The following article has been written by Comic Book Speculation Dot Com writer, Nico. Read more articles from Nico here.  

  This is your Weekend Update!

No clouds in my stones.

    Umbrella Academy was number one with a bullet this week on eBay’s list of Top Ten Trending searches with nearly 4,000 clicks and more than 2,000 views.  By Friday it had fallen to the number three spot, but interest remains high for the Umbrella Academy. Sales of slabbed books and raw copies are numerous and substantial.  CGC 9.8 copies of the limited to 1000 variant of #1 have sold for more than $550.00 BIN, a CGC SS 9.8 of that same book sold for $750.00 and a CGC 9.9 of the 1:10 variant sold for $450.00.  High grade raw copies of the 2007 Free Comic Book Day titled the Umbrella Academy which is their first appearance has been selling routinely in the $50.00 range and sets of the Apocalypse Suite mini series have been selling in the $100.00 range.  All of these books were available for a fraction of these prices just a few short days ago. Umbrella Academy books are hot as the television show exceeded generally uniform low expectations from comic collectors and now has wide ranging appeal beyond fans of the Dark Horse comic series.  I for one am very interested to see where we go from here.

    Some enterprising speculators are already purchasing copies of the True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys in anticipation of this series being developed because of the reviews of Umbrella Academy.  Others are more confident in the prospect of Netflix related speculation. It remains to be seen whether any formula works to predict how the market will respond with any consistency, but few would disagree that there is any substitute for a quality product.      

 

Controversy surrounds Captain Marvel film.

    With projected box office lows of $80 million and highs of $180 million, there has been no shortage of speculation surrounding the fate of the Captain Marvel movie.  Disney and Kevin Feige have had no qualms about making their plan for Captain Marvel to be the matriarch of the Marvel Cinematic Universe known. Vocal critics of the film have been attributed to political statements made by leading lady Bree Larson while the majority of those pre-screening the film suggest that it is a quality movie.  Ultimately, the numbers will be the only thing that matter to shrewd speculators. Much like Umbrella Academy in the weeks preceding its release, there is little certainty whether now is the time to buy or sell key books.

    Key Captain Marvel books continue to move online, particularly high grade copies of rare variants.  For example, on February 20th a CGC 9.8 copy of the 1:100 virgin variant of the Life Of Captain Marvel #3 1:100 virgin variant sold for $599.99.  In related news, a Ms. Marvel #2 Molina 1:50 variant sold for $655.00 on the following day. The last sale of this book was on February 12th when a raw copy described as “VF+ – VF/NM bottom right corner on the BC has a non color breaking mark” sold for $650.00.   

Hit-Monkey business!

    What a difference a week makes for Hit-Monkey #1 2nd prints.  Last week the black and white sketch variant of the Hit-Monkey one show were available in the $20.00 range, this week the book sold on multiple occasions in the $150.00 range.  This book appears to be the winner in the Hulu Marvel animated speculation thus far.

Watch out for the Watchmen

In a much anticipated live auction, the original cover artwork for Watchmen #1 sold for $228,000 via Heritage auction house.  Dave Gibbons original artwork is iconic and this series is credited by many with ushering in adult oriented realism in comics like no other.  Many suggest that Alan Moore’s writing has changed the face of Hollywood and made comic book related media marketable. Whether you are a fan of Moore and Gibbons work or not, it is clear that it left an indelible mark on the industry.  As we approach the release of the 2019 HBO series, Watchman comics continue to sell well in CGC 9.9 condition. Last week we saw a sale of a slabbed 9.8 for a best offer of $555.00 and back on February 15th a CGC SS 9.8 (signed by Gibbons not Moore) sold for $620.00.  By contrast CGC 9.6s are available for less than $150.00 shipped.   

Donny Cates continues to excite.

    Donny Cates took to social media this week to announce that he had finished the first draft of God Country.  Cates also revealed the identity of Eddie Brock’s son, Dylan Brock, in Venom #11. Dylan Brock’s first full appearance is Venom #9 which has a 2nd print cover that is drawing some interest from speculators.  Copies of the 2nd print were still available via Diamond so you may be able to secure copies from your LCS rather than paying $10.00 on eBay.  Dylan Brock’s first cameo appearance is Venom #7. There was a secret variant with an unknown ratio and a store variant by Clayton Crain.  Unlike traditional ratio variants, it does not appear that the rarity of the undisclosed “secret” tongue variant was impacted by the store variant.  

Spider-verse speculation continues.

    There is a marked difference in the price tag between newsstand copies and direct market copies of Ultimate Fallout #4 with a live auction of a newsstand copy ending at a whopping $305.00.  This raw copy did not appear to be a 9.8 with or without the assistance of a professional press and dry cleaning service. There is also continued excitement from many fans after Sony’s announcement that it will feature a Spider-Ham short film on the DVD release of Into the Spider-verse.  Marvel also announced it will be publishing the complete Peter Porker, The Spectacular Spider-Ham collections and Spider-man Noir in hardcover at comicspro suggesting that Marvel is committed to these properties. Spider-Ham is also starring in this years Amazing Spider-Man annual. We can also expect the Black Cat to receive her own book later this year which is driving speculation that Marvel or Sony maybe planning to introduce her on the big screen.

    There were also a couple of big sales of modern Spider-man variants.  A raw copy of the Amazing Spider-Man 667 Dell’Otto variant sold for $8500.00.  This is the 2nd monster sale of this book in the last few weeks.  Back on January 2nd a CGC 9.4 sold for $13,300.00.  Also this week, a raw copy of everyone’s favorite J. Scott Campbell variant, Amazing Spider-Man 688 B sold in a live auction for $516.13.  This book was described as being in “excellent condition, apart from a couple of minute stress fractures on spine, and a small crease at top staple.”  Ironically, a CGC 9.6 copy has sat unsold at a $750.00 BIN for weeks on eBay.

 

No signs of life in the Walking Dead

    The Walking Dead television series has reached an all time ratings low with AMC’s flagship series drawing 4.54 million viewers and a 1.7 rating within the key age 18-49 demographic, a 12-percent decrease in viewers from the previous week’s mid-season premiere.  This dip is a marked 15 percent decrease in ratings from the prior episode. Nevertheless, the Walking Dead is the most-viewed cable series on television and it is already renewed for a 10th season. This week we saw the sale of a CGC 9.8 copy of the Walking Dead #1 move in a BIN for $2,400.00 and a high grade raw copy sell for a remarkable $1799.95.  

    Despite low ratings, many fans of the show have championed the new season and the story arc which is many speculate will focus on Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s Negan finding redemption.  Some speculate that there is room to grow on the once favored 2nd print variant of issue #100 which is Negan’s first appearance.  Where this book once sold in CGC 9.8 condition in the $300.00 to $350.00 range, copies are currently trading hands in the neighborhood of $70.00 shipped.  Is now the time to be buying or selling Waking Dead comics? Only time will tell.

Old Spec sees new life

As discussed on the Comic Book Speculation Instagram account, the Image property Old Guard was picked up by Netflix.  The comicchron order numbers/estimates are about 24,000 copies for the first print and the one per store variant estimates range from 2,000 to 3,000 copies with no discernable alleged numbers for the ECCC variant.  These books are selling well online following news that Charlize Theron will star in this feature film with Gina Prince-Bythewood (Cloak & Dagger) on board to direct, and Rucka adapting his own original material for the original screenplay.  

 

Read more articles from Nico here.