It’s time once more for Undervalued and Overlooked Comics! This time we’ll be looking at the Golden Age, with a focus on two series, one featuring a unique Golden Age superhero, and the other a team of DC heroes.

Mother Hubbard

There’s no question that there were some strange characters who showed up in comic books during the Golden Age. Every publisher was in a quest to come up with a new superhero that might actually stick with the public. Most didn’t.

One of those characters that didn’t stick but is striking in their weirdness is Mother Hubbard. While only appearing in five comics, Mother Hubbard was legendary as a bizarre sorceress who fought Nazis and other ne’er do wells.

Her first appearance came in Scoop Comics #1, published by Chesler/Dynamic in November 1941. The publisher is well known by collectors for the quality of their covers. There are only 21 graded copies of Scoops Comics #1 in the CGC census, and the highest grade is an 8.5. Unlike many Golden Age books, we actually have a couple sales this year.

The first is one of the two 8.0 graded copies selling for a slashed $1,100 on August 4. The second is a 4.5 selling for $360 in an eBay auction on February 13. The trend for an 8.0 graded copy shows a relatively flat curve in terms of present dollar value with the previous sale taking place in 2019 for $830. There have been modest gains in the 4.5 grade; the previous sale was in 2019 for $204.

It’s a little odd, I’ll admit, but I consider this an overlooked and undervalued comic that would look great in a Golden Age collection.

Leading Comics

You would be hard-pressed to find an overlooked or undervalued DC superhero series from the Golden Age. Nearly every collector knows the big ones by heart – Action Comics, Detective Comics, Adventure Comics… It’s an extensive list that contains some of the most valuable comics ever.

And then there’s Leading Comics, the most overlooked and undervalued DC Golden Age series.

Leading Comics #1 was published in January 1941 and featured Green Arrow and Speedy, the Star-Spangled Kid and Stripesy, Shining Knight, Crimson Avenger, and the Vigilante, otherwise known as the Seven Soldiers of Victory.

There are 53 copies in the CGC census and there have been no sales of graded copies this year. Sales in 2021 included a 5.5 graded copy selling for $1,678 in an eBay auction in June. The previous sale in that grade took place in October 2014 and was for $1,100.

That’s only a roughly 6% gain each year for this comic, definitely lower than what we see for first issues of most Golden Age DC series.

While the superheroes in Leading Comics would only last 14 issues – DC switched it over to a funny animal comic beginning with Leading Comics #15 - there were some great covers in the run that featured classic DC characters.

Check out Leading Comics #3, with its lighthouse motif. It’s a cool, classic Mort Meskin cover. And it’s relatively inexpensive too. A 6.5 graded copy sold in April 2021 for $552, up from its previous sale of $345, but that was all the way back in 2005. That $345 has a present-day value of $527, meaning the price has barely budged on a great-looking Golden Age book.

It can be hard to get into the Golden Age collecting game, especially if you’re looking for DC superhero comics. If you do decide that this is a collecting path you want to take, Leading Comics offers great value for characters you know about featured on some nice covers.

Next Week: Bronze Age Undervalued & Overlooked

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

Want more Undervalued and Overlooked comics?

Are there any Golden 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.