Evaluate your rare Batman or Hulk comics at the Roadshow

Collectible exerts Leroy Harper and Peter Przysiezny are bringing their show to the Holiday Inn Express located at 216 Corinth Rd, near Exit 18, behind the McDonalds, on Monday for free appraisals and to maybe make an offer or two. The event started Sunday.

“We mainly focus on comic books as far as items that we like to appraise for people or purchase,” Harper explained.

Harper, who owns a comic book shop in Kentucky, and Przysiezny, who runs a store in the Chicago area, took their show on the road around 12 years ago. They’ve traveled the country from Portland, Maine, to Albuquerque, New Mexico. Harper said they’ve made stops in around 200 cities.

“Sometimes when we go to small markets, we find big surprises,” he said.

They also make house calls. If a collector is ready to start parting with their items, but doesn’t know where to start, they can call up Harper or Przysiezny and in a few quick questions, they can determine if an in-person appraisal is worth the trip.

“Typically, we’ll buy whole collections,” Harper said. “If the person selling wants to sell everything, chances are we’ll buy everything. If they just want to sell a few books to raise some money…we’ll do that also.”

While The Post-Star was visiting with Harper, Przysiezny was carefully sorting through a box of old, moldering comics they’d recently purchased during one of their other stops in Upstate New York.

“We paid too much for this collection,” Przysiezny said, until he found an issue of “The Amazing Spider-Man” No. 14 — the first appearance of Spider-man’s arch nemesis, the Green Goblin. “We were in the negative until that one.”

The issue was missing it’s cover page, but you can’t always judge a comic book’s value by the cover.

“Even with no front cover, that will sell for $100,” Harper estimated.

There is a plethora of factors that contribute to a comic book’s monetary value, but their intrinsic value can be summed up in one word.

“It’s Americana.” Harper said. “It’s just part of our heritage. Print media is shrinking… a lot of the younger generation, they’re fine with getting their comics online.”

These days comic books are an often-tapped well of inspiration for movies and television plots. And because so many of those beloved stories and characters can trace their history back decades, the demand to see them in their original presentation is a strong one.

Many of the most iconic superheroes around today were created during the so-called “Golden Age of Comics,” the decades spanning 1938-1956. In those days superhero comic books were a novelty act which attracted dozens of would-be publishers to the market. But as the wheat was separated from the chaff, the industry became more refined.

Some of the more obscure titles fell by the wayside while others consolidated and rose. Still, as popular as these “funny books” were at the time, their longevity was always in danger. Besides the all-too-common tale of a guy’s mother throwing out all his old comics when he goes off to college, even the United State’s government contributed to some books’ scarcity.

Harper said when “Captain America” debuted in 1941, more than a million copies were printed but only a fraction of them survives today.

“During World War II they had paper drives so what got sacrificed? Comic books. Why? Because they were worthless,” he said. “So today they estimate less than 500 copies of “Captain America” No.1 (exist).”

In April 2022, a copy of that book graded as “near mint” by the Certified Guaranty Company with a score of 9.4 sold for $3.1 million. When the book was first sold in 1941 it carried a price tag of 10 cents.

But anyone thinking about grabbing as many first issues as they can to sit on for 81 years, expecting that book to become a bonanza, may want to come up with a better retirement plan.

“Don’t go buying 10 of every copy of every number one that comes out because for everyone you hit on, you’ll miss on 50 and you’ll wind up in the hole,” Harper advised. “Just buy what you like and appreciate it. Take care of it, and if it goes up in value great. If it doesn’t, hey, you had enjoyment.”

Harper and Przysiezny will be at the Holiday Inn Express located at 216 Corinth Rd, doing free appraisals from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday.

For more information, visit www.ComicBookRoadshow.com, or call 1-888-526-6472.