Antiques Roadshow

GUEST: I brought "The Defenders" number one, page one, and I think it's from 1972.

It's this page.

APPRAISER: And where did you get the page from?

GUEST: I bought it online.

I was stationed in Iraq back in s, '06 and '07.

I saw it go on sale, so I decided to buy it.

And I believe I paid around 7,000 for it, which was a lot, but I had combat pay.

So I used my combat pay to pay for this baby.

I didn't see it for over a year.

I had to wait till I come back to the United States.

APPRAISER: You are correct in that, yes, this is page one from "Defenders" one.

When you first came to the table today...

GUEST: Yeah.

APPRAISER: ...literally, I had to control my eyeballs from exploding out of my head-- that's how good this page is.

GUEST: Really?

APPRAISER: Yes, absolutely.

GUEST: 'Cause no one else ever seems to like it but me, so... Yeah.

APPRAISER: Well, you've met the second guy that likes it.

So I'm right there with you.

GUEST: Oh, thank-- yeah!

Wow.

APPRAISER: Yeah.

So, the Defenders, very interesting team of heroes when it comes to Marvel.

While this is "Defenders" one, they were actually first introduced in "Marvel Feature" one... APPRAISER: ...in, uh, December 1971.

The Defenders were portrayed as the first non-team, really, when it comes to Marvel Comics, 'cause prior to this, you have the Fantastic Four, you had the X-Men, you had the Avengers.

You have all these people that have come tobe, gether as a concrete team, whereas when the Defenders first came, your three initial members are the Incredible Hulk, Doctor Strange, and Namor the Submariner.

From 1972 to 1986, the Defenders had a revolving door of characters that were included.

I mean, you had Valkyrie, Son of Satan, and Luke Cage.

They included Silver Surfer becoming a member officially of the Defenders in issue two.

GUEST: All right.

APPRAISER: But let's get to the page itself.

APPRAISER: So you have Sal Buscema on the pencils, and you have Frank Giacoia on the inks.

It's just such an eye-catching page.

In really good condition-- it does have some toning to it.

APPRAISER: Have you ever had this appraised before or anything like that?

GUEST: (chuckling): Um, yeah, it was probably about 2011, and it was for $400, which really disappointed me.

APPRAISER: Okay, well, I am happy to report that we're going to give you a lot better news... APPRAISER: ...than $400 today.

If this were to come up for auction in a properly well-advertised setting, I would put a catalogue estimate on it of $15,000 to $20,000.

GUEST: Whoa.

(laughs) Whoa!

APPRAISER: And I wouldn't be surprised, personally... APPRAISER: ...if that high estimate would be exceeded, if not doubled, because just as a comparison...

GUEST: Yeah.

APPRAISER: You know, being original artwork...

GUEST: Yeah!

APPRAISER: Yeah, you're, get excited, yeah, this is awesome!

GUEST: Right, right, right, because I'm just, like, looking at this.

That's more than I paid for it, and that $400, I was so disappointed, 'cause like, I love this.

I, and I'm not trying to put prices on my paper babies, as I call 'em, but I didn't think it was respectful.

That's how I felt.

I appreciate it, you, I mean, I'm happy, 'cause... Baby, I knew, I knew you were worthwhile.

(laughs) I really did.

APPRAISER: It's a great piece.

GUEST: I really-- oh, thank you, I love it.

APPRAISER: Recently, in 2022, the cover to "Defenders" one brought over a quarter-million dollars at auction.