ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, March 29, 1996 TAG: 9603290046
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: EXTRA EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LINDA SHRIEVES ORLANDO SENTINEL
Say the low interest rates have gotten you down? CDs not earning what you'd hoped? Or you're just bored watching the stock market?
Never fear, comic books are here.
``Last year was a great year for old comics,'' said Robert Overstreet, author of the ``Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide'' (Gemstone, $17) and an industry-watcher for more than 25 years. ``The value of old comics increased tremendously. There were so many sales records set across the board - for comics from the '30s, '40s and '50s.''
Consider these prices. An Action Comics No. 1 from 1938, the book that introduced Superman, sold for $75,000 last year - up from $15,000 in 1990.
Check out the first issue of The Amazing Spider-Man, printed in 1963 and sold for 20 cents. Today, in near-mint condition, it can bring $15,500.
Sound fantastic? Want to jump in?
Hold on, bucko. Investing in comic books is not for the faint of heart. It requires nerves of steel, a rocket scientist's knowledge of the field and, in some cases, superhuman psychic abilities.
And if you want to collect the really valuable comic books - those from the so-called Golden Age years of the 1930s and '40s - you'd better have one more thing: deep pockets.
The Golden Age heralded the first appearance of the superhero - which started when Superman made his debut in 1938. The popularity of superheroes continued through the early 1940s, but nose-dived in the late '40s. Superheroes disappeared in the 1950s, giving way to horror comics, detective comics, western comics and even romantic comics.
But the superheroes made a resurgence in the early 1960s - and the period from the 1960s until 1970 is known as the Silver Age. That's when such modern superheroes as Spider-Man and the X-Men came to life.
In the world of comic-book collecting, nothing is hotter than Golden and Silver Age comic books. At comic-book conventions, most of the comic books on display are vintage books from the '30s through the '60s.
Generally, Golden Age comics are the most expensive comics - primarily because they are scarce. During World War II, Americans turned in their scrap paper for paper drives. So most American kids did their patriotic duty - and destroyed a lot of the 1930s and early 1940s comic books.
For that reason, there may be fewer than 100 copies of a particular issue in existence from that era. And that's why collectors pay astronomical prices for them - more often at auction houses or conventions than through your local comic book shop.
Take Detective Comics No. 27. It features the first appearance of Batman, and there are only 150 copies of the book left. Last year a collector forked over $68,500 for that issue.
Age alone doesn't make a comic book valuable, however. Most run-of-the-mill comics are worth little even if they're old. Collectors look for firsts: The first issue of a new comic book is usually bankable, as are issues that introduce a new character.
For instance, in 1974, in issue No. 129 of The Amazing Spider-Man, a villain named the Punisher makes his debut. That issue is worth about $275 in near-mint condition. But issues 128 and 130 are worth only $13 to $22.
The book's condition is also crucial, because the difference between near-mint and good condition may be 10 times the value.
Comic books are rated in eight grades, from mint to poor. But decades ago comic books weren't stuffed in plastic bags for posterity. Instead, the original owner may have stuffed it in his back pocket, thumbed through it a dozen times and then passed it on to a friend.
That's why most price guides don't list ``mint condition'' prices. Instead, prices start at near-mint and work their way down.
Collectors usually won't buy a book that's in poor condition (torn and possibly missing pages) and most would balk at a book in fair condition (very heavily read and soiled, but still complete). But if a comic book is very rare, collectors are more forgiving.
That's certainly the case for Action Comics No. 1, the 1938 book that includes the first appearance of Superman. One of the most sought-after comics of all time, even tattered copies can bring big bucks.
Terry Baucom, owner of B&D comics on Roanoke's Elm Avenue, said her store sold "a nice copy" of Action Comics No. 1 several years ago for $30,000. The book has gone way up in value since then.
Bill Ponseti of New Orleans has one beat-up copy that he claims he has been offered $50,000 for. Why the high offer? ``Because there are only 75 or 80 copies around,'' Ponseti said. ``And most of them aren't for sale.''
Peter Hoefling Jr., owner of Star City Comics on Williamson Road in Roanoke, said he sold good copies of the Fantastic Four No. 1 and Amazing Fantasy No. 15 (which included the first appearance of Spider-Man) last year for between one and two thousand dollars.
Rarity isn't the only factor that makes a comic book valuable, of course. Nostalgia fuels the vintage comic-book trade - and that's why characters count.
``A Superman comic from the Golden Age is infinitely more desirable than a Little Orphan Annie,'' said Vince Oliva, a comic book dealer from Spring Hill, Fla. ``They're both old, but while Little Orphan Annie sells for a couple of hundred dollars, a Superman book from that era can go for thousands of dollars.''
What should count the most, Hoefling said, is the story.
"When you buy comics, you should buy something you enjoy reading," he said. "That way if the value goes up, you get a bonus. If not, at least you get a good story."
The newer Sandman comics, for instance, may increase in value now that writer Neil Gaiman has penned the series' conclusion. But the reason people liked the high-brow, mythological series in the first place was because it was such a good read.
The X Files, another newer comic, has sold well, too, also for the story.
Already, Baucom said, the first comic in the year-old series is valued at $50.
Readers' favorites at The Dusty Corner Bookstores in Roanoke and Salem include the Sandman series, as well as the X-men and Batman.
Many customers come in looking for first issues for their collections, said Tracy Wilson, who works in the Brambleton Avenue shop. "Or else they're looking for the one thing that'll finish it up."
For those looking for investments as well as good stories, horror comics of the 1950s are good buys at $20 to $50, Overstreet said.
Same with some of the '60s books based on the popular TV shows of that era, including ``I Dream of Jeannie,'' ``The Flintstones'' and ``Dark Shadows.''
And don't count out comics from the 1970s, which are currently considered valueless. ``I think there are a lot of sleepers from the '70s that will suddenly become popular,'' Overstreet said.
LENGTH: Long : 122 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: KNIGHT/RIDDER-TRIBUNE. Comic-book dealer Vincent Zurzoloby CNBholds up a first-edition Superman, worth about $13,000 at an
Orlando, Fla., comic
convention. color.