Spider-Man has met many amazing allies while patrolling the friendly neighborhoods of NYC.  If you are lucky enough to have your first appearance in a Spidey book then you are on the fast track to being a fairly popular character with readers.  Now, it is not a perfect rule because for every Prowler and Punisher, there is a Firestar and a Rocket Racer.  And unfortunately for Spidey's allies, his villains tend to be more complex and likable. However, working in the pages of a Marvel comic with Spider-Man definitely has its merit.  Just ask those brooding Millennials Cloak and Dagger for their thoughts on joining Spidey for an adventure (Warning: They may give opposing opinions)!

Cloak and Dagger made their first appearance in 1982 in Spectacular Spider-Man #64. The characters were introduced as part of an urban story-line that focused on drugs and child runaways.  Cloak and Dagger were normal teenagers from opposite upbringings who met as runaways and gained their powers from a mysterious drug.  Cloak was able to access the Darkforce Dimension to teleport himself and dispose of criminals, while Dagger used Light Daggers to drain vitality from some and heal others.  The duo is one of the more prominent character first appearances to come out of the Spectacular Spider-Man title, and therefore this issue is one of the more pricey issues in the series.  9.8 copies of this book have a current Fair Market Value (FMV) of $525.  Copies are listed on the open market for just above that FMV and recent sales are hitting both above and below that value.

The characters are currently on the second season of a TV series on something called Freeform, which translates to Disney shows for the youths.  I have not seen the program, but I am glad to see that Marvel is taking chances and exposing their characters to new audiences.  It broadens the brand and allows them to intertwine their properties gaining new fans.

Values for this book have done a bit of a see-saw over the past year.  Copies graded at 9.8 were selling for well over $600 and even into the $700 price range towards the end of 2018.  So why the drop-off and is it warranted?  It seems that Spectacular Spider-Man #64 is feeling a bit of market fatigue due to saturation.  Copies are available and priced right, so collectors who want them can get them pretty easily.  With a census of 224 9.8 graded copies, expect one to always be on the market.  There is a Newsstand version of this book that does tend to do better when identified as such, and is absolutely a rarer subsection of the census number.  I do still see value in this book.  We may not get the price bump you would want if they showed up in the MCU, but the characters are popular with the youngins and will always be cult-like popular with collectors.  That and as noted earlier they are within a Spider-Man title, and we still have some Spider-Man MCU movies to come.

Are there other ancillary Spider-Man characters you expect to make a splash soon?  Do you watch Cloak and Dagger on the Freeform?  Drop your comments and join in the speculation.