sales) |
| Current market | $408 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
Read that grade again: 9.9 is a freak, essentially a perfect newsstand copy, and the record is a fact about one unrepeatable book. Plenty of 9.8s exist and they trade far, far below that number, so nobody should value an Iron Man #1 off this sale. It is still the definitive late-Silver Iron Man book, and clean high-grade copies do serious four-figure business.
Owners price this 1968 first issue as a debut, and it is not one. The solo title, sale by sale →
27. Showcase #22 (DC, 1959): the first Hal Jordan Green Lantern
| Documented high | $66,000 for a CGC 9.0, November 2019 (Heritage Auctions); the $105,000 attributed to a 9.2 has no venue behind it |
| Floor | Documented 2.0 to 3.5 copies bring $1,440 to $4,200 (2023-2026 sales) |
| Current market | $1,253 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
Hal Jordan’s first appearance is one of the specific Silver Age DC keys that GoCollect’s data singles out for holding value while much of the era slid after 2022. The documented record anchors that curve: $66,000 for a 9.0 at Heritage in November 2019, with the guide-reported $105,000 above it still missing a venue. Even a beaten copy is a four-figure book, with documented 2.0 to 3.5 sales running $1,440 to $4,200, which is about the sturdiest profile a Silver Age book can have right now. Green Lantern’s tryout is a book I would drive a long way for, in most any condition.
In 187 sales going back to 2002, not one copy above CGC 9.0 has ever come to auction. A ladder that stops at 9.0 →
28. Amazing Spider-Man #50 (Marvel, 1967): the first Kingpin
| Documented high | $99,000 for a CGC 9.8, November 20, 2022, Heritage Auctions |
| Floor | Fair-value estimates near $1,049 in 6.0 and $616 in 4.5 (aggregator model estimates, not recorded sales) |
| Current market | $401 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
“Spider-Man No More!” gives you the Kingpin’s debut and one of the most imitated covers in comics on the same day. The record was set in late 2022 rather than at the 2021 peak, which makes it a steadier reference point than most on this page. Demand for this issue runs deep at every grade, and it is one of the easiest Silver Age books to sell.
The first Kingpin’s 9.0 lane sold six times in 2026, from $2,247 to $6,858. One grade, three times apart →
29. Batman #181 (DC, 1966): the first Poison Ivy
| Documented high | $96,000 for a CGC 9.8, August 2023, Heritage (Greenwich Collection sale) |
| Floor | Documented 2.0 to 3.5 copies bring $295 to $630 (2024-2026 sales) |
| Current market | $238 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
Poison Ivy’s first appearance keeps climbing: the record copy is one of only four CGC 9.8s with none higher, and it beat a previous record of $90,000 set by another 9.8 in 2020. Two 9.8 sales in the same neighborhood is the kind of repeat result that says the price is real rather than a one-off. If you have a run of mid-1960s Batman, this is the first issue to check for.
A great many surviving copies are missing the pin-up poster bound into the middle. Check for the poster before anything else →
30. Fantastic Four #2 (Marvel, 1962): the first Skrulls
| Documented high | $84,000 for a CGC 9.4, April 10, 2022, Heritage Auctions |
| Floor | Fair-value estimates near $2,488 in 5.5 and $1,518 in 4.0 (aggregator model estimates, not recorded sales) |
| Current market | $754 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
The Skrulls show up in issue two and have been paying dividends in every Marvel media project since. Early Fantastic Four issues are genuinely hard books in grade, and the record here was set in spring 2022 near the top of the market. Mid-grade copies remain reliable four-figure comics.
Only eleven copies above CGC 9.0 have reached auction in 226 documented sales. The first Skrulls, priced →
31. Fantastic Four #52 (Marvel, 1966): the first Black Panther
| Documented high | $83,650 for a CGC 9.8, February 2016, Heritage Auctions; a ten-year-old record |
| Floor | Fair-value estimates near $2,726 in 8.5 and $1,320 in 7.5 (aggregator model estimates, not recorded sales) |
| Current market | $326 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
T’Challa and Wakanda debut here, and the on-record high predates the entire Black Panther movie era, which makes it one of the odder data points on this list. The book has traded through a full boom and cooldown since 2016, so that record tells you very little about a copy today. What I can say with confidence is that demand for this key runs deep in every grade.
Two films made the first Black Panther famous, and a readable copy still costs well under a thousand. Why fame is not price →
32. Fantastic Four #4 (Marvel, 1962): the return of Namor
| Documented high | $81,000 for a CGC 9.6, November 2019, Heritage Auctions |
| Floor | Fair-value estimates near $1,933 in 6.5 and $1,634 in 4.0 (aggregator model estimates, not recorded sales) |
| Current market | $514 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
The Sub-Mariner’s Silver Age return is the book that stitched the Golden Age into the new Marvel Universe. Fair warning on the market: this has been one of the named decliners dragging the Silver Age index since 2022, and in one 2024 stretch a mid-grade 5.0 lost roughly a thousand dollars of value. The 2019 record still stands, but the middle of the market sits well below its peak.
Namor’s return is routinely sold as his first appearance, which belongs to a 1939 comic. A return, not a debut →
33. Vampirella #1 (Warren, 1969): the Frazetta magazine
| Documented high | $78,000 for a CGC 9.8 with white pages, January 2024 (Heritage) |
| Floor | Mid-grade slabbed copies brought $2,500 to $3,840 in 2021 sales |
| Current market | $680 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
The most valuable non-Marvel, non-DC book on this whole list, with a Frank Frazetta cover doing a lot of the lifting. Strictly speaking it’s a magazine, not a comic, which is how Warren escaped the Comics Code, and CGC grades it on the magazine census: one 9.8 exists and eight 9.6s, one of which brought $19,800 in September 2023. That record copy sold for around $13,000 as recently as May 2016, and this was one of the rare Silver Age books still gaining ground in 2025. A mid-grade copy is still a real four-figure sale.
It is a black-and-white magazine, not a comic, and that changes how it survived and what collectors pay. The magazine market, explained →
34. Justice League of America #21 (DC, 1963): the first JLA and JSA team-up
| Documented high | $5,400 for a CGC 9.4, July 2025 (Heritage Auctions); the $70,500 in circulation carries no date or grade |
| Floor | Documented 2.5 to 4.0 copies bring $51 to $201 (2023-2026 sales) |
| Current market | $52 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
“Crisis on Earth-One!” kicked off the annual JLA and JSA crossovers and made the multiverse a working part of DC storytelling. The $70,500 that circulates carries no date or grade; what a top copy demonstrably brings today is $5,400, for a 9.4 at Heritage in July 2025. Ordinary copies stay affordable, which is exactly why a genuinely high-grade one stands out.
The first Silver Age Justice Society sells for under two hundred dollars in the grades most copies survive in. When not to grade it →
35. Fantastic Four #12 (Marvel, 1962): the first Marvel crossover
| Documented high | $65,725 for a CGC 9.6, February 2012, Heritage Auctions; a fourteen-year-old record |
| Floor | Fair-value estimates near $1,269 in 5.5 and $925 in 4.0 (aggregator model estimates, not recorded sales) |
| Current market | $366 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
Hulk meets the Thing, and Marvel invents the hero crossover it has been running on ever since. The record is from 2012 because copies at the top of the census almost never trade, so do not read that number as a ceiling for today. Presentable mid-grade copies are consistent four-figure books.
