It’s hard to think of a comic book writer with a more devoted following than Kentucky native Robert Kirkman. If he had only developed and published the Walking Dead comics, his would be an important voice in the medium. However, this storyteller extraordinaire is also a part owner of ‘Image Comics’ and has his own development company, Skybound Entertainment. The latest news (see here) regarding his output, is that another of his properties, the Oblivion Song comic, will soon be made available to a wider audience in movie form.

We’ve known for a while that his long running series, Invincible, is being developed into a movie and an animated series. Now we get the news that Oblivion Song, Kirkman’s most recent comic, will also make a big screen appearance. Will 2020 be the year of Kirkman?

Let’s look at his most important comics and see where the numbers stand.

Oblivion Song #1 (March 2018) – First Issue of title

Kirkman’s sci-fi post-apocalyptic tale of a missing section of Philadelphia that gets transported into another dimension (Oblivion), was planned with help from European artist Lorenzo De Felici. This ongoing title hasn’t quite taken off like Walking Dead yet, but it’s still only on its 16th issue. With 437 total copies on the census, this comic was popular from the get go. Will the movie news see it spike in price? To be honest, it may very well see a boost. Currently FMV for a 9.8 copy is $42.00 in certified blue label condition – the last few eBay sales all went for less. Returns, since last March, have been negative on 9.8’s (after no less than 116 sales) but positive for all other grades sold. Over just the last three months, and six sales, 9.8 copies are returning negative -3.1% numbers.

 

 

Invincible #1 (January 2003) – First Full Appearance of Invincible and Omni-man

To get an idea of what might happen to Oblivion Song however, we do well to take a look at the data for Invincible. In April of 2017, news leaked that this book would get a movie. How did that affect the numbers? There are currently a total of 996 copies on the CGC census. Since April, the lowest recorded sale of a 9.8 was for $750.00 (eBay fixed price sale 05/25/2018) and the highest was for $1,211.00 (ComicLink Auction on 8/29/2018). Worth keeping in mind, if you haven’t yet got a copy of the much more affordable Oblivion Song.

 

 

 

Walking Dead #1 (September 2003) - First appearance of Rick Grimes; First appearance of Shane Walsh; First appearance of Morgan Jones; First appearance of Duane Jones

Finally, if any proof is needed that people will pay big money for the work of Robert Kirkman, then his Eisner award winning series, The Walking Dead, should prove more than sufficient. Although many have predicted its decline, this book should never be written off. Just last week, in fact, the long running title was stirring up interest as a beloved character was killed off.

I’ve heard many say that what keeps this Zombie post-apocalyptic tale selling is the huge success of the AMC television program based on it. That may be true or it may not. One thing is certain, like other successful series, the comic has become a part of pop culture history at this point. All this speaks to both its appeal and perhaps its potential staying power. With 3,071 total copies on the CGC census this book currently has a FMV of over $2, 000.00 in certified 9.8. Although long term returns show downward trends, the three month averages on Blue Label 9.8 copies are negative -10.2% after 10 sales, but with some surprisingly strong individual sales (a 05/08/2019 eBay exchange for $2, 250.00 shows the book is far from finished). And remember that this is a book that has broken the $3000.00 mark on several occasions (eBay sale of 01/17/2018 = $3, 101.00; eBay auction on 05/08/2017 = $3, 550.00; CommicConnect Auction of 03/24/2017 = $3, 766.00). Do you really want to bet against Kirkman?