InvestComics Comic Hot Picks 8-8-12

By Jay Katz 12 years ago

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Welcome to the InvestComics Comic Hot Picks for comic releases on 8-8-12

Before we head into this week’s InvestComics Hot Picks, there needs to be a quick “clarification” if you will.

In today’s collectors market, things have changed mightily. The 80’s and 90’s were driven by the speculation market. The speculation market is a thing of the past and the wiser investor (collector) has emerged. So why do certain companies still insist on releasing 8 or 10 different variants of a comic is a puzzlement (but not that hard to figure out either). While they may sell some copies, it seems they are catering to the collector of the past in which they stand to make a few extra bucks. Absolutely nothing wrong with that. Newsflash, Marvel/DC and all the rest of the comic companies are in a business to make money. That said do you know anyone that is buying up all 10 variants of a number one issue or a “special” issue? Didn’t think so. Regarding the collector, the cream of the crop for any variant is the ratio. Get your hands on a 100 to 1 cover for cover price or for $5 and NOW you’re talking. Paying an exorbitant amount for a comic that just came out of a box from the UPS truck is absolutely absurd. A variant cover of a new say…Marvel Now book for $200 is a huge waste of money. Get that first appearance of a character that is already in the mainstream, a first work from a legend in the industry or maybe just a gut that is telling you, “yes this comic is undervalued and needs to be in my collection.”

So why are we starting this week’s InvestComics Hot Picks on this note? Well the InvestComics Hot Picks articles have gotten a lot of play over the past few weeks with many comic shops across the states (and Worldwide) posting the article every week. A couple of shops have declined to do so because they simply don’t believe in the “Investment” portion of the comic collecting world. There is ONE burning question that needs to be asked of that “non-believer”, but we’ll come back to that.

Anyone that has followed InvestComics for the past 6 years or even the past year knows that this is purely done out of an Entertainment value and never has claimed to send your children off to college with its recommendations or speculation. When InvestComics first arrived onto the scene in 2006, it was taken very seriously in regards to what to buy, sell or hold. As the years went on the entire process evolved. It became “InvestComics – Your Entertainment Investment Guide” It no longer was “InvestComics – Your Investment Guide”. Things change, the realization of the market was no longer about buying each color of the Legends of the Dark Knight #1 or more recently the 7 different Spawn covers. It became about the wiser collector. It became about being aware that a first appearance of a new character is coming up in a comic book this week or an artist/writer making his/her debut, knowing that the Jack O’ Lantern will be appearing in the new Venom comic this week, but his first appearance was in 1981 with some creative team star power. Will Jack O’ Lantern’s first appearance ever amount to anything value wise? Probably not, but this is fun. It’s fun because the collector of today can make their own decisive decision if they’d like to search their local comic shop for that first appearance within a comic book that has probably been sitting in the shops back issue boxes for the last 15 years or so…….which brings us back to the comic shop and that burning question. If one does not believe in the “investment” value of a comic book, then sell that 100 to 1 ratio for cover price. And more importantly, get the comics off of your wall and sell those for cover price too. Comics are a business, don’t kid yourselves with “morals” now trying to sell the whole “comics are for reading” stuff. That only goes so far. This is a business. Bills need to be paid, lights need to stay on, rent needs to be paid and new comics need to be bought. Bottom line here, InvestComics would only help sell comics on your wall (that have dust collecting on them), back issue in the long boxes and also the new shipment on your shelf every Wednesday. A collector buying a first appearance, a back issue, a new comic off of the shelf that they may not have thought of buying before or possibly adding to their subscription list due to the InvestComics Hot Picks article raising awareness to “it” is good for your business. So if you’d be so kind to reach up there and get that Incredible Hulk #181 for 35 cents I’d appreciate that.

Now back to business! Here are your InvestComics Hot Picks for the comics coming out this Wednesday and more…..

Valiant will be coming back with one of their comics from 1992. Archer & Armstrong #1 comes at us this week with the original number one debuting 20 years ago! Look at the lineup here on that original number one issue; writers Bob Layton Sr. and Jim Shooter, Penciler and cover artist Barry-Windsor-Smith! Awesome stuff here folks!

And speaking of awesome, Mirage Studios in 1985 released a “Micro-Series” called Raphael. The Micro-Series was a first of its kind because it was essentially a One Shot, but with a wacky name. A classic Iconic TMNT’s cover from Kevin Eastman gets replicated for the new IDW Color Classic here. The cover price for the New IDW comic is $3.99. The classic original 1985 magazine sized can be bought for about $10. Need we say more here?

Marvel gives Gambit his own comic this week in his self titled Gambit #1. Although a character with a large following, Gambit always seemed to miss his mark for some reason (no pun intended). He’s a fantastic team player, but a solo comic? Not sure how long this will last. Gambit’s first appearance for many years was thought to be in Uncanny X-Men #266 (1990) with another iconic cover from Andy Kubert and written by legend Chris Claremont. So where would Gambit’s first appearance be then you ask? That would be Uncanny X-Men Annual #14. So you think that his first appearance in the annual would be the one for your collection right? Nope. The Annual price for the “first appearance” is merely a $14 buy. The Uncanny X-Men #266 is a $60 buy. Huh? Well that’s as bad as the cameos of Wolverine and Venom and countless other characters with their “cameos”, but this is a debate for another day. You’d figure the first time we EVER SEE the character THAT would be the first appearance and the book to own right? Nope. Okay said this is a debate for another day……moving on.

Jack O’ Lantern appears within the pages of Venom #22. Good ol’ Jack first appeared in Machine Man #19 (1981). You talk about a creator lineup?? This is a beauty! Writer Tom DeFalco, Penciler/Inker Steve Ditko with cover artist Terry Austin and Frank Miller?!? Wow, now this is nice! So if that isn’t enough to grab your appetite for $20, how about that this Jack O’ Lantern character goes on to become the second Hobgoblin? We’ll take the creators on this one for a reason to buy!

A few number one issues to check out this week on your new comic book shelves, Anti #1 from 12 Gauge Comics with a nice creative team coming on board for that one, Idolized #1 from Aspen Comics with a variant cover from legend Arthur Adams, Thunda #1 from Dynamite Entertainment and finally, check out a #0 issue from Dark Horse Comics called Creep.

As always, scroll through the InvestComics Hot Picks covers of the week below!

See you next week!

Invest wisely.

Jay Katz

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Jay Katz

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