Spider-Man’s First Appearance Comic Swings High

Amazing Fantasy #15 featured the first appearance of Spider-Man, pedigree enough to swing it to $228,000. Here, Ditko strayed far from superhero conventions, replacing stalky heroes with unassuming protagonists like Peter Parker, Spider-Man’s alter ego.

Review by W.A. Demers

BERKELEY, CALIF. — Amazing Fantasy #15 featuring the first appearance of Spider-Man vaulted to $228,000, going to a Virginia collector, at PBA Galleries’ Halloween event on October 31, Strange Tales: The Steve Ditko Sale. It offered 100 lots of signature comic books, many of which were from the personal collection of the enigmatic and idiosyncratic comic artist of the Silver Age, as well as handwritten letters, original art and ephemera. Amazing Fantasy #15 was a watershed moment in which Ditko strayed far from superhero conventions, replacing stalky heroes with what catalog notes portrayed as “rail-thin, squinting malcontents, placing the protagonist, Peter Parker [Spider-Man’s alter ego], in a constellation of sneers, jabbing fingers and angry eyebrows.”

The sale totaled $313,725 and achieved a sell-through rate of 95 percent, according to Ivan Briggs, specialist at PBA Galleries.

Ironically, the first Spider-Man comic in which the superhero got proprietary billing, Marvel’s Amazing Spider-Man #1, did not reach its high estimate, posting just $11,875. It may have been due to condition issues of the March 1963 comic, which the Certified Guaranty Company (CGC) certified “Fine” (5.5).

Amazing Spider-Man #1 by Marvel, in which the Spidey saga started, did not reach its high estimate, posting $11,875.

Original artwork proved desirable with two Ditko originals bringing within-estimate results. His “Leap-Frog” from Strange Tales #104 (1962), sold for $5,625. In pencil and ink on Bristol board with an image area of 12½ by 18½ inches, the artwork was in very fine condition. Catalog notes pointed out that Ditko’s “Leap-Frog” is “one of the artist’s most bizarre yarns of the early Silver Age.” Grand Comics Database is quoted in the auction catalog: “An evil king is turned into a frog by a sorcerer. He hibernates for centuries hoping that the future will hold a cure, but Halloween costumes make him think that humans are now giant frogs and he goes to sleep forever.”

Original art for page 3 of Strange Tales #104 also performed to expectations, bringing $5,000. The sorcerer here, Ozaan the Magician, is likened to a later Marvel character, Doctor Strange.

Improbably desirable was Ditko’s Harvey Award plaque from 1989 “In Recognition of Outstanding Achievement,” which (according to legend) he rejected. Estimated $500/800, it outperformed at $4,688. The wooden plaque with a mounted brass plate was engraved with an illustration of Harvey Kurtzman, American cartoonist and editor known for writing and editing MAD magazine from 1952 until 1956. The plaque was awarded to Ditko in absentia at the Dallas Fantasy Fair in 1989. The lot’s consignor told PBA catalogers, “Ditko didn’t show up to the Dallas Fantasy Fair in ‘89, of course, so his Harvey Award was given to another creator to hand off to Ditko in New York City. That guy then handed it off to another creator who brought it to Ditko and put it in his hands. Ditko said, ‘Just take it away, I don’t want it.’ So, he took it home and he’s had it ever since.”

Amazing Spider-Man #14, July 1964, was a milestone issue in which Spider-Man’s arch-nemesis, the Green Goblin, appeared for the first time. It garnered $4,063.

The first time Spider-Man’s arch-nemesis the Green Goblin appeared was in Amazing Spider-Man #14, July 1964. The CGC-graded 7.0 comic, which settled at $4,063, had some light wear, spine breaks and some creasing. It did better, however, than a similarly rated copy in August of this year that brought $3,000.

WHA..!? #1 in 1975 was Ditko’s attempt to create a comedy mag but it laid an egg with the public. This copy, signed by Ditko, graded 6.5 by CGC, was estimated $600/900 but did much better, finishing at $4,063, maybe because it was one of possibly only a few of CGC-certified Ditko-signed comics. In the notes, Ditko’s publisher, Bruce Herschenson, tells of the doomed high hopes he had for this one-off cracked-slash-crazy contender: “Steve gave me the material directly as a done book… I printed like 10,000… I only sold a couple thousand of them.” Hershenson said that, although he “was so in awe of [Ditko],” the artist’s putative fans weren’t feeling the vibe…”

Strange Tales #126, graded 5.0 by CGC, from the Ditko collection rose to $2,250 from a $300/500 estimate. The November 1964 issue was CGC-certified as Steve Ditko’s personal copy, and sold with a certificate of authenticity signed by Patrick Ditko, Steve Ditko’s nephew.

Prices given include the buyer’s premium as stated by the auction house. PBA’s next comic book sale will be on January 3, showcasing pre-code horror and Silver Age Marvel comics. “We hope to offer another copy of Amazing Fantasy #15 in this sale,” said Briggs.

For information, 415-989-2665 or www.pbagalleries.com.