Oh those shape-shifting, power hungry, inveigling Skrulls! Just when you thought they’d disappeared and left our world alone, all of a sudden - out of the blue - here they come walking casually out of the water onto a deserted beach. Wait, what? Oh yeah, the MCU’s ‘Captain Marvel’ publicity photos revealed that there will be 'Skrulls-a-plenty' in that upcoming Marvel movie. In their most front and center appearance on the new publicity stills, the Skrulls are featured walking casually up the strand. The memes began to proliferate almost instantly: “Here come the Skrulls!” and “Don’t miss their debut album!” (Truth be told, the photo does look like the cover of a bad 1990s indie band CD, but I nominate “The Dead Sea Skrulls” as my contribution to the fun).

But when the jokes died down, the prices began to rise. Prices on Skrull appearances in Marvel comics that is.

The Skrull Empire is one of the oldest Marvel alien civilizations. Introduced in the second issue of the first volume of Fantastic Four, it wasn’t until years later that we learned the origins of the Skrulls.

The story goes that the Celestials visited a world called Skrullos and conducted genetic experiments on the primitive life-forms they found there. By the time they left, the planet was inhabited by three dominant intelligent species: the Primes (or normals), the Deviants, and the Eternals. The Eternals soon left, and a long war between the remaining two groups made the shape-shifting green skinned Deviants the dominant power. Organizing themselves and excelling at combat, they joined together politically to give birth to the Skrull Empire.

The Skrulls, therefore, are the dominant warrior race of Skrullos and as such have little time or patience for art or charity. Their long term war with the Kree and its disastrous aftermath is the most significant aspect of their recent history. Among their most famous warriors was the powerful shape shifting Super-Skrull (see below).

Having said something about who the Skrull’s are, which Skrull-related comics should we be keeping our eyes on?

Fantastic Four #2 (January 1962)– First Appearance of the Skrulls

We can start at the beginning. The Skrulls’ first appeared very early in the run of the Fantastic Four. Issue #2 features the Skrulls’ advanced invasion fleet visiting earth in anticipation of a complete invasion of our planet. Lucky for us, the Skrulls run into the fabulous Fantastic Four and by the end of the issue have not only decided not to attack the Earth but are persuaded by Reed Richards to shape shift into cows. Yup, standard milk cows who go ‘moo’. This issue was the first to spike at news of the Skrulls’ role in the Captain Marvel movie. Not that it needed any help. Early Fantastic Four comics starting with issue #1 have been gaining steadily over the last few months, I expect this trend to continue, with keys like this gaining in value. How is FF#2 doing? With only 940 CGC copies listed on the census, at the moment you can get a 2.0 graded copy of this comic for $775.00. Not quite Hulk #181 numbers, but not far off. A high grade 8.0 copy will cost you $6,500.00 and anything above that is going to be over $13,000.00. Best returns have been on 2.0 (+ 162.6% after 17 sales over the last 15 years) and 5.0 (with +102.6% return on investment after 33 sales over the last 13 years).

Fantastic Four #18 (Sept. 1963) – First Appearance of the Super-Skrull

If FF#2 is too rich for your wallet, then you may want to try for FF#18. This is the first appearance of the Super-Skrull. After being embarrassed by the Fantastic Four the Skrull emperor commissions a Skrull warrior who can combine all the powers of the Fantastic Four at once. Landing in Times Square, the Super-Skrull claims the Earth for the Skrull Empire. Of course the FF are not about to sit back and let them have it. Fighting the Skrull to a standstill, Reed learns the nature of his power and the group tricks him into fighting on a desert island where they trap him and end the threat. A major Skrull key and the first appearance of the Super-Skrull, this comic can be found for $300.00 in 5.0 grade. A higher grade copy will cost you from $875.00 (for a 7.0) to over $20,000.00 for a 9.6. With only 470 of these listed on the CGC census, best returns have been on 5.0 graded sales (+84.3% after 28 sales over the last 15 years) and 8.0 grade (+89.9% after 8 sales over the same time period).

Avengers #89 (June 1971) – Part One of the Kree-Skrull War Story Arc

Finally, Avengers #89 kicks off what is, for my money, one of the best Bronze Age Avengers’ events: the Kree-Skrull war. This event may also be featured in the new Captain Marvel Movie since Ronan the Destroyer and other Kree (not to mention Jude Law’s Mar’vell) were all present in the Marvel promotional material. Currently Avengers #89 can be found in pristine 9.6 grade for $270.00. With only 170 of these on the CGC census, getting a high grade copy may not be a bad idea. Best returns are currently on 8.0 graded copies after only 2 sales in 2016 (it shows a positive +75.7% return on investment).