Top of the Stack: Best-Selling CGC Comic Titles by Decade (September 8–21, 2026)
The latest fortnight brought $5.4 million in recorded sales across 21,465 CGC-graded comics, magazines and pulps, with the median price holding at $100.
Across all ten decades, seven shared the same leader in both volume and sales, a strong alignment between what collectors bought most often and where they spent the most.
Compared with the previous fortnight, overall volume eased by approximately 8.1%, while recorded sales declined by around 6.9%. The median, however, remained unchanged at $100.
That combination points to a quieter fortnight without a meaningful shift in the market’s central price point. Fewer slabs changed hands, but the underlying transaction mix remained relatively stable.
Source: GPAnalysis.com, sales recorded from September 8–21, 2026.
Market Observations
🏆 Trophy Sale
A Showcase #13 CGC 9.6 became the period’s biggest individual sale at $45,000, helping push Showcase to the top of the 1950s in sales, despite Batman leading the decade in volume.
🕷️ The Volume King
The Amazing Spider-Man (1963) once again finished as the market’s most-traded title, with 1,338 books sold for approximately $0.5 million. But some of the more interesting movement happened away from the usual Spider-Man stronghold.
Insights
Where the Money Went
This chart combines the five highest-selling titles from each decade to show where collector spending was concentrated. Dataset pooled during the September 8–21, 2026 reporting period.
$621,918
highest combined Top Five sales — 1960s
1960s
$621,918
The 1960s generated the highest combined Top Five sales of any decade, with Amazing Spider-Man, X-Men, Fantastic Four, Amazing Fantasy and Avengers all contributing more than $84,000.
How Concentrated Was Each Decade?
Each point shows the share of a decade’s Top Five title sales generated by its highest-selling title. Dataset pooled during the September 8–21, 2026 reporting period.
3 of 10
decades had one title generate more than half of Top Five sales
Most concentrated
81.3%
Absolute Batman generated more than four-fifths of all Top Five title sales attributed to the 2020s, placing the decade far outside the concentration range seen across the rest of the market.
Let’s step through the ages/eras by decade
Platinum/Golden Age
1930s: The Pulps Take Control
Top 5 titles by volume:
Phantom Detective (1933–1953)
Spider (1933–1943)
Shadow (1931–1949)
G-8 and His Battle Aces (1933–1944)
Secret Agent X (1934–1939)
Top 5 titles by sales:
Phantom Detective (1933–1953): $29,240
Shadow (1931–1949): $17,830
Spider (1933–1943): $9,718
Secret Agent X (1934–1939): $9,233
Action Comics (1938): $8,300
Most traded issues: Doc Savage #17 (1934); Donald Duck #nn (1938); Amazing Stories #117 (1936); Weird Tales #117 (1933); Amazing Stories #119 (1936)
1940s - Batman Leads a Broad Golden Age Market
Top 5 titles by volume:
Batman (1940)
Detective Comics (1937)
Superman (1939–1986)
Spider (1933–1943)
Action Comics (1938)
Top 5 titles by sales:
Batman (1940): $46,484
Captain America Comics (1941–1954): $38,494
Superman (1939–1986): $27,165
Phantom Lady (1947–1949): $26,000
Detective Comics (1937): $23,618
Most traded issues: Batman #23 (1944); Superboy #2 (1949); Top-Notch Comics #25 (1942); Superman #58 (1949); Comic Cavalcade #10 (1945)
1950s - Showcase Turns One Sale Into a Decade Win
Top 5 titles by volume:
Batman (1940)
Superman (1939–1986)
Weird Fantasy (1950–1953)
Four Color (1939–1962)
Adventure Comics (1938–1983)
Top 5 titles by sales:
Showcase (1956–1978): $66,728
Batman (1940): $23,121
Archie's Girls, Betty and Veronica (1950–1987): $14,974
Teen-Age Romances (1949–1955): $14,514
Weird Fantasy (1950–1953): $12,896
Most traded issues: Batman #73 (1952); Bobby Benson's B-Bar-B Riders #14 (1952); Batman #121 (1959); Showcase #13 (1958); Showcase #22 (1959)
Silver Age
1960s - The Market’s Deepest Decade
Top 5 titles by volume:
The Amazing Spider-Man (1963)
Fantastic Four (1961)
The X-Men (1963–1981)
The Avengers (1963)
Daredevil (1964–1998)
Top 5 titles by sales:
The Amazing Spider-Man (1963): $205,131
The X-Men (1963–1981): $118,667
Fantastic Four (1961): $114,203
Amazing Fantasy (1962–1996): $99,356
The Avengers (1963): $84,561
Most traded issues: Fantastic Four #48 (1966); Silver Surfer #1 (1968); Fantastic Four Annual #6 (1968); Fantastic Four #52 (1966); Iron Man #1 (1968)
Bronze Age
1970s - Familiar Keys Keep Turning Over
Top 5 titles by volume:
The Amazing Spider-Man (1963)
The X-Men (1963–1981)
Star Wars (1977–1986)
Batman (1940)
The Incredible Hulk (1962–1999)
Top 5 titles by sales:
The Amazing Spider-Man (1963): $108,469
The Incredible Hulk (1962–1999): $61,286
The X-Men (1963–1981): $60,963
Giant-Size X-Men (1975): $44,279
Star Wars (1977–1986): $44,101
Most traded issues: Star Wars #1 (1977); The Amazing Spider-Man #194 (1979); The Amazing Spider-Man #129 (1974); Giant-Size X-Men #1 (1975); Green Lantern #87 (1972)
1980s - Spider-Man, Secret Wars and the Black Suit Era
Top 5 titles by volume:
The Amazing Spider-Man (1963)
The Uncanny X-Men (1981)
Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars (1984–1985)
