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collecting activity that most stu
dents left behind with their third
grade haircuts, but one that can
mean big bucks these days.
Your bank account may show
practically nothing, but if you have a
copy of the first Superman comic
book you are worth $4,200, accord
ing to the 1980 Comic Book Price
Guide.
And what is enough to make the
man of steel feel like tin, the first
comic book to actually bear his
name is not even close to what a
Marvel Comic No.1 is worth. That
sum is a tidy $12,000.
Though big cities are the place to
get really old comics, Heiligmann
says, comic collecting can be done
in Bryan-College Station on a li
mited scale. Besides the racks at
corner convenience stores, Bobbi’s
Books, 3527 Texas Ave. in Bryan,
stocks all the current comic maga
zines and some back issues.
Owner Bobbi Garner said her
store has comic books dating as far
back as the 1960s.
Garner said her sales of comic
books are pretty brisk. Most cus
tomers buy new ones, but it “runs in
cycles,” she said. Sales of old com
ics will be very slow for as long as a
month, then someone will come in
and buy an armload, Garner said.
Garner said the ages of custom
ers interested in comics is split fairly
evenly between youngsters and
college-age buyers. The kids prob
ably buy more, she said, perhaps
because they don’t have as many.
Pamela Rutt, a spokesman for
Marvel Comics in New York, said
Marvel sells 6 million comic books a
month to readers in the 6-17 age
group.
With pass-along readership,
Marvel has an audience of over 17
million in this age group alone, she
said. They have no figures on older
readers, but she said the number is
considerable.
Jack Harris, a spokesman for
D.C. Comics, the second of the 'big
two’ comic publishers, was not able
to give sales figures for his com
pany. Harris did say that sales fluc
tuate so often that any sales figures
given would be misleading.
Local collectors interested in
obtaining really old Marvel or D.C.
comics, or any other line for that
matter, need to go to the big cities,
Heiligmann said.
He named in particular Books
Unlimited of San Antonio, the Pi
rate’s Den in Austin, Lone Star
Books in Arlington and Camelot in
Houston.
Heiligmann said AggieCon, the
science fiction convention held on
the Texas A&M University campus
each spring, brings some of these
dealers and others. He reported
that every dealer at the convention
last year claimed to make money.
A dealer may bring as many as
10,000 comic books, Heiligmann,
who is head of the dealer’s room
and secretary for AggieCon next
year, said.
So-called ‘Silver Age’ comics are
experiencing the fastest rise in
popularity among collectors.
Though not as expensive as the
‘Golden Age’ comics such as the
first Superman and Marvel, Silver
Age Comics are rising the quickest
in price, according to the 1980
Comic Book Price Guide.
Siver Age dates back to the late
50s or early 60s and includes com
ics like Spiderman, The Fantastic
Four, and the X-Men. Both Heilig
mann and Graham named the X-
Men as particular favorites of theirs.
A spokesman for Camelot in
Houston said the X-Men are the
hottest items for collectors. Though
back issues cost at least a bit more
than the newsstand price of 50
cents for current issues, both old
and new comics are potential gold
mines.
As listed in the Comic Price
Guide, there are many hundreds of
comic books that are already worth
1,000 times their original price. And
there are other comics such as Ac
tion No.1, Whiz Comics No.1 and
Motion Picture Funnies Weekly that
all list for over $5,000.
Doug Dodson, though, takes this
attitude: “The thought of a return
one day is nice, but I buy comic
books because I like to read them.
The investment is secondary.”
But maybe 40 years from now his
grandchildren won’t agree. Espe
cially if they are able to get their
hands on the comic books he buys
today.
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