The hottest properties in comics flexed their muscles this week as TMNT, the X-Men, and Spider-Miles took home the top spots among the Hottest Comics’ movers and shakers.

What are the Hottest Comics? Based on eBay sales from the past week, these are the 1,001 best-selling comics in that span. Today’s list is a spotlight of the movers and shakers - those comics that saw the most positions gained in the past seven days. For collectors, this is valuable information that keeps you up to date on what comics are heating up and where you should invest your money.

With that in mind, let’s dive into the data and check this week’s five Hottest Comics.

39. TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES #95 SECOND PRINT (+960)

Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird have made the TMNT franchise as hot as it has been in decades. Practically anything tied into the Ninja Turtles’ key issues has been on fire after the massive success of The Last Ronin. Now that the Turtles are back in the collecting spotlight, it has put an added emphasis on all those classic 1980s key issues. As we see here with TMNT #95 Second Print, the modern comics are feeling the heat as well.

Why is this issue so special that it bounded through the rankings by over 950 spots? For one, this is the first appearance of Jennika in her turtle form. She had previously been introduced as a human in TMNT #51. Then she was given a TMNT blood transfusion that mutated her into the fifth turtle. The other factor here is rarity, and that is why the market has changed its collective opinion on subsequent printings in recent years. Put those things together, and it makes TMNT #95’s second print one seriously hot comic this week.

When it comes to value, the second print of TMNT #95 is climbing. For the past 90 days, it has a fair market value of $82 after averaging $53 a year ago. The most recent sale was a bit down from that mark, earning $69 on April 11. 

54. X-FACTOR #24 (+946)

Every time a collector is sniped on eBay, an angel gets its wings, right? In this case, it’s more like every time Angel gets his wings nailed to the sewer walls, he gets a much cooler upgrade.

Next to the first appearance of Apocalypse, X-Factor #24 is the most collectible issue from the original run of X-Factor. Here we have the first cover appearance of Archangel, the murderous alter ego of one of the original X-Men, Warren Worthington III, the Angel. 

Getting his wings amputated was the best thing to happen to him. Up to that point, he had been rather boring, but the same could be argued for most of the original X-crew, which is why their initial Silver Age run in X-Men was unsuccessful. Then, Apocalypse got his hands on Angel, turned him into the Horseman, Death, and gave him razor-sharp, metallic wings. From that moment on, Archangel became one of the more interesting members of both X-Factor and the X-Men. 

While we have seen a version of Archangel in the Fox X-Men films, it was poorly executed and left fans with much to be desired. Will the MCU put more stock into Warren Worthington’s better half? If so, that will up the ante for 1988’s X-Factor #24, and it could be the reason it flew through the rankings this week.

The value for the 9.8 X-Factor #24 has been making significant gains in the past month. Last year, that grade averaged a respectable $170. It quietly climbed toward the end of 2020, and by this past February, it had consistently reached the $200 mark. This month, it has regularly broken its own record highs without selling below $300 since March. The current record stands at $367, which was reached on April 5. 

60. ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #1 (+939)

Everything related to Miles Morales has been white-hot for going on a year now. There has been so much fervor for his early appearances that even his first cover in Marvel Previews has reached well into the four figures - and that is for basically an advertisement. It just so happens that famous Previews cover is soliciting the debut of his first solo series, 2011’s Ultimate Spider-Man #1. 

While the prices are nothing to overlook when it comes to USM #1, this is definitely a consolation prize when it comes to the first appearances of Spider-Miles. Obviously, the biggest key to own his Ultimate Fallout #4, and that one just happens to rank third in this week’s Hottest Comics. When that is too expensive for your budget, the next logical choice is his first solo series. 

Consider this: a 9.8 UF #4 direct edition last sold on April 11 for $3,050. If you were to invest in a 9.8 Ultimate Spider-Man #1, you could expect to pay about $1,200, but that needle is moving virtually every day. Earlier this week on April 13, there was a record-breaking sale of $1,295. Still, it is much cheaper than that UF #4.

70. THOR #338 NEWSSTAND (+929)

It is common to see those early Beta Ray Bill appearances yo-yo in and out of the top-100 comics. Just last week, his debut in Thor #337 was one of the Coldest Comics. Then come the rumors that Bill may be on his way to the latest Thor movie, Love and Thunder, and suddenly his key issues are hot again. 

What also helps is that yet another solo Beta Ray Bill comic has recently hit shelves. Only a couple weeks ago, the self-titled Beta Ray Bill #1 spinoff from “King in Black” was released to comic shops, and that is curious timing considering that Russell Crowe has joined the cast for Thor 4. That surely has many collectors reconsidering his first two appearances.

This particular issue is not just any Thor #338. It is the newsstand edition, which is harder to find, at least in high grades. In the old days, those newsstand copies would not get the loving touch of an LCS owner, and they would often take a beating just being on a news rack or magazine shelf. 

Generally speaking, newsstands bring more on average than direct editions in those higher grades for the aforementioned reason. In this case, they are not leagues and bounds past the direct copies. The last 9.8 Thor #338 newsstand to trade hands was for $252 on April 7. On the other hand, a direct edition 9.8 brought $200 only four days later, so the values are fairly close to one another.

81. STATIC #1 COLLECTOR’S EDITION (+919)

In recent months, the current “it” actor, Michael B. Jordan, announced that he would be producing a Static feature film for DC/Warner Brothers. That has made this relatively obscure character very popular in a very short amount of time. 

This is not the first time fans have seen Static on the screen. In the 1990s, he had his own cartoon series, Static Shock. While that one did not last long, he would later appear in both Young Justice and Justice League Unlimited. There were even rumors of him getting his own television series at one point, but that fizzled out. Since Jordan has such clout in Hollywood at the moment, it would seem Static’s journey has finally come full circle.

The collector’s edition is just one of four Static #1 variants for you to collect. There is the standard cover that comes in both the direct and newsstand varieties as well as the platinum edition. As we can see by its pace on this week’s Hottest Comics, the collector’s edition is the one most buyers were aiming for this past week. On average, the collector’s edition, graded at a 9.8, has been earning $251 for the past 90 days. The most recent sale was on April 12 for $235, though it has brought over $300 this year.

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