Timely launched Red Raven Comics in August 1940. It sold badly enough that the title was canceled immediately and the numbering was handed to The Human Torch, which is why that book starts at issue two.
A title canceled after one issue is scarce in a way a long run never is, and this is the cleanest case of it on my list. There was never a second printing, never a reprint, and never a reason for anyone to keep it.
Two figures, a long way apart
| Grade | Result | Where and when |
|---|---|---|
| CGC 8.0 | $44,593 | ComicConnect, March 2026 |
| CGC 4.5 | $15,600 (reported) | reportedly November 2025 |
| CGC 9.2 | $24,000 (2011 guide value, not a sale) | — |
The reported 4.5 and the documented 8.0 are four months apart and nearly three times apart in money. Three and a half grade points doing that much work tells you the demand is concentrated in copies that present well.
The third line is a guide value from 2011 and I have included it only to show the problem with guide values: it puts a 9.2 below what an 8.0 actually sold for fifteen years later.
Kirby as a collecting category
The reason a one-issue title from a failed launch commands this is the signature on the cover. It is Jack Kirby’s first signed cover work, and Kirby is collected the way a handful of artists in this medium are collected.
Kirby collectors buy by creator, not by character, and that is why an unknown title carries this number. Somebody assembling Kirby chronologically needs this specific comic and there is no substitute for it — you cannot get his first signed cover anywhere else.
That produces the same dynamic as the Stan Lee text filler in Captain America Comics #3: a book whose value comes from a creator milestone rather than from anything a reader would notice. These are the issues most likely to be mispriced by somebody sorting on character names.
Selling a Red Raven Comics #1
- Do not judge it by the title. Red Raven is a forgotten character and the comic is not a forgotten comic.
- Grade matters a great deal here. The gap between the reported 4.5 and the documented 8.0 is close to threefold.
- Ignore old guide values. The 2011 figure is below a real 2026 sale at a lower grade.
- Look for the Human Torch issues alongside it. The numbering handover means the two titles travel together in collections.
Have a copy?
Send three photos: front, back, and the small print. That is all I need to tell you where your copy really sits.
Related
- Captain America Comics #1, Kirby’s most famous Timely cover.
- Daring Mystery Comics #1, another early Timely title that struggled.
- The 100 most valuable Golden Age comics, and what each one really sold for.
Cover images on this page are shown small, for identification, with the publisher credited in the caption. If you are a rights holder and want an image removed, contact me and it comes down.
