The Swamp Thing prices have been on the rise over the last year, or so, since Bernie Wrightson's unfortunate death. Fortunately for us, we have his run on Swamp Thing to remember him by and still enjoy his art and surreal horror comics that show what a supreme talent he actually was in his genre. Swampy is a mindless beast, an earth elemental bent on destroying evil. He just keeps coming, you could no more destroy Swamp Thing than destroy a clump of clay. He first appeared in House of Secrets #92. That key is a lock to double in the next 2-3 years. Fans can't seem to get enough of this green behemoth lately and have been driving prices up-up and away as if they were attached to Superman's cape. The good news is that Wrightson also worked on the first ten Swamp Thing stories in the self-titled comic series. These issues have key characters, masterful covers, and let's not forget Swamp Thing's origin story.
This is a big key to have and still relatively cheap compared to his first appearance. You can buy a (4.5) grade for under $100 still sometimes even cheaper in the store. The first Swamp Thing self-titled book is Swamp Thing #1 . It was written by Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson who did the pencils, the inks, and even the coloring. It is safe to say this is really a Wein-Wrightson creation. Back in 1972, the environment was all the rage, cleaning up our water supply, forests, and beaches. Even President Nixon got in the act two years earlier, by creating the EPA with an executive order. Given the environmental focus during the 70's. It is not surprising that Len Wein came up with an earth elemental and then Bernie Wrightson creates this Cthulhuan horror as a good guy to help rid the earth of evil. The FMV's for Swamp Thing #1 for the following grades (9.8) FM Value $3000, (8.0) at $170 FM Value and (4.0) at $100 FM Value.
The return on this Wrightson special (Swamp Thing #1 ) is absolutely otherworldly. The mint condition grade (9.8) has a positive return of +7.3% ROI. The very fine grade (8.0) has a return 6 times higher than mint grade, with positive +46% ROI. Finally, the very good condition grade (4.0) which only runs you $100 has an outstanding return of positive +126.6% return on investment. These can be flipped in 6 months to a year for profit, as long as you stay below current FMV. But realistically, these are long-term buy and holds. Though a popular character the Swamp Thing is from a time before the majority of the collector class was created. It is also before the creation of comic book stores.
When I was a ten-year-old buying a comic; I bought off the turn-style rack and that was in 1978. Even at that time, it was not prevalent to be a collector and professionally sell comics. This nuance alone makes this group almost like collecting late Silver Age books. In fact, when I came back to comics after many years I first looked at Bronze Age collecting as it was cheap and still available. Now don't get me wrong Swamp Thing #1 is a great book to own. The total outstanding CGC Census is less than 1600 issues. This gives a ton of room for increased price or even some flexibility in the market for more books to show up. Swamp Thing #1 profits are as green as his thick craggy swampy hide, only without the smell.
