Books like Incredible Hulk #181, Marvel Special Edition #15 and now Tomb of Dracula #10 have reached all-time record sale prices. It seems that the high sales prices once accruing for many Marvel Silver Age books are finally starting to transfer over to their Bronze Age cousins.

One big difference between Silver and Bronze age books, however, is that many Bronze Age titles have yet to reach their full potential.

In this post I’m going to list four Marvel Bronze Age books that I believe still haven’t fully peaked.

What this means is that if you were kicking yourself after the announcement there would be a ‘Blade’ movie and the prices on Tomb of Dracula started to hit record levels, some of these books might make good consolation prizes.

I’ll be the first to admit that I was uncertain about Blade’s prospects in the MCU; so I didn’t pull the trigger on getting ToD #10 when it was relatively affordable.

Well, if you missed the Blade train like I did, this post is for you.

Here I’ll list some Bronze Age comics that I think still have room to grow. That is not to say that all of these are super-affordable at the moment, but then again – neither was Tomb of Dracula #10 before SDCC.

In other words, these are books that, even if they may be somewhat pricey right now in high grade, still have room to reach much higher price peaks.

Marvel Premiere #1 (April 1972) – Origin of Adam Warlock; First appearance as Warlock

I start with probably the most certain to appreciate in the near future. Since Adam Warlock has already appeared in the MCU (as a cocoon at least) and is very likely to make a full appearance in the next 'Guardians' film there should be nothing holding you back from picking up a copy of Marvel Premiere #1. The last 9.8 copy sold for $5, 500.00 on eBay (06/30/2018) and that’s probably below FMV. Copies in lower grade are still affordable. Don’t hesitate on Adam Warlock.

 

 

 

 

 

Marvel Spotlight #32 (February 1977) - First appearance of Spider-Woman; Origin of Spider-Woman

Created by Archie Goodwin and Marie Severin, Spider-Woman started out as a female Spider-man, but has since grown beyond that. Over the last year and a half, this book has been gradually appreciating. Whereas 9.8 certified copies had a fair market value of around $1,150.00 in December 2018, today that grade sells for $1, 300.00. 9.6 copies were selling for circa $350.00 a year and a half ago. Today, they sell for $400.00. The CGC census numbers have exploded over the last year and a half: from 1, 855 total copies on record in Dec. 2018 to 2,149 total today. Will Spider-woman/Jessica Drew appear in the MCU? There’s already talk about it (see here). Nothing confirmed as of yet but keep your eyes and ears open.

 

 

 

 

Conan the Barbarian #1 (September 1970) - First comic book appearance and origin of Conan; Cameo appearance of Kull

To be honest, I’m not fond of the recent Marvel Conan comics, as I am of the older original series, but at least he's back at Marvel. This cover and comic are so iconic that, for me, it is the comic that represents Bronze Age Sword and Sorcery. With its fine Barry Windsor-Smith cover art and Roy Thomas scripts a year ago this comic was selling in 9.4 for around $650.00 and 9.8 grades were selling for $5,250.00. Today, with 3,508 total copies on the CGC census, a 9.4 will cost you $1,100 and a 9.8 is selling for only $4,100 (with the last 9.8 going for $4, 150.00 in an eBay sale on 05/01/2019). Can it still peak? Yes. What will it take? A catalyst: Conan in the MCU would do it.

 

 

 

 

 

Werewolf by Night #32 (August 1975) - First appearance of Moon Knight; Origin of Moon Knight

Werewolf by Night was a good if uneven Marvel series from the Bronze Age. Moon Knight appears close to the end of the run in WWbN #32. This comic and character have consistently maintained fan interest thereafter without a movie or TV show anywhere in sight. In that sense, this comic has even more potential than ToD #10. Will Moon Knight ever appear in the MCU? The last 9.8 of this book sold for an astounding $50, 000.00 (ComicLink Auction on 2/28/2019). 8.0 grades are currently just over $1, 000.00 which means that many people are gambling on this book as a long term investment. Chances for it to rise today are looking better than ever as Marvel is teasing a new move into a horror phase. That alone should maintain values on the book until Moon Knight is finally announced which will positively send prices to the moon.

Many other Marvel Bronze Age comics are currently under-valued. The above is just a sample. Most of the Claremont X-Men run from this era, for example, should also not be overlooked. However, going into that would involve more than one blog post.