Weekend Update with Nico

Posted on March 9, 2019 by Comicbookscalping One comment

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!

Captain Marvel: Queen of the MCU?

All eyes are on Captain Marvel this week. Disney’s blockbuster opened to more than $20 million in box office sales Thursday night. The film reeled in $44 million in its first two days of overseas release not including China where the film opens today. Opinions have been all over the board regarding Brie Larson’s portrayal of Carol Danvers, the quality of the film and the many issues that have haunted the film prior to its release. As everyone is painfully aware, long before the release of the film, Larson managed to enrage a number of right leaning comic book fans and had some left leaning and apolitical comic collectors shaking their heads at the continued politicization of the super hero genre. In spite of all the drama, sales of certain key books were strong this week. Perhaps the biggest winner is Ms. Marvel Giant Size #1 which features the first appearance of Danvers extra-terrestrial cat, Chewie (named Goose in the film). These books sold out of eBay by the Thursday release of the film and were topping $100.00 before other collectors caught wind of the sales are began populating the market with more copies. Also keep an eye out for issues #7 and #9 of the 2014 series which discuss the Flerkin (the alien race of cats) as these books are probably still in many retailer dollar bins.

AMC Walking Dead lawsuit

It seems that there is just as much high drama behind the scenes of the Walking Dead as there is in front of the camera. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman’s lawyer Ronald Nessim told the Court they estimate that AMC’s decisions have cost his clients “at least many hundreds of millions of dollars.” Kirkman’s lawsuit is unresolved, but following the recent arbitration award of $179 million against 21st Century Fox all eyes will stay glued to Kirkman’s pending suit. Many fans, including the actor who plays Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) were disappointed that Carl was killed off from the show before the series could re-tell their famed arc from the comic. AMC continues to reorganize and re-package the Walking Dead in an effort to re-kindle the early magic that captured the hearts and minds of fans across the globe.

Meanwhile it appears that Kirkman fans are heavily invested in his forthcoming animated Invincible television series. While the Invincible series has always been beloved by fans, prices on the book have begun to sharply increase since news of the animated project. This week a CGC 9.8 copy of the Invincibles #1 sold in a live auction on eBay for $920.00. Kirkman’s Skybound production company has announced that it will be producing properties such as Think Tank and Thief of Thieves. Whether any of these books will make it to the screen remains to be seen, but there have been reports that Kirkman’s production company is currently filming in Canada. If you are interested in the long term potential of these books look out for the limited to 500 Think Tank #1 variant. Think Tank is a cool property that captures much of the charm of the 1980’s Val Kilmer film Real Genius. There is also a Comicspro Variant for Thief of Thieves #1 (also reportedly limited to 500 copies) that is also relatively inexpensive. A CGC 9.8 copy recently sold on eBay for $70.00 (the most recent prior sale was back in December for around $50.00 shipped).

Foreign Variant Buzz

In the past few weeks the market for foreign editions have started to get some significant interest in the secondary market. While most collectors are familiar with the modern European variant covers for Superman and Batman by Dell’Otto and Turner, few are familiar with the abundance of foreign comics that populate markets around the globe. For example, this week we saw a couple big sales for foreign editions of classic covers. A CGC 7.5 copy of the Mexican edition of Famous Funnies #212 sold in a live auction for $669.00. Similarly, a CGC 8.5 copy of Weird Horrors #7 sold in a live auction for $355.00. Much of the recent buzz around foreign editions can be attributed to an article published by Comic Book Resources detailing the legendary Mexican Spider-Man comic which depicts the marriage of Gwen Stacey and Peter Parker on the cover of El Sorprendente Hombre Arana#128.

If you are interested in foreign editions there are a number of devoted to these books. Before you go spending obscene sums of money on these books, I would make certain to check the CGC Message Boards and Facebook for information. Society of International Comic Book Collectors is one such group on Facebook, the CGC Message Boards just started a new “Official Foreign Editions Thread” in Comics General and there is a message board site dedicated to these kind of comics which is populated by many of the members of the Society of International Comic Book Collectors on Facebook.

Spider-Man is still the people’s champ

Speaking of Spider-Man, the old web-head continues to marvel collectors and dealers with astronomical sales on eBay. On Monday, an Amazing Fantasy #15 CGC 3.0 sold for an astounding $18,600.00. The following day a 0.5 CGC purple label of Amazing Spider-Man #1 sold for $2,825.00. These Spider-Man books remain grail items that many collectors are attempting to secure before the price tag makes them unattainable.

While sales of Spider-Man Silver Age Keys continue to soar, it appears that many Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse related modern books are returning to their pre animated film price tags. Raw near mint copies of Edge of Spider-Verse #2 have been selling in the $200 range with live auctions for CGC 9.6 copies selling around $275.00 and CGC 9.8 copies in the range of $500.00. Similarly, Ultimate Fallout #4 books appear to be falling back to earth. Near Mint copies are starting to move in the $75 range, with CGC 9.6 copies selling around $180 and CGC 9.8 copies selling around $325.00. There were two slabbed copies of the Ultimate Fallout #4 Djurdevic variant that sold this week. A CGC 9.4 sold for $390.00 and a CGC 9.6 copy sold for little more than $600.00.

