Who would win in a fight between Batman and Iron Man?  One has the better suit.  One is more formidable without the suit.  Or how about, who would win in a fight between the Hulk and Superman?

A long history of pitting the heroes of DC and Marvel against each other has often left friendly debates unsatisfied and unresolved.  Here, we will attempt to explore another angle of comparison.  The superpowers and weaknesses of the heroes can be very subjective, but the cold numbers of monetary value can offer a more objective look.

In a battle of Justice League vs Avengers, what is the outcome when the public puts their money where their mouth is?

The evaluation of what each team member is worth will be based on the current total market capitalization of individual 1st appearance books. For the purposes of simplification, the examination in this article only includes the CGC data available for universal grades.

The lineup for the Justice League will be the founding members from The Brave and the Bold #28 (1960), consisting of: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman, Martian Manhunter. The lineup for the Avengers will be the founding members from The Avengers #1 (1963), which includes: Iron Man, Thor, Ant-Man, Wasp, Hulk. This unfortunately excludes Captain America, who was retroactively added as a founding member.

 

VALUE AS A TEAM

Below is the “market cap vs grade” for The Avengers # 1 and The Brave and the Bold #28:

The total market cap of The Avengers # 1 is $13.3 million. This is over double the total market cap of The Brave and the Bold #28, which is $5.53 million.

Interestingly, people are noticeably willing to pay almost twice the price for The Brave and the Bold #28 than Avengers #1 at higher grades. Unfortunately, the higher prices fail to rise to a magnitude needed/expected of its limited availability relative to Avengers #1’s price and availability. This indicates a weakness in demand for The Brave and the Bold #28 compared to The Avengers #1.

 

VALUE OF INDIVIDUALS

Beyond the first team-up books, we can further examine the market cap of individual 1st appearances.  Below is the “market cap vs grade” for the individual 1st appearance books of each Justice League and Avengers member:

Despite the fight being a 7 on 5, it is surprisingly close. The total market cap of every Justice League member’s 1st appearance is $74.02 million. For the Avengers, the total is $67.85 million.

As per usual, Superman single-handedly carries the Justice League with a $32.3 million market cap for Action Comics #1 (1938). An item of note is the low market cap of Aquaman’s More Fun Comics #73 (1941) at its current $1.037 million. With the recent rise in popularity of Aquaman, an increase in the book’s overall market cap could potentially place it closer to Flash’s Flash Comics #1 at $3.35 million, or even Wonder Woman’s All Star Comics #8 at $10 million. This upside potential warrants further exploration.

The Avenger with the largest market cap is the Hulk’s Incredible Hulk #1 (1962) at $23.06 million.  Unfortunately, Ant-Man and the Wasp are small in size and small in market cap.  They both fall far behind their peers.  Sure, it is tempting to add Captain America into the fray, but then where would the exceptions end?

 

“What does it mean?!?” – Double Rainbow Guy