I hope Patty Jenkins reads this article.  Every comic book hobbyist owes her a debt of gratitude.  This is not because of the success of Wonder Woman 1984.  Instead, the reason is that Wonder Woman 1984 reminded comic book hobbyists that resting on one's laurels is not a way to invest.

Wonder Woman was a success

Past Success

Patty Jenkins is a successful film producer, director, and screenwriter.  Please notice I did not use the word female toRoss Andru WW art began in issue 98. FMV for 9.0 is $16,000. Also 1st Earth One WW. lessen her accomplishment.  Wonder Woman was a movie that demonstrated that a female character could be the lead of a superhero film franchise. This movie hit all the high water marks for moviegoers.  The movie provided key action scenes involving characters that the viewer cared about.  In addition, the main antagonist was a Machiavellian villain who was only revealed at the end of the film.  Wonder Woman was the hero of the film.  She was strong, but her inner strength is where her true power resided.

Comic book investors took notice and were ready to invest in key books.  DC Comics were not in vogue with investors, but investors I talked with believed Wonder Woman books may be the exception.  The next film would introduce new books to speculate and invest in.  Then came Wonder Woman 1984

Wonder Woman 1984 is a flawed movie

Villains Define Our Heroes

In Wonder Woman 1984 viewers saw a film that had all the potential for success but deviated from what made the first film a good one.  The film had two antagonists.  Max Lord could never be compared to Lex Luthor.  His plans for world conquest depended on the actions of others.  Lex is proactive.  In contrast, Max Lord was reactive to the point fans felt sorry for him.  Before the film, investors sought out his first appearance in Justice League #1 hoping he would be the big bad.  Instead, his character was just bad.

The second villain was Barbara Minerva, aka the Cheetah.  Cheetah is one of Wonder Woman's main villains.  I expected her transformation and drive for power to deal with something more than a wish to be one of the "cool kids." Instead, she seemed only concerned with preventing our hero from interfering with her popularity.  Again fans sought out her key appearances in Wonder Woman #7 and  Wonder Woman #9.  These issues were inexpensive and speculators hoped that maybe these books would take off.  Sadly, after the movie, they lost all their popularity.

A Diminished Hero

Wonder Woman is an Amazon warrior.  She was an inspiration for little girls watching her on the screen.  We cared because she was a character put in an "alien" world in the first film and her inner strength gave her the ability to succeed in that society.  She was a hero.  Wonder Woman lacked that strength in Wonder Woman 1984.  Wonder Woman seemed to be more concerned with a man rather than realizing her inner power and potential.  In the first film, Bruce Wayne gave our hero Trevor's watch. It reminded her of a loved one lost because of war.  That touching scene lost its importance because of the sequel's plot. Now the watch is a reminder of how the sequel lost its way from what made a truly great first film.  The watch told hobbyists that the time may be up to invest in Wonder Woman keys.

Films Driving Speculators and Investors

The Marvel and DC Comics cinematic universes now drive our hobby.  The mere rumor of a character's film appearance influences our industry.  Cheetah and Maxwell Lord became hot picks when Kristen Wiig and Pedro Pascal were announced to play those characters. The movie was delayed and these picks soon were getting colder.  Reviews of the movie have since made these characters ice-cold investments. Is the importance of comics only being valuable because of movies something that should concern speculators and investors?

Patty Jenkins again taught hobbyists a lesson that I think is very important.  Even with all her success, she got to comfortable in her work. Picking two established villains without fleshing them out doomed this movie.  It also made investing in Wonder Woman keys very difficult.  Demand for these books does not exist out here in live auctions.  There are opportunities out here that the successful investors should capitalize on, and they owe it to Patty Jenkins.

Investors and speculators should stop focusing only on television, movie, and game news to base their investments.  Patty Jenkins lost her voice and followed every other comic book movie formula.  Her film suffered as a result.  How many other investors and speculators are following the same formula of investing in multimedia comic book keys in hopes of striking it rich? You can swim in this red ocean with the sharks, but also remember other books do exist.  Look to the blue ocean of comic books that investors and speculators are ignoring although they have great potential.  Following the paths of others is one method for success but it comes with no guarantees.

Learning from Patty Jenkins

Successful individuals make mistakes. What makes these people successful is that they learn from those mistakes.  Wonder Woman 1984 is not great. That does not mean Patty Jenkins can not salvage the final film or even the Cheetah character to make them better. This is a lesson that you, the speculator, and the investor should learn from the movie.  Many investors get burned following the same past path of success and continue to follow it to their own detriment.

Try to find your honey hole in that blue ocean of books.  Your chances of success are much greater if you follow your own path instead of trying to only mimic the paths of others. In addition, diversify your investment.  This will allow you to maximize opportunities and minimize the risk of the one-basket investment approach.  Finally, if you are investing in movie comic books, realize that not all movies will be winners.  This can affect your investments.  Knowing when to get in on these books is good,  but knowing when to get out is even better.

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