Another comic book movie deal could be in the works, and this time it's one of my modern favorites: God Country. With that news comes a slew of sales for the series' first issue.
If you follow me on The Comic Blog, then you'll know I'm ecstatic with this development. The Hollywood Reporter broke the news that God Country has been optioned by a production company. For those of you not familiar, being optioned just means a company purchased the rights to develop the property into a film if that company so chooses. In other words, they bought the rights to have the option of making a God Country movie.
We all know that what we imagine a movie could be and what we get aren't always the same things. In theory, the ideas behind the Fantastic Four movies sounded like a lock. Then we saw the finished product, and it was an abomination. And must I even go into detail about the DC movies (outside of Man of Steel and Batman v. Superman; I liked those two)? As a huge fan of God Country, I'm nervous about how easily a poor interpretation of a great story could destroy one of my favorites. That's why I'm the most excited about this bit of news: Donny Cates will reportedly write the screenplay. It's early, but at this point, things are hopeful.
So how has all this affected comic sales?
First, as far as graded, slabbed copies of God Country #1, nothing below a 9.0 has ever been sold on eBay. That makes sense considering this comic is not even two years old.
Even up to last summer, this comic was immensely popular. Starting in mid-February and lasting until the end of May, a graded 9.8 went for as much as $201 and rarely sold below three figures. In that same span, the 9.6 was doing well, going for anywhere from $60 to as much as $130.
By the first of June and into July, the prices began to drop. The 9.8's price range went from $60-$130 down to the $40-$70 range in December. By February 2018, it was selling for as low as $29. Suddenly in June, the prices jumped back into those spring 2017 levels. From the beginning of August all the way up to the most recent sale on October 9, not one 9.8 has sold for less than $100. And that October 9 sale? It was for a record high of $215. Even the 9.6 has sold for as much as $120, which is just $10 shy of the record high from last year.
The variants are doing just as well. The Gerardo Zaffino variant cover, which was bringing as little as $28 this past spring, has soared. It reached $100 for the first time this year on July 14. Since then, it's reached as high as $150 and even $195, both of which sold on October 9.
As I said earlier, there's no guarantee that God Country will ever be made into a movie, so paying these high prices is very much a gamble, but such is investing in comics. However, if it does make it to the silver screen, then you'll be rewarded for your risk.
