13 1970s Comic Books That Are Worth a Fortune Today
Before flashy video games or multimillion dollar CGI-filled blockbusters, there were comic books.
Published 6 months ago in Wow
Before flashy video games or multimillion dollar CGI-filled blockbusters, the best way for kids to get their action fix was through comic books. I’m sure any kid who grew up flipping the pages of comic books or ‘graphic novels’ has heard the same thing from the adults around them “You’ll rot your brain out with those things”, or “You’re wasting your time.”
Well, imagine those stick-in-the-mud adults’ surprise when those 30 cent colorful little paper booklets ended up being worth hundreds of thousands of dollars in the proper condition.
As you check out the most iconic comic book issues of the 1970s, first let yourself feel nostalgia for reading these goofy stories as a kid, and then run to the attic and rummage through old boxes like your life depends on it. There could be 300 grand in there.
3
Werewolf By Night #32 (1975)
Werewolf By Night is not quite an iconic Marvel hero, but this issue of his comic introduced a character who is slightly more iconic but still not quite household name level: Moon Knight. Moon Knight’s popularity has grown somewhat since his introduction, thanks to a Disney+ TV series. A near mint copy of this comic sells for around $7,000 today.
4
Luke Cage, Hero for Hire #1 (1972)
Luke Cage is another superhero who may not be a household name, but whose first issue is still coveted by collectors. His early appearances might not be quite up to snuff by modern politically correct sensibilities, but he holds an important place in the history of comics. This issue’s record sale price was a little over $25,000.
5
Star Wars #1 (Variant, 1977)
Only one version of this Star Wars tie-in comic is valuable, and it’s for a weird reason. When this comic released, the normal cover price for a Marvel comic book was 30 cents, but Marvel wanted to test a higher price, so they printed some copies of Star Wars #1 with a 35 cent price label. The normal 30 cent issue is worth only $300 today, but the 35 cent variant has sold for as much as $25,000.
6
Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #134 (1970)
Famous comic book characters are often introduced in odd or lesser-known comic series and infamous Superman villain Darkseid is no exception. The merciless ruler of Apokolips first appeared in this issue, which bears the title “Superman's Ex-Pal, the New Jimmy Olsen”, and is worth thousands of dollars.
7
Tomb of Dracula #10 (1973)
Tomb of Dracula #10 saw the introduction of another famous comic character: Blade, the daywalking vampire hunter. Blade’s popularity has skyrocketed since his creation in the 1970s, with a successful trilogy of movies starring Wesley Snipes, as well as supposedly a reboot movie soon, although it has been stuck in development. Near mint copies of this issue sell for around $5,000 today.
8
Adventure into Fear #19 (1973)
Though you wouldn’t guess it at all from the cover, Adventure into Fear #19 features the first appearance of the lovable anthropomorphic animal Howard the Duck, a cult classic oddity who had his own movie in the 1980s as well as some appearances in recent Marvel movies. Though nowhere near as valuable as some of the other 1970s comic issues, a copy in good condition can fetch almost $1,000.
9
Amazing Spider-Man #121 (1973)
A key issue for the Spider-Man story, this issue features the death of Spider-Man’s love interest at the hands of the Green Goblin. Look, it’s been over 50 years, so we’ll spoil it. It’s Gwen Stacy. The significance of this issue is a big draw for collectors, and its record sale was for $8,400.
10
Detective Comics #411 (1971)
This issue of Batman features the first appearance of the daughter of Ra’s al Ghul: Batman’s enemy and occasional lover, Talia al Ghul. This character eventually appeared 40 years later in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises. This issue’s record sale was for $56,400.
11
Detective Comics #400 (1970)
Another Batman villain first appearance, Detective Comics #400 was the first comic book to feature the animalistic Man-Bat. It’s surprising to me that it took 400 issues with them to come up with the idea to swap the order of the words in their protagonist’s name, but nevertheless, this issue has sold for as much as $43,000.
12
The Amazing Spider-Man #129 (1974)
The Bronze Age of Comics saw the inclusion of storylines that were more realistic, darker, and more mature. The epitome of this shift would be The Punisher, a character first introduced in Spider-Man #129. The Punisher’s gritty ethos and tragic origin make him still a fan favorite antihero today. This issue has sold for as much as $43,200.
13
Giant-Size X-Men #1 (1975)
The X-Men were created in the 60s, but many of the most iconic members of the team weren’t introduced until the 70s. In this double-sized issue, Wolverine joins the X-Men after his introduction in Hulk #181, and we meet several now-familiar faces, including Nightcrawler, Colossus, and Storm. A well-preserved copy of this issue can go for as much as $72,000.
Most Popular
