X-Men #1 Bought For a New Record, $871,999.20 by Canadians

Last year, Bleeding Cool reported on a 9.6 CGC slabbed edition of X-Men #1 selling for a record $807,300 at ComicConnect Event Auction #46. At the time, the amount bid by the winner of this auction was the highest price ever paid for an X-Men #1 in any grade. The September 1963 cover-dated comic by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby introduced concepts that in the coming decades would become one of the most successful comic book franchises in the world. This debut issue featured Professor Xavier and a team of Angel, Iceman, Beast, Cyclops, and Marvel Girl taking on Magneto.

Of course, it’s been over a year since then. And time marches on. The very same copy, known as the MoundCity copy, has also recently sold at ComicConnect for an even more of a record $871,999.20, a profit of around $70,000 in a year. And I am also told they have been taken out of the country, bought by Canadians. Is nothing sacred?

The first X-Men #1 record sale that Bleeding Cool ever reported on was for the $200,000 sale of this same copy over a decade ago in April 2011. This particular X-Men #1 originally surfaced as part of an extensive original owner collection in the St. Louis area in 2009 and was brought to market by Mound City Auctions.  That price was quickly eclipsed by the $492,937.50 sale of an X-Men #1 CGC 9.8 copy the next year, a record that stood until last year’s $807,300 result.

There are currently four entries for X-Men #1 in CGC 9.6, and two entries in CGC 9.8 on the CGC Census.

Ow/white pgs; QES Certified: Criteria met: Preferred staple placement + perfect staple area + deep color strike ( red, blue, & yellow) + beautiful spine
Jack Kirby cvr/art; origin and 1st app. X-Men; 1st app. Magneto
Stan Lee once explained that his original title for this series was “The Mutants” but publisher Martin Goodman didn’t like the sound of it. Lee, in a stroke of genius, named the newly formed group after its founder, Professor X, and thus the X-Men was born. They were a motley band of outcasts, hated and feared by the human world. The title was almost canceled due to lagging sales but was reborn with a new cast of characters in the 70s which went on to make them a perennial favorite ever since. Everybody can relate to what it is like being an outsider, and that is what draws us to the X-Men. With a staggering number of comic spin-offs, blockbuster movies, and a variety of TV shows and cartoons, the popularity of this first issue has proven to be a strong investment in the marketplace.

Since Marvel has recovered the rights to the cinematic X-Men franchise, the world has waited with bated breath to find out how Kevin Feige and the minds over at the MCU plan to introduce the team into the fold, as well as who will be portraying the heroes. The anticipation is palpable amongst the comic book community, as not only will the public be stoked to see the films, but anyone who owns a copy of X-Men #1 knows they are sitting on a goldmine, which is poised to explode in value beyond current, already impressive, expectations. With a selection of five copies of the first appearance of the mutant heroes in this EA, there are plenty of chances to make a sound investment, and this QES-certified copy is the highest graded in the bunch, with a wonderful color strike, perfect staple placement, and solid spine, this is an exceptionally clean, fresh, and valuable copy of a rock-solid classic key.

Overstreet Guide 2022 NM- (9.2) value = $180,000