Comics As Assets

Bought for 60 paise in the 1960s,sale price Rs 70,000 in 2013. Even accounting for inflation, that’s a super return on investment. Appropriately so, as the reason 60 paise can turn into Rs 70,000 is superheroes. A mint condition 1960s’ Indrajal comic book with a cover price of 60 paise will get you Rs 70,000 from the right buyer. Indrajal was published by Bennett Coleman & Company Ltd, which also publishes the TOI.

Old comic books like those published under titles Indrajal, Amar Chitra Katha, Tinkle and Chitra Bharti Kathamala have become highly sought-after and high priced collectors’ items. In this trend, India is following the US, where old comics have been collectors’ classics for a long time.

In 2011, Hollywood actor Nicolas Cage’s copy of Action Comics No. 1 featuring the first appearance of Superman sold for a super price of $2,161,000 in an online auction.

Bangalore-based history teacher and graphic novel collector Arun Prasad, whose old comic book fetched Rs 70,000, recently got his collection of over 15,000 comics valued. His assets in the form of graphic novels are worth over Rs 1.7 crore. Prasad is a determined collector. Recently, he took a trip to Kashmir to purchase old comic books.He possesses the entire Indrajal series in a few languages.  Read more of this post