The Dark Knight series swayed genre back in the 1980's to become darker. This changed comics forever, because of a story that captured the imagination. It had vulgarity, brutality, heroics, honor and a broad sense of integrity within the story itself. Batman: The Dark Knight Returns #1 was one of the first books I looked up when I returned to comics. I was shocked to find out how cheap it was twenty years later. When I was a young man collecting comics, this issue more than any other created a significant change in comics and Batman. The funny thing is it took so long for Hollywood to get it. Perhaps this story had to wait for a whole new generation of filmmakers (comic aficionados) to become producers and directors. Imagine my surprise to find this book still chugging along the profit track. In fact, the Return of the Dark Knight has inflated in value but has a lot more to run.
Batman: Dark Knight Returns #1
Frank Miller the creator of 1980's Daredevil, 300, Ronin and Sin City created Batman: Dark Knight Returns #1, in 1986. That time was full of knockouts: Mike Tyson became youngest heavyweight champ, the nuclear power plant Chernobyl exploded, Top Gun sonic boomed to the highest grossing film of the year, and the number one single was "Rock me Amadeus" by Falco. It was 1986, and it felt like the Modern Age. In comic books, no one was bigger than Frank Miller. Miller is a giant in the comic book world, even with his drawings looking like childhood sketches (occasionally) the storytelling is second to none. His version of Dark Knight redesigned and imaged Batman for multiple generations to come. But are his books profitable, or too numerous to make money?
Part of the reason it took over twenty years to make a proper Batman was the early film versions were horrible. Remember the Batman nipple suit? Or worse yet, Burton trying to create some alternative surrealistic nonsense, and ending up with Bat-guana of a movie. Eventually, in the 21st Century, Christopher Nolan did Batman justice. Nowadays this book is still popular, last month Batman: Dark Knight Returns #1 sold for $849.95 on eBay. Given the fact there are 2,974 copies in the CGC Census, this book actually has room to run. This means it can increase in value and even double the number of slabs without a negatively impacted price drop. If the mint condition is a little too expensive, you can get into near mint (9.2) for around $120 FMV.
Organic Growth
Returns have been consistent but small, which is an excellent organic growth sign. It is important to stay above (8.0) when purchasing this issue. In fact, I might suggest going as high as you can afford with Batman: Dark Knight Returns #1. For instance,(9.8) at positive +18.4% has the best total return over the last 10,000 sales, with an 18-year time span (GoCollect). The numbers are a little soft the further down the rabbit hole you go. I don't see this book having a catalyst anytime soon. The Dark Knight series by Christopher Nolan is nothing less than a masterpiece of cinema and comic form rolled into one. Anyone attempting it will always be judged against Nolan. This is one of those organic purchases that shows a reasonable rate of return and will continue to make money regardless of DC's movie hysteria.
