Stan Lee predicted collecting comics would be a lucrative business – The Hollywood Reporter

Even Stan Lee couldn’t have imagined that a copy of Spider-Man’s first comic book would one day sell for $ 3.6 million, but the late and legendary Marvel creator predicted in the 1970s that the collection of his books would be a wise investment.

Lee, who was born that day in 1922, said in a 1974 interview that he was aware that some of his comics were starting to fetch surprisingly high sums, and he recommended the comic book collection as a pass. -time viable for more than just entertainment.

“It’s absolutely amazing,” Lee said of the market movement. “I would say if anyone were knowledgeable in this area, it’s a much more lucrative hobby to collect comics than stamps and in some cases than buying stocks.”

As an example, Lee noted that the Howard the Duck the comic, which launched a year earlier, was selling for far more than the cover price of 25 cents after the first issue was bought by collectors who targeted the book on the new character (and unusual even according to Marvel standards).

And even in 1974 a copy of Incredible Fancy The # 15, which marked Spider-Man’s first appearance, was already making waves in the collector’s market after just 12 years of appearing on comic book shelves. “It sells for in the hundreds of dollars,” Lee noted.

Of course, this specific example is charming to say the least, with a copy of this comic hitting a record $ 3.6 million in September. This auction broke the previous record of a action Comic books No. 1 – published in 1938 – which featured Superman’s first appearance. An issue of the comic sold privately for $ 3.25 million earlier this year.

Lee died in November 2018 at the age of 95. He was mourned by fans all over the world.

Watch the retro interview below.