GoCollect Blog: Market Reaction - She-Hulk: Attorney at Law Episodes 2 & 3 (market-reaction-she-hulk-attorney-at-law-episodes-2-3 )

With two more episodes of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law in the books let’s take a look at the comic books affected by character appearances, some expected and some a surprise, and see how the market reacted.

Wolverine in the MCU?!

In a blink-and-you-miss-it moment in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law Episode 2, Wolverine may have been mentioned for the first time in the MCU. As Jen Walters is perusing jobs on an “Offbeat Jobs for a Fresh Start” website, a sidebar article is entitled, “Man fights with metal claws in bar brawl,” a less-than-subtle reference to everyone’s favorite Canadian X-Man.

Since the episode’s premiere on August 25, an amazing 28 graded copies of Incredible Hulk #181 – the first appearance of Wolverine - have sold. The high sale was a 9.4 graded copy going for $18,600 in a Heritage auction on September 1.

While nowhere near the high price in this grade – a slashed $29,150 on eBay in July 2021 – it’s still 14.8% higher than the $16,200 paid in a Heritage auction on August 9. Most grades that have sold since August 25 have seen at least a slight uptick in price.

Typically, we wouldn’t see a book this high-priced sell at this volume. While Incredible Hulk #181 has a high number of graded copies in the CGC census – 15,813 – sales volume of 28 is typical of what we would see in a month, not a week and a half. This is clearly a sign of pent-up demand for the X-Men in the MCU.

Keep an eye out for further references to Wolverine and the X-Men. With no movie or TV series yet scheduled, it could be a while until we see anything other than little teasers like this. Until then, collectors will likely continue to pounce on any sign that the X-Men are coming.

Abomination

Episode 2 of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law also gave us our first MCU appearance of the Abomination – albeit in his human guise as Emil Blonsky – since Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Volume didn’t really move on Tales to Astonish #90. We did see an 8.5 graded copy sell for $474 in a September 1 Heritage auction. That's a nice 64.6% increase over the previous sale of $288 in a Heritage auction on August 6. Like many books, this issue has seen a precipitous decline over the past six months.

It’s hard to say whether the increase we saw in this sale is significant enough to say that this book has turned the corner. Definitely keep an eye on it, though.

The Wrecking Crew

Clearly, collectors weren’t enamored with the underpowered version of the Wrecking Crew who made their MCU debut in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law Episode 3. Of the four, only Thunderball was mentioned by name, although their boss – someone trying to get their hands on gamma-irradiated blood – could be someone important.

Defenders #18, the first appearance of the Wrecking Crew, hasn’t seen any sales of graded copies since the episode premiered on September 1. As of this writing, it’s been five days since the Wrecking Crew’s debut. Unless things turn around quickly, this could be the rare book that sees no bump from a first MCU appearance.

Perhaps it’s a precursor for other film and TV brief appearances and cameos that don’t translate into higher comic book sales prices or volume.

Gideon Who?

Another character who made his MCU debut in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law Episode 3 was Gideon Wilson. He was one of the many talking heads discussing She-Hulk in a news show montage and was cited as the prosecutor who convicted Blonsky.

Who is Gideon Wilson, you ask? Well, he’s the father of Jim Wilson – long-time Hulk friend from the Bronze and Copper Ages – and the brother of none other than Sam Wilson, nee the Falcon and now Captain America in the MCU.

In the comics, Gideon Wilson became a member of Gamma Corps to get revenge on the Hulk for the death of his son. His first appearance was in World War Hulk: Gamma Corps #1. There are only 15 graded copies of this comic in the CGC census and only two recorded sales. No sales have occurred since September 1.

There’s been an increase in sales of raw copies on eBay, all for under $5. This had been a dollar bin book prior, and you can likely still find it as a cheap book. For a buck, it might be worth grabbing a copy and stashing it to see if anything more comes of Gideon Wilson in the MCU.