CBSI TOP TEN PROSPECTS #6

From our friend Patrick Hood at G+ CBSI community.
Welcome back to another segment of our community’s top ten books to scoop ASAP to flip or to hang on to for the long flip. The following list of issues that are selling consistently online or will be good to sit on for a bit. I’m including current prices off of eBay and using print runs from comichron.com
1. ADVENTURE INTO FEAR #19(1972, MARVEL)
Why: 1st appearance of Howard the Duck Print Run: NA
Juice: Not saying much here to avoid spoilers, those who know… know why. Howard the Duck’s first appearance has always been a book that has been inexpensive but has always been sought after by collectors of first appearances and by fans of the character as well. Howard the Duck gained popularity through Man-Thing’s title that he received his own series with a few keys in there as well. Howard gained a cult following outside comicdom in the 80’s with a film of the same name, which didn’t do well numbers wise but is a classic 80’s cult film. With his appearance in the Guardians of the Galaxy in the after credits scene, it is possible we will see him again in a future iteration of the Guardians. I recommend finding these copies on the cheap and flip the ASAP and save one or two in case Howard makes a comeback.
Price: Sky is the limit with copies in high grade ending at over $100 and mid grades hit at $40-$70 bucks!!
Honorable Mention: Howard the Duck #1 (1976, Marvel) is the character’s first ongoing series and was considered a parody character with an appearance from Red Sonja and Spider-Man no less. As a first issue, this will be the the go-to book for new collectors and non-comic collectors alike. Another issue of note is Howard the Duck #12 (1977, Marvel) which is the first comic book appearance of the band KISS! KISS has made their way into several comics over the years and it is worth picking up for collectability purposes, this will be something a non comic book collecting KISS fan will pay a premium for.
2. DMZ #1 (2005, VERTIGO)
Why: Movie option / TV rumors.
Print Run: 18,705
Juice: Another hot Vertigo title that is gaining ground by Brian Wood and Riccardo Burchielli. Set in a dystopian future where Manhattan has become a DMZ, popular title that ran it’s course through seventy two issues.
2014 it was announced that Syfy is planning on making a TV series adaptation of the DMZ comics with former Mad Men writers and executive producers Andre and Maria Jacquemetton. Executive producer for the pilot is David Heyman, who previously worked on Harry Potter and Gravity, is also working on the movie adaptation of the Vertigo comic series Fables. Production on the pilot started in May of 2014. Since the TV show announcement copies of this book have been getting snatched up left and right, it is still within reach and can still be found out in the wild. Once more news starts coming out, the flood gates will open
Price: Fluctuating between $15 and $25 in NM condition.
Honorable Mention: Y: The Last Man #37 has a preview for DMZ and this book is not that hard to find yet once the masses realize it those copies will disappear. Surprisingly enough most copies of Y: the Last Man are not usually priced higher than cover. DEMO (2003, AiT/Planet Lar & Vertigo) is another series I would keep an eye on, another creator-owned property by Wood and Cloonan, I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if this was optioned. With a low print run this could be tough book down the road.
3. DARK HORSE PRESENTS 5TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL
(1992, DARK HORSE)
Why: 1st appearance of Sin City
Print Run: N/A
Juice: Frank Miller was the one who brought noir back in the 90’s and made it brutal. A classic 90’s run that ran through Dark Horse Presents then a few mini series, a couple of one-shots, finally a graphic novel to finish it off. It was very popular for its time but was very over printed and oddly enough copies of most of the series are cover price or just above.
