Hierarchy of the Top Golden Age Superhero Comics (2015 Edition)

[Chicago Boy]

I had one for a while in my personal collection. It was very unsatisfying. Every time I looked at it , I thought this isn't the first appearance. Than I sold it a year before prices picked up dramatically GRRRRR

[G.A.tor]

I'd rather have Sensation 1 than All Star 8.

Outrageous

[ComicConnoisseur]

My list.

 

1. Action Comics #1

 

2. Detective Comics #27

 

3. Captain America Comics #1

 

4. Batman #1

 

5. Superman #1

 

6. Marvel Comics #1

 

7. Whiz Comics #2 (#1)

 

8. All Star 8

 

9. All-Star Comics #3

 

10. Pep Comics #22

 

[Cosmic Boy]

It's been a while since I've actually read Tec #33, but is there actually much of an origin presented? I seem to recall it being very bare bones, basic framework. A panel or two only. Batman #47 is the real deal in regards to the origin story. Of course, nobody is arguing that #47 should be on the list, but I just don't see #33 holding any more intrinsic value than the Action #13/Tec #31 tier.

[kinzebac]

It's been a while since I've actually read Tec #33, but is there actually much of an origin presented? I seem to recall it being very bare bones, basic framework. A panel or two only. Batman #47 is the real deal in regards to the origin story. Of course, nobody is arguing that #47 should be on the list, but I just don't see #33 holding any more intrinsic value than the Action #13/Tec #31 tier.

 

Tec 33 has the origin contained in the first two pages of the comic. It is reprinted again in Bats 1. I would definitely agree that It is fairly bare bones in comparison with Bat 47.

[ciorac]

I'd rather have Sensation 1 than All Star 8.

 

+1

[G.A.tor]

I'd rather have Sensation 1 than All Star 8.

 

+1

you two are nuts

[Dark Knight]

I will be in the nutsy group too

[Superman2006]

I will be in the nutsy group too

 

Me too!

[Superman2006]

I have hard copies of all but one of the Overstreet Price Guides between #'s 34 and 38 (and none before or after that; although I do have one or two soft copies since then), Interestingly, according to the listing of Top Golden Age books, Sensation #1 slowly catches up to AS #8 in NM- guide value by Overstreet #38;

 

Overstreet #34 AS #8: $44K

Overstreet #34 Sens #1: $40K (9% less then AS #8)

Overstreet #34 WW #1: $34K (23% less then AS #8)

 

Overstreet #35 AS #8: $48K

Overstreet #35 Sens #1: $44K (9% less then AS #8)

Overstreet #35 WW #1: $37.5K (22% less then AS #8)

 

Overstreet #37 AS #8: $56K

Overstreet #37 Sens #1: $54K (4% less then AS #8)

Overstreet #37 WW #1: $44K (21% less then AS #8)

 

Overstreet #38 AS #8: $60K

Overstreet #38 Sens #1: $60K (tied with AS #8)

Overstreet #38 WW #1: $47K (22% less then AS #8)

 

Could Sensation #1 one day catch up to exceed AS #8 in overall popularity and FMV. Maybe Im my crazy but it wouldn't shock me.

[Superman2006]

If I could pick any 10 GA Superhero books to take with me to a desert island (along with other essentials like the family, etc.), here are the 10 I would take with me:

 

1. Action Comics #1

2. Detective Comics #27

3. Captain America Comics #1

4. Batman #1

5. Superman #1

6. Sensation #1

7. Flash #1

8. All American #16

9. Whiz #2/1

10. Marvel Comics #1

[markseifert]

My list. Pure $$$$ is devalued, first appearance without other context is devalued.

 

1) Action 1

 

2) Marvel 1 -- first Marvel trumps first-other-character in my mind, even if the other character is Batman.

 

3) Detective Comics 27

 

4) All-Star 3 -- massive impact on what was to come.

 

5) Flash 1 -- One of those butterfly effect moments. If Donenfeld/Liebowitz don't get Gaines onboard (first as a loose alliance, later buying him out) for the All-American line, EVERYTHING changes.

 

6) Cap 1 -- maybe should be higher on the list, but even though I'm a huge Kirby fan, I'm having a hard time working up much enthusiasm on the basis of "first character appearance" alone, past Action 1 & Tec 27. Still, obviously highly important to the foundation of Marvel.

 

7) Batman 1 -- Not the first supervillains, but probably the most influential on the comic book supervillain dynamic.

 

9) Marvel 9 -- significant impact on what was to come, though this is probably a lot more debatable than All-Star 3.

