The top-100 hottest comics has some big moves that investors should keep an eye on.

While mainstays like “Amazing Spider-Man” #300 and “New Mutants” #98 remain in the top-three, there were some surprise moves this week, including the original Wolverine.

As a lifelong X-Men fan, it’s good to see the bronze-era X-titles gaining popularity among collectors. I suspect this is due largely to Marvel’s Legacy titles, but the premiers of “X-Men Blue” and “X-Men Gold” aren’t hurting things, either.

But the real surprise for me was...

SPAWN

Todd McFarlane’s very own Spawn keeps making news. Back in June, the special silver foil “Thank You” retailer incentive fetched high prices. Last month, McFarlane announced that, after years of teasing us with a new Spawn movie, he had finally landed an established production company. Rumor has it that McFarlane will be returning to drawing/writing duties on the title, and that will only make Spawn that much more in demand.

All that being said, it’s no wonder that “Spawn” #1, which is a consistently good seller, has moved up 11 places and broken into third place. It has overtaken the first appearance of Carnage in “Amazing Spider-Man” #361, which, as predicted, is finally slowing down.

STAR WARS

Star Wars perpetually stays in the news, especially since Disney kicked off the new wave of films with “The Force Awakens.” But as “The Last Jedi” moves closer to a debut and more Star Wars-related movies and television shows rumored, it doesn’t surprise me to see the original “Star Wars” #1 gaining popularity among collectors. The past month saw this issue moving up seven places into eighth overall.

What I speculate also is driving sales is the popularity of Marvel’s newest line of Star Wars comics. Jason Aaron’s “Star Wars” run has been a consistent seller, as well as the many other titles in the Marvel line. Personally, I’m keeping an eye on the “Darth Vader” series as that one could pay dividends in the future.

WOLVERINE

As Marvel’s “Legacy” storyline begins this month, it doesn’t surprise me to see Wolverine key issues making moves on eBay as the original Wolverine meets up with his female counterpart.

The classic Chris Claremont/Frank Miller “Wolverine” limited series, in my opinion, is never a bad choice when collecting. Just in investing terms, it’s a solid choice. Not only do you have two legends of the industry working together (Miller’s artistic take on Wolverine is still my personal favorite out of all the interpretations over the years), but it is the first solo comic for one of Marvel’s iconic characters. This month, it moves ahead 11 places into 12th on the hottest comics list.

GIANT-SIZE X-MEN

Another key Wolverine comic making moves is “Giant-Size X-Men” #1. This one features the second full appearance of Wolverine after “Incredible Hulk” #181 and the first appearances of three very popular X-Men: Storm, Nightcrawler, and Colossus. Before the debut of the new team, the X-Men were considered a Fantastic Four clone and sales were generally low. Once Wolverine and the crew were brought on board, it didn’t take long for the X-Men to become a Marvel cash cow. These days, this important issue has moved up 20 positions and remains 16th overall.