Are the Modern, Bronze and Silver Age comic books still profitable in today's turbulent economy? The state of affairs is rough, oil is getting hammered, the Dow has lost a third of its value, and a pandemic has flatlined the two largest state economies in the United States. Whew! That is a lot to take in, and a little bit on the negative side. In contrast, there are positives: a $2 trillion dollar rescue package for the American people and business, the internet is still up and running, and from our little subcultural comic speculating world comics are still selling online. People are still fascinated by this most intriguing lifestyle and hobby. What is the blowback for collectibles from the macroeconomic circumstances in our country?  Further, are the Modern, Bronze, and Silver Age books still selling for profit? Not to mention returns, are the returns rising, falling, or flatlining?

 

 

Short-Term (Month of March to date)

Title Grade CGC or Raw Cost Return
Silver Age- Fantastic Four #48 6.0 CGC $1440 +1.3%
Bronze Age-Eternals #1 6.5 CGC $71 +57.8%
Modern Age-Amazing Spider-Man #300 6.5 CGC $200 -12.5%

Monitoring your investments is part of the routine of an average investor. After all, knowing what direction your particular investment is moving is important. Further, testing the concept of it even being a "good" investment is necessary. In tough times; it is simply imperative that you review, and reaccess your various holdings. Now comics don't move quite as quick as the stock market, but all of us have seen them increase or decrease over a week or so. Hence, the need to actively manage your investment and review price moves. The data above are from the month of March only until the current date 3/27/20. At this point, the three big keys for the Modern, Bronze and Silver Age have seen reductions in returns due to the impact of macro-economic forces. Something to watch for sure, but not necessarily obsess about.

 

Fantastic Four #48

This comic had the first appearance of the Silver Surfer and his master the "Devourer of Worlds" Galactus. Fantastic Four #48 was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in 1966. It is the GoCollect's top key for the Silver Age. I used a mid-grade example because that represents the average grade of a number of these comics. Currently, grade 6.0 has returned a measly positive +1.3%. The upper grades show declines and the lower grades at 3.5 show some increase. Not exactly a stellar trend, still it beats the overall market significantly and is not a bad position to be in during tough times.

 

 

 

 

Eternals #1

The Eternals were created by Jack Kirby in 1976 during the Bronze Age. This comic book has a movie due out in 2020 but with all the recent upheaval in release dates, we are probably looking at 2021. Currently, Eternals #1 has solid trend returns of as high as positive +57% in the mid-grades. This stellar return is proof of the strong resilience of comic books as investments in 2020.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Amazing Spider-Man #300

This Modern Age book was used as a guinea pig for this review. I have already done a recent review of Amazing Spider-Man #361 the first place contender in March. I felt with the overall popularity of Amazing Spider-Man #300 and the fact it is a bellwether comic for this age; it deserved an update. Currently, it has returned a negative -12.5% with some positive returns in mid-grade and negative returns in the upper grades. This is a book that could go either way within a 10% margin of error.

 

Conclusion

The comic book prices for the Silver, Bronze, and Modern Age are fluid to positive in our current macro-environs. I will continue to monitor the progress and send out updates. However, the numbers don't lie, comic books are still selling, and though we might see a hit on the upper end, the mid-grades are profitable and paying off. Amazing what can happen when you have a pure market of human buyers and sellers; then you get price stability and a solid investment market despite some horrible macro-economic trends.