The Facsimile: How to Own a Million-Dollar Comic

Action Comics #1 came out in 1938 and cost a dime. It introduced Superman. A real copy now sells for millions of dollars, and almost nobody will ever hold one. Publishers figured out a long time ago that people still want to read the thing, and that’s where facsimiles come in.

What a facsimile is

A facsimile is a simulacrum of an old comic: a copy built to look and read like the original issue. Same cover, same story, same letters page, same ads. If the 1975 original had a Hostess ad on the back, the facsimile has it too. The original cover price is usually printed on the front, so a 25-cent comic from 1975 still says 25 cents, even though you paid a lot more.

Reprints are different. A reprint takes the story and puts it in a new package, like a trade paperback with fresh coloring and no ads. A facsimile keeps the whole issue as it ran, including the parts people usually skip.

Where they came from

In 1974, DC started the Famous First Edition series. These were oversized treasury-format copies of landmark issues like Action Comics #1, Detective Comics #27, and Batman #1. The size kept anyone from mistaking them for the real thing, and plenty of kids who could never afford a Golden Age book got to read one.

In the early 1990s, Marvel did its own version with the Milestone Edition line, reprinting big issues like Giant-Size X-Men #1 and Amazing Fantasy #15 at regular comic size.

The modern wave started around 2019, when Marvel launched a steady Facsimile Edition line. Within a couple of years DC, IDW, and others had their own. Today you can find facsimiles of first appearances, famous deaths, and key issues from the Silver, Bronze, and Modern ages, usually at regular new-comic prices.

Why people buy them

The simple answer is price. An original Giant-Size X-Men #1, the issue that introduced Storm, Colossus, and Nightcrawler to the team, runs well into four figures in decent condition. The facsimile cost a few dollars when it came out. Same story, same art, and you won't have to wear your gloves when handling it.

Collectors buy them too. They fill gaps on a shelf, work as reading copies next to a graded original, and make good gifts for someone who loves a character but isn’t ready to spend rent money on a key issue.

How to tell one from an original

• Cover text. Most facsimiles have “Facsimile Edition” printed on the cover or in the logo area.
• Indicia. The small print on the first page or inside cover lists the publication date. A facsimile will carry a modern date.
• Barcode. Many facsimiles add a modern barcode the original cover never had.
• Paper. Old comics have toned, slightly brittle pages and a distinct smell. Facsimiles are bright white and clean.

Stories worth knowing

• Nicolas Cage. Cage owned a high-grade Action Comics #1 that was stolen from his storage locker in 2000. It turned up again more than a decade later in an abandoned storage unit. Stories like that are why plenty of fans settle for a copy they can leave on the coffee table.
• The mix-ups. Facsimiles and early reprints have been sold as originals by sellers who didn’t know better, and a few who did. Old Millennium Editions and treasury reprints still show up in online listings with the word “reprint” buried or missing.
• The shop-counter gap. A facsimile of a key issue often sells out of a shop’s stock fast, while the original sits in a case for years. For a lot of customers, the facsimile is the first time they’ve ever held that story in their hands.

BROWSE FACSIMILES ON COWABUNGA COMICS DOT COM!

Do you own any facsimiles? Tell us which ones are on your shelf and which one you’d pull out first to show someone.

What book should get the facsimile treatment next? Pick the key issue you’d most like to read without paying rent-money prices for it. Drop it in the comments, or tell us next time you’re in the shop.