The Hulk lands on somebody else’s cover for the first time, so two sets of collectors want it. What double demand does →
36. The Flash #105 (DC, 1959): the Flash gets his own title
| Documented high | $38,838 for a CGC 9.4, August 2011 (Heritage Auctions); the undated $58,000 has nothing documented behind it |
| Floor | Documented 2.0 to 3.5 copies bring $325 to $1,850 (2023-2026 sales) |
| Current market | $539 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
The numbering picks up where the Golden Age Flash Comics left off, which is why Barry Allen’s first solo issue is #105, and Mirror Master debuts inside. Census color says no mint copies exist and only about seventeen grade above 8.0, so the undated $58,000 is a scarcity story; the documented top is $38,838, for a 9.4 at Heritage in August 2011. Any presentable copy of this book is worth a real conversation.
The Flash’s own Silver Age title starts at number 105, which confuses nearly everyone who finds one. Why it starts there, and what it brings →
37. Green Lantern #1 (DC, 1960): Hal Jordan’s own title
| Documented high | $50,788 for a CGC 9.4, February 2010 (Heritage Auctions) |
| Floor | Documented 2.0 to 3.5 copies bring $309 to $1,000 (2023-2026 sales) |
| Current market | $375 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
First issue of the solo run and the first appearance of the Guardians of the Universe. The documented record belongs to a 9.4 that brought $50,788 at Heritage back in February 2010, and a 9.0 has done $17,500 as recently as January 2026, so the top of this book still trades. High-grade copies are the whole game here.
38. Tales to Astonish #35 (Marvel, 1962): Ant-Man suits up
| Documented high | $51,000 for a CGC 9.4, December 16, 2016, ComicConnect |
| Floor | Fair-value estimates near $979 in 6.5 and $732 in 5.0 (aggregator model estimates, not recorded sales) |
| Current market | $235 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
Hank Pym debuted back in issue #27, but this is the first time he appears in the Ant-Man costume, which makes it the first true Ant-Man book. The record dates to 2016, before the modern boom and bust, so treat it as history rather than a current benchmark. Nice mid-grade copies trade in the high hundreds.
A CGC 9.2 sold for $29,875 in 2012 and $16,470 in 2026, straight through a run of superhero films. The first costumed Ant-Man, tracked →
39. Star Trek #1 (Gold Key, 1967): the first Star Trek comic
| Documented high | $46,500 for a CGC 9.6, November 2022 (Heritage, Schmell collection sale) |
| Floor | Documented 2.0 to 3.5 copies bring $150 to $400 (2023-2026 sales) |
| Current market | $184 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
That sale made national news, and it’s the best-documented Gold Key record of the whole era. The first Star Trek comic ever printed, with a photo cover, and only one copy on the census grades higher than the 9.6 that set the record. Gold Key TV books were bought by kids off spinner racks and read to pieces, so grade is everything here: an undated price-guide record of $40,500 from before that auction confirms the scale, but a creased reading copy is a different conversation entirely.
A photographic cover shows every crease and scuff that line art hides. Why photo covers grade low →
40. Amazing Spider-Man #13 (Marvel, 1964): the first Mysterio
| Documented high | $45,600 for a CGC 9.6, September 12, 2021, Heritage Auctions |
| Floor | Fair-value estimates near $1,759 in 6.0 and $823 in 4.0 (aggregator model estimates, not recorded sales) |
| Current market | $614 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
Mysterio rounds out the six early Spider-Man records on this page that all came from one place: the September 2021 Heritage auction headlined by the $3.6 million Amazing Fantasy #15, the single peak of the modern market. One weekend set the records for issues 2, 3, 4, 9, 13, and 14, and the market has cooled since, so none of those figures should be quoted as today’s price. The book itself is a legitimate key that sells easily in any decent grade.
Twenty-six sales share one grade, clustered tightly enough to quote over the phone. The first Mysterio, priced →
41. Action Comics #252 (DC, 1959): the first Supergirl
| Documented high | $50,400 for a CGC 9.2, January 2024 (Heritage Auctions) |
| Floor | Documented 2.0 to 3.5 copies bring $840 to $2,013 (2024-2026 sales) |
| Current market | $904 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
Kara Zor-El and Metallo both debut in one issue, a legacy hero and a villain for the price of one. The old guide number understated it, exactly as suspected: the documented record is $50,400, for a 9.2 at Heritage in January 2024, and GoCollect’s data still credits the book with strong, low-volatility returns. Even rough copies are documented from $840 up, which is remarkably high for the era.
The 8.5 lane sold six times in two years, between $16,800 and $26,400, with no pattern in the dates. How wide the range really runs →
42. X-Men #12 (Marvel, 1965): the first Juggernaut
| Documented high | $43,700 for a CGC 9.8, September 13, 2019, ComicConnect |
| Floor | A documented 8.0 last sold for $2,750 (July 2026); fair-value estimate near $808 in 6.0 (model estimate) |
| Current market | $397 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
Cain Marko crashes through the wall for the first time, and unlike a lot of records on this page, this one has fresh sales data underneath it, with an 8.0 trading hands as recently as July 2026. The record itself predates the 2021 boom, so the true 9.8 ceiling today is anyone’s guess and I will not guess it in print. Strong copies of this book move quickly.
A CGC 9.6 sold for $24,000 while the most recent 9.8 brought $9,545. When a lower grade beats a higher one →
43. Detective Comics #400 (DC, 1970): the first Man-Bat
| Documented high | $4,332 for a CGC 9.8, July 2012 (Heritage Auctions); the $43,200 attached to a 2021 sale never came with a venue |
| Floor | Documented 2.0 to 3.5 copies bring $78 to $315 (2023-2026 sales) |
| Current market | $135 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
Read this record with both eyes open. The $43,200 that circulates for a 2021 9.8 sale never came with a venue; the documented 9.8 result is $4,332, from July 2012, and either figure is a census-ceiling premium on one of eight 9.8s, not a price the next grade down will ever see. Man-Bat’s debut is a genuine key at the very end of the Silver Age. Just don’t price your copy off the outlier.
A CGC 9.0 of the first Man-Bat costs about a thousand dollars, in 269 documented sales. The era’s most affordable first appearance →
44. Batman #171 (DC, 1965): the first Silver Age Riddler
| Documented high | $11,400 for a CGC 9.4, January 2021 (Heritage Auctions); the $41,000 attributed to a 9.6 has no venue behind it |
| Floor | Documented 2.0 to 3.5 copies bring $152 to $460 (2023-2026 sales) |
| Current market | $301 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
The Riddler’s Silver Age return is the story that became the basis of the Batman ’66 TV pilot, which is why demand runs deeper than the character’s brief 1940s history would suggest. Be careful with the $41,000 in circulation: it has no venue behind it, and it is 3.6 times the documented 9.4 sale of $11,400 from January 2021, census-top pricing rather than a point on the curve. The book has also appeared on GoCollect’s recent gainers lists while most of the Silver Age index fell, so the grades real people own have been steady.
Sold constantly as the first Riddler, which is a 1948 comic; this is the one that made him famous. What the comeback issue brings →
45. The Brave and the Bold #54 (DC, 1964): the first Teen Titans
| Documented high | $43,200 for a CGC 9.6, June 2022 (Heritage Auctions) |
| Floor | Documented 2.0 to 3.5 copies bring $167 to $300 (2023-2026 sales) |
| Current market | $153 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
Robin, Kid Flash, and Aqualad team up for the first time, a year before anyone put the words Teen Titans on a cover. The guides used to disagree here by nearly double; the documented record settles it at $43,200, for a 9.6 at Heritage in June 2022. The comfort is at the other end, where reading copies are still pocket-money books, so this is an easy one to check your longboxes for.
