InvestComics Is Back
-Don’t call it a comeback. I’ve been here for years.
LL Cool J 1990
The GOAT is back.
Always have to lay down a disclaimer, so many get their feelings hurt. Please put big boy pants on before reading this article. There could be something said in here that may rub someone the wrong way. If it does, it’s not meant to. There’s enough toxicity out there as there is, we want no part of that. We good? Okay.
Since InvestComics LLC ventured off (evolved) in March of 2018 from a broken modern/new release speculative market, we’ve witnessed a change of epic proportions. More of a change that was already happening. The modern speculation/new release market was in complete turmoil when we decided to make the change over to Trending Pop Culture in early 2018, but now the entire market is upside down on its proverbial head. Every modern comic/new release is a HOT comic these days. Eventually, every 4 for a dollar comic will be $50 each. This is where we find ourselves.
Before continuing, we have to address a few things. One, we do not in any way, shape, or form care about how well other speculative sites are doing. Could give one iota about that. Good for them making their thing happen. We do not wish ill or envy anyone. Never have, never will. Besides, InvestComics is a separate entity all on its own. We aren’t like anyone else. Never was, never will be. Everyone copied us, that’s a fact. Research it. We have however always given credit where it’s due. Always. Please get any thought InvestComics cares about any website(s) out of your brain. We do not give anyone, or anything a thought. Maybe the thought of switching our name around may enter our brain, but It’s wasteful energy. We wish them all well. Truly.
What we do care about is the mindset that is set in 2020. The here and now. The manner in which collectors are bound to lose money over a comic that’ll be worthless in 3 weeks or 6 months. Moreover, it’ll be dead weight because they won’t be able to sell it. Two reasons why. One, the initial thrill is gone (thank you BB), no one cares anymore and two, everyone will have one of their own. With money being tighter than ever during these unprecedented times, now is not the time to lose money on a HOT comic. It’s time to get smart. Time for InvestComics to step in and offer guidance to a market that’s been flaying for years now. One last thing. Money is awesome. Money is great. We love money. If you stand to make a buck, then do so. Never pass up an opportunity to put food on the table for the family, pay a bill, etc.
We’ve seen Black Flag #1 (Maximum Press) making its rounds as a HOT comic. The number one issue being slung out as a RARE/HOT comic. Why the sudden push for this comic? Creator Dan Fraga announced he will be bringing back the Black Flag title. Yes, that’s it. A once 25 cent comic book, now a $35+ comic based purely on an announcement from Dan. It’s your money, but this price point is driven by nonsense. How about the Walmart comics? What is up with the ridiculousness there? Almost every week a new Walmart comic is busting loose. If it’s not Lois Lane getting killed (shot), It’s a Mysterio/Venom fetching $35+? Symbiote Spider-Man #4 second print. Why? Oh yes, it’s RARE. Zero validity for the asking price. Sorry, forgot, it’s rare. That’s validity? Okay. Another absolutely random comic making its way around is a Boba Fett book. We don’t even know the title of the comic, not even important, but again, a 25 cent (maybe 50 cent) comic is commanding more monies than it’s truly worth. The comic has ZERO validity to its credit for the asking price, other than it has Boba Fett in the title. Nothing else. No first appearance, no origin, nothing. Once again, “RARE” was the word used. The word within the walls of social media is “Everything Boba Fett is HOT!”. Really? Why? Oh yes, of course, the Mandalorian appearance in season 2 (Disney+). So we pay ridiculous monies for random Boba Fett appearances in random useless comics, then what? Boba Fett goes away for another 15 years, then the process starts again?
The speculation market needs InvestComics more now than ever before.
Adam: Legend of the Blue Marvel #1 Sold for $400+ recently. A comic predicated on a rumor and its “rarity”. This rumor has lived on for quite some time now and apparently speculators aren’t willing to let it go. It’s still way overpriced with ZERO validity to back its claim that Adam: Blue Marvel will appear in a film. Could you imagine this Adam Blue Marvel character appearing in a film never comes to fruition? What happens to that buyer that was talked into buying this over a movie rumor or the scarcity of the comic? What happens to that dude? We’ll tell you what happens, he/she gets salty and leaves the market altogether. This does happen. When this happens, you just lost a potential buyer for a real book based on a nothing book. A rumor. Zero validity will eventually lead to zero dollars. Get smart here.
We did a simple write up a few weeks ago within a TPC article and we’re going to copy and paste the text so you can understand the big difference between InvestComics and what we bring to the table. The following unedited text was from an article we posted in 2008. We re-posted the original text from 2008 to drive home a point about a comic we realized was selling for way above its means.
