What A Stan Lee-Signed Spider-Man Comic Was Actually Worth On Pawn Stars

Stan Lee is perhaps the most prolific icon in all of comic book history. The creator of heroes like Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, Black Panther, Doctor Strange, the X-Men and the Fantastic Four, the stories and universes he imagined have inspired generations of fans, leaving a legacy like no other. Yet, out of all the heroes he created, he always asserted that Spider-Man, the friendly neighborhood kid from Brooklyn, was his favorite. "He's the one who's most like me," Lee said in an interview with the Chicago Tribune. "Nothing ever turns out 100 percent OK; he's got a lot of problems, and he does things wrong, and I can relate to that." 

Given the legacy of Stan Lee, and his overwhelming fondness for the masked web slinger, one would think that a Spider-Man comic signed by Lee himself would be worth a fortune today. That's exactly what one man thought , when he brought a signed copy onto the set of "Pawn Stars."

The seller's copy was a 1972 edition of The Amazing Spider-Man titled "Spider-Man Goes Mad!" with a certified signature by Stan Lee on the cover. The man came in looking to sell it for around $1200. According to Chumlee, one of the pawnbrokers on the show, the signature and the comic were authentic — and he even confirmed that Stan Lee actually wrote that particular issue. It was only when he called in a secondary appraiser that things started to go downhill. 

The appraiser stated that the signature itself was worth $200, but aside from that, the comic was not worth much else. He pointed out some chipping on the edges, stating that a comic like this would need a much higher "grade" to be worth anything, and he went on to bemoan the fact that the issue didn't feature a high profile villain like the Green Goblin or Doctor Octopus. In the end, he dropped its price down to a pitiful $500, and Chumlee talked the man down even further, till he eventually sold the comic for $350. Regardless of the actual price of the comic, it's certainly a piece with some history to it, and is a pleasant reminder of the legacy Stan Lee left behind.