Ah, Kevin Feige, how you can heat up the collectors market with just a few words.
The latest news came from an interview in which Feige was asked about Captain Britain. For those not familiar, he's Psylocke’s brother, Brian Braddock, who is a superpowered English version of Captain America. While he's never been one of the more popular characters in Marvel, he apparently has more of a following than I realized. Feige responded to the question about bringing Captain Britain into the Marvel Cinematic Universe with a rather surprising reply. According to “Hey You Guys” (can't say I'm familiar with that publication), he said that a number of marquee actors have approached him wanting to play the part. If you've got A-list talent jockeying for the part already, then chances are this one will eventually come to fruition.
Captain Britain is the creation of legendary X-Men writer Chris Claremont and artist Herb Trimpe with his first appearance and origin back in 1976 with “Captain Britain Weekly” #1. This has never been a hot book to have, but it's not the easiest one to find either. When it was originally published, the comic was exclusive to the United Kingdom, so the print run can't have been as large as the American counterparts. According to the GoCollect data, a graded 8.5-9.0 averages between $100-$175. If you find a copy in the 9.4 and up range, you're looking at $300 or more.
While those prices are far from bargains, this is an investment that could very well pay off down the road. Feige’s comments lead to quick speculation, but nothing official is in place, so now is a good time to find a reasonably priced copy. With his remarks about different actors approaching him about the part, it's likely that Brian Braddock will make his way to the big screen, and that's when that $100 investment pays off.
Speaking of announcements, HBO lit up the newsfeed last week with the official announcement that “Watchmen” will be rebooted as a television show. With Zack Snyder’s theatrical version still in the minds of the public, it may seem a bit premature to start the franchise over. However, this does coincide nicely with DC Comics’ integrating the Vertigo characters into the regular DC universe. In the end, DC and HBO have successfully rejuvenated what already was a great story.
First order of business, get your hands on a copy of Alan Moore’s 1986 “Watchmen” #1, or better yet, get the entire series. The premier issue is relatively inexpensive with a graded 9.0 averaging less than $40.
Second, track down copies of the 2012 run of “Before Watchmen” titles. With HBO needing lots of stories in order to stretch this out into an entire series, “Before Watchmen” will likely be a go-to title for source material to supplement Moore’s original story. These aren't highly sought after comics, so you can likely haggle a high-grade copy of any of these for about cover price. The best bet would be to buy “Before Watchmen: Dr. Manhattan,” considering his integral role in the DC Rebirth storyline.
