Welcome back to this week's top pics from Heritage's weekly Sunday through Tuesday comic book auctions! Heritage holds weekly funny book auctions which feature key issues, overlooked comics, oddball memorabilia items, and more. These auctions are a must if you want to beef up your collection! Here are my top picks for you to watch.

Captain Marvel Jr. #4

When it comes to dynamic Golden Age covers, Captain Marvel Jr. #4 is one of the best. Freddy, or Captain Marvel Jr., is standing front and center of an explosion, rockets launching around him, while his cape billows dramatically behind him. Mac Raboy created this beautiful cover, which tells us that Captain Marvel Jr. will be battling the Invisible Nazi in this issue. Going up against the Axis Powers was the norm in the Golden Age, and many heroes could be seen fighting the war in their comics.

This ungraded book is beautiful. There is obvious wear on the cover, and Heritage notes that there is glue around the spine, but the cover is still striking. This appears to be a Good, or 2.0 book -- but due to the glue, this may be a restored comic. Currently, there is only one CGC blue label 2.0 on the census with no sales data, and there is also a purple label 2.5 with no sales data. A blue label 1.8 sold for $115 in June of 2020, and given the shape, I wouldn't be surprised if this book could be had for around that same price. This is a great piece for collectors.

Mister Mystery #12 CGC Restored 1.5

As a long-time horror fan, there's one common thing I see often with body horror -- eye injuries. While many modern horror movies have done nefarious things to people's eyeballs, the cover of Mister Mystery #12 reminds me of the slow-motion eyeball stab from the 1979 Italian zombie movie, Zombi 2, by Lucio Fulci.

I recently watched the movie thanks to The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs and Darcy the Mail Girl, and this scene is as horrific as this comic cover. This colorful and detailed cover was done by Bernard Baily, who fills the cover with intensity and dread.

This CGC purple label 1.5 featured Off-White pages and has clearly been very loved. Per CGC, the restoration work includes the following:

CGC Grader Notes:
cover re-attached with glue
multiple crease cover breaks color
one half spine split top of spine
pieces out to cover
tears to cover

There are 8 copies with a purple grade on the census, but there is no sales data for any restored copy. By comparison, there are 5 blue label 1.5 copies on the census. The last time a blue label example was sold was in January of 2022 for $1,997. Purple label examples of the same book typically go for less than their blue counterpart, so for the right collector, this could be a great score.

Dazzler #1 Printing Error CGC 9.8

While Dazzler has yet to have her moment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe sun, she's still a really cool character with a lot of potential. Bob Larkin's painted cover is dazzling, with bright colors against a beautiful black background. This copy also has appearances by Spider-Man, the X-Men, the Avengers, and Enchantress.

While a first issue is special in its own right, this copy is also a printing error issue. On pages 24 and 25 the pages (ad pages) were printed without color. Printing error books have a dedicated fanbase all their own, so if you like printing error books, this book is perfect.

This CGC blue label 9.8 has White pages and looks like it was plucked from the newsstand. The one-year average on similarly graded examples is $189, making this an affordable key with a niche to it. While prices likely won't skyrocket for this book anytime soon, this is still a great book to collect and hang on to.

*Any perceived investment advice is that of the freelance blogger and does not represent advice on behalf of GoCollect.