Record sum for first Spider-Man comic

The superhero created by comic author Stan Lee made his debut in 1962. That first Spider-Man comic book has now sold for a record $3.6 million.



The 1962 Marvel comic book, Amazing Fantasy No. 15, which was auctioned off for $3.6 million (€3 million), marks the beginning of the success story of the superhero Spider-Man.

It was in that comic where superhero made his debut, wearing the suit with the spider-web pattern that is still legendary today.

According to the US Heritage Auctions auction house, the issue sold is the priciest comic book ever sold at auction.

When Amazing Fantasy No. 15 appeared in 1962, it cost just 12 cents.

The comic introduced readers to the story of Peter Parker and his alter ego, Spider-Man. Peter turns into a hero who learns that "with great power comes great responsibility." The teenager, who as an orphan struggled with the problems of everyday life, becomes a famous fighter for justice.


The story has since been renewed countless times, including with the 2018 film 'Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse'

It is now impossible to imagine the Marvel superhero universe without him.

Stan Lee, a famous comic book writer, and co-writers and illustrators Steve Ditko and Jack Kirby created the Marvel universe, which still today enjoys great success with the Avengers film series.

They wrote Incredible Hulk and Iron Man , too, leading Marvel, which emerged from the Timely Comics publishing house in 1961, to become the world-famous comic empire it is today.


MARVEL'S SUPERSTAR STAN LEE
Marvel's real-life superhero: Stan Lee
Born in 1922 in New York, Stanley Martin Lieber was at the center of the Marvel universe. Although he did not establish the publishing house, he was responsible for many of its superheroes — such as the Fantastic Four, Hulk, Iron Man and the X-Men — figures that often challenge heroic archetypes. The 2017 book "The Marvel Age of Comics 1961-1978" is the perfect introduction to Lee and his work.  123456

Comic book boom

Sales of comic books have repeatedly fetched record amounts.

Recently, a Superman comic book was auctioned for about €2.7 million — a record now broken by the Spider-Man comic book.

While the comic book business is currently booming, Marvel actually went bankrupt in the past. In the 1980s and 1990s, Marvel comics were visibly more lavishly produced and were almost only hoarded as collector's items and investments — until financial bubbles burst, leading to the collapse of the company's stock value.

New Spider-Man film out soon

Marvel recovered eventually with the sale of film licenses to major studios, ringing in the second golden era of the comic empire.

Today, film series including X-Men, Avengers and Spider-Man are among the most successful Hollywood productions, and continue to generate record profits. Marvel successfully came up with a new, more contemporary image.

Meanwhile, a sequel to the successful saga is scheduled to hit movie theaters later this year.

Tom Holland stars as Spider-Man, fighting for justice alongside Zendaya Coleman as Peter Parker's girlfriend in Spider-Man: No Way Home.


12 BLACK SUPERHEROES FROM US COMICS
Spider-Man (2011)
In 2011, a young Black superhero took the lead in a top-ranking US mainstream comic: Marvel Comics had Afro-Latino teenager Miles Morales slip into Spider-Man's costume, while the series with Peter Parker as the original superhero continued as well. Morales, seen here in the 2018 film adaptation "Into the Spider-Verse," acquires his abilities, like Parker, through a spider bite. 123456789101112

This article has been translated from German.