(Zero edits here. CAPS, grammatically errors, spacing errors, spelling errors, and all are included. We did change the font to italics for visual highlight. BOLD type is speaking on the text NOW);
** Adam: Legend of the Blue Marvel #1 Now here’s an interesting character that will fly right under the radar on Wednesday. While fans flock to get the Ultimatum, the INTODUCTION of a new Marvel character is coming out, in a number one issue no less. Tony Stark finds the only man to ever defeat Anti-Man, Going back into time he gets Blue Marvel! This character not only looks bad ass, but is going to kick some ass in New York City and in sales. 
Get this quickly or buy the second print in a few weeks!** Within the SAME article InvestComics said this about a particular book. Already three years into our existence and the change was taking place to distance from the hype of modern books; **Ultimatum #1 “This series changes everything”. A quote that seems to have very little validity these days, but as always (especially with Marvel) I’m in! Marvel puts the whole Ultimate Universe on it’s butt and is taking a major character down for the dirt nap. The Ultimate Universe could use a kick in the nads and this just might be the series that does it. Get the white variant cover and hold onto this comic when this series really starts heating up, then dump it. You’ll be able to get back that variant a year from now for a third of the price.** MORE FROM THE SAME ARTICLE!; **Marvel Comics brings it this week with the much anticipated and hyped Ultimatum and the much under-hyped Blue Marvel.** AND LAST FROM THIS SAME ARTICLE; **A small week indeed…..This would be a perfect time to go to those back issue bins and find yourself some treasures. Look for those Bronze age comics; obscure first appearances, first work by writer/artist, death issues, origin issues, number one issues, buy it all up while they are still very affordable and becoming scarcer. I’ll leave you with the Bronze Age pick of the week. Iron Man #55, first appearance of Thanos. Buy this, read it, love it and hold on to it.**
All of this from ONE article IN 2008. Please notice, no movie mention, no television rumor, no cartoon appearance, nothing. We’re good. It’s a call(s) like this that separates InvestComics from the boys. There are countless picks just like this. Countless.
The above is to show what mindset InvestComics was settling on after it got past the nonsense that has vilified the market today. Yes, we were at that point too where everything was a HOT comic, but we quickly realized early on this wasn’t the case and we adjusted. We realized and adjusted accordingly. This is not happening at all today. The market today is hinged on only ONE factor; an announcement from a movie studio or television studio. This isn’t real comic collecting nor is it true grit speculation. Anyone can do this. Everyone IS doing this. And yes, InvestComics did this too but didn’t rely on Hollywood Reporter to give us content all the time, or get alerted on our phone or pc when new TMZ news broke, thus screaming Rachel Rising #1 needs to be bought now! Yeah, forgot about that one, didn’t you? The number one issue sold two weeks ago for $25 as the title in the sale read RARE and 2011 Terry Moore TV Show. Yes, 2011. Nine years ago. Can’t make this stuff up. Yes, some other graded copies topped bigger money, but quite a few years ago, that whole Rachel Rising market was a cash cow.
One may have noticed some (a lot? haha) of boasting within the text of this article, while it’s not meant in a malicious way or have an intent to disparage anyone, we are proud of what we have accomplished and will continue to accomplish. We’ll never apologize for being proud. And we take pride in being so innovative that sites have borrowed from our platform consistently over the years. Including our name. A lot of contributors over the years helped make InvestComics the brand name it became. We helped them too. The InvestComics site was not only a speculation driven site, but it was also driven with interviews, original comic strips, creative videos, giveaways, original magazines, reviews, creator spotlights, video interviews, checklist, and on and on. Additionally, we published our own comic books; InvestComics Publishing, and we published an Anthology; One and Done, which supported the CBLDF (Comic Book Legal Defense Fund). This is not including having created the top 10 comics on the front page of ComicsPriceGuide.com, or contributing articles to so many websites. Our logo even appeared on the side of a race car during a NASCAR race! We’ll re-post material from all of these topics and more on the NEW InvestComics tab. We were called the Wall Street of Comics by the Motley Fool. We were firing on all cylinders. Hell, we even had Stan Lee cut a bumper for InvestComics, among other legends like Neal Adams, Jim Steranko, and many more. No comic book websites were doing these things. We lead the way. Always will. Being the number one speculative site was/is work!
So, with that said, we’re going to start up the InvestComics machine once more. It’ll be a bit different though and not so different.
