Leading up to the release of Ant Man and the Wasp there was a ton of speculation about the "main villain" in the film, Ghost.  I used quotes for main villain because in my estimate she ends up being as much a friend as foe... either way the role of the character seemed incomplete at best.  It does appear that Ghost and Dr. Bill Foster (played by Laurence Fishburne) are poised to make a return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) in some official capacity...  So is now the time to be seriously speculating about the main specter in the MCU?

Prior to the release of Ant Man and the Wasp, I was wondering if I was ever going to see a 9.8 graded copy of Iron Man #219, which features the first appearance of the character Ghost.  Typically a comic from 1987 from a well known character series like Iron Man should have a large print run and tons of collectors to maintain crisp copies for grading one day.  But as you start digging into the data, you realize that this book is fairly rare.  Total census number for 9.8 copies is 19...that is fairly low.  Anyone who has collected comics long enough knows that the hardest covers to get a great grade on are an all black cover and an all white cover.  Iron Man #219 is the latter and boy is it a lot of white.  An all white cover has to be a problem and the data seems to agree because there is a good concentration of 9.6 and 9.4 graded books which means some cover stains probably cost some higher grades.

The fair market value for this book sits at $350 for a 9.8 grade.  Recently though, multiple copies actually have made their way onto the sales scene and into the open market, they have gone from $375-$450.  Trend analysis for this book shows that 9.8 copies have shown 24% grow and 9.4 copies up 21%.  9.6 copies are showing a negative trend, but it appears to be an outlier more than dependable data.

This book should find growth over time and be a great addition to any collection.  The cover art on this book is phenomenal along with it being a rarer book in the upper grades.  Ghost could also have the potential to continue on in the MCU and gain fans...which always means good value for a collectible comic.  Books from the late 1980's are still fairly low priced on the market compared to first appearance books in the bronze or silver ages.  I believe Iron Man books, for some strange reason are also at a slight disadvantage to other character titles.  Side note.. I am working out the entire hierarchy of general character value...as it now stands, I believe it would go... Spidey or X-men, Hulk, Thor, Captain America, then Iron Man.  Anything with Wolverine has a weird premium...more to come on that topic.  So back to Iron Man #219, now may be the time to pick up a book like this.  It seems to be undervalued in the market while being a rare census example of a first appearance of a MCU character.  Win-Win-Win.

Do you like the direction that Marvel took with Ghost in Ant Man and the Wasp?  Are you trying to fill your collection with more affordable modern books that may show extended gains over time?  Has anyone seen a Newsstand copy of this book in 9.8?  Drop you comments and join the conversation.