The auction opened with the current king of the Silver Age Amazing Fantasy #15, the first appearance of your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, Peter Parker. The book was a respectable CGC 5.5 copy with cream to off-white pages and estimated $50,000 to $80,000. It brought $87,500 all-in just cracking the high estimate. The top seller of the day though was Fantastic Four #1, a book that I feel will eventually out pace Amazing Fantasy #15 in the market. The book was a CGC 8.0 copy with off-white pages with the last example having sold for $60,000 in December 2019. Most recently a CGC 8.5 copy had sold for $132,000 in April 2021. Our copy half a point lower brought $150,000, truly an incredible result showing the strength of the market and the growing collector’s belief in tangibles as an asset class. While the Fantastic Four #1 was incredible, my favorite firework of the sale was the final lot Werewolf By Night #1. The important note is that this is not a first appearance or even a second, it’s technically his fourth but his first solo title. More importantly it was one of only three copies in 9.8 and being a 1972 Bronze Age book it’s not like too many more could pop out of a yard box. The comic shattered its high estimate of $8,000 selling for $52,250. Absolutely incredible, thirty-seven times greater than its previous sale when originally purchased in 2007.
These where just three highlights as every comic could have been a highlight. It was a truly a remarkable collection that we were honored to handle. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was another five to ten years before similar examples are sold of some of these titles. While it may not be a white glove sale, Bruneau & Co. will be back in the comic action on January 26th with an online only followed by a Saturday cataloged sale February 26th. For more information feel free to reach us at the gallery.
