PatrickG

In particular, aren't some artists now detaching sketch covers and doing prints on them before reattaching to create a run of "exclusive variants"? I thought Aspen was doing that to produce Mike Turner variants.

My thing is -- there's a real book under there. If you ripped the fake cover off, they'd slab the book as coverless. If you drew on the original cover, you'd get a green label. I'm not sure how this is different. As long as it isn't blue label, where's the harm in slabbing/grading a customization if a sketch cover is basically the same thing?

Yeah... but the flip side is that you could probably do well with a diversified assortment. 10 $5 books. Odds would then be pretty good one of them hits. Honestly, while I chase a few NM to M like I suspect a lot of people do, there's probably an investment model in picking up a LOT of carefully selected VGs or Gs on the chances that one will recoup the expense of the whole lot.

I'm seeing speculation about Guardians having a massive number of cameos. The production title for Vol. 2 was Guardians 3000. Stallone, Sharon Stone, and Michael Rosenbaum in unknown roles. Stallone is rumored to be Starhawk, who gets called in by Yondu as an old friend. Speculation about Stone as Aleta or Nikki Gold. Here's the thing: what if it isn't just one or two cameos but a bunch of name actors playing a bunch of cameo Guardians from other versions of the team? This ranges from Silver to Modern potentially. But there are quite a few Guardians whose first appearance is under $10 NM.

If the interior is authentic, how is it any different than a restored copy? I'd vote for slabbing it as "Provisional, Restored" with a note that the cover has been replaced.

On a related cosmic note, I'm also hearing rumors that Gunn may be bringing in a LOT of classic Guardians as old friends of Yondu that he calls in for backup. You've probably heard about Stallone as Stakar/Starhawk. There's buzz Sharon Stone has a "heat" related character in an unknown Marvel movie, which I think is this one. Could be Nikki Gold. Could be Nova, depending on the rights. If Nikki is in, theoretically any Guardian could appear. Martinex or Talon seem like possibilities for Rosenbaum. Nova or Quasar as well. They did Richard Ryder concept art for the first movie. If they're doing a ton of secret celebrity cameos, Pacino might also be in as he is a Guardians fan who wanted in on the sequel. From a speculation standpoint, a lot of characters with first appearances under $10 could be played by an A-list celebrity in a cameo. I wouldn't bother with the Guardians' first appearance as that's already pretty valuable but Talon or Nikki Gold could heat up fast.

These are beautiful. I had a thought. DC released the high res print artwork (at least 300 dpi) for "alternate universe" comic book covers that were featured on the TV show Fringe. From what I understand, the actual props were dummy copies. I've had the idea for awhile to try to mock-up the original interior ads and back cover with the Fringe alternate universe covers. (For instance, a Crisis #7 where Superman dies in place of Supergirl.) Then attach to the original books or closest equivalent. I wonder if this would be possible... and (perhaps more of a longshot) if the book could be submitted for a qualified or qualified/restored grade. I would really like to own a slabbed copy of Crisis #7 with the variant cover. There's also a Justice League International with Jonah Hex replacing Guy Gardner. The other prop covers would be imperfect matches. For example, Green Lantern/Green Arrow became Red Lantern/Red Arrow. Batman #75 with a cover date of 1992. There's no such book to attach the cover to. But Crisis #7 is doable. And a cheap enough book I'd consider it.

This is going to sound really funny but I've done well with Second and Charles, a Hastings style chain started by Books-A-Million. First off, their 1:50/1:100 books all start off at $30 or less. They bag and board books. The ones on the rack are picked over but the Fried Pie variants are in much better shape there than Books A Million. I'm pretty choosy/observant and I've managed to get almost all 9.8s from my picks. The worst was a 9.4 and the defects were all pressable (and were on the back cover) so I could get a 9.8 if it was worth a second go.

