There are plenty of familiar faces in this week’s top-100 best-selling issues with a resident Usual Suspect perched atop the mountain.

Throughout the week of Christmas and over the holiday weekend, buyers were falling back on their old favorites with some frequent fliers on our weekly blog. 

As always, let me remind you of how all this works. GoCollect uses up-to-the-minute sales data straight from the grandfather of all auction sites, eBay. While the final sales amounts will catch your attention, it’s the sales volume that’s spotlighted here. In fact, it’s the combination of a buzzworthy comic with lower prices that catapults an issue to the top of the Hottest Comics. 

41. AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #362 (+51)

The Usual Suspects have once again reared their heads. This week, we’ve got two confirmed, card-carrying members of the club along with two contenders making strong cases to join the ranks. At the top of that exclusive list, for this week anyway, is ASM #362 after it made huge gains with over 50 positions in the positive to rank 41st overall.

This comic has two reasons for collectors to want their copies. For one thing, it marks the second full appearance of Carnage. Sure, he’s dead in the Sony-verse, but that doesn’t mean we can’t see some version of the bloodthirsty symbiote and his serial-killer host in the MCU. Between the live-action Spider-Man films and the upcoming cartoon, Spider-Man: Freshman Year, the odds are good that he’ll show in some fashion. 

The other reason for this issue’s surge is the first Spider-Man and Venom team up. Although it was an uneasy alliance, as those hero/villain pairings tend to be, ASM #362 brought them together all the same. Marvel Studios trolled us with the potential for Tom Hardy’s Venom meeting Tom Holland’s Spider-Man, which was wasted on a cheap gag in the mid-credits scene. Still, the idea of the two coming together on the silver screen is likely behind ASM #362’s bounds up the Hottest Comics ladder. 

It doesn’t hurt matters that this is an affordable issue. Granted, it’s not a major key by any stretch, but the low prices certainly help this one stay in the top-100 best sellers. At the moment, you can get a graded 9.8 for less than $100. 

21. AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #238 (+41)

Hobgoblin’s first appearance has been all over the place as of late. It’s holding tight inside the top-100 Hottest Comics, but buyers can’t decide if they want this one or not. That has it playing eels and escalators with the sales charts. This week, it rolled a pair of escalators and was on the way up, but it will likely land on ee-els (please tell me you read that in Patrick Star’s voice) very soon. No matter how hard it falls, I can almost guarantee that it won’t go past 100.

This one stays on the move so much due to all the Hobgoblin rumors and gossip from the past year. He was speculated for Spider-Man: No Way Home, but that obviously didn’t come to fruition. As I have written before, there’s a high probability that he will eventually be adapted for one screen or another. Again, Spider-Man: Freshman Year could put him to use. In fact, I would be surprised if he wasn’t included in that show at some point. However, the bigger price bumps come with getting the live-action treatment. Will we see the MCU’s Ned transcend to Hobgoblin status? That mystery is what keeps this issue in the best-sellers lists.

If you happen to own this copy with the Tattooz still attached, a graded 9.8 can easily fetch you $2k. Without the Tattooz, you’re looking at more like $900, though that is a more affordable option if you’re just a Hobgoblin fan wanting a higher-grade first appearance.

24. UNCANNY X-MEN #221 (+40)

Mister Sinister continues to make his case to be included among the Usual Suspects. Practically every week, we have been seeing Uncanny X-Men #221 join one sales blog or another. Just as soon as it falls to the wayside, it picks up steam within days. Such is the state of affairs for all those hot, live-action prospects, I suppose.

As I have mentioned numerous times, the importance of this issue is based on Mister Sinister’s MCU appeal. There are plenty of theories and rumors that he will be the X-Men’s main villain when they arrive at Marvel Studios. With Sinister being taken out of the X-Men fold and upgraded to an Avengers-level threat in the comics as of late, it should have you thinking MCU. Why else would the Marvel Comics editorial staff want to transition him if not to establish a relationship with the MCU’s premiere team for when he arrives on the silver screen?

Since nothing has been said about Sinister recently, it keeps the prices reasonable for his first full appearance. These days, you can nab a graded 9.8 for around $333 on average. However, two copies were pushing closer to $400 territory in the past couple of weeks, so this is one to watch.

70. AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #299 (+29)

Here we have a proud member of the most exclusive club in all of comic collecting, the Usual Suspects. Buyers simply can’t get enough ASM #299 with its first cameo appearance of Venom in all of his Todd McFarlane artwork glory. It’s a beautiful final page that did its job perfectly by getting readers primed and ready for his full debut in ASM #300. Plus, buyers can’t stay away from those McFarlane Marvel keys. Let’s face it—no one else draws Venom quite like the Toddfather, even to this day.

There are so many Venom collectors out there, and the number only grows with each new movie, no matter how bad those films may be. Once he reaches the MCU, which is coming at some point, that number will easily double. If you’re looking for a high-grade ASM #300, you can expect to pay four figures, easily. For those on a budget, opting for Venom’s true first appearance in ASM #299 is the better option. With this comic, you can buy a graded 9.8 for $525 on average. Compare that with the same grade for an ASM #300 that will cost you upwards of $6k, and you get the picture.

23. SPIDER-WOMAN #1 (+28)

Finally, we have Jessica Drew’s first solo comic, Spider-Woman #1. This has been a hot prospect for the past couple of years thanks to the news that Issa Rae would voice the character in the Into the Spider-Verse sequel. Lo and behold, you can spot her in the latest trailer for Across the Spider-Verse sporting her classic costume. How much of a role will she play in the new movie? That remains to be seen, but there’s so much potential with her character that you can’t ignore the keys.

Besides her appearance in the new Spider-Verse film, there’s a third installment on the horizon, so that gives her two chances to steal the spotlight. Then we have the numerous projects being greenlit left and right at Sony Pictures. One after another, practically every Spider-Verse character is getting a spinoff movie or show of some sort. Just recently, Hypno-Hustler was announced with Donald Glover set to star. Before that, there’s the Silk show coming to Amazon Prime, not to mention solo movies for Kraven the Hunter, Madame Web, and El Muerto. Add Hypno-Hustler to that mix, and it would appear Sony is giving practically all the Spider-characters their own spinoffs. That begs to reason how much longer it could be before Spider-Woman gets her own movie or streaming series.

Since this isn’t her first appearance, the prices are still affordable, even for the mythical 9.8. For the past 30 days, it has averaged $258. However, it did break the $300 mark as recently as December 12, so values could be on the rise.

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