CGC-graded Superman and Batman Grails Offered in Goldin Sale
Posted on 4/18/2023
Comic books with the first appearance of Batman and the origin of Superman, which are both graded by Certified Guaranty Company® (CGC®), are among the early Marvel and DC Comics available in the Goldin 100 Auction. Bidding opens on May 12 for the extraordinary sale, which will be held June 14, 2023.
Among the highlights of this auction is a Superman
#1 graded CGC 7.0 (lot 1) with a starting price of $500,000. This comic was
published by DC Comics in 1939 after the immediate success of Superman in Action
Comics #1 (an example of which is also found in this auction). Superman #1 is
notable for being the first comic book devoted to (and named after) a single
hero. DC followed this practice in 1940 with Batman #1, who debuted in Detective
Comics.
And speaking of that, the auction also features a
Detective
Comics #27 graded CGC 6.5 (lot 8) with a starting price of $400,000, which
includes the first appearance of Batman in 1939. The character was created to
capitalize on the enormous success of Superman, and early designs by Bob Kane
showed him wearing a bright red spandex costume and a domino mask. Bill Finger
redesigned the character as we know him today, giving him his dark costume and
horned cowl. Batman was another massive success for DC Comics, and he was given
his own series in 1940.
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Other CGC-graded comics in this auction include:
- an Action Comics #1 graded CGC 3.0 (lot 9) with a starting price of $250,000
- an Amazing Fantasy #15 graded CGC 7.5 (lot 21) with a starting price of $40,000
- an X-Men #1 graded CGC 9.2 (lot 22) with a starting price of $40,000
- a Pep Comics #22 graded CGC 6.5 (lot 23) with a starting price of $20,000
Also offered in this auction is a Black Lotus, Magic: The Gathering (1993) Beta Artist Proof graded CGC 8.5, with subgrades of 8.5 for Centering, 9 for Surface, 8 for Corners and 9.5 for Edges (lot 6). It has a starting price of $100,000.
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Black Lotus is one of the most coveted Magic: The Gathering cards in existence. It is one of the Power 9 — a set of nine early Magic cards that gave players such an advantage in play that they were later banned from all formats. Out of those nine cards, Black Lotus is the most sought-after by collectors for its beauty and rarity.
The Beta set, much like Alpha, sold out incredibly quickly, with a print run just three times the size of Alpha. This equated to roughly 3,300 copies of each rare card being printed, including the Black Lotus. Locating high-grade examples of any Beta rare is a daunting task with the cards now being three decades old. Attrition is another important factor in the quality of those remaining as well. Very useful cards in gameplay, including the Black Lotus, were used frequently in decks during a time where sleeving the cards was not practiced.
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