A CGC 9.6 fell from $43,200 to $16,800 in three years, the steepest documented drop I have written up. How far the top fell →
46. Aquaman #1 (DC, 1962): the first solo title
| Documented high | $45,600 for a CGC 9.6, January 2024 (Heritage Auctions) |
| Floor | Documented 2.0 to 3.5 copies bring $204 to $449 (2023-2026 sales) |
| Current market | $274 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
After more than twenty years as a backup feature, Aquaman finally got his own book. The documented record postdates the 2022 market peak, set in January 2024, and the issue has stayed active in GoCollect’s tracking since, showing up among recent 90-day gainers, so the demand hasn’t gone anywhere. Ordinary copies are cheap, which makes a sharp one easy to underestimate.
Aquaman had been in print for twenty-one years before this title started. A first issue, not a debut →
47. Avengers #57 (Marvel, 1968): the first Vision
| Documented high | $35,000 for a CGC 9.8, April 21, 2022, eBay |
| Floor | Fair-value estimates near $756 in 8.5 and $445 in 7.0 (aggregator model estimates, not recorded sales) |
| Current market | $162 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
The Vision’s debut spiked hard when WandaVision hit, and this record is exactly that spike: an eBay sale in April 2022 at the peak of the show-driven demand. The dealer guide lists the record around $20,000, which tells you how soft that $35,000 number is now. A genuinely good book, but value it like a post-hype key, not a peak one.
A 9.8 has brought $21,530 and a 9.4 has brought $2,500: eight times the money for four tenths of a grade. Where all of Vision’s value sits →
48. Incredible Hulk #2 (Marvel, 1962): the first green Hulk
| Documented high | $33,600 for a CGC 9.2, June 25, 2023, Heritage Auctions |
| Floor | Fair-value estimates near $2,373 in 4.0 and $2,101 in 3.0 (aggregator model estimates, not recorded sales) |
| Current market | $666 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
A detail many sellers don’t know: the Hulk was gray in issue #1, and this is the first time he appears green. The record is recent and public, which I like, and the low grades hold their value unusually well for a second issue because the whole original run is scarce. Even rough copies of early Hulk are four-figure books.
He is gray in issue 1 and green from this issue on, which makes it a key in its own right. The first green Hulk, priced →
49. Silver Surfer #1 (Marvel, 1968): the Surfer goes solo
| Documented high | $132,000 for a CGC 9.8, January 2024 (Heritage Auctions); repeated at $132,000 in April 2025 |
| Floor | Documented 2.0 to 3.5 copies bring $267 to $425 (2025-2026 sales) |
| Current market | $289 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
The Surfer’s origin issue is a scarce 25-cent giant from late in the era, and the census backs the scarcity up, with only eight copies in 9.8. The record needs no reported label anymore: $132,000, documented at Heritage in January 2024 and matched to the dollar in April 2025. Worth noting that this was one of the few Silver Age books actually gaining ground in a 2024 measurement period, up about eight and a half percent, so it has been swimming against the era’s current.
The 9.8 sold for $132,000 twice, fifteen months apart, while the 9.6 below it halved. The top held; the rest did not →
50. Showcase #55 (DC, 1965): the first Silver Age Solomon Grundy
| Reported high | $26,400 reported guide record, undated |
| Floor | No verified low-grade sale to cite this pass |
| Current market | $72 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
Fifty down, fifty to go. If your books are within driving distance of anywhere in Southern California, the shortcut is a photo text to (951) 515-9604.
Solomon Grundy makes his first Silver Age appearance here, up against the Golden Age Green Lantern in a team-up issue. The reported record is undated guide data, so treat it as a lifetime high rather than a current quote. Showcase was DC’s tryout book, and issues like this look minor at a glance next to the famous keys; this one isn’t.
51. X-Men #4 (Marvel, 1964): the first Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver
| Documented high | $26,290 for a CGC 9.8, July 26, 2012, Heritage Auctions; a fourteen-year-old record |
| Floor | Fair-value estimates near $2,318 in 6.5 and $1,521 in 5.0 (aggregator model estimates, not recorded sales) |
| Current market | $664 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
Wanda, Pietro, Toad, and the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants all debut in one issue, which is a lot of first appearances for one record this stale. The 2012 figure badly understates the book, and here is the tell: current fair-value models put a mere 8.5 around $7,000, so a 9.8 crossing the block today would clearly beat the on-record high. I will not invent that number for you, but do not sell one against a 2012 comp.
While nearly every Silver Age grade has softened since 2024, this book’s 9.4 rose from $15,000 to $21,600. The one lane still going up →
52. Showcase #8 (DC, 1957): the first Captain Cold
| Documented high | $36,000 for a CGC 9.2, April 2022 (Heritage Auctions) |
| Floor | Documented 2.0 to 3.5 copies bring $805 to $1,735 (2023-2026 sales) |
| Current market | $625 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
Barry Allen’s second outing brings the first Captain Cold, the anchor of the Rogues. The old seventeen-year-old figure turned out to be low: a 9.2 brought a documented $36,000 at Heritage in April 2022, which is what happens on the rare occasion a high-grade copy of a 1957 DC actually trades. Early Showcase in any collectible grade deserves a careful look.
The first Captain Cold carries a public record of a hundred and one sales since 2002. Twenty-four years of results →
53. Action Comics #242 (DC, 1958): the first Brainiac
| Documented high | $22,800 for a CGC 8.5, April 2025 (Heritage Auctions) |
| Floor | Documented 2.0 to 3.5 copies bring $537 to $2,199 (2023-2026 sales) |
| Current market | $695 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
Brainiac and the bottle city of Kandor arrive in the same issue, and both have been load-bearing parts of Superman lore ever since. Here’s the market note that matters: GoCollect’s 2025 year in review made this the single biggest Silver Age gainer of the year, up 34 percent while the era’s index fell. The documented top makes the same point: $22,800 for a mere 8.5, at Heritage in April 2025, on a book whose true ceiling has simply never come to market.
Above CGC 7.0, the first Brainiac has sold in public exactly twice in twenty years. What a record that thin means →
54. Showcase #34 (DC, 1961): the first Silver Age Atom
| Documented high | $14,995 for a CGC 9.0, November 2022 (eBay); the $24,000 in circulation is undated guide data |
| Floor | Documented 2.0 to 3.5 copies bring $106 to $390 (2023-2026 sales) |
| Current market | $104 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
Ray Palmer debuts here, and this tryout is the Atom book worth money; his own Atom #1 from 1962 has never produced a documented record sale in public sources. The $24,000 in circulation is undated guide data; the documented top is $14,995, for a 9.0 on eBay in November 2022. Low-grade copies stay cheap, which is the pattern with tryout Showcases: the value concentrates hard at the top of the census.
Every CGC 9.4 sale on record happened between 2004 and 2007, and nothing at that grade has surfaced since. Why the quoted figures are stale →
55. Showcase #30 (DC, 1961): the Aquaman tryout
| Documented high | $20,400 for a CGC 9.4, July 2024 (Heritage Auctions) |
| Floor | Documented 2.0 to 3.5 copies bring $150 to $384 (2023-2026 sales) |
| Current market | $112 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
Aquaman had existed since 1941, so this is not a first appearance; it’s the Silver Age tryout that proved he could carry a title, and it leads straight into Aquaman #1. The documented record is current: $20,400, for a 9.4 at Heritage in July 2024. A sharp copy is a strong book; a worn one is a modest one.
