I’ve blogged about Ms. Marvel and She Hulk but there’s another Marvel female heroine whose key comics have been gradually appreciating in value. In many ways, this character is just as much an established fixture of the Marvel universe, even if she currently gets less attention than her super-powered sisters. I’m talking about Greer Grant aka the Cat aka Tigra.

When it comes to female hero books, Marvel actually had two waves of super-feminism. The first wave started with books like Night Nurse (Oct. 1972) and Shanna, the She-Devil (December 1972) in the early seventies. It is another of these first wave books- from the same period – that will be the topic of this post: namely the debut of Greer Grant in The Cat #1.

Although the second wave of Marvel female heroes gets all the attention these days (the above mentioned later 1970s heroes and books, i.e. Ms. Marvel #1 and She Hulk #1, being most actively sought out). At the moment Ms. Marvel #1 is especially causing a stir thanks to the upcoming ‘Captain Marvel’ movie (did you see the new Super bowl ads for the film?).

In this post I want to look at the data on the first wave female heroine Greer Grant.

Whether as the Cat or, in her later identity under which she joined the Avengers and the West Coast Avengers, as Tigra, there is strong interest in her key books. I think both these books would make good long term investments as female heroes are becoming increasingly and more widely represented in pop culture, but let’s look at the data:

The Cat #1 (November 1972) – First appearance of Greer Grant as the Cat

Given special powers by Dr. Joanne Tumolo, Greer Grant (like Steve Rogers) uses her new abilities, after donning a specially designed cat costume, to right wrongs. In The Cat #1, we get her origin and first appearance. With a current FMV in certified 9.8 of an estimated $2, 300.00 there’s no doubt this is a hot book. But the returns over the long stretch have actually been mixed. Over the last five years, 9.8 graded copies show negative -17.1% returns after 8 sales. 9.6 and 9.4 are also negative over the last five years at -7.2% for 9.6 (after 10 sales) and -4.7% for 9.4 (after 22 sales). These numbers, however, have to be balanced by the strong positive returns on every grade between 5.0 and 9.0. So definitely mixed data long term. Short term data is another story. Over the last 12 months: 9.8 are down considerably (-30.3% after the last 5 sales) but 9.6 copies are showing stellar returns (+65.5% after 3 sales). Keep in mind that, The Cat #1 has broken the $2, 000.00 mark on several occasions: A November 28, 2017 ComicLink auction sold for $2, 400.00, a March 6, 2018 ComicLink auction ended at $3, 000.00 and on May 7, 2018 a ComicLink auction ended at $2, 500.00. Can the Cat claw her way back to those numbers? Only time will tell.

Giant Size Creatures #1 (July 1974) - First appearance of Greer Grant as Tigra

The Cat was, however, very short-lived, lasting all of four issues. Nonetheless, it wasn’t the end of Greer Grant. She would eventually suffer a catastrophic fate after a Hydra agent shot her with "alpha radiation." Luckily, Dr. Tumolo, with the help of ‘the Cat People’, used this occasion to mystically heal and save her - in the process transforming Grant into the half-human, half-cat warrior called the Tigra. Tigra’s first appearance is in Giant Size Creatures #1, where she shares the spotlight with Jack Russell the Werewolf by Night. Currently GSC #1 has 200 copies on the CGC census and carries a FMV in certified 9.8 condition of $1, 400.00. This comic has phenomenal returns over the last 10 years. Since 2009, 6.5 grades are up +359.4% (after 3 sales), 9.4 certified copies show +27.1% after 19 sales and 9.8 graded copies show +57.2% after 5 sales. The going prices on the last three 9.8 sales were:

December 12, 2017 = $772.70 (eBay buy auction)
March 7, 2018 = $1,300 (ComicLink auction)
September 14, 2018 = $1, 500.00 (eBay fixed price).

If you don’t have this comic, now may be the purrfect time to pick up a copy.