Collecting autographs from comic book artists and writers is a product stunted by lack of credibility. Put simply as the buyer how do you know the autograph is authentic? These collectible autographs are ubiquitous. I run across a signature in the $1-bin every now and again. Up until now, they weren't given their proper due. Some serious collectors consider autographs to be damage to the comic, akin to graffiti. For years there was no way to verify signatures, eventually, a company created the after the fact Sig-Verification, CBCS.
My first awareness of CBCS offering Signature Verification was recent. Verification is a professional review of the signature and confirmation by a contracted vendor for CBCS. CBCS is here to stay, they are the only real alternative choice to CGC in the comic grading business. In fact, the owner and several directors are previous employees of CGC. Though verification is not quite as good as the Signature Certification (CGC); it still increases value. This builds credibility for the signature in question. Verification of the creators signature provides a guarantee of credibility to the autographed comic. The end result is positive: buyers will spend more money. Case in point Amazing Spider-Man #328 sold in 2019 in grade 9.6 for $30 CGC vs. $324 Signature Series CGC same grade, credibility matters.
Occasionally, folks make the Certificate of Authenticity or COA, the Holy Grail of comic book autographs (it isn't). Honestly, the COA is only as good as the company offering the COA. If "Billy Joe-Bob's Comic Shop" offers a COA on a comic it isn't worth much. Why? Because "Billy Joe-Bob's Comic Shop" is essentially a small business and might not exist in a few years. Therefore, the future expectation of verification for the COA is worthless. What are some good signatures to own that have intrinsic value in the market place?
George Perez
One of the prolific artists of the 1980s and 1990s was George Perez his notable works are Crisis on Infinite Earths, Tales of the Teen Titans, and Wonder Woman, vol. 2. To my old eyes, his work is a good example of the Copper Age of comics, a time of great development on covers telling a story. George Perez did the cover work on Tales of the Teen Titans #44. This comic was the first appearance of Nightwing, and Jericho. Additionally, this comic tells the origin story of Deathstroke the Terminator.
Perez is a good place to start regarding autograph values. He is probably the cheapest to obtain some of his autographed raw comics go for around $20 online. He is still doing Comic-Con events, though I am not sure if he charges some nominal fee now.
This Tales of the Teen Titans #44 to the left is a verified CBCS signature of George Perez the artist. This comic sold on eBay for $52 in April. You would not have received even that much for this book prior to verification by CBCS.
Stan Lee
In my opinion, Stan Lee's autograph is the high-end of the comic book creator signatures. He initially charged $50 for an autographed signature at Wonder Con (2012) in Silicon Valley. Then several years later as his health was failing he started to charge upwards of $150 per signing. That price has stuck even after his death. Any book signed by Stan the Man is now going for at least $200 on average. This is signature alone without the Signature Series or Verification by CGC or CBCS. I consider Stan's autograph to be the apex of comic book autographs. Now is a great time to sell, as Stan is still appearing in movies and is part of our collective pop culture Zeitgeist. The Amazing Spider-Man #50 in the left margin has two big signatures on it both confirmed by CGC. Some lucky fan was able to purchase this Signature Series 9.2 on 5/30/13 almost six years ago. This copy sold for $5,777 in March. Excelsior!
