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This copy of Amazing Spider-Man #1 sold for $12,500 despite bearing a CGC grade of 0.5. Its provenance made it a prize: It had belonged to Spidey’s co-creator, Steve Ditko. Image courtesy of PBA Galleries

Steve Ditko’s copy of Amazing Spider-Man #1, graded 0.5, earns $12K+

Sheila Gibson Stoodley
Sheila Gibson Stoodley
This copy of Amazing Spider-Man #1 sold for $12,500 despite bearing a CGC grade of 0.5. Its provenance made it a prize: It had belonged to Spidey’s co-creator, Steve Ditko. Image courtesy of PBA Galleries
This copy of Amazing Spider-Man #1 sold for $12,500 despite bearing a CGC grade of 0.5. Its provenance made it a prize: It had belonged to Spidey’s co-creator, Steve Ditko. Image courtesy of PBA Galleries

BERKELEY, Calif. – Steve Ditko’s own copy of Amazing Spider-Man #1 sold for $12,500 at PBA Galleries on August 3. Some 27 bidders were ‘watching’ it on LiveAuctioneers as it achieved a price at the top end of its estimate.

Steve Ditko (American, 1927-2018) owned between one to three copies of each of the 41 Spider-Man comics that he drew. They formed part of his estate and have been issued with certificates of authenticity by his brother Patrick Ditko.

None of the Ditko copies are pristine. The only complete set of 41 Spidey comics belonging to Steve Ditko was featured in PBA’s December 2022 sale, in which a copy of #1, graded 4.5, sold for a mighty $43,740.

This ‘second’ Ditko copy of Amazing Spider-Man #1 from March 1963 was missing page 16 and assigned a grade of 0.5 by CGC. Other copies bearing this exceptionally low grade might bring around $3,000-$4,000, but the provenance to the co-creator of the Marvel superhero ensured it commanded a significant premium in spite of its condition. The estimate was $8,000-$10,000.

Another incomplete set of 23 Ditko comics was offered by Heritage Auctions in 2021. It was missing issue #1.

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