For once, Marvel didn’t steal the spotlight. When it comes to the Hottest Comics and virtually everything else that happens in the world of comics, it’s seemingly all about Marvel Comics. However, this week’s top searches across GoCollect provided a new contender that took home the gold medal.
1. SOMETHING IS KILLING THE CHILDREN #1
James Tynion IV’s horror comic phenomenon was the single most searched term on the GoCollect database. There is a Netflix series in the works, and as we have seen with both Wednesday and Stranger Things, the streaming giant dominates the landscape when it comes to horror shows, particularly those geared toward both adult and teen audiences.
Netflix has also shown with The Sandman that it can handle a comic adaptation as well. Put it together, and SIKTC could be a major hit on the horizon, which would indeed inspire plenty of searches.
2. MARVEL TEAM-UP
For the second week in a row, we have Marvel Team-Up getting buzz from the collecting crowd. These issues have been getting increasingly popular among speculators in recent years.
Many offer early appearances of oddball characters, like Leap Frog and White Rabbit. Others give us the first meetings between famous Marvel heroes, and those are always good for a profit when the two are paired together in the MCU.
3. AVENGERS #10
The only surprise with Avengers #10 being on the list is that it wasn’t ranked any higher. Here we have the first appearance of Kang's more famous alter egos, Immortus. Yes, Nathaniel Richards appeared prior in Fantastic Four #19, and Avengers #8 is the issue to own. It’s here that readers were first introduced to Nathaniel in his most famous form.
Two issues later, he appeared in his Immortus form. With the new Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania trailer highlighting a comics-accurate Kang costume, it’s no wonder collectors were looking for other variants from the time-traveling conqueror.
4. SUPERMAN #1
As spotlighted last week, Superman #1 was the runner-up for the most searched comic for the month of November. For the past week, it’s still inside the top-five searches. The trouble is, there’s no indication which Superman #1 collectors are looking for.
Instead of rehashing last week’s blog, let’s turn our attention to the second volume of Superman that was published in 1987. What’s important about this issue is the return of Metallo. Although he first appeared in 1959’s Action Comics #252, this issue marked his full origin story.
With the prospect of a Man of Steel sequel still in the works (although it’s now become a large question mark in the wake of Wonder Woman 3’s cancellation), it could be time for us to see Metallo make his silver screen debut. That may be why this issue continues to generate a high volume of searches almost two weeks into December.
5. STAR WARS
Once again, Star Wars was a huge search term for collectors. There was a time when those key issues from a galaxy far, far away were not the prized possessions they are today. Outside of Star Wars #1, only the hardcore SW fans took the time to track down those early issues. Then came The Mandalorian, particularly season two during the height of the pandemic, and the market simply erupted.
Speculators began clamoring for any and all things Star Wars, and now it feels like they were always so popular. The sheer hysteria over those SW issues has calmed, but as we can judge by the fifth-most-searched term for the week, it’s by no means completely cooled off.
Here’s the remainder of the top 10.
10 X-MEN #101
