Informed Comic Book Speculation and Pop Culture News
I posted the Phantom Variant earlier this week and wanted to show off the sweet Third Eye Comics Variant. It was supposed to be a Beavis and Butt-head riff but someone got spooked that lawyers might get involved.
check out my auctions for this variant and other store and phantom variants
I have several extra copies of the ‘Regular Show’ #1 Phantom Variant available if anyone is looking for one. US shipping only, sorry.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/151046011071?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649
Also check out my other Phantom Variants and store variants, I combine shipping for up to 6 books at no extra cost:
http://www.ebay.com/sch/apopcomics424/m.html?item=161023087286&ssPageName=STRK%3AMESELX%3AIT&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2562
Hey guys, here is my shops weekly report for 5/15/13
It contains A LOT of recycled information because it’s weekly & the market doesn’t change that fast. Enjoy it. Don’t take it too seriously.
Top ten
Regular issue new comics by sales:
Here is the top ten list of actual sales in my shop. These are our just one shop out of 1,900’s actual sales.
#1 – Batman #20. “Alpha Dog” DC’s best selling title.
#2 – Uncanny Avengers #8. Core Marvel title.
#3 – Avengers #11.
#4 – Batman & Red Hood #20 . Batman is DC’s only top seller.
#5 – Justice League of America #3. David Finch rules! .
#6 – Walking Dead #110 . Indy “rock star” of the day. Great read.
#7 -Uncanny X-Force #8.
#8 – Thor God of Thunder. .
#9 – Deadpool #9. Funny.
#10 -Green Lantern Corps #20. Promo Rings are coming back!
Honerable mention: Avatar’s Uber sold really well.
Top “ten-ish.”Regular issue new ( last year ) comics by aftermarket:
Modern comics that are seeing aftermarket activity. Ebay, Amazon, CGC boards, Bleeding Cool, Lyria comic Exchange, conventions & my Phantom retailer network of 25+ shops are the primary source of this information. Not the top selling books in comic stores, rather the currently published, modern books that are selling above cover price for a variety of reasons. Prices are so volatile, in some cases they are out of date upon publication. This is just a guide, you figure them out. It’s simple, search E-Bay under completed auctions:
Hoax Hunters. The latest recipient of Hollywood love.
Rachel Rising #1. Yeah, rising in price due to TV rumors. Up to $200
Pilot Season Declassified #1 & The Test #1. TV development is stirring interest.
Uber #0. Nazi shock violence for the sale of shock violence
Polarity #1. This band tie in dual collectable.
East of West #1 Quality new mythology has this on everyone’s radar.
Nowhere Men Fabulous word of mouth. Under-ordered. Settling.
Peter Panzerfaust. Rumored stop motion animated show for BBC Low Print run.
Helheim #1 regular #1. Obscure indy publisher. Low print run. Killer material.
Injustice #1. This video game tie in hasn’t even begun. Great word of mouth. $25
Hawkeye. Recent trade release should quiet down this back issue juggernaut.
The Sixth Gun. NBC passing on the TV show.
Mind MGMT. The recent movie development news has fans scrambling. #1-$50
Saga. This is the title defines the recent Image revival. #1-$75
Five Ghosts #1. Positive word of mouth.
Top ten “ish” up & coming modern Key issues:
Modern comics that are just starting to see aftermarket movement. Books that were recently not in demand, and are finally experiencing aftermarket activity for a variety of reasons.
Spawn #9. First appearance of Angela.
Dark Knight Returns #2. First full in costume Carrie Kelly.
Guardians of the Galaxy #1 vol 2. Fans are starting to focus on this affordable #1
Wolverine #166. 1st appearance Dog
Uncanny X-Men #282. First Bishop. The second print is tough to find.
Guardians of the Galaxy 24 & 25 (vol 2), return of Thanos.
X-Factor #5 & 6. First Apocalypse. Rumored villain in upcoming X-movie
Batman #7. First full appearance Harper Row. Rumored new Robin.
Captain America vol 5 #6. First full appearance of the Winter Soldier
New Mutants #16. First Warpath $10
Top ten modern Key issues at my shop:
Modern comics that sell off my wall constantly. My shop sales are primarily new material, & my back issue sales tend to be related. I have a waiting list for most of these books.
