It’s time once more for Undervalued and Overlooked Comics! This time around our focus is on some super-villains and one of the first independent comics. Take a look and see what comics you just might be missing out on.

Count Vertigo

Long-rumored for an appearance in the DCU, Green Arrow and Black Canary foe and member of the Suicide Squad, Count Vertigo, made his first appearance in World’s Finest #251. In terms of DC villains, this has to be one of the most overlooked and undervalued first appearances you’ll ever come across.

Published in 1978, there are only 13 graded copies in the CGC census, only four of which have sold since 2017. There are four 9.6 graded copies, and while one sold on January 11 for a slashed $400, other copies sold in 2022 in grades lower than that went for less than $75.

Count Vertigo is a decent character to spec on for an appearance in the DCU, far better than Leap Frog in the MCU. For the price, it’s definitely worth considering for your collection.

Super-Villains Unite… Sort Of

In 1975, after two successful Giant-Size issues – Giant-Size Super-Villain Team-Up #1 and Giant-Size Super-Villain Team-Up #2, Marvel brought Doctor Doom and the Sub-Mariner together again for their own series with Super-Villain Team-Up #1.

Less a team-up book and more the story of two bitter rivals, Doom and Namor were at one another’s throats for most of the series. There are 498 graded copies in the CGC census. So, not a criminally overlooked comic but certainly not one that reaches the heights of other first issues of the same era, like Champions #1 with 1,361 copies in the census.

Even in the higher grades, Super-Villain Team-Up #1 isn’t currently what one would refer to as an expensive comic. In 2023, only one copy has sold for more than $200, and that just barely; a 9.4 graded copy sold for a slashed $245 on January 14. In the mid-grades it’s dirt cheap, often selling for far less than $100. Doctor Doom has always been one of Marvel’s most important villains.

While he had earlier features in split book Astonishing Tales, this is the first issue of a series with full stories featuring the monarch of Latveria. Combine that with perennial anti-hero Namor, and you’re looking at a very desirable overlooked and undervalued comic.

Star Reach

In 1974, before Cerebus or Elfquest would become the darlings of independent comics, Mike Friedrich published Star Reach #1. It was one of the first independently published comics to offer young writers and artists an outlet outside of the big two of Marvel and DC. Friedrich had worked for both, writing long runs on Justice League of America and Iron Man, so he knew the creative limitations in existence at the mainstream comic publishers at the time.

That first issue featured no less than Jim Starlin, Walt Simonson, Howard Chaykin, Al Milgrom, and Tom Orzechowski in what is some of their earliest work. Subsequent issues would go on to feature works by Neal Adams, Barry Windsor-Smith, P. Craig Russell, Frank Brunner, Steve Leialoha, Dave Sim, John Workman, Ken Steacy, Gene Day, and a host of other creators.

There are only 28 graded copies of Star Reach #1 in the CGC census, making this a very overlooked comic. Just three of these graded copies sold in 2022, while none sold in 2021 or 2020. The highest recent price paid was $295 for a 9.8 graded copy in a June 2022 eBay sale. That’s an incredibly low price to pay for a historic comic with early work by such notable creators. If you have the opportunity, definitely consider investing in this comic.

Well, that’s all we have time for this week.  Join us next week as we take a look at some undervalued and overlooked Silver Age comics.

Are there any Bronze Age comics you think are undervalued and deserve more attention?  Let us know below.

*Any perceived investment advice is that of the freelance blogger and does not represent advice on behalf of GoCollect.