BY JENNIFER M. CONTINO
There's gold in them there attics, at least for some people. 78 year-old Ralph Chicorel collected comic books when he was a little boy during the Golden Age of comics.

Although he sold 900 of those books for US$3500 in 1968, he discovered a short time later another 100 books that would have any comic book fan drooling. Batman # 1, Marvel Mystery Comics #9 and dozens more. Every book is a fantastic find, and one is more desirable than the next.

Heritate Auction Galleries predicts the collection will probably get around US$500,000 dollars for the retired restauranteer.

Chicorel told The Chicago Tribune that he "relished" and "treasured" his comics. That's probably why the books are in such a high grade condition.

While most Golden Age books were thrown out or used in paper drives to help those fighting in World War II, Chicorel was able to keep his collection, and keep it in very good condition.

There are less than 200 known copies of many of the books that Chicorel will let Heritage Auction Galleries sell.

Most of the auctions begin this Thursday.

If you had millions of dollars and could buy any Golden Age comic, which one would be on the top of your "must have" list? Why?

PULSE readers can learn more here:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-tx-comicbookauction,0,4645271.story