The series saw a boost when the first movie was announced but has leveled off since then. Sin City 2 on the way has definitely pushed sales up for these particular books, besides the A Dame To Kill For series heating up there is the Sin City first appearance. The series first appeared in Dark Horse Presents 5th Anniversary Special and was featured in a myriad collected stories and printed in a trade paperback format. Regardless of a movie or not this is a classic series and a tough book to find in NM condition,
Price: Averaging $25-$50 in NM condition
Honorable Mention: Dark Horse Presents #51-62 (1992, Dark Horse) is the first Sin City serialized series and was aptly named the Hard Goodbye. This is dollar bin material so don’t hesitate to pass up copies until you find NM copies. A mini honorable mention would be Dark Horse Presents #100-112 which has Paul Pope’s One Trick Rip-Off, pick up Paul Pope books whenever you seem them.. Last but not least one of the last Sin City books to be released is Sin City: Family Values and was released in trade paperback form, it is very hard to find and be careful not to pick up a later printing.
4. FABLES #1 (2002, VERTIGO)
Why: 1st issue of the long running title. Print Run: NA
Juice: With talk of a movie coming, this book has been climbing over the last year. There has been a few hiccups with the property moving to television, on two separate occasions it was optioned but never moved past the development stage. Coincidentally, the television companies that optioned Fables dropped it but developed their own Fables style shows. Warner Bros. New Line Cinema studio president Toby Emmerich stated in the Wall Street Journal that Fables is currently in development to be turned into a feature film. The fan base for this series is huge and they even have their own convention! Since the series has major popularity already it has made the early issues quite scarce, especially the variant for the first issue. Scoop these up whenever you see them, it is already a hot book but with more news this book could blow up past the $100 mark.
Price: $50.00-$75.00 in the NM range.
Honorable Mention: Fables #1 JG Jones variant is a monster to find in the wild and is usually priced low.
4. 100 BULLETS #1 (2006, VERTIGO)
Why: Movie optioned (finally) Print Run: NA
Juice: Another scorcher from Vertigo, originally optioned as a series for Showtime and almost made it, it is now getting the big screen treatment from WB. Vertigo is getting a lot of shine on this week’s list because of the amount of source material that will be getting developed into different media. 100 Bullets is a crime series that infused with pulp notes and noir that was created by Brian Azzarello and has had a few false starts for television but it looks like it’s finally headed for the feature film treatment. In the same Wall Street Journal article, the president of New Line Cinema announced that this is in production with a script from DC’s movie scribe Mr. Goyer.
Price: Anywhere from $20 to $40 prices seem all over the place right now, sure they will stabilize once more news about the movie is released.
Honorable Mention: Preacher #51 and Transmetropolitan #23 have a 100 Bullets preview, as seen with Preacher and Hellblazer, this book will pick-up steam.
5. THE WALKING DEAD #100 M & O(2013, IMAGE)
Why: 1st Neegan
Print Run: NA
Juice: Robert Kirkman has already confirmed in interviews that Neegan would eventually be introduced in the TV series. This is a no brainer. Walking Dead back issues are always hot and this one despite having a billion variants and multiple printings this book is slowly building up and with Neagan’s popularity.. He will be a threat to the survivors and will make things very difficult for them, now which book to pick since there are so many?
Main ones to go for are going to be covers M and O and here’s why: With all of the multiple covers to celebrate the 100th issue of the Walking Dead it makes it hard to pinpoint which one will be the one collectors will flock to. Bank on the second printing as one that will pop because being a second printing it will have a lower number than the first, it also boasts Neagan’s first appearance on a cover. The second printing that has been picking-up steam is the third printing of issue #100 with Neagan on the cover with Lucille, this cover is also a part of the interlocking covers from #97-102 which I’m calling it right now will hit. Get these in abundance if you can from your LCS, a peek into my shop’s backstock revealed seven sets. Most people are sleeping on these because most of the focus was on the different artists on the covers, these books can still be found on the cheap!
Price: Averaging out at 20.00 right now.
Honorable Mention: Walking Dead #92 is the first appearance of Jesus and as a main character in the series now this would be a good spec to sit on until it hits on the show, issue 92 is already a decently priced book but scoop it now while prices haven’t jumped.
7. THE FLASH #1 (2011, DC) NEW 52
Why: TV series premiering soon
Print Run: N/A
Juice: DC is killing their television division with solid shows and the ones that are coming up are no different. Gotham is gearing up to be a solid show and of course the Flash is looking better and better, the show will be premiering this fall and will drive up Flash sales on the secondary market.