One major difference from a collector standpoint. Herb Trimpe is, sadly, not around to sign books and I'm not sure how you'd get Byrne and Claremont's work SS'ed conveniently for Sabretooth. Right now is a pretty good time to get Ultimate X SS'ed by Loeb and Art Adams. It took me awhile to figure out the ideal signature placement until I saw where Loeb likes to sign copies of the book. There's something especially cool about getting two creators of a character to sign a book. Ultimate X is JUST plentiful enough that you don't have to feel like you're defacing a irreplaceable classic. I've got a 1:25 that I THINK is in pretty good shape (chrome seems to be either perfect or disappointing in terms of grading). And SDCC or NYCC are probably both events with plenty of autograph facilitators on hand that I imagine will both have Loeb and Adams attending. I think there's enough nostalgia for Wolverine and the character is "off-model" enough that an amnesiac son could hit a lot of the right buttons. Also factor in that Loeb does seem to help advance some of his favorite characters as head of Marvel TV and he's producer on Legion and Fox's other in-development X-Men shows. Fox may well recast Wolverine for movies or go with Laura but Jimmy Hudson is probably in a very good place for television.

Miller strikes me as more of an Eisner type. Regardless, most pure writers while they can add tremendous READING value, don't seem to do as much for investing value. Two different things. You aren't buying a comic to read when you slab a 1:50 cover. You're dealing in a piece of artwork that, as part of its gimmick, is affixed to a comic book. When dealing in first appearances and such, it's a 50/50 type thing although I'll note that first appearances without a strong cover presence tend to underperform and "first full appearances" (ala Ego and starhawk) seem to be gaining ground as the market preference to "true" first appearances. As literature, writers are tremendously valuable. In terms of developing clever twists, writers have value. I've written comics. But I don't think the big two really have stood behind their writing in a way that makes writing-based comics investment smart. And it already wasn't all that great an approach. A first appearance is good. A clever twist is decent. But a masterfully executed issue without first appearances or clever twists is a dollar bin book. Most of Moore's career is dollar bin books. Most writers' key issues in their career go cheap. Dan Slott's Ren and Stimpy Spider-man crossover issue would go for big money if writer career trajectory influenced investment. Moore's books would almost all be poor choices to slab unless you could get them signed and witnessed. I'm all for comics as literature. I'm all for comics speculation. Two unrelated things. I think their overlap really only comes into play with first appearances and clever plot twists and the large publishers have shown no real willingness to stick with most kinds of clever plot twist beyond their short-term commercial value. Which tends to devalue plot twists. Since it only matters if you kill off Spider-man or give Batman a kid if you can be trusted to keep that status quo going forward without waffling or wavering.

Didn't they wind up with Genis-Vell?

Just read a refresher on this. Yes. The quantum bands came from the guy who died in FF but he was impersonating Marvel Boy. So... the owner of the quantum bands, an Eternal, posed as Marvel Boy. Wendell Vaughn took the bands and dressed up as Marvel Boy.

That's the first Marvel Boy. Quasar was a legacy hero with no link beyond a shared costume and name, which he had because, presumably, Roy Thomas was writing and thought a SHIELD-created super-hero might borrow the name and costume of an Atlas character who'd recently died in Fantastic Four. I suspect the oddity of it all is why Gruenwald had the 90s costume (and name?) retroactively replace the original as part of a cosmic storyline. Technically, going by Gruenwald's take, I think flashbacks to the first appearance in Cap should have Vaughn answering to Quasar and wearing his 90s costume. Probably because it didn't make sense to Gruenwald to have Vaughn cosplaying as a 50s hero he had no ties to.

Brian K. Vaughn, Neil Gaiman, Grant Morrison, Daniel Clowes, Rick Remender, Matt Fraction, Joe Casey, Garth Ennis, Kurt Busiek. There's quite a few more I think have more potential than we've ever seen from them. None may have quite the range that Moore has but everyone of them has surpassed Moore at some point in one or more genres of work. Collectively, I'd say they've outperformed Moore at everything Moore is good at while doing quite a few things better than Moore.