The X-Men (1963–1981)
Daredevil (1964–1998)
Top 5 titles by sales:
The Amazing Spider-Man (1963): $150,123
Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars (1984–1985): $74,993
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1984–1993): $68,761
The X-Men (1963–1981): $40,446
The Uncanny X-Men (1981): $29,250
Most traded issues: Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #8 (1984); The Amazing Spider-Man #252 (1984); Wolverine Limited Series #1 (1982); The Amazing Spider-Man #300 (1988); The Incredible Hulk #340 (1988)
Modern Age
1990s - Spider-Man Wins, Just Not the Spider-Man You Might Expect
Top 5 titles by volume:
The Amazing Spider-Man (1963)
Spider-Man (1990–1998)
X-Men/New X-Men (1991)
The Uncanny X-Men (1981)
Spawn (1992)
Top 5 titles by sales:
Spider-Man (1990–1998): $35,025
The Amazing Spider-Man (1963): $30,364
The New Mutants (1983–1991): $27,973
Spawn (1992): $21,032
The Uncanny X-Men (1981): $20,191
Most traded issues: Spider-Man #1 (1990); X-Men #1 (1991); Spawn #1 (1992); The Amazing Spider-Man #361 (1992); Venom: Lethal Protector #1 (1993)
2000s - Invincible Leads Without a Single-Issue Takeover
Top 5 titles by volume:
Invincible (2003)
The Amazing Spider-Man (1963)
Amazing Spider-Man (1999–2003)
Batman (1940)
Spawn (1992)
Top 5 titles by sales:
Invincible (2003): $62,088
The Amazing Spider-Man (1963): $20,172
The Walking Dead (2003): $12,696
Ultimate Spider-Man (2000): $9,033
Amazing Spider-Man (1999–2003): $8,729
Most traded issues: Amazing Spider-Man #36 (2001); The Amazing Spider-Man #601 (2009); The Amazing Spider-Man #606 (2009); Captain America #6 (2005); Batman #608 (2002)
2010s - Ultimate Fallout Converts Attention Into Dollars
Top 5 titles by volume:
Invincible (2003)
Spawn (1992)
The Walking Dead (2003)
Ultimate Fallout (2011)
Amazing Spider-Man (2014)
Top 5 titles by sales:
Ultimate Fallout (2011): $29,147
Invincible (2003): $23,167
Spawn (1992): $13,087
Something is Killing the Children (2019): $10,127
Secret Wars (2015): $8,699
Most traded issues: Ultimate Fallout #4 (2011); Amazing Spider-Man #800 (2018); Something is Killing the Children #1 (2019); Venom #3 (2018); Amazing Spider-Man #4 (2014)
2020s - Absolute Batman Runs Away With It
Top 5 titles by volume:
Absolute Batman (2024)
Bangers Cover Gallery (2025)
Amazing Spider-Man (2022)
Fantasy of Cosplay Comic Cover Gallery (2024)
Absolute Wonder Woman (2024)
Top 5 titles by sales:
Absolute Batman (2024): $210,710
Something is Killing the Children (2019): $14,200
Transformers (2023): $12,407
Amazing Spider-Man (2022): $11,874
Invincible Universe: Battle Beast (2025): $10,058
Most traded issues: Absolute Batman #1 (2024); Bangers Cover Gallery #3 (2026); Absolute Batman #15 (2026); Absolute Batman #20 (2026); Absolute Batman #19 (2026)
Spotlight: When Popularity and Spending Agree
Popularity ≠ Spending
This chart compares the most-traded title with the highest-selling title for each decade. Dataset pooled during the September 8–21, 2026 reporting period.
7 of 10
decades shared the same leader
1930s
Same leader
Phantom Detective led both measures in the 1930s, making collector activity and spending closely aligned during the fortnight.
One of the more revealing signals this fortnight is how closely volume and value lined up. In seven of ten decades, the most-traded title was also the title generating the most sales:
1930s: Phantom Detective
1940s: Batman
1960s: The Amazing Spider-Man
1970s: The Amazing Spider-Man
1980s: The Amazing Spider-Man
2000s: Invincible
2020s: Absolute Batman
Only the 1950s, 1990s and 2010s broke the pattern. And each split tells a different story.
The 1950s were distorted upward by an exceptional Showcase #13 sale. The 1990s saw Spider-Man dominate both sides of the equation, but through two different series. The 2010s showed Invincible winning overall activity while Ultimate Fallout converted fewer transactions into more money.
Volume tells us what collectors are buying. Sales tell us where the dollars are going. This fortnight, more often than not, they pointed to the same place.
The Bottom Line
The September 8–21 period was quieter in aggregate, with $5.4 million changing hands across 21,465 books, but little evidence that the market was abandoning its established collecting pillars.
The Amazing Spider-Man remained the broadest source of liquidity. The Silver Age delivered the deepest pool of high-value title sales. The black-suit era continued to drive 1980s activity. Invincible remained prominent across the modern market.
At the same time, the dataset's edges supplied some of its strongest stories.
Pulps controlled the 1930s. A single Showcase #13 helped reshape the 1950s rankings. And Absolute Batman created a level of modern-market concentration rarely seen elsewhere in the decade breakdown.
The names at the top may often be familiar.
How they get there is where the market gets interesting.
Want to dig into every sale behind these highlights?
👉 Explore the full dataset and build your own lists inside GPAnalysis at comics.gpanalysis.com — and catch each new Top of the Stack in The Collector Hub newsletter.
See you in two weeks. Keep stacking.
