The Silver Age lineup has been dominated by the Fantastic Four. Last month the top three comics for the Silver Age were all FF. The first appearance of the Silver Surfer and Galactus, the first cover appearance of the Surfer, and the first appearance of the Black Panther. These three books are titans of the Silver Age. If Disney can put together an outstanding movie or two for the Fantastic Four; these books can achieve cosmic returns, significantly so. But how does the FF stack up against say, Marvel's Headliner: Spider-Man? Are they better investments than old webhead?

Spider-Man as the headliner for all of Marvel and his first series title is a book worthy of ownership. He actually meets the FF and has one of the early crossover events of Marvel Comics in Amazing Spider-Man #1. How does he stack up against the fearless returns of the FF in the short-term over the last two years?

 

 

Fantastic Four #48

(To quote Ben Grimm a.k.a. The Thing, "It's clobberin' time!")

The returns for Peter Parker in Amazing Spider-Man #1 grade 6.5 returns positive +25% over the last 2 years. How does that match up if we compare it with Fantastic Four #48, the vaunted first appearance of Silver Surfer? The Surfer is arguably one of the noblest superheroes Marvel ever created. In this matchup, he dominates Spidey in grade 6.5 and returns positive +72.1%. It seems like Peter Parker can't get any respect these days. Can Spidey prevail against the other books Fantastic Four #49 and Fantastic Four #52?

Fantastic Four #49

This is one of the top Silver Age FF covers to be sure. Fantastic Four #49 is the first appearance of Silver Surfer and Galactus on the cover of a comic. This cover has a certain aesthetic appeal that the other two really lack. In a head to head matchup with similar grades of comic books, Fantastic Four #49  grade 6.5 returns positive +45.9%. Ouch! Spidey gets trounced again with Amazing Spider-Man #1  with close to double the return, it is a clear victory for the Surfer in this matchup.

 

 

 

 

Fantastic Four #52

The Black Panther is one of the coolest cats around. His recent movie last year did phenomenally well. The  Fantastic Four #52 is a strong book regardless of the FF. But how do Black Panther's vibranium suit and mystical prowess compete with Spidey-Sense, Spidey-Strength (Spider-Man is about ten times stronger than Black Panther) and most importantly the Spidey-popularity as Marvel's main hero? The Panther does not succeed in the mashup, in grade 6.5 he returns a measly +3.2% vs. Spidey's +25%. Well, in a nutshell, Spidey defeats the Black Panther by almost 8 fold in the same grade and can't even touch Peter Parker in this fight. Sorry T'Challa, normally you obliterate the opposition but not in this match up.

 

 

 

There you have it even the Amazing Spider-Man #1 can't overcome the popularity and fantastic returns of two of the top three FF books for the Silver Age last month. Here is how those rankings pair up against the returns and average values:

  1. Fantastic Four #48 grade 6.5 returned +72.1% (2-Years) (Average Value 9.8 $42,000 FMV)
  2. Fantastic Four #49 grade 6.5 returned +45.9% (2-Years) (Average Value 9.8 $180,000 FMV 1-sale 2016)
  3. Fantastic Four #52 grade 6.5 returned +3.2% (2-Years) (Average Value 9.8 $84,000 FMV)

The Fantastic Four has great consistency as a collectible investment or speculation. But unfortunately, they have not been as lucky with the bad movies made about the team. For now, this triple-F threat is real, and clearly dominates the Silver Age of Comics.

Recommendation: Buy and Hold