In this article, I will discuss five undervalued variants that I find compelling. Those who regularly read my articles know that I love variants. Some of these comics are widely known while others fly a bit under the radar.

Something is Killing the Children 1 – Jenny Frison

I am not sure why this cover sells at a discount to other first printings of #1 for Something is Killing the Children. It is one of the best covers I have ever seen, period. This series is nothing short of amazing and this book seems like a really simple buy to me. It is not super cheap but grab one if you see it out there. This book tops the list of undervalued variants and I think it should sell for a premium one day, not a discount.


Gwenpool #25 – Jen Bartel Variant

Everyone who follows me knows what a big Gwenpool fan I am. This is the last issue in her first series (Marvel please, please, please let there be more). Retailers ordered approximately 16,000 copies of this book. What is interesting is that there are three covers. Cover A is the easiest one to find while Cover B and Cover C are the hardest. My best guess is that half of the orders were for Cover A and Cover B and C got 25% each. If this math is correct, then there should be around 4,000 copies of this spectacular Jen Bartel Variant out there and probably less than that. Retailers likely did not order many copies of the variant because the series was ending.  Gwenpool has one of the biggest cult followings of any character out there. She is coming back. Pick up this book cheap now.

X-Men #1 – Wolverine and Cyclops Newsstand Variant

When I think of the most iconic covers to come out of the 1990s this one is right up there with the best of them. I would keep an eye on the newsstand variant of this comic. While there were eight million copies produced, a small percentage of those hit the newsstand. The best numbers I can find show 43,000 copies were made available to newsstands. That said, many of those were returned and destroyed as is the case with newsstand comics. Because of the massive print run, sellers deemed X-Men #1s to be worthless and jammed them into $0.50 boxes all around the country. I expect one day this book will set records in high grade.

Squirrel Girl #1 – Art Adams Variant

Squirrel Girl’s first appearance in Marvel Super-Heroes #8 is a giant dud for me. We did not see the character again until she appeared in Great Lake Avengers #1. Her first solo series is a smart play and Art Adams 1:25 variant overlooked modern comic for sure. The colors alone make it a must-have for any collection. Retails only ordered 41,000 copies of issue number one meaning that there are likely less than 1,500 copies of this book out there and probably far fewer than that. This is one of the more undervalued variants out there IMO.

Daredevil #10

Okay, I will be the first one to point out that this is not a variant cover. What it is, is a variant on the popular narrative that Daredevil #9 is the book to get for Echo. Yes, she does appear in issue #9 but she is not in character but rather seen from a distance playing piano on stage. This is a cameo appearance for me. We see her as Echo the assassin in issue #10. For me, this is a classic #180 vs #181 situation. In issue #10 we also get her on the cover and David Mack’s art is nothing short of amazing. Grab this when you are out there hunting.

Echo is potentially setting up for a big role in the MCU and Daredevil #10 is the best play for my money. People tell me that the market already decided on this book. I suggest that the market reconsider. This is a classic case of collectors running out and buying the wrong book because they did not actually look at what was going on inside. GoCollect has 36 copies graded on their census.

 

Conclusion

Collecting variant comics is extremely fun. There are so many of them out there that it is hard for collectors to keep track. This allows many undervalued variants to fall through the cracks. Thanks for reading.