Kimota! All Miracleman issues have been flying amidst Marvel rumors.
Walking Dead #1. The undisputed king of the modern era. Actually ANY WD pre 100.
Marvel Super Hero Presents #18. Guardians are really heating up. $50+
New Mutants #98. 1st Deadpool. $100 king of the modern X keys.
Uncanny X-Men #266. 1st Gambit is always a $40 instant sale.
Uncanny X-Men #141 &142. Days of future past movie source
Captain Marvel #33 – Origin of Thanos $50
Incredible Hulk #271. 1st comic book App Rocket Raccoon. $50
Nova #1. The new marvel series has fans scrambling for this relatively inexpensive bronze age key. $40+
Batman Harley Quinn. Iconic Alex Ross cover $50
Infinity Gauntlet, War, Crusade, Abyss. Thanos, Thanos Thanos.
The Killing Joke. It’s simply the best Joker wall book in the 25 year history of my shop. $25
Batman Animated #12. Every Bat fan wants the first appearance of Harley Quinn. $85
My Top ten “ish” under-valued modern comics.
These are books I’m speculating will soon see aftermarket activity, & are currently under-valued in my humble opinion, some may even be found in the bargain bins. I want to buy these books on the cheap. They’re long-shots.
The SHIELD trailer looks killer!
Action Comics Vol 1 #845 January, 2007. First modern day General Zod.
Hank Henshaw appearances. The new 52 version is coming.
Eric O’ Grady key’s: Irredeemable Ant Man #1-12, Secret Avengers #23 & #32
Marvel Red Sonja #1. Gail Simone is taking over Dynamite series.
Rom #1.
IDW just untangled the rights. If Nova & Ms Marvel can get hot, why the hell not Rom?
Starlord #1 the special edition 1982. first comic appearance of Star Lords father J’son of Spartax
Uncanny X-Men #172-3.Movie source material with Mariko Yashida
New X-Men #134. First Quentin Quire.
Star Brand #1. First New Universe & brand/tattoo: The Star Brand.
Thor #344. First appearance Malekith ( In upcoming Thor-2 movie )
Invaders vol 2 #1. First Dr. Nemesis
Uncanny X-men #317. First Blink. In upcoming X movie.
Marvel Point One. First Sam Alexander Nova
Battle Scars #1 & #6. First full Phil Coulson & Marcus Johnston.
The Invincible Iron Man #10. First Pepper Potts as Rescue.
Young Avengers #1. First Kate Bishop. My favorite Marvel female.
Ms Marvel #1. She’s rumored to be in Avengers 2 movie.
Ultimate Team Up #5. First African American Nick Fury in comics.
Captain America #157. first appearance of Viper
Batman Beyond Unlimited #3. First Luke Fox in comics. New Batwing. (The armor appears to be a Beyond armor prototype.) The first new 52 version of Luke Fox is Batwing #19
Deathshead appearances. Absolute quarter box fodder. I’m currently researching which to buy.
Top ten modern variant comics by aftermarket:
Variants are versions of the regular issue comic. They are NOT regular issue comics.
They are distributed / created for a variety of reasons.
Order incentive / retailer incentive, produced exclusively for shops/shows,events.
There is a Twelve Reasons to Die #1 “ticket” variant autographed by Ghostface Killa $75+
Peter Panzerfaust #10 C2e2 variant $100+
Adventure Time Marvel parodies. Delightful. $35+
Star Wars #1 Alex Ross Sketch Promo, limit one per Diamond account. $100+
Polarity #1. Strong debut. 1:10 $10, 1:25 $15
East of West #1 Forbidden Planet $30, ComicsPro/Ghost $15
Batman #1. Dc’s flagship title. $50
Nowhere Men #1 Thought Bubble, ComicsPro, CBLDF.
Skottie Young marvel Babys. fans simply adore these.
Hellheim #1 NYCC $50, ECCC $100
Blank sketch covers. There seems to be an insatiable need for these by auto / sketch seekers.
Five Ghosts #1 ECCC. $50+
Phantom variants. You know you love them. Generally sold $3.99 in shop sell for $10 online.
Incoming!
My pick of the week. The comic shipping this week that will be worth your valuable speculator y consideration, and why.
