As far as timing goes, there are some moments that just seem to fall in line with the unseen movements of the universe, and with the world seemingly all talking about Spider-Man: No Way Home, there could be no better time for his much earlier iteration to swoop in and take the crown for the biggest comic book sale in history.
The comic book debuts of some of the biggest superheroes of the last century have always been record-setters when it comes to auctioning off of classic comics, with Batman and Superman’s debut editions both having previously held the title. Now Spider-Man is the hero with the highest priced comic book sale ever recorded.
The sale by Heritage Auctions sale put up a first issue of Amazing Fantasy #15, which gave the world their first glimpse of the character that would go on to be the most iconic of all Marvel’s subsequent superheroes. The copy available was sold at the auction for a staggering $3.6 million, landing it the record as the most expensive comic book issue of all time, and one that will be quite hard to beat.
The issue in question was originally released in 1962, and this copy is one of the most pristine issues available in any collection in the world. Being graded CGC 9.6, the copy is in ac close to mint condition as you are likely to find in a near sixty year old comic book, especially when you consider that there was nothing special about Spider-Man at the time of his debut. It was only later that his popularity would soar and such comics would become more in demand. The sale sees Spider-Man take over from an issue of Action Comics #1, which debuted in 1938 and featured the first appearance of Superman. That comic sold for $3.25 million.
This is not the first copy of Amazing Fantasy #15 to have gone under the hammer recently with so much attention being on Spider-Man. In March 2020 an issue with a grading CGC 9.4 was sold for $795k, so it seems that a combination of the slight uplift in grading and the current hype around Spider-Man have definitely made a huge difference to the cost people are willing to shell out for a piece of superhero history.
“What better book to break the record than the debut of Marvel’s most beloved character, Spider-Man?” Heritage Auctions Vice President Lon Allen commented. “Amazing Fantasy No. 15 is the Action Comics No. 1 or Detective Comics No. 27 of the next generation. I’m honored to have been a part of the most important comic book sale to date. In my 20 years at Heritage, to bring the most expensive book to market has been the pinnacle of my career.”
Spider-Man: No Way Home is currently everywhere following the release of its first trailer and a number of leaked images and plot rumors that have sent Marvel fans into a spin over what and who they are actually going to see when the movie arrives in theaters on December 17th. While Marvel are being their usual tricky selves, there have been a lot of pieces of evidence pointing to the arrival of Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Men in Tom Holland’s Peter Parker’s world, along with a whole league of past villains set to return for what is set to be the biggest Spider-Man adventure seen in cinemas.