It’s time once more for Undervalued and Overlooked Comics! This time we’ll be looking at a couple sword and sorcery comics and a DC team that is often overlooked. Take a look and see what comics you just might be missing out on.

Conan Comes to Marvel

In 1970, Roy Thomas and Barry Windsor-Smith brough Robert E. Howard’s beloved pulp hero to comics with Conan the Barbarian #1. While this has been a perennial favorite, prices are down considerably in nearly all grades. Take the 9.8 grade as an example. After selling at a peak price of $14,400 in an April 2022 Heritage auction, prices plummeted to the point where a 9.8 sold in the November Heritage auction for just $4,920.

A subsequent Heritage auction saw the price rise once more to $7,500, the difference in price likely due to the white pages in the latter versus off-white to white pages in the former.

We see the same thing in the 6.5 grade. The selling price in a June 2021 fixed price sale was $650. The most recent sale? $297 in a January 8 eBay auction. As more proof, take a look at the peak price in the 3.5 grade: $279 in a December 2021 Hake’s auction. In a November 2022 eBay auction a copy in this same grade sold for $168. T

his is a classic Bronze Age comic and one that is clearly not overlooked, as evidenced by the 5,500 graded copies in the CGC census. However, prices are very low right now. While it's hard to tell where prices will go in the current economy, this is clearly a book with a price drop steep enough to warrant attention.

The Great Conan Parody

Shortly after Dave Sim created Cerebus, beginning with Cerebus the Aardvark #1, he decided that the series would last 300 issues. He was true to his word and, although the comic may have strayed quite a bit from his Conan parody origins – Prime Minister? Pope? Weird observations on literature? – Cerebus the Aardvark was, arguably, the most successful creator owned comic until Todd McFarlane’s Spawn passed its longevity mark.

Due to its rareness and the fact that the series ran for over 26 years, Cerebus the Aardvark #1 is considered one of the most important Bronze Age keys. But what about Cerebus the Aardvark #2?

There are 419 graded copies of Cerebus the Aardvark #1 in the CGC census. Recent sales in the 6.5 grade, while down a bit, are still as much as $3,565 in the 6.5 grade.

There are only 133 graded copies of Cerebus the Aardvark #2 in the CGC census. Based on current prices, you can have an 8.5 graded copy for as little as $255, down not just from its peak of $450 but down from its 2020 value of $295. Did I mention that this issue contains a pin-up of Red Sophia, Sim’s Red Sonja parody, making it her first appearance?

All things considered, Cerebus the Aardvark #2 ranks high on the list of Bronze Age undervalued and overlooked comics.

The Quality Heroes Get Their Own Series

When DC purchased the characters of defunct publisher Quality Comics in 1956 they let most of these characters languish in obscurity. Twenty years later, they resurrected some of Quality’s most popular heroes and brought them together in Justice League of America #107 and Justice League of America #108 in a story that took place on an earth where the Nazis won World War II.

In their return in Freedom Fighters #1, Uncle Sam, Doll Man, Phantom Lady, Black Condor, the Human Bomb, and the Ray would find themselves trapped on Earth 1 and on the run from the law. I’ve brought up Justice League #107 in a past Undervalued & Overlooked Comics blog, and Freedom Fighters #1 fits even better into these categories.

There are only 218 graded copies in the CGC census, and the highest 90-day average selling prices are in the $50 to $55 dollar range. This is the type of weird intellectual property that Gunn and Safran could easily take advantage of. If they don’t, at some point someone will. For a $50 investment, it doesn’t hurt to sit and wait.

Well, that’s all we have time for this week.  Join us next week as we take a look at some undervalued and overlooked Silver Age comics.

Are there any Bronze Age comics you think are undervalued and deserve more attention?  Let us know below!

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