I think one of the Avengers issues may be his second costume debut (the one with the mask). I suppose his joining the Avengers may be a key as well. Thing is, I don't think most of the Guardians characters saw huge bumps to more than a few keys. Nebula's first appearance remains dirt cheap comparatively. My guess would be Cap #217, Hulk #234, and Quasar #1 will get the huge bumps. I picked up a couple of Phyla-Vell keys but, really, I see her coming in much further down the line, if at all. My guess is they'll introduce Mar-Vell as a dead hero or an Abin Sur torch-passing type for the Carol Danvers Captain Marvel film and I can't see Phyla being introduced before Mar if they're actually going to use Mar-Vell at all. Actually, where my brain goes with the Captain Marvel movie is Mar-Vell probably dying in an Area 51 type facility where Carol ends up stationed and passing his powers on to her. That probably makes any chance at Phyla-Vell 7-8 years out since her claim to fame is being Mar-Vell's daughter. In the meantime, I could see Vaughn being Quasar. The other possible key that jumps out is Guardians of the Galaxy #61 where they get into Starhawk being the child of Kismet and Quasar. I think the movie might play up some instinctive link between the characters but I also doubt Starhawk will be from the future. (Although Ayesha may be interested in mating with Quasar.) Honestly, movie Ayesha reminds me a bit of Magus and Goddess from the trailers. Seems like maybe the Universal Life Church (Magus' religion) is in the movie.

The next Alan Moore could come along at any time. Honestly, I think there are at least 5-10 people equal or better in comics right now. But the first Alan Moore has a lot of books lining dollar bins. I'm not sure there's a solid investment pick anywhere in his body of work. Well, I did flip one of those 25 print run Dave Gibbons artist editions for a couple hundred more than I paid for it. If creators drove sales like that, the first professional work by Waid, Morrison, Gaiman, and others wouldn't largely cap out at $25 in top condition. The story "hook" trumps the technical skill of the creators. But to have a hook, you need a publisher willing to commit to the story direction even if it costs them some media and merch $$$. And without that commitment, all you have is scarcity, short-term gimmicks, first appearances, and pretty covers as sales drivers. As for Spider-Gwen? No idea if her story direction has long term appeal. That costume does and I think her name being dumb is great. We need more dumb fun. I'm of the Loeb school on a lot of stuff. I'd be all for making Hulk the new Galactus and having him get into punching matches with angels, wearing Infinity Gauntlet boxing gloves. Might as well. It's not as great as literary perfection but if you're drawing a blank on that for a character, being dumb beats being cancelled. And if you go dumb and get cancelled, it beats not trying.

Last I heard, older Cyclops and Jean were still dead.

Quasar Key Issues I realize this crosses over between Copper, Bronze, and Modern Age... But with Starhawk rumored to be in Guardians 2... And Ayesha and Ego confirmed, I got thinking what the common theme there was. In the comics... Quasar worked for Ego and fathered Starhawk by Ayesha. I doubt that exact relationship would play out in the movies but it occurs to me Gunn is either a Quasar fan or had to do some Quasar-heavy research. The Wendell Vaughn Quasar comics are kind of the heart of what the Guardians movies draw from and, this my wild speculation, I could see Gunn choosing to introduce Wendell Vaughn as Star Lord's half brother. The Ravagers were sent to deliver Ego's son and yet they never delivered Quill. It hit me that MAYBE they had the wrong son. Also, from a pure audience recognition standpoint, a quasar is a kind of "Star", ala Star Lord. The movies are very much about lost/estranged family (Gamora/Nebula/Thanos, Star-Lord/Ego, Drax lost his family, Rocket and Groot are all the family either one has). Once you introduce Quill's dad, you need another family member and another mix tape for the merchandising. To justify the mix tape conceit for a third movie, he'd need another human family member, likely by Ego since Ego is the one who made the first two mix tapes. A half-sibling. And what human half-sibling could you assign to Peter Quill who fits into the cinematic universe of Guardians? I think Quasar works for that, oddly. And maybe that's Michael Rosenbaum's mystery role. All wild speculation. I already picked up all the BIG Quasar issues on a hunch. But I'm curious if it makes sense to anyone else and what key issues you'd identify? Here are my big ones: Captain America #217 (1st appearance, as Marvel Man/Boy) Hulk #234 (1st appearance as Quasar) Captain America #229 (1st full body cover appearance) Marvel Two-in-One #53 (1st starring role) Quasar #1 (1st ongoing) Quasar #26 (New costume. He'd had a transitioning costume for several issues before but this one was his iconic 90s look... and in a bit of weird cosmic continuity that nobody has ever paid attention to, was supposed to retroactively replace his costume in all prior appearances. Because... cosmic reasons. Also: a really nice cover with Thanos and an absurd 90s dental floss costume for Moondragon.) Operation: Galactic Storm Annhilation #1-6