 

9) Wonder Comics 1 -- the debut of the 2nd comic book superhero (?). Very likely tipped the rest of the industry off as to DCs superhero success, and as such sparked the July-Dec 1939 activity which is the cradle of the Golden Age. DC understood what was at stake here and sued Fox the same week of publication, and for his part, Fox understood what was about to happen here and made his play. Another butterfly effect / everything-changes moment. A controversial inclusion no doubt, but if you look at the timeline 1938-1940, this book REALLY jumps out. [edit -- sfcityduck makes a good argument that Funny Pages #21 / first Arrow deserves this slot for similar reasons, and it's a pretty compelling point. I'm a big fan of the narrative of the Fox saga, though, and think he probably influenced the rest of the industry to mobilize in 1939]

 

10) Superman 53 -- The first major comic book reboot story. To me, the idea of the earliest days, few-panels origins were baked into the idea of the superhero. They did what they felt they had to do to explain the character, and no more. The mid-40s and later "origin retold" stories are something different (Bat 47 is another well-known one, and there are others). It's the beginning of the recognition that they would have to retell these stories for a new generation, and that the new generation had different expectations and demands for their comic storytelling. [bedrock points out that Cap 59 came first!]

[jimjum12]

My list.

 

1. Action Comics #1

 

2. Detective Comics #27

 

3. Captain America Comics #1

 

4. Batman #1

 

5. Superman #1

 

6. Marvel Comics #1

 

7. Whiz Comics #2 (#1)

 

8. All Star 8

 

9. All-Star Comics #3

 

10. Pep Comics #22

 

......this is closer to my take on it......although I would definitely switch MC 1 and Superman 1 ...... GOD BLESS...

 

-jimbo(a friend of jesus) (thumbs u

[MrBedrock]

 

10) Superman 53 -- The first major comic book reboot story. To me, the idea of the earliest days, few-panels origins were baked into the idea of the superhero. They did what they felt they had to do to explain the character, and no more. The mid-40s and later "origin retold" stories are something different (Bat 47 is another well-known one, and there are others). It's the beginning of the recognition that they would have to retell these stories for a new generation, and that the new generation had different expectations and demands for their comic storytelling.

Your reasoning is sound, but your title is incorrect. Captain America 59 pre-dates Superman 53 by almost two years (Cap- late '46 versus Sup - '48).

[sfcityduck]

 

9) Wonder Comics 1 -- the debut of the 2nd comic book superhero. Very likely tipped the rest of the industry off as to DCs superhero success, and as such sparked the July-Dec 1939 activity which is the cradle of the Golden Age. DC understood what was at stake here and sued Fox the same week of publication, and for his part, Fox understood what was about to happen here and made his play. Another butterfly effect / everything-changes moment. A controversial inclusion no doubt, but if you look at the timeline 1938-1940, this book REALLY jumps out.

 

I completely agree with your rationale, but I'm torn on the book. Wonder Comics 1 is notable because it was a blatant Superman rip off. And I think there's a natural inclination to believe that if Superman was the first superhero then the superhero trend didn't really begin until folks started ripping off Superman. But, I think an equally strong argument can be made for the first appearance of the Arrow. He's the archetype for the Batman style superheros. Before Wonderman there were the Arrow, Crimson Avenger, Sumariner, and (debuting the same month) Batman. And after Wonderman came the Flame, Sandman, and Blue Beetle. Viewed in that context, Wonderman doesn't look like that much of a trend setter. So I favor the Arrow.

[markseifert]

 

10) Superman 53 -- The first major comic book reboot story. To me, the idea of the earliest days, few-panels origins were baked into the idea of the superhero. They did what they felt they had to do to explain the character, and no more. The mid-40s and later "origin retold" stories are something different (Bat 47 is another well-known one, and there are others). It's the beginning of the recognition that they would have to retell these stories for a new generation, and that the new generation had different expectations and demands for their comic storytelling.

Your reasoning is sound, but your title is incorrect. Captain America 59 pre-dates Superman 53 by almost two years (Cap- late '46 versus Sup - '48).

 

Aha!

 

Thank you. I knew about that book & it's part of my origin retold set, (bought my copy from Billy Parker!), but had it in my head that it was later 40s for some reason.

[MrBedrock]

 

10) Superman 53 -- The first major comic book reboot story. To me, the idea of the earliest days, few-panels origins were baked into the idea of the superhero. They did what they felt they had to do to explain the character, and no more. The mid-40s and later "origin retold" stories are something different (Bat 47 is another well-known one, and there are others). It's the beginning of the recognition that they would have to retell these stories for a new generation, and that the new generation had different expectations and demands for their comic storytelling.

Your reasoning is sound, but your title is incorrect. Captain America 59 pre-dates Superman 53 by almost two years (Cap- late '46 versus Sup - '48).