REGULAR SHOW #1
BOOM ENTERTAINMENT
(W) K.C. Green (A) Allison Strejlau (CA) Nick Edwards & Various
REGULAR SHOW… IT’S ANYTHING BUT! Cartoon Network’s powerhouse series now has its own comic book series! Hot on the heels of the smash hit adaptation, ADVENTURE TIME, KaBOOM! unveils the next all-ages comic phenomenon! Join Mordecai the Bluejay and Rigby the Raccoon, a couple of best bros in their twenties just tryin’ to chill for a bit, man. But when you’re livin’ in as crazy a world as they are, no day can be called…regular! Ask your retailer about the pre-order variant by Chris Houghton (ADVENTURE TIME, REED GUNTHER) and the incentive variant by Dustin Nguyen (BATMAN, L’IL GOTHAM)!
There are a TON of variants on this book, but I adore speculating on books that have an existing fan base. I can’t resist. Pick a cover you like & go with it.
( Dark Horse has a great book this week: Dream Thief #1, if it wasn’t a mini, I would have bought a ton )
A lot of people ask me why I like to speculate on modern comic books. Original Art, Gold, Silver & Bronze age comics are a much better investment. I’m a comic book fan, a voracious reader of new material. I love how new books set the pace for back issues. It is fast paced & never stagnant due to the constant release of new material. Right now modern comics are the petri dish of pop culture, comic shops the breeding ground.
I have been collecting comics since the 1970’s & been in the business of selling them since the 1980’s. I love a quality story & a great buy, equally.
I speculate on new comics every week. I always have & I always will. Purchasing modern comic books with the intent of making a profit is my hobby of choice. It’s impossible that every new comic week will generate a book of “Walking Dead class” potential, but it’s still fun to try to make savvy buys. You can sit back & wait for aces, or you can play the hand your dealt to the best of your ability.
Sometimes, I’m right. Sometimes I’m wrong, but I play every week.
If you enjoy this new micro-blog format of my weekly market report.
Please re-tweet it. Post it online.
Thanks to Ralph at Jetpack for help with this weeks market report.
If you notice a trend developing email me: larryscomicsinc@aol.com
Larry Doherty
Larry’s Comics
66 Lakeview Ave
Lowell, MA 01850
Wednesday 9a-8p
Thursday 10a-7p
Friday 11a-11p
Saturday 9am-7pm
Sunday 11a-4p
Monday 11a-7p
Closed Tuesday.
You can buy Regional Shop Variants produced for my store
HERE!
978-459-5323
LarrysComics.net
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Just wanted to send out a quick thanks to everyone who stops by. In less than two months on the new blog we have went from getting a hundred hits a week to nearly 2,000. This is incredible considering we do no advertising on the site and most of you are finding me on google searches. When I stopped writing for the retailer I was working with, I did not tell any of my old subscribers, and was worried I wouldn’t get any hits, but man was I wrong. You guys are the best.
Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/comicsheatingup for each landmark we hit I will run a new contest. Once we hit 100 likes I will give a way a random Phantom Variant, Ghost Variant, or Store variant for one lucky subscriber. The contest will run from now until we hit 100 likes.
So, like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/comicsheatingup
It was bound to happen, hype built up on “The Sixth Gun’ stemming from the announcement that NBC optioned it for a TV show. When the NBC passed on it, prices dropped. (Do not get me wrong though, this is a great book.) This ends up creating what stock traders call “bag holders,” as in being left holding the bag. The thing with it is, NBC could still make the show in one of it’s subsidiaries. And Cullen Bunn and Brian Hurtt are still shopping it around. This has happened with several hot books such as ‘The Test’ which burned white hot and then dropped off. Oddly, this did not happen to ‘Chew’ #1 after Showtime passed on their option
There are currently a couple of copies of ‘Sixth Gun’ number 1 sitting on eBay that are real steals.
Here is the regular edition for $12.50 with a few hours left:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/121107763982?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649
(Edit: 80 views and now up to $14.50)
(Edit 2: 177 views and closed at $92.78, Anyone else bid on this?)
And the Free Comic Book Day Edition for $5.50 with 2 days left:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/140972556601?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649
(Edit: Now up to $7.00 I threw some bids on it)
(Edit 2: Still only at $7.50)
This book had peaked well into the $300 range.
