7 Less-Known but Very Valuable Comic Books

You perhaps heard of the lucky Minnesota man who found a copy of Action Comics No. 1 in the walls of a home he was rebuilding. The beat-up comic book, featuring the first appearance of Superman, went on to command $175,000 at auction.

%VIRTUAL-WSSCourseInline-742%Before you rip out drywall or cash in your retirement to go shopping at at a comics convention, realize that only 100 copies of the original 250,000-issue run of Action Comics No. 1 are known to remain, which means your odds of hitting the comic book lottery are about as good as hitting the actual lottery.

Or are they? As it turns out, widespread interest in Walt Disney's (DIS) Marvel movies and similar films from Time Warner's (TWX) DC Comics has spawned surging interest in rare comics. Dallas-based Heritage Auctions sold $30 million worth of comics and comic book art in 2013 alone.

Since most of the 40,000 lots that produced those millions included comics you've likely never heard of, we asked Barry Sandoval, manager of Heritage's comics division, to give us his picks for lesser-known books that are making some sellers rich. Do you own any of these? Check your attic, consider Sandoval's advice and before you do anything else, revisit our advice for assembling the perfect portfolio of investment-grade comic books.

Motley Fool contributor Tim Beyers owns shares of Time Warner and Walt Disney. Find him on Twitter, where he goes by @milehighfool. The Motley Fool recommends and owns shares of Walt Disney.