 

Aha!

 

Thank you. I knew about that book & it's part of my origin retold set, (bought my copy from Billy Parker!), but had it in my head that it was later 40s for some reason.

Logically I think we all would think that (53 before 59), but the first few Superman issues were quarterly and the title was surprisingly bi-monthly until well into the 1950s, while Captain America was a monthly from the get-go.

[markseifert]

I completely agree with your rationale, but I'm torn on the book. Wonder Comics 1 is notable because it was a blatant Superman rip off. And I think there's a natural inclination to believe that if Superman was the first superhero then the superhero trend didn't really begin until folks started ripping off Superman. But, I think an equally strong argument can be made for the first appearance of the Arrow. He's the archetype for the Batman style superheros. Before Wonderman there were the Arrow, Crimson Avenger, Sumariner, and (debuting the same month) Batman. And after Wonderman came the Flame, Sandman, and Blue Beetle. Viewed in that context, Wonderman doesn't look like that much of a trend setter. So I favor the Arrow.

 

You make a good point about Arrow, and definitely HUGELY important historically.

 

I guess I find the narrative of how things played out with Fox pretty compelling, and there's some strong evidence that Action 10 is where the rest of the industry started to figure out that Supes was exploding (there's also the May letter from Bill Everett's mom that surfaced on ebay a few years back which says that Jacquet instructed Bill to create a character like Superman at that time).

 

Anyway, Fox was the first to act on that and I think he hastened what happened in the second half of 1939 from a business perspective, which otherwise might have drawn out a bit longer.

 

There's a pretty fascinating and somewhat unexplained history of how cautious DC was in moving forward with superheroes. They did the Action 4 survey which told them to put Superman on the cover of #7. Then presumably they saw what they liked enough there to do that again with #10.

 

And even then, when all evidence points to #10 doing great box office (there exists a newsdealer letter to independent news at this time raving about Superman and the success of Action, and begging for more copies), they slowboated the roll-out of other heroes through most of 1939, alternating Superman and Batman covers in Action and Tec in alternating months (in a month that Action had a Superman cover, Tec did not have a Batman cover, and vice versa. That explains the lack of cover appearances in 1939).

 

[Then in 1940, they unleash hell on the market and EVERYTHING happens]

 

I'm just curious about why they moved so cautiously throughout '39, so much so that a competitors were able to jump in there before they moved with mass. It almost seems like they were trying to stay under the radar until all the Gaines heroes were ready.

 

Anyway, 1939... great year.

 

 

[Jaydogrules]

It's been a while since I've actually read Tec #33, but is there actually much of an origin presented? I seem to recall it being very bare bones, basic framework. A panel or two only. Batman #47 is the real deal in regards to the origin story. Of course, nobody is arguing that #47 should be on the list, but I just don't see #33 holding any more intrinsic value than the Action #13/Tec #31 tier.

 

It certainly does. As wayne-tec mentioned, three first appearances in addition to the origin. Batman did not become "Batman" until Tec 33. The classic gun holster cover is a bonus. (thumbs u

 

-J.

[Wayne-Tec]

It's been a while since I've actually read Tec #33, but is there actually much of an origin presented? I seem to recall it being very bare bones, basic framework. A panel or two only. Batman #47 is the real deal in regards to the origin story. Of course, nobody is arguing that #47 should be on the list, but I just don't see #33 holding any more intrinsic value than the Action #13/Tec #31 tier.

 

It certainly does. As wayne-tec mentioned, three first appearances in addition to the origin. Batman did not become "Batman" until Tec 33. The classic gun holster cover is a bonus. (thumbs u

 

-J.

 

The major difference between Tec #33 and Batman #47 is that the first told origin of Batman holds a different level of weight in comparison to his expanded origin. That's the nature of comics. Superman's origin in Action #1 took up only one page, and it was of course updated and expanded over the years, but it's debut in Action #1 is significant because like Batman's origin in Tec #33 -- it was the first telling, it's first depiction to public readers and it's (more or less) stuck for three quarters of a century.

 

Batman's origin defines the character. As J said, the character became "Batman" in that issue. I'm well aware of the swipejob, the raw simplicity and the rushed delivery. The comic industry evolved considerably by 1948, when Batman #47 hit newsstands. And while #47 is undoubtedly important, it all began in Tec #33.

 

It almost seems as if it's become fashionable to make these lists diverse, to not want to include too much Batman at the expense of excluding others -- but the success of the character over the decades, and his domination in this day and age, an era of media-expansion foreign to successful characters in previous decades, adds additional weight and importance to milestone issues the likes of Tec #33. IMO anyway.