3 Years After His DCEU Disaster, The Flash Disappoints Again (In a Whole New Way)

For many DC fans, the movie release of The Flash in 2023 was one of the final nails in the coffin of the DCEU, and its box office performance did not do much to suggest otherwise. After the disappointment of that iteration of the character on screen, this week it was his comic book counterpart’s turn to deliver a different kind of enigma as it a Golden Age issue of Flash Comics sold for more than double it’s estimate but somehow still ended below expectations set by Heritage Auctions. The rare opportunity to purchase Flash Comics #2 came up during the lots in Heritage’s latest comic book auction, and with Overstreet estimates on the CGC graded VG 3.0 copy circling $4,000 it seemed like the eventual hammer price of $8,845 with buyer’s premium seemed like a huge win. This may still be partially true, as it is hard to call anything that makes more than double its estimate a failure, when looking at a previous sale of a very similar edition, it is an issue that should have sold for five figures.

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Heritage listed this issue of Flash Comics being a reasonably graded 3.0 as quite a find. Although the grading is certainly not the highest, we are talking about a comic book from 1940, and given its age the condition of this example is still something for collectors to get excited about. Yet the site also notes that a previous version of the same issue with a 3.5 grading sold in 2023 for $9,600. On the surface, the slightly higher grading suggests that this increased price would be a perfect fit, but that copy had a significant flaw in that it was missing most of its back page. This is the kind of detail that can seriously bring down the price of a vintage comic book, so based on the latest example’s completeness, it seemed that its value would have been pushed that little bit higher.

Flash Comics #2 Is a Significant Piece of DC History

Naturally, prices can fluctuation greatly depending on who is in the room when the hammer falls. If you can find two buyers desperate to add a particular comic to their collection then those numbers can keep increasing a little more than usual. Regardless of its value, Flash Comics #2 is still a historically important piece of DC Comics history. Featuring the second appearances of both The Flash and Hawkman, it was the first issue to feature the latter on the front cover. It additionally introduced Rod Rian and a talented list of Golden Age artists such as Dennis Neville, Harry Lampert, Sheldon Moldoff and Stand Aschmeier. The combination of comic book talent and early character appearances is the kind of thing that collectors look for when deciding which vintage issues are worth them dishing out cash for.

While The Flash may not carry the weight of Superman and Batman when it comes to the grander scale of all things DC, this comic is one that can hold its own at auction – it beat the prices of several Batman comics in this set of lots. The final price was certainly not disastrous, and if the same comic is sold again in the near future, a different pool of buyers could turn it into the $10,000 price it seems destined to become at some point. The price of comic books from the early years of DC and Marvel is not something that depreciates in value over the years, so a near-$9,000 investment now could deliver a small reward in future. This time around though, the Scarlet Speedster just wasn’t able to hit top speed before the hammer came down.

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