An 8.0 has outsold an 8.5 here, and it has happened more than once. What that inversion tells you →
56. Incredible Hulk #3 (Marvel, 1962): the origin retold
| Documented high | $23,900 for a CGC 9.4, November 21, 2013, Heritage Auctions |
| Floor | Fair-value estimate near $875 in 5.0 (aggregator model estimate, not a recorded sale) |
| Current market | $430 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
The Ringmaster debuts and the Hulk’s origin gets its first retelling, in a run so short that every issue is a key by default. The record is a 2013 sale, which means grade-top copies simply have not traded publicly in a long time. Mid-grade copies do steady three-figure to low four-figure business.
Rising in all four grades with enough sales to judge, against the direction of the whole market. Up in every grade →
57. The Flash #123 (DC, 1961): “Flash of Two Worlds”
| Documented high | $23,000 for a CGC 9.4, June 2004 (Heritage Auctions) |
| Floor | Documented 2.0 to 3.5 copies bring $252 to $700 (2023-2026 sales) |
| Current market | $434 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
Jay Garrick meets Barry Allen, Earth-Two is born, and every DC multiverse story since traces back to this single issue. Historic weight and price don’t always line up: the record is a documented $23,000 for a 9.4, set back in June 2004 and barely tested since, and beaten copies hold a few hundred dollars. For pure significance per dollar, few Silver Age books touch it. If you own this one, check it for the 12-cent cover and original ads, then call me before you press or clean anything.
A CGC 9.4 made $23,000 in 2004 and $19,800 in 2022: eighteen years, essentially sideways. The grade that never moved →
58. Showcase #37 (DC, 1962): the first Metal Men
| Documented high | $5,040 for a CGC 9.0, April 2021 (Heritage Auctions); the $22,500 in circulation has nothing documented behind it |
| Floor | Documented 2.0 to 3.5 copies bring $89 to $325 (2023-2026 sales) |
| Current market | $200 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
The Metal Men debut in this tryout, and as with the Atom, the tryout is where the money lives; Metal Men #1 from 1963 has no documented record sale I could find in public sources. The $22,500 in circulation is undated with nothing behind it; the documented top is $5,040, for a 9.0 at Heritage in April 2021. No movie has ever driven this team, so it’s a collector’s book, valued on scarcity and affection rather than hype.
Nobody has ever publicly paid more than $5,040 for the first Metal Men. A whole ladder under $6,000 →
59. Strange Tales #135 (Marvel, 1965): Nick Fury joins S.H.I.E.L.D.
| Documented high | $20,400 for a CGC 9.8, November 2020 (Heritage Auctions) |
| Floor | Documented 2.0 to 3.5 copies bring $50 to $170 (2023-2026 sales) |
| Current market | $56 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
The first appearance of Nick Fury as an Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the first Hydra in one issue. The record is documented now: $20,400 for a CGC 9.8 at Heritage in November 2020, a census-top price rather than a market curve. A fine book to own, but ordinary copies are modest: documented low-grade sales start at fifty dollars.
Two tenths of a grade split the first S.H.I.E.L.D. issue into two completely different comics. Why 9.2 is the whole question →
60. Tales to Astonish #13 (Marvel, 1960): the first Groot
| Documented high | $19,800 for a CGC 8.0, April 2023, Heritage Auctions |
| Floor | Fair-value estimate near $8,400 in 7.5 (aggregator model estimate, not a recorded sale) |
| Current market | $1,150 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
Groot walked into comics as a monster-of-the-month a year before the Fantastic Four existed, and the Guardians films turned this pre-hero book into a real key. Notice the record grade is an 8.0: high-grade copies of these monster books essentially do not exist, so a presentable mid-grade copy is about as good as this issue gets. That scarcity is why even a 7.5 models north of eight thousand dollars.
A 9.2 made $2,868 in 2012; a decade later a 7.5 was bringing $13,812. A film did that. The first Groot, before and after →
61. Adventure Comics #247 (DC, 1958): the first Legion of Super-Heroes
| Documented high | $19,200 for a CGC 8.5, February 2019 (Heritage Auctions) |
| Floor | Documented 2.0 to 3.5 copies bring $736 to $3,500 (2023-2026 sales) |
| Current market | $641 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
The Legion’s debut is famously tough in every grade; anything above VG tends to set a grade record when it surfaces, and even beaten copies have documented from $736 up since 2023. It’s also one of the DC keys GoCollect credits with strong, low-volatility returns while the broader Silver Age index fell after 2022. If you own any copy at all, it’s worth handling carefully and pricing seriously.
Three CGC 7.5 sales across nine years landed within $256 of each other. The steadiest book on this list →
62. Incredible Hulk #6 (Marvel, 1963): the last of the original run
| Documented high | $18,000 for a CGC 9.6, March 24, 2011, ComicConnect; a fifteen-year-old record |
| Floor | Fair-value estimate near $895 in 5.0 (aggregator model estimate, not a recorded sale) |
| Current market | $300 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
The original Hulk series died after six issues, which makes the finale genuinely scarce, especially in grade. That record is fifteen years old, from before the modern market existed in any form, so it is a piece of history, not a price. Decent copies trade in the high hundreds and up.
Marvel cancelled the Hulk with this issue, and that failure is now the appeal. The last issue of a dead run →
63. Zap Comix #1 (Apex Novelties, 1968): where underground comix begin
| Documented high | $17,500 for a CGC 9.6 first printing, May 2024 (Heritage) |
| Floor | Guide bands put a good-to-VG first printing at $800 to $1,800; later printings run under $200 in any grade |
Everything depends on the printing with this one, more than any other book I can name. R.Zap #1 was reprinted many times, and those later printings are under-$200 books no matter how nice they look. Do not assume the record applies to your copy until the printing is confirmed.
64. Strange Tales #115 (Marvel, 1963): the origin of Doctor Strange
| Documented high | $16,730 for a CGC 9.6, November 18, 2017, Heritage Auctions |
| Floor | Documented 2.0 to 3.5 copies bring $88 to $400 (2023-2026 sales) |
| Current market | $112 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
Doctor Strange debuted five issues earlier in #110, but his origin story is told here, alongside an early Sandman appearance. The record is a pre-boom 2017 sale, so it has not been tested against the modern market in either direction. A solid secondary Strange key that most collections containing one Strange Tales issue tend to contain more of, which is exactly the kind of run I like to buy whole.
The origin story is not the first appearance five issues earlier, and the two price very differently. Which Doctor Strange key you have →
65. Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. #1 (Marvel, 1968): Steranko’s showcase
| Documented high | $52,800 for a CGC 9.9, April 2024 (Heritage Auctions) |
| Floor | Documented 2.0 to 4.5 copies bring $35 to $170 (2023-2026 sales) |
| Current market | $38 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
Jim Steranko’s psychedelic design work on this title changed what a comic page could look like, and that is the real reason collectors chase it. The record no longer needs holding loosely: a documented $52,800, for a CGC 9.9 at Heritage in April 2024. Most copies are two- and three-figure books, with the money concentrated in strict high grade.
