Captain America Comics No 1, $38,000 (£30,060) at Potter & Potter.
Published by Timely Comics, in March, 1941, Captain America Comics No 1 included the debut appearances of that character plus the Red Skull and Bucky. It featured cover art by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby.
The Chicago auction house noted that the comic is considered one of the 10 most valuable comic books today. It added: “The timing of this illustration was interesting as it appeared just months before the US would enter the Sercond World War – at a time when most comics were referring to the Nazi menace in a less explicit way.”
Estimated at $40,000-60,000 on January 11, this comic graded 5.0 dipped under estimate to hammer at $38,000 (£30,060). A Captain America No 1 in a near-perfect grade sold in April 2022 for a premium-inclusive $3.1m at Heritage Auctions, a record sum.
Potter & Potter said the sale included “many early and pedigreed [provenanced to a certain collection] issues, as well as examples that carried the highest grade ever awarded by CGC for their titles”.
The 269-lot auction had a 94% sell-through rate. It offered the ‘pre-code and golden age’ comic book collection of noted bibliophile Stephen Farber. It followed his Alice In Wonderland sale at Potter & Potter.
Another highlight was Human Torch No 2 (No 1) which sold within estimate at $24,000 (£18,990). It was published by Timely Comics in 1940 and had provenance to the well-known Recil Macon collection. This example also featured Second World War cover art, by Alex Schomburg. It contained the first appearance of Toro, one of the first mutant superheroes, along with the origins of both the Human Torch and Sub-Mariner.
