Captain America #25Comic books are a unique storytelling form.  They mix art, writing, fantastic characters, and heroic storylines into a monthly digest that appeals to young and old.  As more and more people came to appreciate comics, the law of supply and demand made the best of them more and more valuable.  Captain America, X-Men, Iron Man, these names have become synonymous with value. But what exactly makes a comic valuable?

What makes comics like X-men, Captain America, or other famous titles worth more than other books?

Obviously, factors like age, condition, and scarcity help determine the value of older books.  But what about books on the rack today?  Which of these will be the most valuable five, ten, or fifty years from now?  Let's take a look at five specific factors on very recent books.

Cover - Captain America #25 by Alex Ross

We all know that you can't judge a book by its cover.  However, a great comic book cover is what makes me grab a new book off the rack to take a look at.  I love paging through the cover pictures on the GoCollect website.  Good covers can pull up a summary of the issue in my mind.  The cover is also what you will forever see if you choose to have the issue slabbed.  Awesome art from greats like Jack Kirby, Jim Lee, and many others spring to mind.  But I'm not sure that anyone has made more stunning covers than Alex Ross.  I selected Captain America #25 because I didn't love the story or the interior artwork, but Ross's covers on Cap's Volume 9 issues have been spectacular.

Iron Man 3, Captain AmericaArtist - Iron Man #3 by CAFU (Carlos Alberto Fernandez Urbano)

For me, a comic cannot be great without solid interior art.  Like any art, what makes it great can differ from person to person.  My long time favorites include George Perez, John Byrne, Barry Windsor Smith, Jim Lee, Jeff Bagley, and John Buscema.   I really wanted to put Greg Capullo's "Dark Knight Death Metal" issue for this category but decided to limit the list to regular monthly titles rather than mini-series or special issues.  I realize that Iron Man #3 also has an Alex Ross cover which could affect its long-term value, but I ask that you consider it just for the interior art in our informal survey.

Author - Legion of Super-Heroes #10 by Brian Michael Bendis

There are very few valuable comics that were not scripted by a great author.  Look at the values of the older work done by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Roy Thomas, and Chris Claremont.  The Legion of Superheroes comics are not always among DC's most popular.  Legion of Super-Heroes #10 is exceptional. Will one of the most acclaimed writers of the decade make this book grow in value?

New Character - Batman #102 introducing Ghost-Maker

This seems to be the category most speculators get excited about right now.  The new Batman foe, Punchline, appeared in Batman #89.  A week after I picked the comic up the issue was selling for $40 on E-Bay.  It's only about a year old and a 9.8 has a value of $140 in the GoCollect database.  New characters appear somewhere every month.  The question is who will go on to become the next Wolverine, Deadpool, or even Taskmaster?  Ghost-Maker, a shadowy figure from Bruce Wayne's past, makes his first appearance in Batman #102.  Will his appearance make this a future valuable collectible?

Storyline - X-Men #14 X of Swords

Long ago most comics were stand-alone issues.  More recently almost every book seems to have a major, multi-issue storyline weaving through it.  Storylines like the X-Men's Days of Future Past, the Avengers' Kree/Skrull War, or any number of Batman runs (Bane, Hush, Joker War, etc...) drive up the value of each issue involved.  Jonathan Hickman turned the mutant world on its head with his retooling of the X-Men franchise.  Will a storyline like the current X of Swords play an impact on future values? Be sure to check out X-Men #14 X of Swords.

X-Men, Captain AmericaOther Factors

Obviously many other factors add value to a comic.  Batman #457 features the first appearance of Tim Drake as Robin.  This alone makes it a valuable comic.  However, some of these comics had an error on the first page, listing it as issue 000 instead of 457.  While a normal 9.8 goes for $75 in the GoCollect database, the ultra-rare Newstand second printing with this error lists at $2900.  Small print runs and variant covers can drastically change a comic's value as well.   I'm ignoring these other factors to focus on the five regular monthly titles above.

My (very uneducated) guess is that in ten years these comics will rank out as follows in value:

Given my limited abilities at comic speculation, I don't suggest that you run out to buy any of these based on my opinions.  But I'd love to hear your opinions and rankings.  Which of these factors is the most important to a comic's future value?  Which of these new books are you guessing will be the most valuable in ten years?

Captain America? Batman? Who has long-term staying power?