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!
Record Braking Modern Sales
This week we saw huge sales for both Immortal Hulk and the Batman Who Laughs. A CGC 9.8 copy of Teen Titans #12, the 1st appearance of the Batman Who Laughs hit an all time high.
We’ve seen the Batman Who Laughs become a premiere villain in DC continuity and
Also this week we’ve seen a ton of action on the Immortal Hulk and an overwhelming amount of “speculation” on titles related to the Immortal Hulk series. In a record setting live auction on eBay, a copy of the 1 in 25 Zaffino variant of Immortal Hulk #2 sold for $760.00. This is an astounding number for this book that is leaving many collectors scratching their heads. The last recorded eBay sale was on March 10th where a comparable copy moved for little more than $500.00.
Speculators are grabbing up copies of perceived 1st appearances of almost any red Hulk and/or red She-Hulk in hopes that they will be featured in Al Ewing’s ongoing series. Some of the more heavily speculated books are Hulk #2 (2008) (1st A-Bomb a/k/a Rick Jones’ red hulk); Incredible Hulk #604 (1st Harpy, the Marlo Chanler-Jones incarnation); Incredible Hulk #168 (1st appearance of Harpy, the Betty Ross incarnation); Hulk #14 Variant (1st cover Red She-Hulk, Betty Ross incarnation); Hulk #15 and Hulk #15 variant (1st full appearance of Red-She Hulk); and many other books. Some speculators are snagging up copies of the Joe Fixit (Hulk #347) because of rumor and conjecture surrounding his return in the Immortal Hulk series.
Before you invest your money in the Immortal Hulk series, I would encourage you to
Hot New Modern Books
We’ve seen a handful of modern books start to get really serious attention from
The other monster new title is Naomi from DC. This title is on issue #3 and it is sold out
Dark Red #1 from Aftershock is getting some action. These books are selling well online. There are a ton of variants including a 1:10 variant that was previously discussed on our Instagram page. There are also a number of other variants, including a Shannon Maer Bloody store variant from Sad Lemon Comics and C2E2 variants. The Shannon Maer variant is sold out but has some big online sales. Raw copies of the set of trade dress and virgin covers Maer Bloody covers are moving consistently around $200 with a CGC 9.8 remarked SS copy appearing to have pre-sold for $500.00.
Pre-Code Horror and Good Girls Shine
One of the most coveted books by Golden Age Pre-Code Horror collectors is Black Cat Mystery #50. This book features one of the most shocking covers in comics – a man’s face and hands melting from radiation poisoning. Comic book collectors and the Overstreet
Golden Age Good Girl, Bondage and Headlight covers continue attract major attention from serious collectors. This week, we witnessed a couple big sales that demonstrate this point. For example, a Wonder Comics 13 CGC 9.0 sold in a live auction for $3,250.00. This Alex Schomburg classic cover checks the right boxes and is in high demand. Similarly, we saw a CGC 6.5 of Planet Comics 39 sell for $1,477.00. Good girl covers remain favorites of collectors for their eye appeal and are generally perceived as blue chip investments in comic collectors
They claim “We’ve Got This Covered?” I’ll Reserve Judgment
Early this week, We Got This Covered reported that Sony was developing an Agent Venom television series. If this is happening keep your eye on out for Amazing Spider-Man #654 2nd prints which are particularly hard to find in high grade condition because of the black cover. There has been no confirmation regarding whether or not this is an actual project in development at Sony, and I would encourage you not to overpay for this or any of the other Agent Venom key books. The obvious other choice is Secret Avengers #23 (1st and 2nd prints), but keep an eye out for Amazing Spider-Man #654.1 (which is also affordable), Amazing Spider-Man #574 (which tells the story of how Flash Thompson suffered the service related injury resulting in his double amputation) and be on the look out for newsstand editions which command a substantial premium on the secondary market but remain an unknown phenomenon to many dealers and retailers alike.
Later in the week this same news outlet reported that Spider-Man 2099 was receiving his own spinoff series and that Spider-Man Noir would receive the same treatment. If you are returning to this article for your second week, you may recall that We Got This Covered reported last week that DC was in early development of a Doctor Fate feature film. Only time will tell if this news source is a trusted source for insider scoops or not. Please be cautious with your hard earned dollars if you are speculating on either of these titles.
Power of the Pump?
This week The Wrap reported that Sony’s Masters of the Universe reboot film may cast
Tokyo Ghost coming to the Big Screen?
Fan favorite, Sean Gordon Murphy, posted on social media that he can neither confirm nor deny that Tokyo Ghost was headed to the big screen and copies of this book are disappearing online. There are a couple harder to find variants of issue #1 that you should keep an eye out for in the event that you can pick them up at a reasonable price. Specifically, there is a retailer exclusive variant of the B cover and a SDCC exclusive of the A cover. Both variants are black and white and copies promptly disappeared on eBay after Murphy’s tweet. His post was so tongue and cheek it is unclear whether or not he is in discussions with anyone to transform Tokyo Ghost into a major motion picture. Fans of Murphy’s work are anxiously awaiting his return to Batman the White Knight which DC told fans would be released under its Black Label imprint later this year. Murphy has indicated that the sequel will feature Azrael in it and fans are hopeful for a swift return of the two Harleys (Dr. Harleen Quinzel and Marian Drews). In light of all the commotion created around the DC Dark imprint, DC corporate suggested that the Dark imprint was going to tone down it’s adult oriented content. This is particularly confusing for those of us who are enjoying DC’s streaming service which features adult oriented television programing. I will be very interested in seeing how exactly this is reconciled and remain optimistic that adult readers will be able to enjoy the adult oriented titles we’ve been looking forward to for some time now.
Danger Danger
As with all alleged “print runs” these numbers are the numbers reported by the publishers and are at best a rough estimate of actual prints. If you are interested in reported prints, and there validity and usefulness – keep an eye out for the forthcoming video on our youtube channel, which is coming soon! We will be discussing the “reserve copies” kept by publishers, “warehouse finds,” the refusal of Marvel and DC to cooperate with comicchron to report actual numbers from the printers, Diamond randomly distributing “scarce” variants at its retail breakfast months after collectors have paid exorbitant prices for copies of comparable copies of these books on the secondary market and a variety of other thought provoking topics which you should use to think about when considering the usefulness of reported print run information.
Thank you all for your continued support and comments. They are much appreciated. That’s all for this week. I’ll be back next week with more news and original content. In the interim, “Happy hunting! You bunch of savages!!”
– Nico, Esq.