Yet another classic 1980s franchise could be passing the torch as Sylvester Stallone says there’s going to be one more Rambo movie. At least there are comics to collect, and that's always a bright spot.

This time, we won’t see the 76-year-old Stallone break out the mullet and bandana. Originally, the idea was for a prequel series that would follow a younger actor playing the titular character in the years preceding 1982’s First Blood. Now, Stallone said the studio wants another movie where Rambo will hand the baton to a new character, and that sounds as horrible as all but the first movie in the franchise. 

If it would have been a prequel series, there could have been a good story. Sure, we all think of Rambo from the cheesy, painfully ‘80s Rambo: First Blood Part II where Stallone grunts and groans his way through a Vietnam rescue/revenge mission. By the third installment, he was fighting communism alongside the Afghani rebels, a story that didn’t age so well in the post-9/11 world. This version even inspired a forgotten cartoon series.

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On the other hand, First Blood is an emotional, well-written story that explores a deeply traumatized Vietnam veteran who was thrown away when the war was over. Although Rambo is a highly trained, elite green beret, the military vastly under equipped him to deal with the depression and severe PTSD when his duty ended. Then comes the survivor’s remorse when he discovers he’s the last member of his squad still alive. When he’s abused by the local sheriff’s office, Rambo reverts to the only world that makes sense, that of war and survival. If you have never watched this movie, I implore you to fire up Amazon and rent it. You won’t be disappointed. 

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Maybe the new movie doesn’t sound like a winner, but I initially thought the same thing about Prey, and that turned out great. Hopefully, the next Rambo film will surprise me just the same. Speaking of those comics, it could be worth your time to add them to your shopping lists. Here’s more.

RAMBO III #1 (1988)

While you may not remember the first Rambo comics, it’s no surprise that the poster boy for cliché 1980s action heroes had his own comic book. What is surprising is that it took until 1988 for the first issue to reach store shelves. 

It’s a fine tradition that’s still honored today—adapting practically every pop culture movie and television star into a comic book, and this issue was made to promote the third Rambo flick. At the time, we thought this was the end of everyone’s favorite Vietnam vet looking for asses to kick. Little did we know there would be two more stories left to tell…two stories that no one asked for, yet we got anyway. 

If you happen to have a high grade, your ship has come in. These consistently sell for four and five figures, easily. By four figures, I mean less than $5 for raw copies (the other three digits are all zeroes on the wrong side of the decimal point). This comic has been so neglected to this point that there is no current sales data for the graded variety.

RAMBO III #1 3D VARIANT (1988)

Since you’re making your way down the list for those Rambo comics, you might as well grab the Rambo III #1 variant. In true late-‘80s fashion, this one had the most gimmicky of covers: the all-powerful 3D cover. With these, you needed a pair of ultra-cool blue and red paper glass, which happened to be included in the comic. When I was nine years old, I was blown away by this magical technology. These days…not so much. Still, it’s a fun throwback to that ‘80s nostalgia that has engrossed pop culture, particularly in the mainstream sci-fi realm.

Again, you won’t find many sales for the 3D variant. There aren’t any graded sales on record, and the last sale for a raw copy was for $3.75 in September.

RAMBO #1 (1989)

A year later, Blackthorne gave Rambo another try, and this one actually does bring a respectable value. By no means is it going to make you rich, but you have to start somewhere, right? Last year, the 9.8 twice sold for $90 while a third copy brought $86. So far in 2022, there’s only been one 9.8 to trade hands online, and that one went for $50 in June. If you don’t want to pay that much for a slab, cruise over to eBay where these tend to stay in the $10 range.

WHO WANTS TO ARM WRESTLE?

Clearly, Stallone is looking to relive his glory days in one franchise or another. With so few new ideas outside the superhero realm making it to the silver screen these days, it’s been one reboot after another. We’re on our third Creed movie with an Ivan Drago spinoff in the works, plus the proposed prequel series would be the third Rambo project in the 21st Century. What’s next after Rocky and Rambo are milked a little more?

Maybe we’ll finally get some closure to all those unanswered questions from Over the Top, like why would anyone make a movie about a truck-driving professional arm wrestler in the first place?

Will you be hunting those Rambo keys? Let us know in the comments!

*Any perceived investment advice is that of the freelance blogger and does not represent advice on behalf of GoCollect.