As promised, the Covrprice.com runners-up list. The second half of the Top 20.
#11 BATMAN #6 | DC | 2012
While DC’s NEW 52 was primarily underwhelming, the highlight of the relaunch was Snyder and Capullo’s Batman run. Not only is this run celebrated, but it also delivered THE COURT OF OWLS, unarguably one of the best new additions to Batman’s rogue gallery. However, the first appearance of the COURT OF OWLS is rather complicated. It’s even more complex than your typical first cameo vs. first full appearance debate. Issue #2 of this run features the first mention of the Court of Owls and the first appearance of Talon, their assassin. Then, in issue #3, you see a photo of a few of the members wearing their owl masks and then a painting featuring a different group near the end of the issue. In issue #4, we get a cameo appearance of new members via a monitor on the last page. Finally, in issue #6, we see the current Court of Owls physically for the first time with their current masked members. There’s plenty of room to debate the actual first appearance. However, issue #6 outsells them all, making it the defacto winner. This week, we tracked 20 copies sold at a 7-day trend of 137%, with a high sale of $550 for a CGC 9.8.
#12 AVENGERS THE CHILDREN’S CRUSADE #1 | MARVEL | 2010
As reported by Comicbook.com, rumors are swirling that Marvel is developing two Scarlet Witch projects. One of those projects is THE CHILDREN’S CRUSADE, pulled directly from this series of the same name. As this information spread, buyers turned online and snatched up 11 copies at a 7-day trend of 367%, with a high sale of $30 for a raw copy.
#13 STAR WARS THE HIGH REPUBLIC #15 PHIL NOTO | MARVEL | 2022
In this issue, the Levelers are revealed as Nameless and controlled by Marchion Ro. While the Levelers have a complicated first, this connection to Marchion sent collectors rushing to pick up a copy of this reveal. We tracked 45 copies sold at a 7-day trend of 98% and had a high sale of $15.66 for a raw copy.
#14 AVENGERS FOREVER #3 | MARVEL | 2022
Mariama Spector, the first female Moon Knight, debuted last week in Avengers Forever #3. We tracked 76 copies of this first appearance at a 7-day trend of 98% and a high sale of $26.37 for a raw copy for this new character heat.
#15 DAREDEVIL WOMAN WITHOUT FEAR #3 | MARVEL | 2022
In this issue, Marvel introduced the first appearance of The Punisher with his controversial new chest symbol one week before THE PUNISHER #1. After right-wing extremist groups took the original skull symbol as their own, Marvel was forced to pivot away from the association. This surprise appearance outside of his book sent fans rushing to find copies. We tracked 41 copies sold with a 7-day trend of 121%, at a high sale of $20.96 for a raw copy. The FMV has settled to $11.
#16 STAR WARS HIGH REPUBLIC ADVENTURES THE MONSTER TEMPLE PEAK #1 | IDW | 2021
This issue features the first appearance of Ty Yorrick. Like most Star Wars firsts, fans are stockpiling them, hoping for future content appearance. We tracked 33 copies sold, at a 7-day trend of 120%, and had a high sale of $135.50 for a CGC 9.8.
#17 BATMAN #609 | DC | 2002
This issue features the first appearance of Thomas Elliot, who later becomes HUSH in issue #619. THE BATMAN director, Matt Reeves, has spoken on the record about wanting to introduce Hush into his Batman universe. Between The Joker, the Court of Owls, and now Hush… not all can be in the next film. Or, can they? Regardless, Thomas’s first appearance in this issue is trending with 30 copies sold, at a 7-day trend of 133%, and had a high sale of $289 for a CGC 9.8.
#18 BATMAN #258 | DC | 1974
At the end of THE BATMAN, a “blink and you’ll miss it” website flashes during the post-credits, https://www.rataalada.com. The site is filled with riddles and codes, which Reddit users cracked and shared their findings online. One code referenced features October 1974, which was the release date of this Batman issue. While this issue features the first appearance of Arkham Asylum (then called Arkham Hospital), the biggest clue is how the story focuses on Two-Face breaking out of the prison for Gotham’s criminally insane. Users speculate that this is a hint of things to come in the next film. Regardless, this issue is trending at 17 copies sold with a 7-day trend of 199% and a high sale of $200 for a CGC 7.0.
#19 NEW AVENGERS #7 | MARVEL | 2005
As noted, the Illuminati’s live-action appearance seems to be highly likely in DOCTOR STRANGE AND THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS. Their first appearance (featuring Reed Richards, Namor, Stephen Strange, Charles Xavier, Black Bolt, and Tony Stark) is in this issue and was instantly on fire post-Super Bowl. Covrprice tracked 21 (almost double the number of copies last week, which is an odd trend since books like this tends to fall after the first week of heat) with a 7-day trend of 126% and a high sale of $415 for a CGC 9.8 and raw copies at an FMV of $72.
#20 BATMAN: THE LONG HALLOWEEN SPECIAL EDITION (THE BATMAN IMAX PROMO) | DC | 2022
As a surprise promotion for THE BATMAN, multiple IMAX theatres around the country provided a free promotional copy of “The Long Dark Halloween” by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale. This promo features a new cover by Simone Bianchi with characters resembling their on-screen appearance. This cover is borrowed from the upcoming variant for Harley Quinn #13, which releases on March 22nd. Though, that isn’t slowing sales. We tracked 27 copies sold last week for this free book (down from the 153 copies sold last week), at a 7-day trend of 93%, and a high sale of $41 for a raw copy. The current FMV has settled to $31.