Paul Fraser Collectibles, Thursday 9 February 2012

More rare Comic Books news  |  View our stock for sale  |  Learn about our 120% Guarantee  |  Download our iPhone app  |  Sign-up for your Free Newsletter

As the best-quality comics sell for greater amounts at the world's top auctions - the copy of Action Comics #1, Superman's 1938 debut comic book adventure, which sold for a World Record $2.16m being the prime example - collectors are increasingly on the lookout for good lower-graded copies.

With rare comic books, condition is crucial to value. It is also ideal if the comic hasn't been restored. Lower-graded examples that we've reported on recently include a 3.0 graded edition of Action Comics #1 which is for sale online in a Dallas, Texas auction.

Yet lower quality needn't be your only path to owning a rare comic book for less. Another option is to choose another superhero...

Auctioning in the same sale as the '3.0' Auction Comics #1 is this rare comic: Daredevil #1, first published by Marvel in 1964.

The '9.6' Daredevil #1 was first published by Marvel in 1964

Daredevil's unique characteristics include that he is blind - the result of an accident involving a radioactive substance which heightens his other senses to superhuman levels. Daredevil #1 contains the character's first appearance and origin story as created by writer-editor Stan Lee.

This comic is in 9.6 quality and billed as "curator pedigree". It is only the second of this issue and quality ever offered by the auction house, and the first offered by the firm which carries "white pages" certification.

So how much would a comic like this cost? Hundreds of thousands? Millions? Well, according to experts, a 9.2 would carry an average value of $8,200.

That said, there is plenty of demand for top-grade copies of Marvel comics among the world's most devoted collectors. Given there are only two known copies in better condition than '9.6', demand for Daredevil #1 is pushing its value to a whole new level.

Bids stand at $28,000 at the time of writing, with 12 more days to go until the hammer falls.