The first appearance of Spider-Man was one of the earliest superheroes with normal issues, school, work, girlfriends,  bills,  and family problems. These were things that Stan Lee wanted to write about: superheroes with human problems. Spidey was basically a normal guy with the radioactive powers of a spider. This is, as far as I am aware, one of the first relatable superheroes (FF notwithstanding). Peter Parker wasn't perfect, he made mistakes, after all, he was only a teenager.

It is the humanity of this superhero, our Spider-Man, that captured the public's imagination. He became popular because, well hell, he was us. Now 58 years after his creation this character is still going strong. What kind of return trend has this Marvel Comics headliner earned over the last two years? Can we buy a house with the value of one of his comics books? Let's unravel the Spidey speculation together...

Amazing Fantasy #15

The first appearance of Spider-Man was in 1962 the comic book was Amazing Fantasy #15.  It was written by Stan Lee with Jacky Kirby and Steve Ditko on pencils. It should be noted that Steve Ditko did the ink. This first appearance was popular and spawned an entire universe of superheroes, the Marvel Universe. Many of us grew up reading about the other superheroes, Fantastic Four, The Defenders, Doctor Strange,  and Iron Man, to name a few. Throughout all of them, that friendly neighborhood wallcrawler would make an appearance or do a team-up. The superheroes even worked together occasionally. Stan Lee liked to use "alliterative names like Peter Parker for his heroes; it was apparently a mnemonic device to keep track of all his different projects" (Source: Scifi.stackex).

 

Title Grade Last Sale Return 1-Years Return 2-Years
Amazing Fantasy
#15
3.0 (17/25 sales) $21,999 +15.7% +11.6%
9.4 $795,000 +326% (over 17 years)

 

The numbers above are actually quite impressive. In order to be consistent and achieve the best sample size, I only chose the grades with the largest number of sales. In this case over 1-year; that is 17 sales. Additionally, I tracked the 2-years which was 21 sales. In the year to year comparisons, many grades showed declines, but the ones with the largest sales seemed to also deliver positive results. It is obvious this book goes up over time. But quite often that is not in a straight line. People sell for all kinds of hardship reasons, or to reposition the portfolio of assets. Still, I think the larger sample size provides more credibility. If you go out over 20 years there is nothing but green positive returns.

2004?2005 Maserati MC12Conclusion

Selling one Amazing Fantasy #15 at grade 9.4 could have earned you $795K ($795,000). With that, you could purchase a single-family home in Honolulu, HI. Perhaps you are more of a car guy, maybe a Maserati MC12? This is priced at the 33rd most expensive car in the world and would cost $770K leaving you enough change to pay for insurance for a month.

Of course, you realize that Peter Parker probably rarely used a car in NYC. I believe there was at least one Spidermobile that was destroyed. The point of all this is the passion for the hobby, not necessarily just the money. If you are happy collecting comics and you make money then you have the best of both worlds. Please have a Spidey spectacular holiday season and stay safe.

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