This week’s Hottest Comics saw the Hobgoblin and the original 1984-1985 Secret Wars limited series trending in the rankings.
Time to dust off those long boxes and find your old issues of ASM and Marvel Super-Heroes Secret Wars. With MCU rumors abounding, these keys have been on the move, and the astute collector will be closely monitoring them.
HOBGOBLIN
Those early Hobgoblin issues are heating up. I am not just talking about his first appearance in Amazing Spider-Man #238, which is a perennial favorite. As I documented in the Hottest Comics blog earlier this week, Hobgoblin's second appearance in ASM #239 was one of the faster selling comics lately.
Those first two appearances may get the glory, but those are not the only early Hobgoblin comics making moves. Three different Hobgoblin keys cracked the top 100.
30. AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #238 (+62)
Seeing ASM #238 move up the rankings, even jumping from #92 into the top 30, was not exactly newsworthy. After all, the iconic cover art and Hoboglin’s enduring popularity make this a standard issue for any serious Spider-Man collector. When all of Hobgoblin’s early issues are climbing the sales charts, then it is time to take notice.
What is happening here is a result of the gestating rumor that Ned Leeds will evolve into Hobgoblin. Although it is old news at this point, Jacob Batalon, the actor who portrays Ned Leeds in the Spider-Man: Homecoming films, has said that he wants to see the transition from sidekick to villain to happen. Now there are rumors circulating that this is indeed Marvel’s plan, but that is pure speculation and nothing more at this point. Still, it is enough to help the Hobgoblin trilogy create a hot trend this week, and ASM #238 is leading the way.
98. AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #289 (+901)
The first Hobgoblin story gets a little convoluted. Originally, Ned Leeds was revealed in this issue to be the Hobgoblin. However, readers would discover later that Ned had been brainwashed by the “real” Hobgoblin and Kingpin. He was then left as a decoy to take the fall.
Amazing Spider-man #289 wraps up the initial Hobgoblin arc, and it is essential for anyone collecting that early storyline.
SECRET WARS
For years, the only Secret Wars comic that was truly valued was Marvel Super-Heroes Secret Wars #8. It’s no wonder that issue has remained a collector’s darling; it happens to be the first appearance of the Venom symbiote. Lately, there has been a shift. While collectors are still hunting down SW #8, the trees of Secret Wars have begun to bear fruit.
The enthusiasm for Secret Wars stems from a July interview with the famed Russo brothers, the duo behind Winter Soldier, Infinity War, and Endgame. They mentioned how they would return to the MCU for a Secret Wars adaptation. Since then, the rumors became wildfire, blazing across the internet.
While nothing else has been said about an MCU Secret Wars, the excitement is enough to keep buyers interested in this classic series.
93. MARVEL SUPER-HEROES SECRET WARS #10 (+906)
SW #8 may be the only Secret Wars comic inside the top 50, but that only shields the impressive gains of four other issues from the 1982 series. At the top of the list are Secret Wars #10 and SW #11, each of which gained over 900 spots each. They are side-by-side in the rankings, with #10 in the 93rd positions while #11 is one place behind, so they are virtually identical.
233. MARVEL SUPER-HEROES SECRET WARS #4 (+766)
Dig deeper, and you see the trend emerging. Most collectors will overlook anything outside the top 100, and page three is virtually ignored. In this case, it pays to keep scanning.
First up is Secret Wars #4, which has the famous cover of Hulk holding up a mountain to protect his fellow heroes. That may be the biggest selling point here, but the key takeaway is that it is selling. This week, it gained over 750 positions, which is worth noting.
Only five places down the ladder you will find SW #12, a comic that gained an impressive 762 positions in just a week. That gives us five different Secret Wars comics - excluding the SW #8 newsstand edition - inside the top 250 Hottest Comics.
THE TAKEAWAY
Since both Hobgoblin and Secret Wars have not been made official in the MCU, this could be speculation that leads to nothing. Between the two, Hobgoblin is the more likely to reach the silver screen, though the multiverse could be the key to a live-action Secret Wars.