With prices of Showcase #4 and Flash #105 out of most collector’s price range, THE FLASH #1 from the N52 will be a go-to book for Flash fans. This is not a rare book or hard to find by any means but will be an easy flip for a new fan that is curious about the comic because of the show. Along side this issue is the 1:10 variant which is going to start seeing some sales for sure, it has already picked up a bit since footage has come out and only expect the prices to grow exponentially. Once the show premieres you will see collectors fighting for these despite the huge print run for all of DC’s New 52 reboot.
Price: Solid $12 online right now, could see increased prices with the debut of the show, the 1:10 variant is going for $20-$25 but has potential to go higher especially if the show is a hit.
Honorable Mention: 1:200 sketch variant for this issue is probably the cheapest out of all the New 52 #1 books, this is a perfect time to pick this up for $70-$80 and flip it for way more once the show is about to premiere. Most of the other sketch variants for New 52 #1s are way past $100 mark except for this one..
8. HAUNTED #1-5 (2014, RED 5)
Why: Optioned by Bryan Singer Print Run: N/A
Juice: News broke before the release of this series that Bryan Singer of X-Men fame, was optioning this brand new property for Hollywood. Red 5 is a humble up-and-coming comic book company who has been around for a few years with several popular books (Atomic Robo!) aimed at different target audiences. Red 5 had a booth in SDCC and I was able to speak to the writer/publisher of Red 5 for a few minutes and he filled me in on some news:
Haunted is in preproduction with Singer’s production company looking to find the right teams to work on the project. It has been greenlit so far and is moving along (slowly in Hollywood time).
Right out the gate, Haunted #1sold out as news broke before release of the first issue. If Singer’s company is optioning books before they are released that can only mean that their whole catalog is being looked over.. Since Red 5 is a small publisher, it’s print runs are modest so in comparison to other major publisher’s releases, these issues will be hard to find because there are only so many out there. While #4 and #5 are not even out yet, tiny print runs mixed with optioned news have lead to healthy prices on #’s 1-3 and will most likely continue to climb as folks scramble to complete sets.
Hot Tip: Contact Red 5 and order as many back issues as you need at cover! Act fast!
Price: Issues #1-3 are commanding multiples of cover as of this post.
Honorable Mention: Bad Dreams #1(2014, Red 5) is another Red 5 comic with tiny print run and getting some heat, all ages book with amazing art. Red 5’s FCBD 2014 issue has the first appearance of Haunted in a preview, scoop this ASAP. Your LCS might have it and just give it to you! We live in a time of previews making money so jump on it. As mentioned in the previous Top Ten, Atomic Robo is gonna happen at some point. Chitwood mentioned that Atomic Robo is just looking for the right time/place and it will happen, straight from the horse’s mouth.
9. NOVA #1 (1977, MARVEL)
Why: 1st appearance of Nova, Richard Rider
Print Run: N/A
Juice: This is a Bronze Age key issue that for whatever reason has taken its time to mature price wise. Up until news of a GOTG movie this book was still under the radar with NM copies selling for next to nothing. With the cosmic Marvel resurgence in the late 2000’s saw a small spike in the Nova back issues because of his prominence in the Annihilation: Conquest storyline which led to his new series.
As more news came out about the GOTG movie, it was revealed that the Nova Corps was going to be featured in the film. Collectors and speculators alike hunted for these back issues in hopes of Nova appearing in the film, finally the book was getting its’ due. A lot of folks are still sleeping on this series
Marvel’s Cosmic Universe would not be complete without Nova, with the Nova Corps in the new Guardians movie it will only be a matter of time before this is turned into a feature film.
Price: $100 average for Near Mint examples of this Bronze Age key issue.
