Guest Post: eBay's Comic Book Superhero Event

By The Inside Source
May 3, 2010

When we heard eBay was hosting something called a Comic Book Superhero Event, simply had to know more. Lucky for us, Ivanka Adam, eBay's very own Collectibles Manager, donned her cape and flew in to save the day. As a guest writer for The Inside Source, Adam penned the following article on the virtual event, an auction of highly coveted comic books and more celebrating next Friday's release of Iron Man 2, the star-studded flick featuring Robert Downey Jr. as billionaire Tony Stark and his superhero alter ego, Iron Man.—The Editors

The highly anticipated sequel to Iron Man premiers on Friday, May 7. To get into the spirit, eBay is holding a themed auction of comic books, original comic art, and other comic-related collectibles. The Comic Book Super Hero Event runs through Sunday, May 9 and features mostly rare, hard-to-find items, many of which have never before been listed on eBay. Albert Moy, a well-known dealer in the comic art industry and a long time eBay seller commented on his participation: “I’m thrilled to be included in eBay’s comics auction event. eBay is providing a great opportunity for their loyal comics fans to win rare and highly sought after items. We should see some good bidding frenzy when the auctions come to a close on May 9th.”

clockwise from top left: Don Heck Silver Age Iron Man Original "Tales of Suspense" Splash Page Art, Silver Age Iron Man # 1 (1968) CGC 9.2, John Cassaday Captain America Reborn #4 Original Cover Art, Marvel Silver Age Lot of over 2,200 books including Amazing Fantasy #15, Ed Benes Birds of Prey #1 Original Cover Art, James Jean Fables #69 Framed Painting, John Romita Jr. Marvel Age Iron Man Original Cover Art, Kick-Ass Run #1-8 Complete First Print Comic Book Set

Each item in the event is being will be offered as an auction with no reserve…yes, even the Don Heck original art, which is valued at $11,000. (For comics novices, Don Heck co-created the Iron Man character and penciled the Marvel series, The Avengers, during the 1960's Silver Age of comic books.) Items with an estimated value less than $1,000 will start at $.99 and those with an estimated value greater than $1,000 will start at $99.99. So don your skin-tight suit, grab your weapon of choice and get ready to bid!

The most buzz-worthy items in the auction include:

Did you know?

March is the best performing month for Comics each year on eBay.
Modern Age (1992-now) and Silver Age (1956-69) comics are the highest grossing sub-categories within the Comics Category.
A comic-related item is sold every 10 seconds on eBay.
The top ten most expensive comics sold on eBay since 2004 are:

The ten most expensive comics sold on eBay since 2004 are:

Batman #11 Golden Age Comic Book from 1942 (sold for $30,000 in June 2008)
Alex Raymond Original Art - Flash Gordon Comic Strip (sold for $28,100 in February 2008)
Marvel Comics #1 Golden Age Comic Book from 1939 (sold for $28,000 in September 2008)
Neal Adams Original Art – Batman #232 from 1970 (sold for $27,300 in April 2007)
Amazing Fantasy #15 Silver Age Comic Book from 1962 in near mint condition (sold for $27,123 October 2004)
Action Comics #2 Golden Age Comic Book from 1938 with white pages (sold for $27,100 July 2006)
Unrestored Superman #1 Golden Age Comic Book from 1939 (sold for $27,100 in March 2009)
Superman #1 Golden Age Comic Book from 1939 (sold for $26,100 in June 2006)
Jim Starlin Original Art – Captain Marvel #28 from 1973 (sold for $25,878 in May 2009)
Tales of Suspense #39 Silver Age Comic Book from 1963 (sold for $25,200 in August 2008)