Below CGC 9.4 this Steranko cover costs less than a nice dinner; a 9.8 has brought $5,000. Seven to one, explained →
66. Scooby-Doo #1 (Gold Key, 1970): the first Scooby comic
| Documented high | $12,600 for a CGC 9.2, November 2022 (Heritage, Schmell collection sale) |
| Floor | Documented 2.0 to 3.5 copies bring $485 to $850 (2024-2026 sales) |
| Current market | $442 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
March 1970, right on the era boundary, and it’s the first Scooby-Doo comic ever published. I’d frame the record carefully: that five-figure price came from a single pedigree-collection auction, and I haven’t found other documented sales to confirm the level, so treat it as what one exceptional copy did on one exceptional night. Cartoon tie-ins from this era were destroyed by their readers, which is the entire story of why a surviving high-grade copy commands that kind of money.
Two CGC 9.0 copies sold days apart in August 2026 for $10,999 each. Same week, same price →
67. The Brave and the Bold #34 (DC, 1961): the first Silver Age Hawkman
| Documented high | $12,010 for a CGC 9.4, May 2007 (Heritage Auctions) |
| Floor | Documented 2.0 to 3.5 copies bring $128 to $400 (2023-2026 sales) |
| Current market | $229 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
Katar Hol and Shayera reintroduce Hawkman and Hawkgirl for the Silver Age. The record dates itself now: $12,010, documented for a 9.4 at Heritage in May 2007, and the top of the census is still where the value sits. Mid-grade copies run hundreds, not thousands, which keeps this one approachable.
The 9.0 lost two thirds of its value between 2022 and 2025, and six sales trace the fall. The Silver Age Hawkman debut, tracked →
68. Showcase #9 (DC, 1957): the first Lois Lane tryout
| Documented high | $13,225 for a CGC 9.2, March 2003 (Heritage Auctions) |
| Floor | Documented 2.0 to 3.5 copies bring $214 to $745 (2023-2026 sales) |
| Current market | $204 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
Lois Lane had been around since 1938, but this tryout put her name on a cover and led to her own 1958 series, one of DC’s steadiest sellers for years. The documented record is $13,225 for a 9.2, from all the way back in March 2003. Late-1950s Superman-family books survive in rough shape far more often than in high grade, so condition does nearly all the work on price here.
Lois Lane got a try-out comic before she got her own title, and its entire high-grade record is one sale per grade. All of it, on one page →
69. Superman #199 (DC, 1967): the first Superman versus Flash race
| Documented high | $14,400 for a CGC 9.6, May 2022 (Heritage Auctions) |
| Floor | Documented 2.0 to 3.5 copies bring $54 to $180 (2023-2026 sales) |
| Current market | $48 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
The cover every kid argued about: who’s faster? The top has been tested since that 2018 figure: a documented $14,400 for a 9.6 at Heritage in May 2022, before the wider market came off its highs. This is a book you sell on its charm and its cover, not on a stale record.
Ninety-one readable copies sold in eighteen months, the busiest low end of any book here. The first race, grade by grade →
70. Showcase #10 (DC, 1957): the second Lois Lane tryout
| Documented high | $10,755 for a CGC 9.4, May 2009 (Heritage Auctions) |
| Floor | Documented 2.0 to 3.5 copies bring $159 to $370 (2023-2026 sales) |
| Current market | $167 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
The follow-up to Showcase #9 sealed the case for giving Lois her own title. Its documented record runs a little behind the first tryout’s, which is the usual pattern with paired tryout issues. Everything I said about condition on #9 applies here too.
71. Astro Boy #1 (Gold Key, 1965): the era’s only US Astro Boy
| Documented high | $10,200 for the census-top CGC 9.8, November 2022 (Heritage, Schmell collection sale) |
| Floor | No other documented sales to cite; below the record grade the market is unproven |
The only American Astro Boy comic of the period, and manga collectors have come for it in a serious way. Honesty requires the caveat: that record is one sale of the single best-graded copy on the census, out of one famous pedigree collection, and I found no other documented comps behind it. So the record is real, but it isn’t a curve you can slide your copy along. If you have one at all, in any grade, it’s worth a conversation, because so few survive.
72. Green Lantern #59 (DC, 1968): the first Guy Gardner
| Documented high | $30,000 for a CGC 9.8, January 2025 (Heritage Auctions) |
| Floor | Documented 2.5 to 4.0 copies bring $112 to $300 (2023-2026 sales) |
| Current market | $155 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
Guy Gardner debuts as the answer to a what-if: the other candidate the ring might have chosen. The record is documented and current: $30,000 for a 9.8 at Heritage in January 2025, a single sale holding up the roof, with the next grade down trading around $2,200. A late-Silver DC key tied to a modern fan favorite is a healthy combination.
73. Teen Titans #1 (DC, 1966): the Titans get their own title
| Documented high | $31,200 for a CGC 9.8, April 2021 (Heritage Auctions) |
| Floor | Documented 2.0 to 3.5 copies bring $60 to $150 (2023-2026 sales) |
| Current market | $61 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
Two years after the Brave and the Bold #54 tryout, the Titans got their own book, with Wonder Girl now on the roster. The documented record is $31,200, for a 9.8 in April 2021, and reading copies still cost well under two hundred dollars, so this is a condition play from top to bottom. Decades of Titans cartoons keep new buyers arriving for it.
The 9.8 went from $10,158 to $31,200 and back to $11,400: a whole boom in three sales of one grade. One grade’s round trip →
74. The Flash #110 (DC, 1959): the first Kid Flash
| Documented high | $49,200 for a CGC 9.6, July 2024 (Heritage Auctions) |
| Floor | Documented 2.0 to 3.5 copies bring $204 to $660 (2023-2026 sales) |
| Current market | $292 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
Wally West and Weather Wizard debut in the same issue, and Wally went on to carry the Flash name himself for more than twenty years, which keeps steady demand under his first appearance. The old guide number missed by a factor of five: the documented record is $49,200, for a 9.6 at Heritage in July 2024. Worn copies stay cheap, so the value question here is entirely about grade.
The first Kid Flash and the first Weather Wizard arrive in the same issue. Two firsts, one comic →
75. The Flash #139 (DC, 1962): the first Reverse-Flash
| Documented high | $8,365 for a CGC 9.6, November 2006 (Heritage Auctions) |
| Floor | Documented 2.0 to 3.5 copies bring $96 to $450 (2023-2026 sales) |
| Current market | $143 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
Professor Zoom has become the defining Flash villain across television and film, and this is where he starts. Against that profile the documented record, $8,365 for a 9.6 back in November 2006, looks modest, and that’s worth knowing before you either buy or sell one. Media heat moves first-appearance prices fast, in both directions.
Three television seasons and a film later, the first Reverse-Flash still trades in the hundreds. The villain outgrew the comic →
76. Doctor Solar, Man of the Atom #1 (Gold Key, 1962): Gold Key’s first original hero
| Documented high | $5,000 for a CGC 9.2, December 2023 (eBay); the guides’ undated $7,500 has no sale behind it |
| Floor | Documented 2.5 to 4.5 copies bring $75 to $200 (2023-2026 sales) |
| Current market | $105 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
Gold Key’s first original character rather than a licensed one, Gold Key’s answer to the radiation-origin heroes Marvel had launched the year before, and later the anchor of the Valiant relaunch that made this book collectible all over again. The two mid-four-figure signals I have come from different directions and roughly agree, which gives me some confidence in the scale, but neither is a dated, documented auction I can point you to. A public sale has since settled it: $5,000, documented for a 9.2 on eBay in December 2023.
