late printings

Late printings typically have very small print runs making the books super attractive from an investment standpoint. In this article, I will discuss five late printings that I think have material upside potential.

Daredevil #610 2nd Printing

This late printing features the first appearance of a new Daredevil villain called Vigil. While it turns out that Vigil was just a figment of Matt Murdock’s imagination, readers were drawn to the character. Vigil is featured on the cover of the 2nd printing which has a print run of just 624 issues. In conclusion, If Marvel decides to do something with the character in the future the upside for this book could be staggering.

Captain Marvel #8 3rd Printinglate printings

Captain Marvel has a relatively small print run in the 30,000 range. When Star was introduced in issue #8, Marvel rushed to produce a second printing which retailers ordered heavily to the tune of +20,000 issues. When the third printing became available, retailers already had plenty of copies of the second print on the shelves. As a result, retailers did not order the book in size. The print run for the third printing fell to 3,179. Personally, the red cover on the third printing is the most appealing to me. In conclusion, Marvel has big plans for Star, and I expect her to have a major role in Marvel comics for the foreseeable future.

Ms. Marvel #9 2nd Printing

late printings
Every hero needs a good villain. Kamala Khan is going to be a major character in the MCU over the next decade. Disney has already announced her own TV show and indicated she is going to be coming to the big screen. Issue #9 of her current series features the introduction of a new villain, Stormranger. The first print quickly sold out at retailers. As a result, Marvel immediately produced 2nd printings of issues #8 through #10. Issue #9 features Stormranger on the cover. Interestingly, retailers order more copies of the #10 second print than #9. This probably comes back to the first cameo vs. first full appearance debate (we won't get into that here). Regardless, Stormranger’s first cover appearance has a print run of just 1,713 issues.

late printingsMs. Marvel #5 2nd Printing

Staying with Ms. Marvel, issue number #5 is also a book to keep an eye on. This issue has the first appearance of the suit that ultimately becomes Stormrangers. Awareness of the character will only grow with Stormranger getting her own mini-series tied to the Empyre crossover. The second printing of issue #5 has a print run of 2,900. I honestly love the first printing of issue #5 as well. It has a subtle homage to Secret Wars #8.

Edge of Spider-Verse #2 3rd Printing

late printings
There are not many characters cooler than Spider-Gwen…or is it Ghost-Spider? Edge of Spider-Verse #2 is a Modern gem. I find the 3rd printing of this book very attractive. It is the only late printing to feature a completely different cover rather than a color change. In addition, this printing gives us a design variant in which we get a full look at the character’s costume. Retailers ordered light on this printing at 7,705 copies compared to 9,570 for the second printing and 14,789 for the fourth printing.

Conclusion

There are big opportunities in late printings given how small the print runs can be. However, I would argue that Marvel has the late printing game figured out relative to DC right now. For instance, Marvel regularly changes the art on their covers while DC just changes the background color. Stay tuned for more late printings to keep an eye on in the future.

 

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