The streets of San Diego are currently swarming with comic book lovers, the doors to this year’s Comic Con conference are open and the main event is in full swing. Today the trailer for the second season of the Netflix 'Iron Fist' live action series was dropped. It looks good to me, but it didn’t really feature any of the villains who will appear on the show this season.

Some cursory investigative journalism reveals that there are at least two major Marvel villains set to appear in Danny Rand’s sophomoric live action outing (which will be available for streaming starting on September 7th). The nemeses will be: Mary Walker aka Typhoid Mary, who will be played by actress Alice Eve, and Danny’s former friend Davos, who will return this season to become the Steel Serpent; once again played by Season 1 actor Sacha Dhawan.

Typhoid Mary and Steel Serpent should make for worthy antagonists to Danny, and since we know that many super-hero series are greatly improved in proportion to the challenges and antagonists the hero of the franchise must face, this bodes well for an enjoyable second season of Iron Fist.

So what are the comics that feature the above villains and will another live action outing do anything to push up their value?

Daredevil #254 (May 1988) – First Typhoid Mary

We can start with Typhoid Mary who was originally a member of Daredevil's Rogues' Gallery. Mary Alice Walker is a mutant with psionic abilities, including telekinesis, that make her a deadly assassin. She is also a fragile and damaged individual. Created by writer Ann Nocenti and artist John Romita, Jr., Typhoid Mary has fought Spider-man, Deadpool and Daredevil, so it will be interesting to see what they do with the character on the Second Season of 'Iron Fist'. Even having only been featured in one bomb of a super-hero movie (2005’s Electra), this modern era Daredevil antagonist’s first comic book appearance is looking good in terms of return of value on investment. Currently fair market value for a CGC 9.8 copy is $220.00 and returns in that same grade are up 27.6%. Highest returns have been on 9.4 at 30.9% (with the last recorded Ebay sale on April 22, 2018 for $49.98) and 5.5 at 84.1% due to a signature series sale of $23.00 on February 2, 2016. In other words: plenty of room to grow for this modern key.

Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #10 (March 1975) – First Magazine appearance of Steel Serpent

The Steel Serpent is a long time enemy of Iron Fist. In the comics, he is Danny’s evil counterpart and as was shown through the first season of the live action series, Davos is a menacing foe with no love for Danny. Created by Tony Isabella and Frank McLaughlin, the Steel Serpent premiered in Deadly Hands of Kung Fu magazine #10. This magazine shows strong returns especially on grades of 8.0 or higher. Highest known sold graded copy is a 9.6 which fetched $275.00 on January 1, 2017 which gives it a 141.2% return on investment up from previous sales. With plenty of room to grow, this is the book to pick up and the title that has the most potential to gain in value with a successful second season of 'Iron Fist'.

Iron Fist #1 (November 1975) – First comic book appearance of Steel Serpent

This comic is the second appearance of Steel Serpent but currently more valuable than the previously mentioned book since it’s the first self-titled Iron Fist comic book. Sales for this really spiked just before the first season of 'Iron Fist' was announced five years ago. Currently higher grade returns are way down and sale prices of mid-grade copies have inched up only slightly. A 9.8 copy still has a fair market going price of over $2000.00 but, with return on investment down 25% it’s difficult to know if this high price tag will be maintained. Part of the reason for the drop in value may have the poor reception shown to the first season of 'Iron Fist'. Will another outing change the direction of profit and the incentive of investors? Right now it’s difficult to tell, but that only makes Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #10, the true first appearance of Steel Serpent, more attractive as an investment.