Gold Magazine November - December 2013, Issue 32 | Page 95

WHEN THE ECONOMY IS DOING
GREAT, PEOPLE HAVE MORE
DISCRETIONARY INCOME AND THEY
BUY COMIC BOOKS

“S

uperman saves the
day!”
A mighty proclamation; a stalwart resolution to a heroic tale.
Who would suppose fiction could become
fact? And yet…Staring foreclosure in the
face, one unsuspecting couple certainly did
not anticipate being saved by comic book
heroes when they set about the laborious
task of emptying the house they had lived
in for over 50 years. Inside a wilting box,
tucked away in their basement, lay a copy
of Action Comics No. 1 published in June
of 1938, noted for featuring the first ever
appearance of Superman: unique, rare, and
highly valuable. Courtesy of a prominent
comic book dealer, it sold in June of this
year for $436,000. Thanks to Superman,
the couple avoided losing their home.
Verifying the longevity of comics,
Vincent Zurzolo, co-owner of Metropolis
Collectibles and the Comic Connect website,, alludes to the consistency with which
worldwide comic book conventions draw
crowds of 30,000 to 150,000: “People
with very big bank accounts are showing
up in costumes.” Zurzolo continues with
good humour: “Nowadays, it’s cool to be
a nerd.”
Jests aside, comic books are indeed more
than simple reading reverie: they inspire
utter immersion in the worlds created.
Gemma Adel, customer service supervisor of the authentication firm, Comic
Guaranty Company (CGC), confirms the
view from the market that, whilst those
navigating stocks must be wary of external
politico-economic activity affecting their

trade, the comic book industry is securely
passion-driven, largely devoid of booms
and busts. Zurzolo agrees. He says of those
interested in comic books: “When the
economy is going poorly, people are looking for alternative forms of investment.
When the economy is doing great, they
have more discretionary income and they
buy comic books.”
Zurzolo maintains, indeed, that the
industry has been going from strength to
strength: “I used to say that comic books
were in their infancy, but now I say they
are in their adolescence and have a long
way to go.”
Considering that Zurzolo’s companies
have brokered the top three-grossing comic
book sales of all time – most notably, the
near mint-condition copy of Action Comics
No. 1 that fetched $2.16 million at auction in December 2011 – Zurzolo’s surety
cannot help but inspire curiosity as to
the monetary benefits of the market. He
maintains that “There’s a comic book for
every budget and a budget for every comic
book.”
Whether a hard-core investor (interested
purely in acquiring wealth), an obsessive
collector (pursuing the meticulous capturing and cataloguing of every issue of a
distinguished series), or the quick buck
buyer (interested in picking up issues that
may be sold quickly at an inflated price),
the first step in the comic book quest lies
in abiding by three key rules: isolate, grade,
and protect.
With such a vast array of comic book
publishers, series and characters around,
fathoming and navigating the enigma of
buying options requires great amounts
of time and attention. Home research
via the Internet, as well as reaching out
to seasoned veterans in the market (from
dealers to associations), is a priceless use
of the prospective investor’s time in isolating which comics to target. John Graham,
owner of Graham Crackers Comics, demarcates the history of comics into two key
ages: the Golden Age (comics printed in
the 1930s and 1940s), and the Silver Age
(prints spanning 1955 to 1970). Whilst
inve