I think it's easier for me to have some distance when it comes to something legitimately different like Ms. Marvel or Spider-Gwen or the Young Animal stuff. I see a market for Spider-Gwen in 20 years. I see a market for Spider-man comics based on art. I like Dan Slott... But I can't for the life of me think of what he'd do that would stick for 20 years aside from creating a new character. J. Jonah Jameson's dad appearing strikes me as having, perhaps, a lower sales potential but more importance than Peter Parker dying and getting replaced or Peter running a company. Anna Maria Marconi's first appearance in Superior Spider-man #5 strikes me as probably the most important issue of Slott's whole run and the main one collectors may have an interest in 20 years from now, aside from maybe Spider-Gwen's first appearance. Meanwhile, Peter dying, changing costumes, swapping bodies, dealing with clones -- none of that will ultimately matter as much as Jay Jameson or Anna Maria. Those characters will find their way into movies and new stories. Whereas the Big Time costume is going to be an easter egg in video games and action figure lines that nobody will chase the first appearance of. That said, I'd still put money on a low print run Gwen Stacy Campbell cover outselling Anna Maria's first appearance. Dollar for dollar, it's hard to say which would be a better investment: $60 for one Gwen Stacy variant or $60 for 15 copies of SSM #5 (Anna Maria's first appearance). I just know that you only have to slab and ship that one Gwen Stacy variant once, which tips the scale in favor of that one, for me. That $60 variant may only sell for $250 graded in ten years and the SSM issue may sell for $150 graded. But you're out 15 slabbing fees instead of one. In the long run, that would favor the individual SSM issue but it's a lot more work, more storage, more auctions, more upfront cost tied up that could go into other things. Both will outsell the big events in the long run.

I want to agree with this but, like I said, I think both companies are stretched far enough out of shape that the stories don't really matter. Invincible is different. Walking Dead is different. Black Science is different. Heck, even Spider-Gwen is different. Because there's no real sense that they are beholden to other media. On a certain level, I don't think most iconic characters have much of a prayer at meaningful comic book stories unless they tank so badly that Hollywood won't touch them. Unless it's a cool variant cover, I don't think you can have a meaningful Iron Man comic until you see one where he shaves the goatee. And I like the goatee. I like RDJ. But the comic is a tagalong tie-in product at best unless it strives to be different from the movies. And, sure, Riri and Doom as Iron Men is DIFFERENT but somehow I get the feeling that editorial would be more comfortable with a fill-in Iron Man than they would a Tony deliberately portrayed differently from the movie version. But unless it's Tony and it's not like the movies, it's kind of inconsequential as a comic book. And I think it's easier to have Thor temporarily not be Thor than it would be to do a run like Simonson's run where it felt like he was given ownership of the franchise. Maybe I'm just burned on the Peter Parker stuff. I'm not one of those guys who's mad at Quesada or Slott or thinks anybody needs to be fired. But I think they need to set fire to the iconography. Peter's not young. They should close the door on him being young and have him change irrevocably. Not as-in, he gets a degree that will probably be taken away later or he runs a business that can be closed down but they need to get onboard with things like marriage and permanently killing some major characters and aging the character up a little. The importance of the comics hinges on the amount of anti-synergy they have with movies. And the anti-synergy shouldn't just be something superficial. Comic books have to be comic book-y. Movie versions kill their comic book counterparts. Watchmen is kind of an irrelevant brand right now, with tanking sales, because people watch the movie rather than read the book when they have a choice. In general, the best comics right now star characters who have appeared very little or not at all in other media (so far) or they star characters who aren't really successful in other media. Batman's the exception but, for whatever reason, they let the comic book be comic book-y and drive its own portrayal of the character. I do feel like DC is probably a bit less synergy driven although they still have this desire to streamline/update/revise their continuity that I think robs the comics of seeming important. Heck, I have Jon Kent's first appearance framed and hanging on my wall right now. And it's two years old and it's already out of continuity. So, ah, how important is it if it's never going to be referenced again?

