Leading up to The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide #50 release on July 22, 2020, Gemstone Publishing will commemorate the milestone by diving into the publication’s rich history. Over the Guide’s five decades in print, thousands upon thousands of comic books have been priced, the market has been meticulously studied, and creators, characters, and publishing houses have been featured with detailed coverage. With the 50th edition comes time to revisit how comic values have steadily (sometimes astronomically) risen over the years and reflect on contributions made in crafting the Guide.

During the Silver Age of comics, Marvel introduced many of their most influential and inspiring characters. By giving their heroes flaws, fears, and insecurities, they ushered in new storytelling techniques where the heroes’ bravery was exalted by overcoming their fallibility. One such character that epitomized 1960s Marvel comic introductions was Spider-Man.

Peter Parker, the teenager who became Spider-Man, was introduced in Amazing Fantasy #15 in 1962. With his hopes and insecurities illustrated in his stories, the young hero was the type of character kids could relate to and pretend to be in their afternoon daydreams.

It had an original cover price of 12¢ and when Robert M. Overstreet wrote the first volume of The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide in 1970, a Near Mint copy of the comic was valued at $16.

When the Guide reached it’s tenth anniversary in 1980, the price rose significantly to $900. Its momentum slowed somewhat at the next ten-year mark when a Near Mint copy was priced at $2,800 in 1990. When the Guide #30 came out 10 years later, the first appearance of the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man soared exponentially to $25,000.

Spider-Man swung across the big screen in 2002 and with that, his first appearance jumped to $42,000 and a year later in Guide #33 it was up to $48,000. Seven years later, Spidey’s debut issue more than doubled in value when a Near Mint was priced at $100,000. In 2019’s Guide #49, the first appearance of one of Stan Lee and Steve Ditko’s most popular creations had quadrupled in value to $405,000.

It is one of the most valuable comic books on the market with the price continuing to swing higher and higher.