I have long felt that Marvel’s Hip-Hop Variants are under-appreciated in the collector community. The meteoric rise of Spider-Man #1 (as I discussed here) is evidence that there is a lot of opportunity in this part of the market. In this article, I discuss ten Hip-Hop variants that have big return potential.
It is important to understand the history of these covers because there is some controversy around them. The ordering details for these books required that retailers purchase a certain amount of the cover A before they could participate in the Hip-Hop variants. These pre-order requirements were often very high and sometimes tied to unrelated books. As a result, there was a tendency for these covers to be under ordered. There are several important books that came out as Hip-Hop Variants. I touch on ten of them below.
Champions #1
Anybody that reads my pieces on a regular basis will know how positive I am on Champions. This is a priority property at Marvel. The cast of characters is the future of Marvel Comics. This cover features several key characters, most of whom have their own books on this list. I will discuss them below.
Totally Awesome Hulk #1
For me, this cover is much cooler than the main cover. This book has Amadeus Cho’s first appearance as Hulk. Marvel continues to support this character even though he goes by the name Brawn now.
This book contains the first appearance of Viv Vision. Of all the books on this list, this one is the most expensive, currently selling for around $25. I do not expect it to stay there very long. The cover by Del Ray is extremely eye-catching. Tom King’s Vision series is already hot due to the upcoming Disney+ WandaVision show. Some collectors do not realize that this book is part of Tom King’s legendary run.
Nova #1
I have got a lot to say about Sam Alexander, but I will not be able to get to that in this article. Stay tuned for a detailed piece on Sam Alexander in the future. There are two different books to buy here one from 2015 and one from 2016. For whatever reason, the one from 2016 is really difficult to find. I say grab them both now if you can. Sam Alexander seems to be the version of Nova that Marvel is getting behind.
I think everybody knows by now the huge potential Kamala Khan possesses. In order to get this book, retailers needed to purchase 175% of what they ordered for Ms. Marvel #16 just to be eligible to buy this cover. This cover pays homage to the album 'The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill'. I love the art here done masterfully by Jenny Frison.
Silk #1
All characters tied to the Spider-Verse are picking up heat right now. I think there is a lot of potential in the cover as it is much cooler than cover A. I just saw it for the first time a few months ago. Cindy Moon is going to show up in Enter the Spider-Verse 2 and from there the sky is the limit for her.
I have mentioned this book before and it one of my top 10 favorite covers. There is a rare second print that I would snatch up if I were you. The first and second prints would look amazing side by side (pairing of covers is an idea I plan to discuss more in the future). This is the first issue of America Chavez's solo series, another character with a massive future at Marvel.
Spider-Gwen is going to hit ‘Miles Morales’ hype levels here very soon if she hasn't already. Everybody seems to forget about this variant. This is the first issue of her first solo series. There were probably more than 30 variants for this book but this one seems scarcer than most with only 38 on the census.
Kate Bishop. Do I really need to say more? This is her first solo series and there are not many characters cooler than her. She is getting a Disney+ show that everybody seems to have blocked out of their memory for now. When that hits, it will be a game-changer for this character. There is something beyond cool about characters wearing headphones (I’m looking at you Ghost-Spider).
Invincible Iron Man #1
I've written about my love for this book in other articles. Riri Williams has more potential for super-stardom than almost any other character on this list. She has the appeal to reach the heights of Miles and Spider-Gwen. This could be my favorite of all her covers.
Conclusion
There is gold to be mined in Marvel's Hip-Hop Variants. I've just scratched the surface of the opportunity in this article. There is a lot more to be said about these wonderful books. Thanks for reading.
