The Spider-Verse ruled the secondary market-verse as collectors stocked up on all those Across the Spider-Verse and Sony spinoff keys. 

The Hottest Comics are back again, and 2023 is looking to be the year of the spider. Why not? The Spider-Verse hype train has left the station, and it’s not even up to full steam yet. Sony’s numerous solo Spider-projects (don’t you love adding Spider- to the beginning of anything at all?) have opened the door for basically anything, so it adds up to major attention on all the Spider-Man keys.

Before we dive into the biggest movers and shakers, it’s time for your refresher. The Hottest Comics is an index of the top-selling single issues across eBay. These are based strictly on the number of sales rather than fair market values, so don’t get the two data sources confused. With that out of the way, it’s on to the good stuff.

14. SPIDER-WOMAN #1 (+80)

Jessica Drew is marching her way up the rankings once again. This week, she made impressive gains, picking up 80 positions and knocking on the top-10 Hottest’s door. With this much momentum, Spider-Woman #1 could nab those extra four spots very soon. Who knows? If things keep moving in this direction, this issue could be a top-five contender in the not-too-distant future.

As most collectors know, this is not Spider-Woman’s first appearance. She debuted in one of Marvel’s experimental Bronze Age titles, Marvel Spotlight #32. Initially introduced as a villain, Stan Lee and the gang saw promise with her character, eventually giving her a solo run beginning with Spider-Woman #1 in 1978. Although it is widely overlooked today, she scored plenty of points with audiences around this time. She even starred in her own animated series that ran from 1979-1980. 

What’s got the speculation fires raging for Jessica’s first self-titled comic? That would be the latest Across the Spider-Verse trailer. During the awe-inspiring shots of the Spider-Verse causeway, we clearly see Spider-Woman in her classic costume. That’s not necessarily a shock since we already knew that Issa Rae would voice the character in the movie. However, seeing is believing, and there’s plenty of room for her to blossom into a franchise-leading star in the near future.

Prices are on the way up, which is not a surprise. After generally staying closer to the $250 range, give or take, January 10 saw a graded 9.8 reach $300. Depending on what rumors spring out of Spider-Verse, this issue could jump to $400 before you realize it. The potential is there.

44. AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #194 NEWSSTAND (+48)

Speaking of the Spider-Verse, Black Cat’s first appearance remains as popular as ever. Sure, there was a time when this issue fell out of fashion. After the proposed Black Cat/Silver Sable movie played a couple rounds of red light/greenlight with Sony Pictures, comic collectors took a break from stockpiling these key issues. Then came the rumors of Felicia Hardy arriving in the Homecoming films before she was directly teased in the Morbius Easter egg. 

It all adds up to continuous sales for ASM #194, an issue famous for Black Cat’s first appearance. It would seem that something is in the works for her long-overdue live-action debut. Sony is cranking out the spinoff flicks left and right, and practically every Spider-Verse character (sans Spider-Man, sadly) is getting a movie or at least a streaming series. When the Hypno-Hustler is getting a feature film, the door has officially been open for even the most obscure of the obscure. There’s a hot rumor that Sydney Sweeney has been cast as Felicia Hardy for the Madame Web movie, and that could lead to her starring in a Black Cat feature film. 

Being a newsstand, this particular edition is harder to find in higher grades, which automatically makes it coveted. However, the price difference between the direct and newsstand editions is not as far apart as you might think. For the past 90 days, the two have both averaged between $3k and $3,300. 

13. MARVEL SUPER HEROES SECRET WARS #1 (+35)

It was only a matter of time before Secret Wars #1 got back into the Hottest Comics conversation. After being the consolation prize compared to Secret Wars #8, SW #1 has picked up momentum with all The Beyonder talk in the MCU. The caffeine truly kicked in when Kevin Feige announced Avengers: Secret Wars would wrap up The Multiverse Saga in Phase 6. It didn’t hurt that Laurence Fishburne was cast as the voice to The Beyonder in the animated kids’ show, Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur

When you add it all up, it’s a great time to be a Beyonder fan. The 1980s fashion icon (well, sort of) started as a bodiless ball of light with a voice in SW #1. Playing the part of all of us ‘80s kids who threw our action figures into a pile and made them have a giant war, Beyonder dragged the elite Marvel characters to Battleworld for a massive “good versus evil” brawl just for the fun of it. Will this play into the Secret Wars movie on the distant horizon? Considering this is Marvel Studios, there’s no telling. After all, it’s a company that proudly doesn’t want comic fans writing and directing its movies. There’s no guarantees that The Beyonder will be part of the plot, but collectors are not taking any chances. Plus, the prices are still reasonable, even for the graded 9.8s.

At one point in the past year, the prices reached $700+ range. Lucky for buyers, it’s bringing  $400 on average.

38. AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #101 (+27)

It’s all about those Sony spinoffs this week. From Spider-Woman to Black Cat and on to Morbius, the Spider-Verse ruled the rankings with ASM #101 continuing to gain spots despite the horrible reception to Jared Leto’s turn as the Living Vampire. 

This is a most unlikely turn of events. First and foremost, the movie was simply dreadful. Despite Sony re-releasing it after the “Morbin’ time” meme gained an online following, it did nothing for the box office returns. That sent fair market values for Morbius’ debut in ASM #101 spiraling to the bottom of the pile. Still, those tried-and-true Morbius fans held tight, grabbing copies while they were cheap. While the prices haven’t rebounded, that could be in the future since this comic is routinely finding its way into the top half of the Hottest Comics index. 

Will we see Morbius make a return to the screen? Despite all logic, it’s very likely that we will. In what form remains to be seen. He could make an appearance in one of the numerous Sony spinoff movies and series. For that matter, he could find his way into the MCU and be paired either with Blade or with Man-Thing and Werewolf By Night for a Legion of Monsters team up. Anything could happen at this point. That is the likely reason ASM #101 just refuses to die.

The highest grade sold in the past month has been the 9.4, which sold for $3k on January 10. Of course that’s down from the $4k+ it was earning last February, but that’s what a bad movie does to key issues.

7. ULTIMATE FALLOUT #4 (+17)

Rounding out this week’s movers and shakers, we have a familiar face in the Hottest Comics—Miles Morales. 

Why wouldn’t his first appearance be a popular seller? He was the star of arguably the best Spider-Man movie ever made, including live action, and the sequel is gaining so much traction that it is bound to be another major hit for Sony’s animated wing. Then there’s the nonstop MCU rumors and gossip, and we all know Feige has Miles on the chessboard. When he’ll finally make a move with that piece is anyone’s guess, but the day will come, of that we can all be certain.

Speaking of Miles in the MCU, I believe he will one day take over for Peter Parker as the one and only Spider-Man of the cinematic Multiverse. That could be why we’ve only gotten the one allusion to Miles in Homecoming. At the moment, Marvel is riding the Tom Holland train when it comes to the Spider-franchise. As we have seen with Marvel Studios, Feige and company are tied more to the actors than the characters, and I would wager that Holland’s replacement is already arranged. 

Last year, this was by far the hottest modern key issue on the market. Like everything else, the prices have been down for the past year, but don’t take that as UF #4 suddenly tanking. Miles’ first appearance has all the makings of the next Hulk #181 considering the potential for his box office future. While the graded 9.8 for the standard edition averaged $2,587 in 2022, it’s holding closer to $1,800 at the moment. That could be a bargain once Miles is confirmed for the MCU.

*Any perceived investment advice is that of the freelance blogger and does not represent advice on behalf of GoCollect.