Suicide Squad scramble

Variety is reporting that Idris Elba will replace Will Smith as Deadshot in James Gunn’s forthcoming ‘The Suicide Squad’ film. Elba is beloved by fans for his character acting and this is creating a lot of buzz around the character Deadshot and excitement about the film. Deadshot’s first appearance in Batman #59 is already a pricey book and many collectors are turning to Detective Comics #474, Batman #369, the 1988 Deadshot mini series or Suicide Squad #1 (1987) as a less expensive alternative.

Meanwhile we’ve seen copies of a number of other books fly out back issue bins and out of online stores following Collider’s report that The Suicide Squad will feature DC Comics villains King Shark, Peacemaker, Polka-Dot Man and Ratcatcher. The first cameo appearance of Kind Shark can be found in Superboy #0 (there is a Zero Hour UPC logo that is hard to find) and his first full appearance and cover appearance can be found in Superboy #9. The first appearance of Peacemaker is Fightin’ 5 #40 (1966) after he was acquired by Charlton the character first appeared in the DC Universe in Crisis on Infinite Earths #6. The Polka-Dot Man first appeared in Detective Comics #300. The Ratcather first appearance in Detective Comics #585. Collider reports that a subplot of the film is Deadshot taking on a surrogate father role for a female version of the Ratcatcher. It is completely unclear whether or not Collider’s report is reliable or not. Proceed with caution.

More Riverdale/Archie Horror on Netflix?

Comic collectors have been fantasizing about the possibility of Jughead as a Werewolf and the Afterlife with Archie plot making its way to the small screen since NYCC 2017. Back then the only support for such a proposition was Riverdale’s creator, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (writer of the acclaimed Afterlife with Archie series) hinting at the possibility when he and Jon Goldwater who produces both Riverdale and the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina were together on the convention circuit. Following the release of the Season Two trailer for the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, there is new hope for many fans of Archie horror comics that some or all of these titles will transition to the small screen in some incarnation.

If you are interested in picking up the first appearance of Jughead as a Werewolf it is found in the Jughead: the Hunger One Shot. There is also a great Werewolf by Night 32 homage variant of the first issue of the ongoing series. Do not overpay for this book. Copies of this store variant are available on Stadium Comics website. The print run was reportedly limited to 500 copies and the books were apparently heavily damaged which will make high grade copies exceptionally rare. Remember that Archie horror comics include Betty the Vampire Slayer and Vamperonica who first appeared in the classic Betty and Veronica issues #261 and #262.

Also remember that Katy Keene’s television pilot is all but cast and is already receiving a big pre-production push which includes being featured in Seventeen magazine. One key issue which we’ve not yet mentioned on this website is Katy Keene #62′s Forbidden Planet movie poster homage. This classic robot cover commands big dollars from Golden Age collectors. Keep an eye out for this book at a reasonable price.

The films roll on

While many have been critical of the Dark Phoenix trailer which dropped this week for, among other things, spoiling the death of a beloved X-Men character many have touted the vitality of the international trailer in defense of the yet unreleased film. By comparison, the second trailer for Shazam has received almost universal acclaim and early online reviews have been near universally positive. This morning the Hashtag Show reported that the much anticipated Black Adam film’s script features none other than Stargirl, Atom Smasher and Hawkman. While we are promised a glimpse of Black Adam in Shazam we are not anticipating an appearance by Dwain “the Rock” Johnson who was promised the role back in 2014. According to the Hashtag Show we can expect a March 2020 release date. While the Hashtag Show does not have a perfect record for its “exclusive scoops,” it is as respected by those who only count its count its wins as it is disparaged by those who only count its losses.

Dethroned King?

For more than a decade the king of modern high end variants has been Batman #608 the Diamond retailer rewards program (RRP) cover. This is by most accounts the book that really started the high end modern variant market. It was a retailer exclusive comic distributed to less than 100 Diamond account holders who attended the Retailer Round table Program (RRP) conferences run by DC. The estimated print run is 400 copies, but no one knows the exact number. It is the most expensive Batman variant cover and features the beloved classic Harley Quinn as an added bonus. This week the book hit an 18 month low when a live eBay auction ended at $3,800.00. This is by no means a small figure, and certainly not a small figure for a modern comic. However, a CGC 9.8 copy of the same book sold on eBay as recently as February 22nd of this year for $4,999.99. Perhaps this is an aberrant sale, perhaps not. Perhaps it is indicative of high end variant fatigue. Another interesting issue to think about is whether the forthcoming Batman film which many believe will re-tell the Hush storyline on the big screen will have any meaninful effect on the price of this book. Only time will tell how the market will respond to this sale and what the future holds for this blue chip modern variant.