detective comics

Comic Bought For 10¢ Sells For Over $492,000

Filed under: Auctions

We've seen a couple copies of Detective Comics #27, the first appearance of Batman, fetch big prices at auction but they usually go through the hands of several collectors before the big payday. Not this one. Sacramento, California resident Robert Irwin, 84, bought his copy of the first appearance of Batman for the cover price, 10 cents, back in 1939 when he was 13 years old. The comic book sold at Heritage Auctions in Dallas, Texas on November 18, 2010 for $492,937. The price exceeded pre-auction estimates by 20%. When the bidding ended Irwin joked, "I wish that I had one more book." The copy was purchased in a telephone bid by a buyer who wishes to remain anonymous.

Irwin discovered the comic book was still in his possession six years ago and turned down a $100,000 offer for it from a collector. It's the only comic book he kept from his youth. The winning bid, $492,937.50, includes the 19.5 percent buyer's premium paid by all winning bidders in the auction.

Tags: batman, comic book, comic book collecting, comic books, detective comics, Detective Comics 27

Another Rare Batman Comic Up For Auction

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Auctions

Lately it seems like rare comic books might just be the best investment of all. A Batman comic bought for $1,200 could sell for over $400,000 in an August 5-7 auction at Heritage Auction Galleries. The CGC Certified VF-7.5 Detective #27 was bought by college student in Hawaii in 1974 at a bookstore. He later tracked down the woman who had sold the comic to the bookstore and found out that she had bought it off a local newsstand in 1939, before Hawaii was even a state. The comic book is in an unrestored condition and has had just these two owners.

Earlier this year, Heritage sold another comic book documenting Batman's first appearance for $1,075,000. That blockbuster price brought forward the anonymous consignor of this most recent version. He plans to use the proceeds to help pay for his son's college education. "We think this could become just the second comic to top $400,000 at auction," said Ed Jaster, Vice President of Heritage Auctions.

Tags: batman comic, comic book, comic book collecting, comic books, detective comics, rare comic, rare comic books