Moon Knight Episode 6, premiering on May 4, introduced another new character from the comics.  Did key issues rise or fall?  Let’s take a look at how the market reacted to the final episode of the series.

But First… The Big Three

The big three Moon Knight comics – Werewolf By Night #32, Marvel Spotlight #28, and Moon Knight #1 - continued their decline, with all selling at roughly three-quarters to two-thirds of their peaks at the start of the series.  This isn’t likely new news to GoCollect readers; the end of a series is typically not when the peak prices are going to occur for title characters.

The Moon Knight series from Disney+ has solidified this beyond any shadow of a doubt.  It's trailers and film/TV premieres that drive sales for main characters.  What WILL spike in the middle of a TV series or after a film premiere is first appearances of surprise characters or confirmations of rumors.  Think Kingpin in the Hawkeye series.  Now, this doesn’t mean that now is the time to purchase key Moon Knight issues.  They’re still elevated and haven’t had a chance to fully cool yet.  We’ll be revisiting the Moon Knight keys in a month to see what value has been retained.

Lack of Graded Copies Dampens Sales

Layla El-Faouly, Marc Spector’s wife in the Moon Knight series, became a super-hero in her own right when she agreed to be Taweret’s avatar.  Although she didn’t look the part from the comics, Layla is now the Scarlet Scarab.

Abdul Faoul was the original Scarlet Scarab, and he made his first appearance in Invaders #23.  Unfortunately, there are only 39 copies in the CGC census; not one of them has sold since Layla made her heroic debut.  There were plenty of raw copies sold, yes. But that doesn’t give us much to go on when we’re looking at graded books.

However, Abdul’s son, Mehemet, later took on the mantle of the Scarlet Scarab, making his first appearance in Thor #326.  Alas, there are only 24 copies in the CGC census, and – again – none have sold since May 4.  The same has been true of Mystic Arcana: Magik #1, the first appearance of Ammut.  While the number of copies in the CGC census has risen from zero to eight since the start of the Moon Knight series, none have sold.  Now, to be fair, these weren’t exactly sought-after comics prior to Moon Knight.

This situation does, however, beg the question of whether or not it’s worth sending in copies for grading after an MCU-driven price spike.  Raw copies of Invaders #23 were reaching as high as $80 after the premiere of Episode 6.  While I don’t see them retaining that value, if this book is able to stabilize at $50 for raw copies, it may be worth considering sending your copy in for grading, especially if you think it’s in high grade.

I don’t ultimately see Thor #326 or Mystic Arcana: Magik #1 selling at a high enough price point to justify the expense of grading.

A Warning

As with every MCU property, rumors abounded prior to the premiere of the Moon Knight series.  Conjecture was all over the place on characters who would appear, be they Moon Knight villains or other Marvel heroes.

Take Moon Knight #13, the first pairing of Moon Knight and Daredevil, as a perfect example.  Post-Spider-Man: No Way Home, you couldn’t find an upcoming MCU property in which Daredevil wasn’t rumored to make an appearance.  To many prognosticators, Moon Knight seemed like the perfect opportunity for Matt Murdock to once again show up in the MCU.  As a result, Moon Knight #13, which had been selling roughly in the $130 to $150 range for 9.8 copies for a year-and-a-half, suddenly ballooned in price to $400 beginning on December 25 and has stayed there in three sales since.

But you know what?  No Daredevil in Moon Knight.  I won’t be at all shocked when Moon Knight #13 plummets in value with its next sale.

Everyone has rumors but very few people truly know which characters will appear in a movie or TV show.  Here’s a short list of characters rumored to make their MCU debuts in Moon Knight who did not appear in one frame of the TV series:  Werewolf By Night, Ghost Rider, The Punisher, The Mummy, Black Spectre, Stained Glass Scarlet, Bushman, and Ra.

While it can be fun to try to guess when a character will first appear in the MCU, those kinds of games should be left out of serious comic investing.  Unless someone has proof of some kind, take most rumors with a grain of salt, lest you become victim to those who would like nothing better than to part you with your money based solely on conjecture.  Rather, do your research and see which characters make the most sense.  That's where you should invest your money.

Want more?

HOW ARE DAREDEVIL KEYS PERFORMING AFTER NO WAY HOME?
MOON KNIGHT EPISODE 1 – HOW DID THE MARKET REACT?
WEREWOLF BY NIGHT #37: THE INVISIBLE KEY

Did you watch the Moon Knight series?  Were you a buyer or seller of Moon Knight keys during the series?  And where do you think Moon Knight prices go from here?  Let us know below.

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