Following the death in April of Vermont comic book retailer and collector Christine Farrell, her legendary collection is about to go up for auction.

Farrell, who succumbed to a long illness at age 73, owned Earth Prime Comics and Quarterstaff Games, both located on Church Street in Burlington. She was an avid, lifelong collector of comics with a particular interest in the DC Comics oeuvre: She's believed to have at one time owned the entire run of DC, starting with comics published in 1938. Farrell was a tightly guarded person who rarely spoke to the press or discussed her collection.

But now that rare collection, which includes first appearances in print of heroes such as Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman, will go to the highest bidders on the online site Heritage Auctions. It opens for online bidding on October 7; the auction itself takes place October 22 to 25.



"This is going to be a market-changing sale," said Jordon Lewis van Dyke, the manager at Farrell's stores when she died. "I don't know that there's been a collection this wide in the history of comic collections, with this many key issues and highly valuable books."

Even van Dyke isn't sure of the overall value of the collection — that won't be known until Heritage finishes grading every issue in the lot before the October auction. But he knows that its sale will send shock waves through the comics-collector market. Van Dyke noted that DC Comics itself has had to reach out to Farrell in the past to make reprints from her complete original collection.

According to van Dyke, not all of her collection will go to auction. Many of her friends and fellow collectors will be gifted individual items, and some will be sold directly through Earth Prime.

"Most of the higher-end stuff is being graded and sold through Heritage," he said. "But with the rest, we're making a concerted effort to make sure they go to good homes. Chris loved these comics; it's definitely what she would have wanted."
Van Dyke is still running both stores, as well as helping with his former employer's estate. Details about the future of Earth Prime and Quarterstaff can't be revealed until the legal proceedings surrounding her estate are settled, he said, but he remains optimistic that they will continue to operate.

"We're definitely trying to keep it going in the spirit of the way Chris wanted," van Dyke said. "What she did for the comics community — not only in Vermont but all over the world — it's such a great legacy. And there really isn't a collection like this anywhere."

Some of Farrell's collection is listed at comics.ha.com; the full collection will go on view October 7.