What does King Pin, T'Challa, Matt Murdock, Galactus, and Tony Stark all have in common? Give up? All five are the top most popular Silver Age comics of November 2018. Be it crimelord or king, blind man, or galactic powerhouse; we simply must rank these five in order of popularity to help us track, invest and create returns from our speculations. No Tony Stark razzle-dazzle tech can save you; here you gotta get into the weeds and do some work. Who is the top dog in the Silver Age?
One of my favorite comics is Amazing Spider-Man #50. It is very difficult to find in fine plus condition. From subscription crease, to simply too much red on the cover there is always some flaw with a copy of it. This issue of Spidey is hard to find in good shape, and you will almost always pay a premium. Everyone knows King Pin is a huge villain across multiple franchises. Off the top of my head, he has appeared in The Punisher, Daredevil, and Amazing Spider-Man at the very least multiple times and across different storylines. The first season of Daredevil nails King Pin as portrayed in the comics. The last three sales of grade (6.5) were: $575 Heritage Nov-4th, $550 eBay Nov-26th, and $610 eBay Dec-12th culminating in an FMV of $575. This is a good sign of percolating profits in this issue. If we take the long view on returns of up to 10,000 sales over 18 years Amazing Spider-Man #50 has returned positive +47.6%. This a solid return on a book that shows nothing but green in the foreseeable future. It is currently in a strong fifth place.
The domination of the Black Panther in the MCU is matched only by his key as a big dominator among all the Fantastic Four keys. Black Panther first appeared in Fantastic Four #52 created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in July 1966. This is the first Black Panther and the first appearance of the Neutral Zone (No, I am not talking about a hockey match!) T'Challa the King of Wakanda is also the superhero the Black Panther. The comic book FF#52 with a grade of fine plus (6.5) is $775 in fair market value. This comic with 169 sales has a positive +51.7% return on investment. Currently, it is in fourth place for most popular Silver Age comic.
One of the best superheroes ever created was Daredevil. He is handicapped-hellion of Hells Kitchen. He fights for the downtrodden in the make-believe Hells Kitchen of an Irish New York neighborhood. Best yet, during the day he is a lawyer fighting the good fight against a corrupt system. This hero has it all, Catholic guilt, a disability, powers that are beyond mortal man, and an uppercut that can floor a guy twice his size. Daredevil #1 is the first appearance of the Daredevil character into the Marvel landscape. It is also the origin of Daredevil and the first site of the beautiful Karen Page and sloppy Foggy Nelson. In order to pick up a copy at grade (6.5), you would pay on average $3400 FMV. But the returns will knock some sense into you faster than Daredevil's billy club upside your head. This comic has returned positive +95.9% in grade (6.5). It is currently the third most popular Silver Age comic.
The first appearance of Galactus and more importantly Silver Surfer is in Fantastic Four #48. Currently, this issue is the second most popular Silver Age comic. It is very expensive in the higher grades with a (9.8) fetching $32,000 FMV. The most recent sale was in December of 2018. Why has this been flying high? Several speculations interacting to drive this book higher. Speculation of another reboot of the Fantastic Four. Perhaps speculation regarding a Thanos matchup like in the comics. Finally, who knows maybe a stand-alone movie (It could happen). Whatever the reason this comic book is flying high with the Power Cosmic boosting profits to the tune of positive +133.4%.
This is the supreme leader of the Silver Age in the month of November. Iron Man #1 was created by Archie Goodwin and Gene Colan in 1968 toward the end of the Silver Age. It is not his first appearance but it is the first Iron Man in a titled series with a retelling of his origin story. This is a strong key, with a great cover and has trounced the issue that came before it and arguably should be a big key: Iron Man and Namor the Sub-Mariner One Shot. Iron Man #1 is currently sitting at $16,500 FMV for a grade of (9.8). Furthermore, some of the recent sales have been higher. As you may have expected the return on bad boy Stark is no yoke! Iron Man #1 in grade (9.8) has returned positive +131.5% out of a total of 12 sales. There we go, Tony Stark wins again.
