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Often times, a person with vintage comics, or an old comic book collection has no idea of their value. The comic books may have been inherited, or, found in an attic, stored away for many years. What the person really wants to know if whether or not they have collectible rare comic books.

To determine if you have collectible comics, there are three general guidelines. Those are age, desirability and condition.

Old Comic Books

The first rule is to determine how old are the comic books in your collection. Generally, the older your comics, the more collectible the comic book may be. Though not always true, this is a good general guideline. For example, a Golden Age comic book, or a comic from the Silver Age is probably more collectible than a comic from the last 10 years.

There are exceptions. For example, a copy of The Walking Dead #1 is currently more collectible than most Secret Hearts #3 from the late Golden Age.

Desirability

The next rule is how desirable the comic is. Higher means the comic is more collectible and probably has a higher value as well. For example, superhero comic books are currently more desirable western comics. However, there was a period in the 1950’s where western comics were considered more collectible. Detective Comics #27, the very first appearance of Batman, is more collectible than Famous Funnies #1, the first comic book.

Comic Book Condition

The final piece to determine how collectible your old comic book is, is its condition. It is possible for some rare early comic books to be in excellent condition. In that case, it is worth more than the same comic book in a poor condition. In comic book collecting, condition has several levels. A future article will review all those levels.

So, there you have it, the general rules for determining how collectible your rare, and not so rare, comic books are.

The first detailed origin of Batman was in the Golden Age. The comic was Batman #47 and featured a young Bruce Wayne on the cover mourning the death of his parents. This comic was published in 1948, about 8 years after Batman first appeared in Detective Comics 27.

The origin story was written by Bill Finger, who wrote most of the great golden age Batman stories. The cover and interior pencil art is attributed to Batman’s creator, Bob Kane. Inks by Charles Paris.

Originally priced at 10 cents, Batman 47 now has a value of thousands of dollars in high grade. Even mid-grades of this comic are valuable at well over a couple of thousand dollars.

Iron Fist #14, was published by Marvel Comics in 1977. Iron Fist would end with the last issue, making it a classic Bronze Age short run. However, most notable for this series was this 14th issue, which was newstand priced at 30 cents (or 35 cents, depending on which version you picked up).

This issue is most noted as the first appearance of Sabretooth, a key villain in the Marvel Universe. Actually, Sabretooth is a key villain of Wolverine. So, although the series was short lived, Iron Fist remains highly valued due to this first appearance. Although Iron Fist wins in the end, he does get a good beating by Sabretooth, making for a good read.

This issue was written by Chris Claremont and pencilled by John Byrne. The comic is readily available in most grades, and, considering the cost of Wolverine’s first appearance in Hulk 181, this is very much affordable.

In the Fantastic Four #10, Doctor Doom returns to plague the Fantastic Four. This issue is a milestone comic book in the Marvel Universe. It is the first time that Stan Lee and Jack Kirby appear on the cover (and inside panels) of a Marvel comic book.

This issue, titled “The Return of Doctor Doom” was published in January, 1963. The story is by Stan Lee and pencilled by Jack Kirby. Inked by Dick Ayers.

In the story, Dr. Doom uses Stan Lee and Jack Kirby to trick the FF. As a result, he is able to switch bodies with Reed. Stan and Jack appear in the story on a number of pages, but not with a direct view of their faces.

Early Fantastic Four comics are very valuable, but hard to price. They are readily available on most major comic book dealer websites, but are typically lower grade. Therefore, the price is somewhat reduced.

A major key of the comic book universe is Flash #123, published by DC in 1961. This issue was titled “Flash of Two Worlds” and featured the re-appearance of the Golden Age Flash, Jay Garrick and the first mention of Earth-2.

The story was written by Gardner Fox, illustrated by Carmine Infantino and inked by Joe Giella. In the story, Barry Allen, in his alter-ego of the Flash, is demonstrating his superspeed when he vibrates his molecules at a unique frequency. The result, Flash is transported to Keystone City on Earth-2.

The concept of Earth-2 allowed DC to resurrect many of their Golden Age comic book characters into the Silver Age. The stories continued into the 1980’s when DC consolidated their universe with Infinite Crisis.

Flash 123 remains a very popular comic today. Many comic book collectors consider it under-valued, but prices seem to be stable, ranging from less than $100 for a low grade copy to several thousand for high grade.

Happy Halloween. In honor of today, ComicSeeker proudly displays a classic bronze age horror/suspense comic book cover from DC. This is Secrets of Haunted House, published in 1975. Art is by Luis Dominguez.

Arguably, one of the greatest Amazing Spider-Man covers is #50 and the story titled “Spider-Man No More”. This issue features a large image of Spider-Man on the mostly all red cover. Peter Parker is walking away from the spidey image with his head down.

This issue has the first appearance of one of Marvel’s greatest villains, Kingpin. The story was written by Stan Lee and illustrated by John Romita Sr. Inks were done by Mickey Demeo. The 12 cent issue was on the newstands July of 1967.

The story is just as great as the cover. Although it is the beginning of an arc, there are many aspects that Stan Lee put into this story that are classic Spider-Man. Peter Parker dealing with school, Aunt May getting sick and J. Jonah putting a price on Spider-Man. Although Kingpin doesn’t appear until halfway through this issue, there is plenty of spider swinging action.

Amazing Spider-Man 50 is a classic of the Silver Age of comics. The current value for this issue is fairly high, but reprints are affordably priced and easily available.

Recently, there has been some confusion about the first appearance of Iron Man. It is understandable. He appeared in several different comics before Tony Stark appeared in Iron Man #1.

The first appearance of Iron Man, in a grey suit, was in Tales of Suspense 39. This classic issue was written by Stan Lee. In addition, Iron Man appeared in the one-shot of Iron Man Sub-Mariner #1 before Iron Man 1.

What I love about ComicSeeker.com is that the entire world of comic books is available to you from one website. To find your old comic book, you simply enter it into our search box above and view your results.

However, once in a while I get questions about how to find old comic books out in the real world. Can you find a Fantastic Four 48 at a yard sale? Or, what about Giant Size X-Men 1 at a flea market? Chances are you can find these comics anywhere. Unfortunately, the likelihood is somewhat low.

For years, I used to stop at every garage and yard sale hoping for a golden age comic or my favorite, a Showcase 4, the first appearance of the Flash. It never happened.

I would say that my best find was a stack of old Archie comics. Not bad at 10 cents each, but certainly nothing to add to my collection.

So, where can you look in the real world to find vintage and rare comics, besides a garage sale. Well, flea markets are one place to try. Another place are fund raiser sales, like at churchs or charity events. Also, check the classified ads in your local newspaper, you never know what will turn up there. For something old, you can try an estate sale.

Your comic book search in the real world will usually result in very little. But, once in a long while, just maybe, you might be the person to find a Detective 27. Good luck.