A comic book featuring Spider-Man’s first appearance could fetch up to $1 million, experts say.
“This is one of the three most iconic comics of all time,” Gareth Gaudin, a co-owner of Legends Comics in Victoria, B.C. who’s helping facilitate the sale, told CTV Vancouver Island.
The Amazing Fantasy #15, printed in 1962, is the origin story of Peter Parker, who is bitten by a radioactive spider that gives him superpowers.
The first-edition comic belongs to an anonymous Victoria, B.C. woman who purchased it 30 years ago for around $450.
Now experts say the ‘Holy Grail’ comic could sell for a whopping $1 million, attracting buyers from around the world.
“When it comes in this pristine of condition, you know you’re holding a ‘Holy Grail’ of the comic book world,” Gaudin said.
Jeffrey Dean, an auctioneer and appraiser at Kilshaws Auctioneers, told CTV Vancouver Island that the last Amazing Fantasy #15 sold for US$450,000 in 2016.
“When something like this hits the market people will start crawling out of the woodwork,” Dean said.
“$500,000 isn’t crazy. There have been copies in this condition or worse that sell for that high,” said Gaudin, who’s already received offers.
Before it goes on sale Gaudin told CTV Vancouver Island that the comic is being graded or appraised by the Certified Guaranty Company to increase its value.
Gaudin says the comic could get $1 million once it’s been graded.
The Spider-Man comic is currently on consignment at the Legends Comics shop, but there doesn’t seem to be a rush to sell it.
“If we don’t sell it in a few weeks, next year it’ll be twice the price,” said Gaudin.
With files from CTV Vancouver Island’s Scott Cunningham and Jeff Lawrence
