Light and darkness. Like the complementary characters of Cloak and Dagger, here we bring you both good and bad news about the market for Cloak and Dagger’s key comic books. First, the bad news: They are all headed for a big downturn. However, the good news: We’ve likely caught it before the pain.

 

 

THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #64

Starting things off, the iconic duo of Cloak and Dagger made their 1st appearance in The Spectacular Spider-Man #64 (1982); sales data for the book graded CGC 9.8 is shown below. Sales prices for The Spectacular Spider-Man #64 jumped up in late 2015 surrounding the developing news of the Cloak & Dagger television series. In the immediate weeks, the book at CGC 9.8 sold in a wide range from roughly the low-$600s to $400. Surprisingly, this volatility remained little changed over the course of the last four years. Outside of two higher-priced sales this past winter, The Spectacular Spider-Man #64 has been hard stuck in the same range. This volatility with the high market value warrants exploring the other market behavior key Cloak & Dagger books; which follows below. Additionally, more about the recent trends (post-TV series cancellation) will also be addressed.

 

 

CLOAK AND DAGGER #1

The next Cloak and Dagger key to be looked at is the first self-titled Cloak and Dagger #1 (1983); whose sales for CGC 9.8 copies are shown below. While the magnitude of sales prices for Cloak and Dagger #1 is much lower than the above book, the market behavior is essentially mirrored, but with one key difference. The movements are similar, but the timing of the movements are delayed. The tendency of The Spectacular Spider-Man #64 to not just behave the same as Cloak and Dagger #1, but with a few weeks delay is a very curious aspect that could have helped a speculator front-run the former book. Both the upwards movements and now possibly, the downwards movement…

 

OUTLOOK

The latest event to influence the market of all Cloak and Dagger comic books is the recent (Oct 2019) and official cancellation of the Cloak & Dagger television series. Even before the cancellation announcement, mounting concern had already shown itself in the market for both books. There has been a substantial decrease in volume for Cloak and Dagger #1 sales. More recently, sales prices for The Spectacular Spider-Man #64 has noticeably weakened. You can see this change in the sales data below; on the left is Cloak and Dagger #1, on the right is The Spectacular Spider-Man #64. Notice the time delay between the two books for this change in sentiment to the negative.

The possibility of an extended weakening in the Cloak and Dagger market is further supported by the lack of buyers for the key comics of supporting characters. The major antagonist that was revealed at the end of season 1 was Mayhem; whose first appearance book of Cloak and Dagger #5 (1986) has failed to develop to a market with larger sales volume and value. In a similar situation, D'Spayre who is the main villain of season 2; his first appearance book of Marvel Team-Up #68 (1978) is also underperforming.

Overall, the market for Cloak and Dagger’s two biggest key comic books is likely on the cusp of a major move downwards. It would be difficult to call the price bottom; just keep in mind the price levels for both The Spectacular Spider-Man #64 and Cloak and Dagger #1, before the TV bump.  With four years of failure to break above the same price range, and with no positive news in the near future...

Look out below.

 

 

“They sought the light. I let them find it.” - Cloak

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