One of the few high-grade copies of 1962's The Incredible Hulk #1 in existence has been bought for nearly half a million dollars, making it the most expensive copy of The Incredible Hulk #1 ever sold.
The $490,000 sale, facilitated by ComicConnect.com, was initiated by an unknown collector. The site's chief operating officer, Vincent Zurzulo, touched on the comic's rarity, saying, "Highly graded copies of Hulk #1 are notoriously hard to find, due to the cheap paper used and the smudging of the gray color on the front cover."
Along with auctions, ComicConnect.com handles private sales to collectors who have particular tastes. This specific copy was graded by Certified Guaranty Company (CGC), the industry's foremost comic book grading service, at 9.0 Very Fine/Near Mint. Few high-grade copies of the issue ever become available, as only seven copies are graded higher. "Vintage comic book values just keep going up across the board," Zurzulo said of the overall market for old-school floppies.
"The new owner of this book now owns a special piece of American mythology that will continue to gain in value," Zurzulo added. "It will be a cornerstone of his collectible investment portfolio. Hulk will only continue to get bigger with time, if you know what I mean."
Cover dated May 1962, The Incredible Hulk #1 was crafted by the illustrious Marvel Comics duo Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. The comic features the origin story of The Incredible Hulk -- an atomic scientist named Bruce Banner who, after accidentally being exposed to gamma radiation from a bomb blast, transforms into a half-ton mass of muscle and rage. In that first story, Banner's transformations into The Hulk happened at sundown and lasted until daybreak; later stories established the change is tied to Banner's anger and happen when he is triggered.
Notably, the origin issue shows The Hulk's skin turning gray rather than the iconic green fans know and love. In issue #2, his transformations change him to his usual emerald hue -- an editorial change made because Marvel Comics' printer couldn't consistently get the gray color right on every page.
That early Hulk run ended with six issues, but afterward, The Hulk guest-starred in Fantastic Four and Amazing Spider-Man and was added to the lineup of The Avengers. Eventually, the character got a lengthy run in Tales to Astonish and went on to headline his own title, as well as be featured in a TV series and TV movies starring Bill Bixby as Banner and Lou Ferrigno as The Hulk. Several live-action films followed, the first featuring Eric Bana as the green giant in 2003. The Incredible Hulk, starring Edward Norton in 2008, was one of the earliest Marvel Cinematic Universe movies. Mark Ruffalo took on the role thereafter in the MCU and is slated to appear in the upcoming She-Hulk TV series for Disney+, set to premiere in 2022.
Source: ComicConnect.com