1962 Marvel Amazing Fantasy #15 Introducing Spider-Man
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GUEST:
I brought Amazing Fantasy #15, the first appearance of Spider-Man in a comic book by Marvel. When I was 12 years old, 1962, we would go to town to get groceries on Saturdays and stop at a hot dog stand. And if I had been behaving myself, I would get a chance to pick out a comic or two. I was into Disney characters and anything that make you laugh. I was not a superhero comic person until Spider-Man came along, and that... that one I just picked up, and it got into the, uh, collection and has been there ever since.
APPRAISER:
I am getting goosebumps. That experience of buying this comic right off the newsstand.
GUEST:
Yeah.
APPRAISER:
And what was it like flipping those pages for the first time and reading the story of Spider-Man?
GUEST:
Well, because it was so odd that a kid gets bitten by a radioactive spider and has these superpowers, you know, and, and you think, "Oh wouldn't that be fun to do, swing from building to building?" And it was just really fun to read about h, his exploits.
APPRAISER:
It was released August 1962. It's right at the beginning of the heart of the Silver Age of Marvel Comics. Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, literally god legends of Marvel Comics, came up with this character. They wanted it to be relatable. They wanted it to be a young boy, teen. He was raised by his Aunt May and Uncle Ben. He always experienced money problems. He was picked on, he was never the cool kid in school. And they wanted it to be a character that readers like yourself could grow with the character. He's Spider-Man, but he was a boy. He's Peter Parker, right?
GUEST:
Mm.
APPRAISER:
He's a high school teen.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
Coming out of the late Golden Age, the big trend in comic books was romance, westerns and a lot of science fiction. So when this book came along, it was mind-blowing. This title of "Amazing Fantasy" was exclusive to just the last issue in this series. The title run started out as "Amazing Adventures," issues one through six. And then from issues seven to 14, it became "Amazing Adult Fantasy." And then, finally, for issue 15, they dropped the "Adult" in it. It just became "Amazing Fantasy." And it was the first departure for that title coming from a science fiction-type thriller story into going into superheroes. In 1962, Martin Goodman, the publisher, was very hesitant to let Steve Ditko and Stan Lee come outwith this character, but it ended up being ultimately one of the greatest-selling comics in Marvel history. And this book is how we get "Amazing Spider-Man" issue one in March 1963. Now, artwork-wise, we do have Steve Ditko inside on both the pencils and the inks. And when it came to the cover, Steve Ditko was intended to be the cover artist on this piece. But Stan Lee was like, "Steve, no way. But I got to give it to Jack Kirby." So Jack Kirby penciled the cover on this, but Steve Dicko did do the inking on it. Coming from the hot dog stand, you did a good job. No ketchup or mustard stains on it.
GUEST:
(chuckles)
APPRAISER:
How did you keep it for so long?
GUEST:
Well, you had to take care of your stuff. I did the same thing with my toys. If you break it, it's gone, you know. It's no... you don't replace it just, like, 'cause you want another one. So my parents taught me to just take care of your stuff.
APPRAISER:
There's no exact number, but it's believed that over a quarter million, 250,000 copies, approximately, of this book were printed. This wasn't intended to be kept. These were meant to be-- you buy this month's issue, you read it, oh, toss it out. Next month, I'm going to get a new comic. Have you ever had it looked at in the past?
GUEST:
At a small comic shop. Fellow looked at it, and he said, if I was to sell it, I wouldn't take less than $1,000. That's what he told me.
APPRAISER:
Oh, wouldn't take less than $1,000?
GUEST:
Yeah, yeah.
APPRAISER:
Condition-wise, this book is pretty terrible. Numerically speaking, it's what we'd say, it's a 1.8 to a 2.0, on the grade of ten being the theoretical highest grade you could possibly achieve. It's ripped, it's missing pieces. It has cream-to-off-white pages. But the big factor here, though, that's good, is the cover. While it is missing a piece out of the upper corner, it is still fully attached at both staples. For a Silver Age of comics, Marvel Comics, it does not get better than Amazing Fantasy #15. Today's market prices have been a little volatile. We experienced a big boom through, uh, the COVID pandemic, where prices really went through the roof. Now, we've had some market readjustment, but even so, in this condition, conservatively, at auction today, this would be, uh, $18,000 to $22,000.
GUEST:
Get out! Oh! Do I have a buyer in the house? (laughs) Thank you so much.
APPRAISER:
Yeah.
GUEST:
What a surprise. What a surprise.
APPRAISER:
That... the highest graded copy within the past couple of years sold at auction for $3.6 million.
GUEST:
(whistles)
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