The pilot episode for HBO Max's DMZ is getting closer to a premiere, and that will fuel speculation for Vertigo's DMZ #1.
HBO MAX
Earlier this year, New Gods writer/director Ava DuVernay completed filming the pilot episode of the HBO Max series, DMZ. The real news is that this was one of the few productions that actually finished filming before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down Hollywood.
Not much is known about the project except that Rosario Dawson, whom you will remember from Netflix's Daredevil, is playing the lead role. She went on to call it "one of the most phenomenal work experiences of her life," which is a strong testament to DMZ, considering Dawson's lengthy film credits. (Although I'm sure it's no The Lightning Thief, and God willing it won't be.)
WHAT IS DMZ #1?
At first, I thought this was a pseudo-news show about celebrity dirt. Wait, that's TMZ. This is the 1990s rapper, right? No, that's DMX. Going into this post, I obviously knew nothing about DMZ. Thank the Lord for Wikipedia.
Considering the current political climate, this has become a darkly relevant title.
The story, written by Brian Wood, centers on journalist Matty Roth and is set in a futuristic Manhattan. In this alternate reality, civil war has once again erupted in the United States with the Free States of America clashing with the federal government. The title, DMZ, is the acronym for demilitarized zone encompassing the entire island of Manhattan.
As the story begins, the current civil war has been waged for five years. Roth explores the war-torn island, reporting from both political perspectives of the conflict as well as the people caught in the middle.
In the HBO Max pilot, Roth has been replaced with protagonist Alma Ortega, a medic in search of her missing son. We'll also see another familiar face, Benjamin Bratt, as Parco Delgado, a powerful gang leader in the lawless DMZ.
The HBO Max news sent investment shock waves through this issue.
From 2006 to 2012, the standard edition rarely sold online, at least for the graded copies. Only one 9.8 per year had sold to that point. When the announcement was first made in 2014, it triggered an unsurprising boom for the market. That year, the 9.8 for the standard edition sold for as much as $230, setting a record high that has yet to be matched.
Since then, the volume of sales has dipped from 10 to closer to five per year. However, it still consistently sells for close to $100.
So far this year, the market has remained steady. Although the sales are not approaching that $230 record high, it hasn't sold for less than $100 in 2020. As we get closer to the series premiere, that figure is likely to get a bump and could push back into the $200 range.
Traded much less often is the convention edition of DMZ #1. Only one recorded sale for a graded 9.8 has been registered online, and that was back in 2009 for $10.
Another issue of DMZ that is getting the attention of collectors is DMZ #14. The last sale of a 9.8 was for $90 earlier this month. What makes this issue collectible? As it says above the title, this issue featured the first preview for the Jason Aaron hit series, Scalped.