The 9.0 has fallen for six years while the 8.5 beneath it doubled, and the two have nearly met. Two lanes that swapped places →
77. Wonder Woman #105 (DC, 1959): the Silver Age origin of Wonder Woman
| Documented high | $2,400 for a CGC 7.5, September 2023 (eBay); the $7,400 attributed to a 9.4 remains secondhand |
| Floor | Documented 2.5 to 3.5 copies bring $76 to $430 (2023-2026 sales) |
| Current market | $119 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
This issue retold Wonder Woman’s origin for the Silver Age, and it’s a genuinely scarce book for its era. The $7,400 attributed to a 9.4 remains secondhand; the documented top is $2,400 for a 7.5, and on an issue this scarce the true ceiling has simply never surfaced to be tested. Any tight copy of a 1959 Wonder Woman deserves attention.
78. Batman #155 (DC, 1963): the first Silver Age Penguin
| Documented high | $13,200 for a CGC 9.6, March 2022 (Heritage Auctions) |
| Floor | Documented 2.0 to 3.5 copies bring $160 to $450 (2023-2026 sales) |
| Current market | $330 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
The Penguin’s return after seven years away made him a fixture again, and his recent television turn has kept fresh eyes on this book. Census color matters here: no 9.8s exist and only two 9.6s, and one of those two set the documented record above. Prices go off a cliff below 6.0, which matches how condition-sensitive early-1960s Batman runs.
Twelve documented 9.0 sales, and every recent one lower than the last, from $4,080 down to $2,200. The Penguin’s return, tracked →
79. Blue Beetle #1 (Charlton, 1964): the scarcer relaunch
| Documented high | $26,500 for a CGC 9.8, July 2023 (eBay) |
| Floor | No dated low-grade comp found to cite |
| Current market | $80 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
Charlton relaunched Blue Beetle twice in the sixties, and this 1964 first issue is meaningfully scarcer than the better-known 1967 series. That warning label can come off: a CGC 9.8 sold for a documented $26,500 on eBay in July 2023, four times the old guide figure. Slabbed readable copies document at $89 to $250, so the spread on this book is enormous, and condition is everything.
80. Adventure Comics #260 (DC, 1959): the Silver Age origin of Aquaman
| Documented high | $26,400 for a CGC 9.4, December 2023 (Heritage Auctions) |
| Floor | Documented 2.5 to 4.0 copies bring $61 to $190 (2023-2026 sales) |
| Current market | $50 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
This is where Arthur Curry gets his name and his modern origin story. The documented record is $26,400, a 9.4 at Heritage in December 2023, on an issue most people have never heard of, which is exactly the kind of sleeper that hides in a long Adventure Comics run. Check those runs by issue number, not by cover.
One 9.4 brought $26,400; the next documented grade below it is an 8.5 at $2,500, with nothing in between. A gap with nothing in it →
81. Green Lantern #40 (DC, 1965): the origin of the Guardians
| Documented high | $3,360 for a CGC 9.6, December 2024 (Heritage Auctions); the $6,200 once attributed to a 2009 9.8 sale never carried a venue |
| Floor | Documented 2.0 to 3.5 copies bring $47 to $105 (2023-2026 sales) |
| Current market | $55 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
Krona debuts and the Guardians get their origin, making this one of the era’s important continuity books. The record has since been tested: a documented $3,360 for a 9.6 at Heritage in December 2024, while the $6,200 once attributed to a 2009 9.8 sale never carried a venue. Silver Age DC as a group weathered the post-2022 downturn better than its Marvel counterparts, which cuts in this book’s favor.
A 9.0 sold for $1,170 in January 2026 and a 9.2 sold for $735 three months later. When the lower grade wins →
82. Superboy #68 (DC, 1958): the first Bizarro
| Documented high | $31,200 for a CGC 9.2, November 2019 (Heritage Auctions) |
| Floor | Documented 2.0 to 3.5 copies bring $232 to $666 (2023-2026 sales) |
| Current market | $290 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
Bizarro’s debut is a real key with a cautionary chart attached. The book spiked on 2017 speculation and then fell hard; the guide data notes it had been a top-ten book just two years earlier, with mid grades down double digits year over year by 2019. A reported census of about 169 unrestored copies means the scarcity is genuine even if the hype wasn’t. Price a copy on recent comps, not on what it touched in 2017.
One 9.2 made $31,200 in 2019, and nothing above 8.0 has come to public sale since. The first Bizarro’s strange ladder →
83. Archie’s Girls Betty and Veronica #40 (Archie, 1959): the Archie sleeper
| Documented high | $6,000 for a CGC 8.0, November 2022 (eBay) |
| Floor | Documented 3.0 to 4.0 copies bring $365 to $375 (2023-2025 sales) |
| Current market | $115 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
The highest dated sale I found for any Archie-published book in the entire Silver Age slice, and it isn’t a superhero or even Sabrina, it’s a classic Betty and Veronica issue. The sale documents fully now: $6,000 for a CGC 8.0 on eBay in November 2022. What it tells you regardless: high-grade humor books from the fifties are far scarcer than the keys everyone chases, and the market has noticed.
84. Hawkman #1 (DC, 1964): Hawkman’s own title
| Documented high | $5,995 for a CGC 9.4, March 2022 (eBay) |
| Floor | Documented 2.5 to 3.5 copies bring $49 to $210 (2023-2026 sales) |
| Current market | $142 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
Hawkman needed two Brave and the Bold tryouts before DC finally gave him this title. That old figure was indeed a floor on the truth: the documented record is $5,995, for a 9.4 on eBay in March 2022. A first solo issue on a Silver Age DC hero is never a hard book to find a home for.
A single CGC 8.5 has sold for $239 and for $1,700, three years apart. Why nobody can quote this book →
85. Marvel Super-Heroes #13 (Marvel, 1968): the first Carol Danvers
| Documented high | $3,849 for a CGC 9.6, February 2025 (eBay) |
| Floor | Documented 2.0 to 3.5 copies bring $35 to $135 (2023-2025 sales) |
| Current market | $38 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
Carol Danvers walks on as an Air Force officer here, years before she puts on any costume, and this book is the honest cautionary tale of the list. It ran up hard on Captain Marvel movie hype and then collapsed, and the guide that tracks it now dismisses its old movie-era peak as pure fantasy. Today it is a modest key, so if someone quotes you a five-figure value for one, they are reading an old article.
One half-grade step divides a four-figure comic from a three-figure one, and most copies fall on the cheap side. The first Carol Danvers, priced →
86. Betty and Me #16 (Archie, 1968): the romance key that got hot
| Documented high | $3,660 for a CGC 9.2, July 2026 (Heritage Auctions) |
| Floor | Documented 3.0 to 4.5 copies bring $104 to $399 (2023-2026 sales) |
| Current market | $85 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
One of the Archie romance issues that collectors suddenly decided they had to have, and the prices followed. The sale pins down fully now: a documented $3,660 for a CGC 9.2 at Heritage in July 2026. The 9.2-to-7.5 spread inside one July 2024 Heritage sale, $3,360 down to $660, is the useful part: this is a book where a grade and a half is the difference between real money and lunch money.
