Expert: Mark Harmon - 2/3/2010

Question
QUESTION: Mark,
My husband and I were going thru his grandfathers things when we found a comic book put in a picture fram, it is an Action Comics June,1938 Issue 1! How can I tell if its real or a reprint?

ANSWER: Hi Katrina,

There are 2 reprints that I can think of off the top of my head.  One would be the Millennium Edition reprint and the other would be the Famous First Editions reprint.  Both of these reprints will have either Millennium Edition or Famous First Edition on the cover.

However, on the Famous First Edition, some people have been known to remove the outer cover and try to pass the comic off as the authentic Action Comics #1 since there is an inner cover that looks the same as the original.  The Famous First Edition reprint though is much larger than the original version.

Besides the reprints, there are other fake copies that exist.  Some you can tell aren't the original because they won't have the 10 cent price on the cover.  I have attached a link below where you can see what the original looks like.

http://www.comics.org/issue/293/cover/4/?style=default

Even with that, my recommendation would be to take it to a local dealer and have them look it over.

Hope this helped.

- Mark

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Mark-
Thank you for getting back with me so quick, the copy that I have look identical to the one you sent me, it has the 10 cent price cover and everything. Is there anything else I can look for to see if this comic is worth anything, there isn't anything that says Famous First Edition or the Millennium Edition, when would these have been printed and would this be printed on the cover?
And as for the local dealer, we live in a very small town, is there somewhere I could look to find a comic book dealer?
Thanks again
-Katrina

Answer
Katrina,

Yes, if it was either the Famous First Edition or Millennium Edition reprints, this would have been printed on the cover.  For the Famous First Edition version though, there are 2 covers.  The external cover which has Famous First Edition written on it while the interior cover does not.  Some people have removed the external cover and tried to pass the comic off as the original version, however, the Famous First Edition is a much larger size comic.

If you want to take the measurements of the comic and send them to me, I can at least confirm for you whether or not it's the Famous First Edition reprint.  Also, other things to look for:

The original copy should have 68 pages.  That's counting both sides of a page as well as the front and back covers I believe.  And somewhere - usually on the bottom margin of the interior cover or first page - there should be the following printed:

ACTION COMICS. published monthly by Detective Comics, Inc., 480 Lexington Ave., New York, N. Y. Second class entry pending at Post Office, New York, N. Y. under the Act of March 3, 1879. Subscription rates: 12 issues by mail in the United States, its possessions and Mexico, South America and Spain, $1.50; elsewhere $2.60. The Publisher accepts no responsibility for unsolicited material. Entire contents copyright 1938 by Detective Comics, Inc.

As far as a local dealer, if you want to send me your zip code or city/state info, I can check to see if there are any comic shops that may be somewhat close to you.

And please handle it with care, if you do happen to have an original, it's worth a substantial amount of money.

- Mark