Honorable Mention: Nova #1-38 (2008, Marvel) Lanning and Abnett run is a good run to pick up. There are a few keys in there and also the later issues are hard to find because of a lower print run. Fantastic Four #205 is the first appearance of the Nova Corps which are prominently featured in the Guardians of the Galaxy movie and can still be found for under $10, the Corps will return so might as well pick up few just in case.
10. SAGA #1 (2012, IMAGE)
Why: 1st Hazel, Marco, Alana, Prince Robot IV, The Will, Lying Cat
Print Run: NA
Juice: Hands down the HOTTEST (non TWD) Image commodity on the market today. Incredible prices being realized for all early issues based solely on quality, as opposed to most other Image books with bigger price tags due to optioning talk. This is the definition of good storytelling and artwork so much so that it is Image’s second most popular series, it continues to sell out as it gains more readership through word of mouth.
When SAGA #1 came out it was printed in abundance but still managed to sell out. Fiona Staples artwork flourishes, as her own colorist she brings to life the worlds which Brian K. Vaughn creates, but enough about Saga because you already know. Let’s get down to the nitty gritty: Despite huge print runs that keep growing with each issue’s release, the popularity of the series is driving demand. If you take a look on eBay, there is no shortage of back issues for sale but people are eating them up. Something to note about this issue is that it is oversized and has some printer defects on the top left and bottom left corners, so don’t hesitate to buy a copy with rough corners. This series will be running for a while so if the fan base keeps growing then more copies of the early issues will be in demand, scoop copies whenever you see them! Also the first issue in a story arc usually sells well.
Price: While down in price from last year, Near Mint copies are still fetching $65-$90 bucks!
Honorable Mention: Saga #2-7 is constantly commanding between three to ten times cover price, try to buy these in sets if you can. Another issue of note is the Ghost variant for issue #7 which was done by Paul Pope, it doesn’t sell for much but you never see them out in the wild so it might be worth a pick-up. The grail of a Saga collector is the infamous Saga #1 RRP variant which was printed to 250 copies, this is a book you better break the piggy bank for. This issue alone will go for $1K.
HOT TIP:
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #298-325 (1992, MARVEL)
Why: McFarlane run Print Run: NA
Juice: Overlooked for too long, seems like McFarlane Spidey’s are starting to play catch up. Obvious winner here is ASM #300 with prices approaching the stratosphere for slabbed CGC 9.8s. The McFarlane ASM run has been gaining steam over the past year, with the entire run slowly going up in price. The entire run is over twenty years old and before you know it this will be a run that you wish you would have picked up while it was still cheap. Most of the issues will range from $10-$20 depending on the issue besides #298-#301 which go for way more. Classic run, classic artist, all of the ingredients for a good flip down the line.
Sony is planning to make a Venom/Carnage movie and these issue will be the ones fans hunt for! Erik Larsen’s run on ASM also yielded some great Venom covers/issues, he also took over for McFarlane on Spider-Man once he left the series. Even though McFarlane created Venom, Larsen fleshed the character out and gave him more teeth, more drool, bigger smile, and developed his look that is a standard today.
Price: Prices range on these but still possible to find in $1 bins, yes dollar bins. In SDCC I found three random issues for $2 in NM condition! They’re out there.
Honorable Mention: McFarlane’s Spider-Man run also has been slowly climbing in price, despite being one of the top selling books of all time it is still sought after for several reasons: McFarlane, a Spider-Man #1, and the Platinum variant of #1 is a tough book that still commands big bucks among Spidey collectors.
BOOK OF THE WEEK:
TALES TO ASTONISH #13 (1962, MARVEL)
Why: New Guardians movie out, with everyone clammering over Rocket before the movie release, post release, it seems it is also about GROOT! The first appearance of Groot was already a tough book because it predates all of the Marvel hero revival in the early sixties and is a difficult book to come across in NM shape. The popularity of the Guardians of the Galaxy movie will only propel this issue into big money territory.
This past weekend has seen multiple sales for this particular book. Remember that this issue is reprinted in Where Monsters Dwell #6 if you can’t find a mid grade one of these under $1K.