An Archie comic that has made $3,660 in CGC 9.2, which nothing else the publisher printed comes near. Why this one →
87. Archie’s Madhouse #22 (Archie, 1962): the first Sabrina
| Reported record | $3,300 (price guide, undated) |
| Floor | Dated mid-grade comps: a CGC 4.5 brought $1,260 in March 2022, a CGC 3.0 brought $592 in January 2022 |
| Current market | $251 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
Sabrina the Teenage Witch debuts here, which makes this the strongest media-driven Archie key of the era, and the streaming show poured gasoline on it. The headline record is undated guide data, but the dated mid-grade sales do the convincing for me: that 4.5 nearly doubled from $650 in 2021 to $1,260 a year later. When a beat-up 3.0 clears almost $600, the demand is real all the way down the grading scale.
88. Magnus, Robot Fighter #1 (Gold Key, 1963): Russ Manning’s robot smasher
| Documented high | $3,275 for a CGC 9.0, 2018 (ComicLink) |
| Floor | Low-grade copies are two-figure books |
| Current market | $86 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
The flagship original Gold Key hero, with Russ Manning art that still looks better than most of what the big two were printing in 1963. An undated report puts the record slightly higher at $3,600, but I quote the sale I can date. Worth knowing: I found no public sale of a 9.6 or 9.8, so the true ceiling for a top-census copy is untested, while the everyday reality is that worn copies bring tens of dollars, not thousands.
Rising in every lane with more than one recent sale, while nearly everything else here retreats. Up in every lane →
89. Action Comics #254 (DC, 1959): the first adult Bizarro
| Documented high | $2,928 for a CGC 9.2, July 2026 (Heritage Auctions) |
| Floor | Documented 2.5 to 4.0 copies bring $99 to $350 (2023-2026 sales) |
| Current market | $99 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
The adult Bizarro meets Superman here, a year after the Superboy #68 original. It’s the cheaper of the two Bizarro keys by a wide margin, with a documented record of $2,928, a 9.2 at Heritage in July 2026, over readable copies in the low hundreds. If the character ever lands a major screen role, this pairing is where the money would move first; until then it’s an affordable piece of Superman history.
90. Creepy #1 (Warren, 1964): Frazetta’s last full comic story
| Documented high | $2,990 for a CGC 9.6, 2005 (Heritage); a stale record, and the same grade brought $2,500 on eBay in 2019 |
| Floor | Mid-grade copies trade in the low hundreds; no specific sale to cite this pass |
| Current market | $62 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
Warren’s first horror magazine, first Uncle Creepy, and the last full-length comic story Frank Frazetta ever drew. Like Vampirella, it’s a magazine rather than a comic, published outside the Comics Code and graded on CGC’s magazine census. Here’s the interesting wrinkle: the single 9.8 in existence has never sold publicly, so nobody actually knows what the best copy of this book is worth. Until it trades, the documented ceiling is a twenty-year-old sale just under $3,000. Warren magazines ride along in comic collections all the time. I buy those too, and the first issues matter most.
Two tenths of a grade are worth three times the money, and almost every surviving copy sits below the step. One step holds all of it →
91. Space Adventures #33 (Charlton, 1960): the first Captain Atom
| Documented high | $4,800 for a CGC 8.5, August 2025 (eBay) |
| Floor | Documented 2.5 to 4.0 copies bring $252 to $600 (2023-2026 sales) |
| Current market | $495 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
Steve Ditko’s Captain Atom debuts here, more than a year before Fantastic Four #1, and the character is the direct ancestor of Watchmen’s Dr. Manhattan. Only 117 copies sit on the CGC census, and the top-graded copies have never come to market, so the real ceiling is undocumented. The documented trajectory says the same thing: a 7.0 at $1,320 in July 2024, $1,500 for the grade the following April, and then that $4,800 CGC 8.5 in August 2025, which is the shape of a genuinely scarce book being discovered.
92. The Beatles: Complete Life Stories (Dell, 1964): the Fab Four one-shot
| Reported record | $2,630 (price guide, undated) |
| Floor | Reported minimum around $40 (price guide, undated) |
Most Dell TV and movie adaptations carry records under a thousand dollars, and plenty of sellers are disappointed to hear it. This one-shot is the exception because it stopped being a comic and became Beatles memorabilia, a market with far deeper pockets than comic collecting. Both figures are undated guide data, so treat them as scale rather than gospel, and remember Dell’s own rule applies here too: copies in poor to average shape are simply not valuable.
93. Forbidden Worlds #73 (ACG, 1958): the first Herbie Popnecker
| Documented high | $896 for a CGC 9.0, May 2012 (Heritage Auctions); the guides’ $2,500 has nothing dated behind it |
| Floor | Documented 2.0 to 5.0 copies bring $99 to $145 (2023-2025 sales) |
| Current market | $116 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
Herbie Popnecker, the fat little kid with the lollipop who is secretly the most powerful being in comics, debuts here, and Alan Moore has called him a favorite. The scarcity is what earns the ranking: only 28 copies on the entire CGC census, which is a fraction of what the famous keys show. The documented record is $896, for a 9.0 at Heritage in May 2012, and the honest statement still holds: forty-five documented sales in seventeen years means this book almost never comes up for sale. His own 1964 series is minor by comparison, with Herbie #1 reported at just $388.
94. Captain Marvel #1 (Marvel, 1968): Mar-Vell’s solo title
| Documented high | $5,500 for a CGC 9.8, February 2026 (eBay) |
| Floor | Documented 3.5 to 4.5 copies bring $45 to $92 (recent sales) |
| Current market | $43 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
A first issue, but not a first appearance, and that distinction is the whole ballgame: Mar-Vell actually debuted in Marvel Super-Heroes #12, which carries the stronger claim and the stronger prices. Sellers mix these up constantly, so check which book you are holding before pricing it. Either way, these are modest books outside strict high grade.
95. Hot Stuff, the Little Devil #1 (Harvey, 1957): the little devil’s debut
| Documented high | $3,884 for a CGC 9.0, January 2007 (Heritage Auctions) |
| Floor | Documented 2.0 to 4.0 copies bring $525 to $1,250 (2023-2026 sales) |
| Current market | $286 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
Warren Kremer’s little devil gets his first book here, one of the few Harvey number ones that falls inside the Silver Age window. When this list first went up, every figure I could find for this issue was secondhand, and I printed none of them. The assembled record now shows thirty-two documented sales, topped by a $3,884 CGC 9.0 at Heritage back in 2007, with a 7.0 bringing $1,680 as recently as October 2024. The pattern of Richie Rich #1 applies in miniature: read-to-death Harvey books are brutal to find in grade, cheap to find in tatters.
96. Captain Atom #83 (Charlton, 1966): the first Ted Kord Blue Beetle
| Documented high | $7,200 for a CGC 9.8, December 2023 (Heritage Auctions) |
| Floor | Documented CGC 8.0 sales run $264 to $501 (2025) |
| Current market | $78 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
Ted Kord, the Blue Beetle most fans actually mean, debuts here in a Ditko backup story, and DC’s later purchase of the Charlton heroes is what keeps this book relevant. The figures above were secondhand guide data when this list first went up; they are documented sales now. It’s a modest book next to the giants above it, but as Charlton keys go, only the first Captain Atom himself outranks it on this list.
The cover character is not the point: Ted Kord’s Blue Beetle debuts in a Ditko backup at the rear. The backup story is the book →
97. Superman #123 (DC, 1958): the Supergirl prototype
| Documented high | $2,600 for a CGC 8.0, June 2024 (eBay) |
| Floor | Documented 2.0 to 2.5 copies bring $150 to $270 (2025-2026 sales) |
| Current market | $112 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
A year before Kara Zor-El arrived, DC tested the idea with a magic-created “Super-Girl” in this try-out story, and reader response green-lit the real thing. As a prototype rather than a first appearance, it prices accordingly: a documented high of $2,600 against the $45,000-plus on Action #252. Collectors who want the full Supergirl story need both, which keeps a steady trickle of demand under it.
