Michael Rorrer apparently knew his aunt planned to leave her husband's massive comic book collection to him when she passed but he had no clue they'd be worth such a staggering amount of money. The collection totals 345 comics and contains 44 of The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide's list of top 100 issues from comics' Golden Age.
Rorrer actually had the comics for two months after his aunts death before a co-worker clued him in to just how much the comics could be worth. Apparently Rorrer was telling a co-worker about reading Captain America #2 (1941) and his co-worker jokingly told him to see if he had Action Comics #1 in his collection and sure enough, Rorrer did.
Rorrer said his great uncle, who died in 1994 at age 66, oddly enough, never mentioned his collection.
The 345 comics were slated to sell at auction in New York on Wednesday, and were expected to fetch more than $2 million. Some of the more notable comics include the previously mentioned Action Comics No. 1 which is expected to sell for $325,000. Also, Detective Comics No. 27, the 1939 issue that features the first appearance of Batman, is expected to get about $475,000. While Captain America No. 2, with features Hitler on the cover, is expected to bring in about $100,000.
Comic book collecting is done for several possible reasons, including appreciation, nostalgia, financial profit, and completion of the collection. The comic book came to light in the pop culture arena in the 1930s due to the popularity of superhero characters Superman, Batman, and Captain Marvel. Since the 1960s, two publishers have dominated the American comic book industry: Marvel Comics, publisher of such comics as Spider-Man, X-Men, and Fantastic Four, and DC Comics, which publishes titles such as Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. Other large non-manga publishers include Image Comics, IDW, and Dark Horse Comics.
From roughly 1985 through 1993, comic book speculation reached its highest peaks. This boom period began with the publication of titles like Batman: The Dark Knight Returns and Watchmen and "summer crossover epics" like Crisis on Infinite Earths and Secret Wars. After Watchmen and Dark Knight Returns made their mark, mainstream attention returned to the comic book industry in 1989 with the success of the movie Batman and again in 1992 with "The Death of Superman" storyline.
Once aware of this niche market, the mainstream press focused on its potential for making money. Features appeared in newspapers, magazines and television shows detailing how rare, high-demand comics such as Action Comics #1 and Incredible Hulk #181 (the first appearances of Superman and Wolverine, respectively) had sold for thousands of dollars, with Action # 1 breaking the $1 million mark.