Have you seen the prices for the second print of Amazing Spider-Man #654? It's always been more valuable than the first edition, but it's been reaching some insane numbers in the past 90 days.

Agent Venom is a vexing character. On one hand, fans of the Eddie Brock Venom generally despise this version. On the other, Agent Venom has a cool Spawn-like aesthetic that the younger crowd finds enchanting. For a quick review, Flash Thompson - that's right; Peter Parker's old bully - bonds with the symbiote and becomes a one-man army employed by the United States government. Down the road, he swapped symbiotes and became Agent Anti-Venom, but then the Red Goblin killed him. Of course these are comics, and almost no one stays in the land of the deceased for too long.

While we wait on Flash Thompson's resurrection (because we all know it's coming eventually), the prices for the second print of Agent Venom's debut are worth watching. Last month, a 9.8 ASM #654 second print sold for an astounding $1,020 on February 23. Earlier that month, it brought a respectable $700, but that's nothing compared to that $1k price tag. Those sales have propelled the 90-day fair market value to $860 after it averaged $512 in 2017 and $651 last year.

Across the board, the FMVs for the second print have been on the move in the last three months after everything outside the 9.8 had a down year in 2018. A 9.6 hasn't sold in 2019, but there were six sales in 2018 and averaged $211. The 9.4, which averaged $196 in 2017, was down to a $150 FMV in 2018. However, it has jumped to an average of $185 in 2019. Likewise the 9.2 had a 2018 FMV of $108 after bringing $154 a year before. These days, it's rebounded to a $200 average this year. Finally there's the 9.0, which earned $159 on average in 2017 before dropping to $120 a year ago. In 2019, that same 9.0 is commanding a respectable $175.

What if you have the first print of ASM #654? It's not a worthless issue by any means, but it's far less collectible than its brethren. Outside the 9.8, there haven't been any graded copies sold in 2019. However, those 9.8s are on the rise. Two years ago, the first print 9.8 averaged $111. Like the second print, 2018 was a down year for Agent Venom, and the 9.8 had an FMV of $98. Over the past 90 days, though, sales have been up, and three of the past four have been for over $100 including a January 25 sale that brought $135.

The other grades of the first print may not compare to the second print's FMVs, but they bring decent values of their own. The 9.6 averaged $62 last year. However, the 9.4 was the one grade that showed an increase on average in 2018. Back in 2017, the 9.4 averaged $50 while the 9.6 had an FMV of $78. Then the roles were reversed, and the 9.4 averaged $71 while the 9.6 dropped by $16.

 

Flash may be getting his mail from the groundhogs at the moment, but he is not yet forgotten. Eddie Brock channeled his inner Agent Venom in a recent issue of the Donny Cates Venom run. Obviously, fans aren't meant to put Flash out of their minds just yet, and it's reasonable to assume that he'll make his triumphant return sooner or later. When that happens, both the first and second prints of ASM #654 will get a boost, so now is the time to grab a copy of your own.