A CGC 2.5 sold for $270 and a CGC 6.0 sold for $310 in the same year. Why condition barely matters here →
Three books that closed the list unpriced
When this list first went up, these three closed it without a ranking number, because no sale I could verify existed to rank them by. That is no longer true of any of them. Two now carry full guides, linked below, and even the Fly’s thin record has been assembled, sale by sale. The lesson stands: whoever helps you sell one of these should show you the record, not read you a guide.
98. Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos #1 (Marvel, 1963): the first Nick Fury anywhere
| Documented high | $78,000 for a CGC 9.4, July 2025 (Heritage Auctions) |
| Floor | Documented complete 2.0 to 2.5 copies bring $450 to $850 (2026 sales) |
| Current market | $537 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
This is a real key, the first appearance of Nick Fury in any form, two years before he joined S.H.I.E.L.D. in Strange Tales #135, and it belongs on this list on merit. When this page first went up I refused to print a value for it, because every number in circulation traced to secondhand snippets more than a decade old, and I would rather show an empty cell than a figure I cannot check. The record has since been assembled: 163 documented sales, from a $78,000 CGC 9.4 at Heritage in July 2025 down to battered complete copies in the hundreds. If you have a copy, especially a sharp one, it is absolutely worth a call.
A 9.4 brought $78,000 and a 2.0 brought $450 six months later; the top of the ladder is doing all the work. The first Nick Fury, finally priced →
99. My Greatest Adventure #80 (DC, 1963): the first Doom Patrol
| Documented high | $5,760 for a CGC 9.0, August 2018 (Heritage Auctions); the same grade brought $2,684 in July 2026 |
| Floor | Documented readable 3.0 to 5.0 copies bring $295 to $600 (2025-2026 sales) |
| Current market | $226 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
Here’s the one that surprises people: the Doom Patrol beat X-Men #1 to print by about seven weeks with a strikingly similar premise, a band of outcast misfits led by a wheelchair-using genius. When this page first went up I could not find a documented sale from any source I trust; the record has since been assembled, and it runs to 196 sales going back to 2003. It tells a clean story: a CGC 9.0 that peaked at $5,760 while the Doom Patrol television series was on the air, back at $2,684 this July, over a mid-grade market that barely moved in either direction.
Twenty-three years of sales show a comic that doubled on a television series and gave most of it back. The whole cycle, documented →
100. Adventures of the Fly #1 (Archie, 1959): Simon and Kirby’s return
| Documented high | $545 for a CGC 5.0, April 2025 (eBay); a 7.0 brought $504 at Heritage in March 2024 |
| Floor | Documented 2.0 to 3.5 copies bring $82 to $266 (2023-2026 sales) |
| Current market | $64 average for raw, ungraded copies; graded copies bring more (PriceCharting eBay-sold index, August 2026) |
Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, the team that created Captain America, came back to comics with this book, which makes it the top Archie superhero key by any measure. When this list first went up I could not find a single documented public sale, and said so. The record since assembled runs to forty-five documented sales, and it is humbler than the book’s pedigree: a 7.0 at $504, a 5.0 at $545, readable copies from $82 to $266. If you own one, the thinness of that record still works in your favor at a negotiating table, and I’d genuinely like to see the book.
The reprint trap that fools Silver Age sellers
Four of the biggest books on this list were reprinted in 1966 as inserts in the Golden Record Comic Set: Fantastic Four #1, Amazing Spider-Man #1, Journey into Mystery #83, and Avengers #4. The reprints look convincingly like the originals, and the price gap is brutal: a Golden Record FF #1 in 9.0 recently sold for $690 while an original 9.0 brought $231,800. The tell is the cover price box: the Golden Record reprints have none. Check the ads too, because the reprints carry Golden Records LP advertising on the back and inside covers where an original has period ads; an original FF #1 has the Albert Dorne ad on the back. UK copies with pence prices are genuine originals but price differently. If you are unsure which you own, that identification is exactly the kind of thing I sort out before any number gets discussed.
What a beaten copy is really worth
The copies that come out of Southern California garages are not 9.6s, and on the big keys that is fine. Documented low-grade sales through August 2026: Amazing Fantasy #15 brings roughly $22,000 to $28,500 in 2.0 to 3.0. Hulk #1 runs $13,000 to $14,000 in the same range. X-Men #1 brings $5,000 to $6,000, Fantastic Four #1 about $5,300 to $7,000, and Amazing Spider-Man #1 $5,500 to $10,000. Even half-grade copies, CGC 0.5, still bring $3,000 to $4,900 on these five books. Rusted staples, browned pages, and a rolled spine are the standard condition of sixty-year-old books, not a reason to assume yours is worthless. What actually kills value is restoration and missing pieces, in that order.
Selling Silver Age comics
Silver Age is the heart of what I buy, because it is the heart of what Southern California collections actually contain. The process is the same one the whole site runs on: photos first, an honest number with the reasoning out loud, cash, and I come to you. For the census-top grails at the top of this page, the right venue is a major auction house and I will say so to your face, and help you get there without being picked off by the first lowball that finds you.
Sixties books in the family?
Do not press them, do not tape them, do not guess. Photograph the covers where they sit, text them over, and I will tell you what is worth a closer look and what I can pay, anywhere in Southern California.
Straight answers on Silver Age books
What counts as Silver Age?
1956 through 1970. The auction houses catalog the era as 1956 to 1969, which is why a couple of books here carry 1970 cover dates right on the boundary; Green Lantern/Green Arrow #76 and Jack Kirby leaving Fantastic Four are the usual end markers. A few months either side of the line changes nothing about what your book is worth.
Prices went down since 2022. Should I wait to sell?
I will not pretend to know the future, and anyone who promises you a rebound date is selling something. What the data shows: the index for this era peaked in mid-2022, the big DC keys and true grails held their value best, and mid-tier Marvel keys took the hardest hit. The honest version of “should I wait” is that nobody rings a bell at the top, and a fair documented price today beats a hoped-for price on an unknown date. The price guide post covers how to check current sold listings yourself.
My book has rusty staples and brown pages. Ruined?
Normal, not ruined. That is what sixty years does to newsprint, and the low-grade sales in the section above show these books still bring real money rough. What you should not do is try to fix any of it; the grading guide explains why restoration turns the label purple and the price down.
Why do some prices here have dates and venues while others say “reported”?
Because they are different kinds of number and mixing them is how sellers get misled. A documented figure is a sale I can point to. A reported figure is a guide or secondhand number, often stale, and in a market that peaked in 2022 a stale number usually flatters the book. The “current market” lines are the third kind: PriceCharting averages of actual eBay sold listings for raw copies, pulled August 2026, shown only where they passed a sanity check against the documented record.
Keep going
- The 100 most valuable modern comics, for boxes from 1992 on.
- The 100 most valuable Golden Age comics, for the books of 1938 to 1955.
- The inherited collection guide, since sixties books mostly arrive by inheritance now.
- How my appraisals work and how I handle slabbed books.
- What comic shops actually pay, so you can compare offers with open eyes.
Cover images on this page are shown small, for identification, the way a price guide shows them, with the publisher credited in each caption. If you are a rights holder and want an image removed, contact me and it comes down.
