Ever since the post-credit scene at the end of ‘Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 2’, all Adam Warlock related comics have been spiking. However, even after the cosmic adventure that was ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ Part One, Warlock fever has still not reached its peak.

In this post I want to take a look at how the early Him/Warlock keys are performing since ‘Infinity War’ and then speculate about which are worth buying up at this time or, especially after the controversy surrounding the upcoming Guardians 3 production, if interest in the Warlock character might not decline in the upcoming cosmic phase of the MCU.

Warlock fever, of course, spiked after the golden cocoon appeared at the end of GOTG 2 in 2017. Ayesha/Her/Paragon/Kismet, i.e. the golden leader of the Sovereign (played by Elizabeth Debicki), explicitly refers to the cocoon as ‘Adam’ and this pretty much lets everybody know what’s going on. Adam Warlock is ‘aborning’ and he’ll probably soon appear.

Since Marvel is explicitly taking a cosmic turn on screen, even if he doesn’t appear in the next Guardians outing (which is still being made), Adam Warlock will very likely appear in another film sooner or later. That said, which comics should we be seeking out?

Fantastic Four #66 (September 1967) – Origin of Him begins

Let’s start with the two big keys related to Him. The Him origin story in comics can be found in Fantastic Four #s 65-67, but the keys are issues #66 “"What Lurks Behind the Beehive?" and #67 "When Opens the Cocoon!". In those issues we see the first appearance of Him/Adam Warlock in cocoon form, and then the first brief appearance of Him emerging as a golden skinned perfect being before destroying the Beehive complex.

These two comics have been gradually increasing in value since 2017. At the moment FF #67 is definitely the more prized of the two Him appearances. After GOTG 2, it picked up in value and has been showing steady returns, however it would have been far cheaper to pick up a year ago. At this point, I’d look for high grade copies of issue #66 in certified 9.0-9.4 condition. These are still quite affordable—and technically it’s the very first appearance of Adam Warlock, even if he is a cocoon.

In such a protean being as Warlock, his state of evolution can vary so 'the Adam cocoon' is still 'Him', i.e. still 'Warlock'. And consider the following: Currently the CGC census shows less than half the number of FF issue #66 (634 copies) versus issue #67 (1,600 copies) certified, which indicates that there is more room to grow for the former. Finally the data also shows an extremely impressive +627.3% rate of return on investment on certified 9.8 copies of issue #66. FF #67 in 9.8 grade has also been moving up, but data shows only a +179.5% roi after 8 sales over the last 7 years. FF #66 in 9.8 is currently valued at $16,000.00; issue # 67, in the same grade, $7,250.00. Even conceding that FF #66 has a black cover and is much harder to find in 9.8 grade than the white cover of #67 (a factor to acknowledge) - I still think FF #66 in lower grades will eventually catch up and reach #67 prices on lower grades.

Thor #165 (June 1969) – first full appearance of Him

Here’s the first full appearance of Him and a Warlock key to be certain. This comic is actually way down in certified 9.8 grade but up and gaining in almost all lower grades. The reason for this is likely the wide gap between 9.6 and 9.8 prices which is pronounced on this book. Since early Warlock appearances are probably going to rise in value after he appears, and this issue is trending down in highest graded copies, it’s probably worth picking it up currently in mid-grade to low high grade. I doubt this book is in any way dead or will be ignored once Warlock makes a big screen appearance.

Finally, Marvel Premiere #1 (April 1972) -First Adam Warlock, is also rising in tandem with the uptick in value of the Him comics. The last 9.8 certified sale of this comic cracked the $5000.00 dollar mark. That’s impressive for a bronze-age comic, it’s also trending up in all mid and high grades that should make everyone take notice.