If you keep up with price trends on first appearances of villains, there’s a common pattern with these books. They tend to spike hard when the foe in question is featured in a movie and then plummet down in value just as quickly after their time in the spotlight passes.
For example, today the new ‘Spider-man: Far From Home’ trailer was released. In it we get a good look at Spidey’s foe Hydro-Man in action. No doubt this will send prices on Amazing Spider-man #212 higher.
At least until the movie’s release date comes and goes, and everybody forgets all about Hydro-Man again.
But although this has more or less been the case for the first appearances of Ultron (The Avengers #55), Whiplash (Tales of Suspense #97) and the Ghost (Iron Man #219), among many others, there are also first appearances of villains that are valuable and manage to stay that way increasing in value over time.
I’m not talking about scarce Golden Age comics with mega-foes here (the first Lex Luther or first Joker), but Silver Age comics.
In what follows, I’ll look at four major first appearances of villains worth investing in.
Especially notable, I think, are characters that have yet to see a big screen appearance or have been given the movie treatment but whose books still show strong returns.
When a first appearance by a villain shows healthy returns after a movie appearance, or without any help from a movie at all, that’s usually a good sign that the character is worth investing in.
Batman #121 (February 1959) – First appearance of Mr. Freeze (aka Mr. Zero); Origin of Mr. Freeze
To start the list, we go to a book with probably the most iconic rogues gallery in all of Comicdom. It’s pretty hard to beat Batman. And in terms of Batman villains a comic that’s been consistently hot (ironically given its content) is the first appearance of Mr. Freeze in the Silver Age. While Poison Ivy’s debut gets more hype these days (Batman #181), and she will appear in a movie soon, Batman #121 is still the more valuable book and returns look anything but cold. Certified 9.0 copies show the strongest returns at positive +326% after two sales, but there hasn’t been a sale in the last two years. 4.0 copies, on the other hand, are selling regularly (17 sales overall and 5 in 2018) and have current FMV of $1, 600.00.
Action Comics #242 (July 1958) - First appearance of Brainiac; Origin of Brainiac
A copy of Action Comics #242 sold just yesterday on eBay for $1, 225.00. To put this in perspective, the auction was for a lowly, if presentable, 3.5 graded certified copy. According to GoCollect.com, this is a strong price but not exceptionally far outside the expected range for this book (current FMV for 3.5 = $1, 100.00). What makes Action Comics #242 the most valuable Silver Age issue of the title? The iconic cover? The expansion of the Superman mythos connected to the first appearance of the Bottled City of Kandor? Obviously, it’s the first appearance of Brainiac. In the case of Superman his most iconic antagonist, Lex Luther (who first appears in Action Comics #23) is, for all intents and purposes, practically out of range of the average collector (a 2.5 copy sold on 'ComicConnect' for $11, 311.00 on May 20, 2018; a high grade copy will cost you a minimal of six digits). In these situations it’s not uncommon that collectors turn to later issues (in this case from the Silver Age) to find investments, and Action Comics #242 certainly fulfills that description. Strong returns across the board speak to the demand for this comic. With 388 copies on the CGC census, it’s only currently showing negative returns in 8.0 grade.
Fantastic Four #5 (July 1962) - First appearance of Dr. Doom; Origin of Dr. Doom
Although Thanos is all the rage right now in the MCU, if done right and given a good vehicle (unlike the FOX FF films) I have no doubt that a Dr. Doom portrayal in the MCU can outdo even the Mad Titan in terms of popularity. From his name, to his complex motivation and tangled history with Reed Richards. Doom is every bit as interesting as Thanos, and his more human stature and backstory, to my mind, makes him even more appealing as a villain. Others must feel the same because this book (FF# 5) is positively exploding right now. Positive returns can be found in all but the highest grades. And best returns have been on 2.5 graded copies, the last sale of which was a Heritage auction ending at $2, 040.00 on July 8th 2018. After 31 sales since 2004, returns on 2.5 copies show a positive + 154.6% rise.
Amazing Spider-man #14 (July 1964) - First appearance of The Green Goblin
The Green Goblin is to Spider-man what the Joker is to Batman. Even if the latest Spider-man movie will feature Mysterio, we all know that Goby will eventually make an MCU appearance. When that happens, all bets are off on this book. Although it's already pricey, and a 4.0 just sold on January 10, 2019 on eBay for $1, 200.00, you can still get a certified 2.0 for under $600.00. Unfortunately anything higher is already quite expensive, but if you have the money to invest, the chances of making a profit are pretty good. Two signature series 9.8 sales went for under $500.00 years ago and these sales were followed recently by two more 9.8 sales: one of a CBCS slab on Heritage in August of 2017 for $71, 700.00 pushing returns on that grade to the unbelievable height of positive +16036.3%! Excelsior!
