This final season of Marvel: Agents of Shield marks the end of that show and the beginning of another. The developers of Marvel and ABC Network are teaming up to create a "mostly new" female superhero. But beyond that, they won't say which female hero they have chosen. Who could it be? The wonderful thing about Marvel is it is replete with many strong women in superhero roles. Here are just a few of Marvel's roster of strong leading ladies: Elektra, Hellcat, Sue Richards, She-Hulk, Spider-Woman, Silk, Tigra, Storm, Gamora, Wasp and of course the most powerful one of all Phoenix.

My take is that the easiest one to create is She-Hulk. This is essentially just a spinoff of Hulk who is already wildly popular with fans. After all, not much has to be done in the origin story, and you could have the first episode be Bruce Banner introducing She-Hulk kind of a passing of the baton, so to speak. Can the She-Hulk muscle her way into our lives and onto TV screens everywhere? Furthermore, is this female superhero a smart bet as speculation?

 

The Savage She-Hulk #1

The She-Hulk was created by Stan Lee and John Buscema in 1980. It was a way to claim copyright of a female version of the Hulk. The Savage She-Hulk #1 is the origin story and first appearance of She-Hulk and for so many years has been sitting in the back issue bins at half off. Almost everyone has forgotten about her, until now. With a bent toward female heroes in Marvel, it is a good bet that She-Hulk will show up sooner rather than later. Mildly popular in the 80s, this jade giant can hold her own and was at one time a member of the Fantastic Four. Is this The Savage She-Hulk #1  a profitable book or just another hot air trial balloon that after the initial interest fades sinks back to earth depleting profits along with it?

Long-Term Returns

  • Grade 9.8 $400 FMV returns positive +63.9%
  • Grade 9.6 $190 FMV returns positive +52.7%
  • Grade 8.0 $90 FMV returns positive +81.8%
  • Grade 6.5 $50 FMV returns positive +5.4%

Long-Term is as strong as She-Hulks quads, powerful and leap tall profit and loss statements in a single bound. Noticeably the lower grades seem to have not participated. Never a good sign for a speculator, try to stay in grade 8.0 and above. This is a late Bronze Age book and low-grade pricing is still underwhelming, even 40 years later.

 

Short-Term Returns (1-year)

  • Grade 9.8 $400 FMV returns positive +4.7%
  • Grade 9.6 $190 FMV returns positive +5.1%
  • Grade 8.0 $90 FMV returns positive +7.3%
  • Grade 6.5 $50 FMV returns negative -16.1%

The short-term lays out pretty basic low-end returns for speculators. If you own this book then just sit on it until the character gets media hype from a trailer or TV series about to premiere. If you don't, I wouldn't be chasing this book as the Short-Term returns are abysmal and hardly worth the risk. Would you risk a $1 to make $.05 cents? Long-Term purchase is probably a better speculation choice. If you already own her, then ride it out. If you don't then pass on this opportunity plenty of other strong females leads to be on, just none of them green.

Background

According to Peter White at Deadline, "ABC is in 'active talks' about bringing another MArvel female superhero to the network. The hope is seeming to ensure that there is at least one Marvel property on the broadcast network at any given time. ABC Entertainment president Karey Burke told Deadline, I have spoken to Marvel and we are in active talks about one project in particular" (Source: Deadline article here).

My bet is still solidly She-Hulk; she is sexy, strong and a professional woman (lawyer) what a great role model. Besides, it would be lots of fun to watch her hulk out on the jerks of the world. Hopefully, our dear readers can speculate as well, always great to read your thoughts on the subject. But there are so many choices it could be any of the wonderful female superheroes in Marvel, take your pick from Black Cat to the Wasp.