eBay will exclusively host a rare collection of CGC graded Action Comics dubbed as the “Court Copies” from seller SparkleCityComics.
These rare Action Comics “Court Copies” come from a lawsuit that DC Comics filed against Victor Fox Publications arguing their character Wonder Man was too much like Superman. Superman, at the time had only been in print less than a year.
The comics in this collection were used as physical evidence for DC Comics to win the case. It was the first ever legal case involving copyright infringement in comic books.
SparkleCityComics elaborates on why these comics are called Court Copy and just how important they would be in DC Comics’ case against Fawcett Comics and their wildly popular character Captain Marvel, now known as Shazam.
“These are designated the Court Copy because it was used as evidence in DC’s lawsuit against Fox and the latter publisher’s character Wonder Man, claiming copyright infringement. The case was styled ‘Detective Comics, Inc., v. Bruns Publications, Inc., et al.’ and these comics were actual evidence exhibits. When all was said and done, the judge did indeed issue an injunction ‘forbidding the further publication’ of Wonder Man. This was a significant moment indeed, as future court battles were looming, above all the one against Fawcett and the hugely popular and bestselling Captain Marvel.”
Many of the comics in this collection that is up for sale feature actual stamps from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. In fact, there are two date stamps from the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of New York. One shows March 16, 1939 and other shows April 6, 1939.
The collection of comics from SparkleCityComics not only includes the Court Copies, but also features rare issues from The Avengers, The Fantastic Four, Captain Marvel, Superman, and Batman. There are over 200 comics in the collection.
The bidding for each comic in the collection began at $14.99. An Amazing Spider-Man #14 is already up to $1,275 at the time of this writing. The collection also features a Journey Into Mystery #83 whose current bid is over $1,000.
You can check out the entire collection on eBay right here.
Do you plan on taking a look at the collection and making some bids?