The "Rule of 72" is an investment term you may have heard on CNBC or with your personal mutual fund family advisor. It is a rough mathematical equation to determine how long your investment will take to double. Therefore, I thought it may be fun to apply this concept to our current popular comics. So, I picked one comic each for the Modern, Copper, Bronze, and Silver Age. We compare the same grade, across the board to determine how soon you can own a copy free and clear.

The four books to review are Ultimate Fallout #4, Secret Wars #8, Wolverine #1,  and Fantastic Four #52. All of these are the most popular books of their age for this month. How long will it take your comic book to double in value? Further, what is the pace of each age of comic books? Does one have the lead in this ephemera race? Read on...

What Is the Rule of 72?

The Rule of 72 is a quick, useful formula that is popularly used to estimate the number of years required to double the invested money at a given annual rate of return. 

Years to Double = 72 /interest rate

where: Interest Rate = Rate of return on an investment

While calculators and spreadsheet programs like excel sheets have inbuilt functions to accurately calculate the precise time required to double the invested money, the Rule of 72 comes in handy for mental calculations to quickly gauge an approximate value. Alternatively, it can compute the annual rate of compounded return from an investment given how many years it will take to double the investment." (Source: Will Kenton, Investopedia, 2020)

Now obviously, this is not going to include taxes or inflation rate. I am no economist and this is simply a rough rule that helps determine the value of an investment and "is useful for understanding the effect of compound interest." The point is to quickly realize when and if you can double your money. Whether it is in this lifetime or in the short span of media hype for a comic book movie.

Title Grade CGC Census Return Current Year "Rule of 72" Applied
Ultimate Fallout #4 8.5 392 +41.4% 1.73 years to double
Secret Wars #8 8.5 775 +21.2% 3.39 years  "      "
Fantastic Four #52 8.5 200 +25% 2.88 years  "      "
Wolverine #1 8.5 970 +2.3% 31 years  "      "

This "Rule of 72" matchup was interesting in that the Bronze Age does not exactly inspire one to go out and buy Wolverine #1. That said, the march of the Modern Age book Ultimate Fallout #4 is straight up. Now, will the positive +41.4% return continue into the foreseeable future, probably not? If you were in Ultimate Fallout two years ago you have surpassed many popular comics in recent months. As a result, my Spidey-Sense is definitely tingling over these Modern Age returns.

However, of these four the favorite is the unstoppable Fantastic Four #52 with the first appearance of the Black Panther. This book has always been popular, currently has a speculation catalyst on for the next panther pick, and in the future will probably continue to hold value. To paraphrase Reed Richards, "this equation provides a clear scientific answer" buy FF #52!

Conclusion

Clearly, the Black Panther and his Silver Age first appearance in Fantastic Four are hard to beat. Already not cheap, it has managed over the worst economic crisis in modern times to increase in value positive +13%. Further, it is a big key in the Fantastic Four series. Finally, the reason it dominates the higher return of UF #4 is the recent media hype about a director being chosen for a FF movie. Yep, "it's (speculative) clobbering time folks!"

Fantastic Four #52 is a great bet going forward, and I don't think we have heard the last of UF #4 either. Miles Morales has significant value for a Modern Age book. Going forward, the "Rule of 72" can be another arrow in your speculative quiver to make money from comics. So, how did some of your comic books fare using the "Rule of 72"? Happy holidays to all!