A Look Inside Christine Farrell's Rare Comics Collection

Christine Farrell (left) and friend Mike Wilbur at the New York Comic Con Credit: Courtesy of Scoop

Considering that Christine Farrell had one of the greatest comic book collections ever compiled, it was surprising how casually she hoarded her treasure when the Mountain Lake PBS program “People Near Here” visited her Burlington office in 1995.

There were no big displays or ultra-rare comics encased in glass, no signs explaining how valuable the books were, no notes from DC Comics marveling at Farrell’s feat of amassing one of the only complete series of the publisher’s run. It was just a nondescript office lined with boxes overflowing with some of the oldest and rarest comic books ever printed.

The owner of Earth Prime Comics and Quarterstaff Games, both on Burlington’s Church Street, Farrell was guarded about her personal trove. “I do not intend to sell the collection,” she told host Derek Muirden. “That’s not what I’m in it for.”

But following Farrell’s death at the age of 72 in April, the vast majority of her tens of thousands of comics — many so rare that they are legendary among other collectors — will indeed be sold. Her estate has authorized the sale through Texas-based Heritage Auctions.

A portion of the collection was posted online for purchase in late September, but the gems of Farrell’s collection, some 500 of the most sought-after comics of all time, will go live on Heritage’s website October 25 and 26. This includes the first appearances of superheroes such as Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman.

The comics are expected to fetch some high offers. Heritage vice president Lon Allen, who is also an adviser to the Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide, an annual publication considered the top authority on comic book appraisals, estimated the entire collection to be worth between $6 million and $7 million. The October auction alone is likely to generate $4 million.

While Farrell was alive, “She definitely didn’t want to sell the collection,” her longtime friend Dave Torrey said by phone. “I think she maybe considered putting it on display at some point, but it was never really part of her plan. She collected those books because she wanted to read them.”

Farrell, who grew up in Burlington, began collecting comics as a child, her favorite titles being female-led books such as Lois Lane and Supergirl. In 1970, she embarked on a mission to collect the entire run of DC Comics, starting with 1935’s New Fun Comics No. 1. She completed her mission 37 years later when she scooped up a copy of an obscure comic from 1944 titled The Fat and Slat Joke Book.

“It’s an amazing collection,” said Allen, who spent eight weeks going through Farrell’s comics once they arrived at Heritage. “A true once-in-a-lifetime thing to get to see and handle. Her dedication to compile it all was nothing short of remarkable.”

Some of the more jaw-dropping books Allen came across included a slew of pre-Batman Detective Comics, some of which he had handled only once or twice in his 25 years on the job. He noted that Farrell’s copy of Action Comics No. 1 (1938), the first appearance of Superman, would likely fetch the highest price: A copy sold in 2014 for more than $3 million. Allen also predicted that Farrell’s Flash No. 1 (1940), as well as her copy of the original Bernie Wrightson art from Swamp Thing No. 1 (1972), would go for a premium.

“The fact that she was able to put it all together, pre-internet for the most part, is just mind-boggling,” said Allen, who described Farrell as something of a legend among other collectors, despite her private nature. He first met her at comic conventions in New York City in the 1990s, when she was still trying to round out her DC run.

“When I got the call from the estate attorneys, they weren’t all that forthcoming about whose collection it was,” Allen revealed. “But I was able to put two and two together, and as soon as I realized who we were talking about, I said, ‘When can I be there? I’m on the next plane.'”

Farrell had amassed much of her collection before the advent of comics grading — a form of valuation determined by the Certified Guaranty Company — so there were questions about the condition of her comics. It turns out being shoved in boxes in a nondescript office worked just fine — many of Farrell’s comics have been getting some of the highest CGC grades ever assigned to so-called “golden-age” comics.

Golden-age books were published between 1938 and 1956, a period of growing popularity for the medium. Many of the most valuable and coveted comics date back to that era, which is one reason Farrell’s golden-age-heavy collection is such a watershed moment in the collecting world. In some cases, it’s the scarcity of the comic rather than the content that makes her works so enticing. Allen cited Detective Comics No. 3 (1937) as one of the deepest cuts in Farrell’s hoard. It’s so rare that CGC has only ever graded 17 copies.

Farrell could afford her lifelong hobby as a scion of the Farrell Distributing empire. Her family founded the Burlington business in 1933, and it became the first licensed alcohol distributor in Vermont after the repeal of Prohibition. That financial backing also funded the opening of Earth Prime Comics and its upstairs sibling, Quarterstaff Games. Both shops are still operating after Farrell’s death, but, according to manager Jordon Lewis van Dyke, their fates won’t be known until all the legal dust settles with her estate sale.

“Both stores are doing well at the moment,” van Dyke told Seven Days. “I can’t get into where ownership is going to be, but there’s no intention of shutting them down. I assume there will be some changes no matter what, but the goal is to keep them going, which is definitely what Chris wanted.”

It’s not surprising that, even in death, Farrell would try to help keep Earth Prime alive. Originally opened on Bank Street in Burlington in 1983, the shop was both her passion project and a de facto clubhouse for a generation of comic-loving Burlington kids, including Torrey.

Double Action Comics No. 2 Credit: Courtesy

“Christine and I connected over all kinds of things, like science fiction and TV,” Torrey recalled. He moved away from Burlington for college in the ’80s, eventually settling in Arizona, but he never forgot his time hanging out with Farrell and the rest of the Earth Prime crew.

“We used to go back to her house after the shop closed to all play board games,” Torrey said. “At some point, I asked her to see some of her collection.”

Farrell’s treasure trove inspired Torrey to start his own, though witnessing her beloved comics get auctioned off now has him wondering whether it’s time to sell.

“I realize I’m getting older, too,” he admitted. “I might want to start thinking about moving my collection on so someone else doesn’t have to do it for me.”

Even so, Torrey revealed he’s been monitoring the auction and hopes to successfully bid on a few of the comics or original art.

While Farrell’s collection won’t be kept together and displayed, as Torrey believes she would have liked, there’s no question that its sale will send shock waves through the collectors’ market.

“Comic collecting is so much more mainstream than it used to be,” Allen said. “There’s a whole new wave of people in their twenties and thirties that love collecting.”

But Allen believes we’ll never again see the likes of someone such as Farrell, a lover of the medium who spent more than half a century compiling one of the world’s greatest collections of comic books.

“Most people tend to sell their collections when they get older. It’s very rare that they keep collecting right up until the end, as she did,” he said. “It’s clear that she was really passionate about them.”

Regardless of whether Farrell would have cared what prices her comics fetch or how high their CGC grades are, there’s no doubt she knew the magic her collection possessed.

“Everybody needs an outlet of some kind or other,” Farrell said in an interview with the Associated Press in 1983. “You project yourself into a fantasy world where the superhero always wins. It’s an escape.”

The original print version of this article was headlined “Treasures Told | A look inside the late Christine Farrell’s ultra-rare comics trove as it goes to auction”