Aquaman has been getting more positive than negative reviews and, what’s more important, a favorable audience reception. Is DC starting to get their act together? If so, this is a very good sign for the value of the many currently under-valued DC comics connected to the DCEU film projects.
I’ve long been saying here that the DC keys from the Silver and Bronze ages are under-valued compared to their Marvel counterparts. Perhaps the next few years will prove me right. If so, which comics should we paying attention to?
We can start with Aquaman. DC’s Fish-man has made a big splash in China where it opened to higher opening weekend ($93.6 million) than any other WB film release, surpassing even 'Wonder Woman'. The new DC under-water epic also seems set for a successful box office performance here in North America. One villain in particular from the Aquaman movie, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Black Manta, is actually getting a lot of praise for his performance. This leads us to the comics.
Aquaman #35 (September 1967) – First Appearance of Black Manta
In the last two months there has been a big jump on certified lower grades of this comic. The last three sales of certified 3.0 graded copies have seen prices of: $71.00 on October, 30 2018 [restored copy on ComicLink], $153.50 on December 01, 2018 [CGC blue label on eBay], and most recently, $225.00 on December 04, 2018 [another CGC blue label on eBay]. This is a good omen for future sales of this book. Let’s pull back and look at sales trends over the last few years and how this growth of lower graded copies is affecting higher grades. In 9.4 certified grade FMV is now $3, 400.00 marking returns as positive and up +559.1% over the last seven years, in 9.6 grade, current FMV = $6, 000.00, giving positive returns of +489.6% over the last 15 years. Finally, in 9.8 the FMV = an impressive $10, 000.00, giving positive returns of +126.7% since 2005. This comic is definitely making a splash. If you have a copy, now may be a good a time as any to sell. Unless, that is, Black Manta gets his own film; or you simply want to hold on to this under-water key.
After Aquaman, DC has plans for their own (and the original) Captain Marvel to hit the big screen. 'Shazam!' is set for an April 5, 2019 box office opening. This picture looks like it will be a blast. The trailer was upbeat and fun and the DC comic to get in anticipation of the big spike in prices if this movie succeeds is Shazam! #1. This comic is the first DC appearance of Golden Age favorite Captain Marvel created by Bill Parker and C. C. Beck and originally published by Fawcett Comics. In the Bronze Age DC brought him back as Shazam and now he’s coming to the big screen. As a consequence, this comic has been gradually rising in price to the point where today it has a FMV of $875.00 in certified 9.8 grade. To put this in perspective, one year ago, and before release of the 'Shazam!' trailer, this book was selling for just over $600.00 in that grade. The positive returns on this title also run across every grade. Highest returns over the last eight years, however, have been on certified 4.5 grades at +255%.
Wonder Woman v2 #7 (October 1987) – First Appearance of Barbara Ann Minerva the modern Cheetah
Finally, in 2020, the one that started it all is back. The long awaited follow up to the first big success for the DCEU: ‘Wonder Woman’, will get a movie sequel titled: 1984. ‘Wonder Woman: 1984’ will be released on June 05, 2020. George Perez gave Wonder Woman a make-over in the 1980s and it looks like it will be the 80s Cheetah who is the big villain here. There have been three WW villains named Cheetah; Barbara Ann Minerva is technically the third and this comic is her first appearance. She first becomes the Cheetah however in issue #9 (another Wonder Woman comic to keep your eyes on). The last three reported eBay sales of Wonder Woman v2 #7 in certified 9.8 grade, however, sold for:
$189.95 on November 02, 2018
$235.00 on November 16, 2018, and
$200.00 on November 28, 2018.
According to GoCollect, after 50 sales over the last 4 years, this comic has a positive +31.2% return on investments in certified 9.8 condition.