Incidentally, while the preceding was opinion, it's also why I'm getting 3 gold virgin Amazing Spider-man #23s slabbed and signed. Not the most meaningful issue of the arc but a Spider-man comic with a popular cover artist and a run of 500 is going to trounce Jonathan Kent or Damian Wayne's first appearances for the next 10-15 years, even if they get put in the live action movies. Unless you operate based on volume and have a warehouse full of Damian and Jon appearances. But shipping and slabbing costs eat into that as a viable strategy for profit. EDIT: Harley Quinn and Deadpool might be counter-arguments. But even if I'd been banking on Harley being big, I'd have considered her No Man's Land one shot her first appearance. And I never thought NM #98 could be made scarce enough to be valuable.

Not to get too existential but after One More Day and half a dozen DC Crises, what counts as significant? A new costume USED to. And now Captain America gets a different costume with every artist. Marriages get erased and restored. So do kids and deaths and severed arms. Punisher has been an angel and a Frankenstein's monster. In some ways, the only truly significant stuff is political. X-Men Gold is, oddly, significant. The decision to make Iceman gay while not exactly political would GET political if they ever undid it. Luke Cage and Black Lightning debuting when they did is significant because it was a response to culture. Ditto Ms. Marvel. At the end of the day, if you're looking for historical significance, it's gonna be "socially relevant" in a way that's reboot proof. That can be market relevant. The surest way to be market relevant, though, is probably gonna boil down to nostalgia, rarity, and a popular character. The events won't matter in 18 months.

Trinity used Batman indica and should slab as Batman: Trinity #1. I think Harley Quinn indica has been slapped on other stuff. Flash #9 was reprinted as Kid Flash of Two Worlds #1 with a trade dress that would make you think it's Flash #1. That presents another possibility: They might release Superman #10 as Batman: Super Sons #1 or Superman: Super Sons #1. It's always the start of an arc and usually contorted around to be both presented as a #1 (even if there will never be a #2) and presented as part of a brand with broad audience recognition. Also: the random books inside seem to be newsstand returns.

I ordered Blue at the same time so I wouldn't expect a notice on my end before tomorrow.

I'm not sure how the retailer custom cover process works. Probably not, I'd guess, if retailers are smart going in. Though ratio stuff including Marvel's 1:1000, almost certainly yes. My new kick lately is collecting keys reprinted by the international offices. I've got a couple of 9.8 All-Star Comics #3s and a 9.8 Detective #27 -- with covers in English, untranslated. Generally, they do translate/localize the covers but they generally have pretty complete access to archival stuff, including stuff that's never seen the light of day like restorations on books D.C. or Marvel haven't reprinted but started work restoring. The new Mexican Action #1 uses new colors from the USPS edition from the 90s (so does the Loot Crate one). So I'm guessing there's a pretty deep archive D.C. and Marvel maintain and share with localizers.