We will have to see what happens with the options for ‘The Damned.’
Comic Book Resources is reporting, and Cullen Bunn has tweeted, that The Sixth Gun Tv show is no go at NBC.
http://spinoff.comicbookresources.com/2013/05/09/nbc-passes-on-the-sixth-gun/
The show could still be picked up elsewhere as it was originally intended to be a six episode mini series on Scyfi.
Following up on the success of issue 0 Über #1 has sold out at the distributor level.
This doesn’t mean you will not be able to find it in the stores, but stores will not be able to reorder the book from Diamond. If you are interested in the book, make sure to get to the shop early as books might start drying up quickly.
We mentioned the other day that Terry Moore tweeted the print runs for the second and third prints of ‘Rachel Rising.’ Tweet link.
Well, the third print has gone for as high as $90.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/RACHEL-RISING-1-3RD-PRINT-ABSTRACT-COMICS-6-20-12-NM-/350779644045?pt=US_Comic_Books&hash=item51ac18988d
It is closing for $50 regularly now.
http://www.ebay.com/csc/i.html?_sacat=0&_from=R40&_nkw=Rachel+rising+1+3rd+print&LH_Complete=1&LH_Sold=1&rt=nc
Each week we spotlight a book or a couple of books that we thing are worth checking out and may rise in value. Here is our speculation picks of the week:
1. Walking Dead 110- you cannot go wrong picking up Walking Dead books. Th issue features Michonne and Ezekiel battling it out. A classic fan favorite versus the cool new guy with the tiger.
2. Über #1- sold out #0 and now #1 is already sold out. Sold out before it got to the stores. Avatar finally has a true hit on its hand. Über #0 also gets a second print this week.
3. Chin Music 1- Last week we saw Ben Templesmith’s new book with JMS, ‘Ten Grand’ make the list. Now we have his ’30 Days of Night’ co-creator’s new book. An Image number 1 is always a good bet, and with Steve Niles at the helm if this Lovecraft meets Hard boiled crime noir, we cannot pass it up. Also like ‘Ten Grand’ this one will have a phantom variant.
4. Twelve Reasons to Die- New publisher Blackmask Studios, run by Punk Rock Legend, Bret Gurewitz of Bad Religion Fame. Bringing in even more music star power is this is based on Ghostface Killah’snew album. Long shot but these things sometimes work out. This is backed up by store variants (tour variants) and a ticket variant which gets you into one of his shows.
May the 4th is almost upon us and as you know it’s free comic book day. Some stores like Capital Comics in Maryland are kicking things off early with a midnight release. A chance get the free books a little early.
Some of the highlights for the year are ‘The Walking Dead Tyrese’s story’ which Robert Kirkman said will not be released in any other formats. No trade reprints, no back up story reprint.
Also, ‘ The Regular Show’ ‘Regular Comic’ also drops. This will be the first appearance of the comic and characters. ‘RIPD’ also drops today and back issues of the first series have been hot.
Diamond Advanced Reorder List
One way to guage how hot a comic is/will be is by the Diamond Comics Advanced reorder list. This gives retailers to up their orders for books that may have caught some heat before the release and before the final order cut offs. So without further ado, this weeks advanced reorder list:
1. Mighty Thor Omnibus Hardcover Vol. 2
2. Batman Beyond 16
3.Batman lil’ Gotham #2 – First issue sold well. Does well as an download and translating well into sales for floppies.
4. Constantine #1 2nd Printing – 1st issue of Post-Hellblazer leads to a 2nd printing
5. Supior Spider-man #10 – Fallout from #9 is translating into increased orders for 10.
6. Five Ghosts Haunting of Fabian Gray #3 of 5 – Word is this has moved to an ongoing, retailers upping their orders.
8. East of West #3 – Another hit from Jonathan Hickamn, first issue is seeing increase prices on eBay
9. Bounce #1 – Heat from ‘Sex’ helping to pull interest into this book. #1’s from Image have been good speculator fodder
14. Helheim #2 2nd Printing – ‘Sixth Gun’s’ writers latest hit. Support from variants doing well on the secondary market and good story and art leading to good sales.
