With the hype surrounding the release of the Into the Spider-Verse (2018) movie, the common focus had been on which characters are in it and pouring your money into buying up their keys.  Now, almost a year after the movie’s release, is it time to take your money out of the Spider-Verse?

Miles Morales and Gwen Stacy tend to get a majority of the attention, so here we will emphasize the supporting spider-characters of Spider-Ham, Peni Parker, and Spider-Man Noir.

 

 

 

SPIDER-HAM (PETER PORKER)

Spider-Ham first appeared in Marvel Tails #1 (1983), in which he sets out to stop the Masked Marauder and the Gopher Gang from terrorizing local businesses. As an added bonus to this issue, it’s also the first appearances of other animal-superhero incarnations such as Captain AmeriCat, Hulk-Bunny, and Goose Rider.
Below is sales for Marvel Tails #1, graded CGC 9.8 and 9.6 (the top 29.2% and 54.1%; in blue and orange, respectively).

Sales for Marvel Tails #1 were low in volume until July 2018 when the full scope of the characters included in the Into the Spider-Verse movie were revealed at San Diego Comic-Con. The book in CGC 9.8 immediately sky rocketed and managed to retain its higher prices throughout the rest of the year. 9.6 also saw an increase in sales prices, but more gradually. As soon as the new year came around, the sales prices began their decline.

The good news for anyone holding the book is that sales prices appear to have flattened out in the last few months. On the low end of the sales range, 9.8 appears to be holding at the $300 level, and 9.6 at $100. It would be a good idea to keep an eye on this as it could be a while until any upward catalysts occur; in the form of a Spider-Ham TV series or another movie appearance. On the very small chance that Disney ever gets into the animal animation game, this book could benefit from the Captain AmeriCat, Hulk-Bunny, and Goose Rider first appearances.

 

SP//dr (PENI PARKER)

The first appearances of Peni Parker and her anime-styled mech SP//dr were in Edge of Spider-Verse #5 (2014). Sales for Edge of Spider-Verse #5, graded in CGC 9.8, are shown in the graph below. This a majority 81.7% of the top of the census.

Like the book above, Edge of Spider-Verse #5 saw a similar spike from the SDCC event and subsequent fall in 2019. The difference is that the decline has been more gradual and doesn’t appear to have leveled off. Sale prices have essentially retraced any benefit the book received from the Into the Spider-Verse movie. While this can make someone hopeful that this price level is the bottom, there isn’t enough evidence to indicate that the decline will stop. It boils down to, how low is someone willing to sell a CGC 9.8 graded book?

 

SPIDER-MAN NOIR

Lastly, we have Spider-Man Noir, who made his first appearance in Spider-Man: Noir #1 (2009). The graph below shows sales for the book, graded in CGC 9.8 which represents the top 64.2% of the census.

Before and after July 2018, the difference in sales volume for Spider-Man: Noir #1 was night and day. Around the release of Into the Spider-Verse, the market was flooded with this book; and as a result, prices plummeted. It makes one wonder how many copies of this book were in the possession of a long-term collector versus pure speculators. At the beginning of this calendar year, the sales for the book looked like it might hold at the $200 level, but it has slowly and with increasing volume broken below it. Even the unfounded (and since unrealized) rumors of Spider-Man Noir appearing in Far From Home (2019), did not turn around the negative trend. Lower lows and lower highs.

 

THE BOTTOM LINE

  • Marvel Tails #1 - HOLD
  • Edge of Spider-Verse #5 - SELL
  • Spider-Man: Noir #1 - SELL

 

 

“This is astounding! Am I a spider with the limitations of a pig? Or a pig with the proportionate strength and agility of a spider? I've become something greater than either spider or pig... I've become a Spider-Ham!” – Peter Porker