Action Comics #1 makes for awesome insulation.

[nearmint]

202,000 is quite large even by today's standards. I used Spawn #1 just as an analogy because there were way less people on the planet in 1938. Not saying they printed 10 million of them or whatever. Superman #1's print run is insane for a comic of that time period IMO.

 

Print runs were much larger in the 30s and 40s than they are today. Distribution of comics was infinitely better, available at most newsstands, drugstores, etc. Kids gobbled them up, not being distracted by video games and social networking. Top selling titles frequently sold a million copies or more.

[Cyclops]

Wow, just found the before and after pics:

 

 

 

 

 

 

So it's not just the back cover that's torn but a handful of interior pages, as well.

 

I'm surprised CGC didn't note the tears to the interior pages. Do they not do this anymore?

[slym2none]

One reason so few exist today is the recycling drives that happened in war-times. So not only did kids read these until they were ragged and then tossed them (probably after being passed around to a dozen kids to read, no less) but many were scooped up and recycled by the parents looking to help the war-efforts.

 

 

 

-slym

[Bill1]

I have an All-Winners #9 and a Sensation #55 that came out of a wall in my town. I was actually in my LCS when the person brought them in-- same story, tucked behind the old plaster wall as insulation. He was remodeling on his own and found them. After my LCS bought them from him, I paid a little profit and bought them from my LCS! They are complete and really not too bad, but a little sooty....

 

Sorry, Flash Comics 23, and Sensation 55, not All-Winners 9. All the trouble we all go to preserve our books, and these aren't terrible for being stuffed in a wall for 60 years. And you know, there are more out there!

 

 

[Artboy99]

as someone who found a Batman #2 in exactly the same way I believe this story completely.

 

[catrick339]

Friend of mine found a Batman 12 opened up and laid flat under a carpet...along with a couple less notable books, and a lot of newspaper. Evidently back in the day they laid out materials like those to stop drafts through the floorboards from the basement, and if they couldn't afford a pad for underneath, the newspaper (and comics) made for a bit of a cushion/draft stop

[Designer Toast]

That is a very nice looking 1.5. Too bad about the rip. I don't think Auntie Gonzalez is getting a dinner invite or Christmas card any time soon.

[Designer Toast]

as someone who found a Batman #2 in exactly the same way I believe this story completely.

 

I don't think there's any reason to question the story. And short of the book being stolen or otherwise illegally obtained, who cares...

[zosocane]

The most incredible thing about this book is that the PQ is graded OW. All those years serving as insulation (presumably subject to 70+ years' worth of seasonal-temperature changes) and the PQ deteriorated one notch on the OWL scale ... I guess it wasn't exposed to air which helped.

[musicmeta]

What a find! Sure wish I could find a book that valuable!

[manalive67-migration]

One reason so few exist today is the recycling drives that happened in war-times. So not only did kids read these until they were ragged and then tossed them (probably after being passed around to a dozen kids to read, no less) but many were scooped up and recycled by the parents looking to help the war-efforts.

 

 

 

-slym

 

You got to think a lot bit the dust with the moral panic over comic books in the 50s. Fredric Werthham the Hitler of the comics what a womans feminine product. I guess if you think about it books were made more valuable by this but still what a womans feminine product.

[Designer Toast]

Friend of mine found a Batman 12 opened up and laid flat under a carpet...

 

The real question here: Is this pressing?

[Bill1]

You know, this could be the next stage in finding old comics. Without a doubt, the 3 or 4 comics discussed here that were found in walls/floors etc, are not the only ones. Maybe people tearing down old homes of the appropriate age will begin to be more alert for such things as there could be a significant payday waiting for them if they only spot it in time!

[zosocane]

You know, this could be the next stage in finding old comics. Without a doubt, the 3 or 4 comics discussed here that were found in walls/floors etc, are not the only ones. Maybe people tearing down old homes of the appropriate age will begin to be more alert for such things as there could be a significant payday waiting for them if they only spot it in time!

 

You're right. So I'm quitting my career and I'm going to start working as an insulation replacement contractor specializing in pre-1960 homes. I will only rip out insulation in such homes. My wife won't like it, but if I can find one or two Action 1s or Tec 27s each year, I should be good to go.

[Bookery]

It's not hard to believe a comic would be found in a wall.

 

It's strange it always ends up being an Action 1.

 

Exactly. Comics (and newspapers and magazines) are found as insulation in old homes rather frequently, actually. A local dealer once found stacks of vintage paperbacks from the 40s and 50s used as insulation between the 2x4s... the problem was due to humidity the books all stuck together into giant columns. I bought a collection of hundreds of pulps used as insulation in an attic... and surprisingly they were in great shape outwardly (the bizarre owner had cut them up on the inside, but that's another story).

 

But a single comic is useless as insulation... these finds usually involve hundreds of misc books, magazines, etc. used to fill gaps between the walls. And, as has been pointed out, these tales often seem to ask us to believe that the ONLY comic used for the purpose just happened to be the one that later became the world's most valuable issue. Apparantly, home insulators in the old days were all comic-haters who read one comic and never bought another (or kept the rest but only hated Action #1 enough to scrunch it into their walls). And apparently comics were only used as insulation in 1938.

 

There are lots of reasons stories are invented or enhanced, and it doesn't have to be because of theft. The buyer doesn't want the flea market dealer he bought it from for $1 realizing this was the issue he sold last month. The family is embarrassed that just days after putting gramps in the home they are selling off his valuables. There might be multiple-family owner issues, but if it's "found" in Seller's home,and not some shared property or other, it isn't up for grabs. Rescuing it from the old folks' down the road's front-yard trash last Tuesday doesn't make for a good story.

 

 

 

[gadzukes]

A good story.... a sensationalized story.... will probably always enhance the value. If nothing else it brings more awareness to the auction.

 

If this particular story is true, if I were the contractor I would go ahead and pull the drywall off of every last surface of wall in that entire house.

[newshane]

What strikes me is that the comic has off-white pages.

 

I wouldn't imagine that the space behind a wall would be the best environment for a comic, especially one that's been wrapped in newspaper.

 

 

[fantastic_four]

You got to think a lot bit the dust with the moral panic over comic books in the 50s. Fredric Werthham the Hitler of the comics what a womans feminine product. I guess if you think about it books were made more valuable by this but still what a womans feminine product.

 

He laid it on pretty thick, but his core argument was valid. Some of the EC books were particularly bad. Every issue of Crime SuspenStories I've read can be viewed almost as a how-to guide for successfully operating as a serial killer. Not the kind of thing that would necessarily turn a kid with morals into a monster, but it would have provided inspiration to kids who already had dark proclivities. A lot of the art across multiple horror titles was getting really gruesome as well.

[Phicks]

How many copies of Action #1 are registered in the CGC census?

[BlowUpTheMoon]

How many copies of Action #1 are registered in the CGC census?

 

That's just lazy.