First, if you look at the top of the site you’ll notice we imported an InvestComics tab. That tab will represent the NEW InvestComics post. Although InvestComics has a vast library that spans over 13 years+, we’re going to relist some of our old material as “new”, with added verbiage, to show our the fans how we rolled. Just in case anyone forgot.
Second, we will post new content. Give readers/collectors a heads up about a comic we’re keen on. We got a heads up that collectors/speculators/speculation sites still follow suggestions from InvestComics a few months ago. Here is what we said recently within a TPC post; We have noticed that the InvestComics brand has made various appearances within the Trending Pop Culture articles more recently than not these days. It’s hard to sit idle and watch this whole market turn into this overinflated bubble. One recent recommendation InvestComics was very high on and no one else at the time, was/is Marvel’s Strange Academy from Skottie Young and Humberto Ramos. We are strongly bullish on this series. We came across a post on social media that had someone hyping it as though it was new news. Someone (thankfully) posted a link from Trending Pop Culture stating that we (InvestComics) were touting this comic months ago. Hopefully, that person becomes a fan now. Or maybe they were and pulled the “look at me, I’m smart” card. Haha! And since this time, Strange Academy has been spoken about from all walks in the speculation game. Yes, InvestComics is still the GOAT.
Third, we’re going to bring back one (maybe more?) of our popular articles; Buy, Sell, Hold. These particular posts would be so important in today’s climate. It speaks everything we are talking about within a broken market. These articles were broken down for a speculator to really decide on what their portfolio should consist of. Here is a link to the last one we did 2 years ago; Buy, Sell, Hold – New Mutants #87. You’ll see a breakdown (pros & cons) as to why you should buy it and why you shouldn’t (what speculation site will ever tell you that?), and we leave the decision up to YOU. InvestComics GOAT.
Lastly, but not least. We’re bringing back the InvestComics URL. Go to www.investcomics.com and you’ll be brought to the front page of Trending Pop Culture. From there you can click the InvestComics tab on top. Nothing special with the landing page (yet?), but that URL is hot stuff. It beckons that greatness is back. A voice that will look out for your hard-earned cash and not consist of boundless randomness regarding something heard by someone’s nephew’s, uncle’s, mother’s, father-in-law’s, sister’s, brother. You’ll get real tangible guidance.
InvestComics also drove home a very important point in a recent TPC article regarding the NEW release market and how it may veer way off and if “speculators” are not paying attention, they will stand to lose big. The thought was picked up by many social media outlets from various posts (yes, making the idea their own again haha!). The point made was not to fall into the trap of the new release comics being RARE/SHORT PRINT RUN, therefore commanding more monies. Just because it’s the third appearance of Punchline or the first appearance of Clownhunter, it does not make for a higher-priced comic because of its “short print run.” Newsflash, every single new comic in the new era will be a short print run. Do not fall for these consistent selling traps. Remember, RARE and SHORT PRINT RUN will indeed be used consistently throughout the new era moving forward. Yes, supply and demand do factor in, but when it’s a comic that will be an actual key book in 10 years’ time. Newsflash again, not every comic book is a key comic. The demand could, maybe, most likely wane a bit and a buyer will be able to get that yellow Wolverine cover for much less than it originally sold for in a short amount of time. Yes, it’s a limited print of 3000, but a pretty cover for $200+? What’s the inside of the comic contain? Oh, the same story as the regular cover, with zero significance to warrant a note on top of your graded copy besides that it’s a limited print? Not even a first appearance? This sounds like a sound investment (sarcasm). Said this much earlier, money is good, money is awesome. Stand to make a buck, go 
for it, but do not think investment, think money first when it comes to selling, and NEVER look back once you sell a comic. If a buyer wants to buy your home for $35,000 more than its value, you take it. Once you sell, why should you even care if you could have made more money? You don’t own the home anymore. What about if you sold it at the correct time and the home went down after you sold? The idea of ever looking at a comic you once owned should only depend if you’re a buyer. That’s it.
One true essence of speculative collecting is never looking back.
We created a helpful tool below that a modern/new release speculative collector should follow. Questions to ask yourself through a process of either buying a “hot” issue, selling a “hot” issue, plucking down serious cash for a one-week-old book, etc. In no particular order.
Yes, there are a lot of questions to ponder, but it’s your money, you should take every measure to protect your asset with full knowledge and understanding of how, why, and where you are investing it. Be smart and never follow the runaway train. More often than not you will run out of track.
-Does this newfound key issue or new character have sustainability in the long run?
-Why the hype? Is it movie-related? Television related? Cartoon related? How does this correlate to the sudden aftermarket prices? i.e. Boba Fett.
-How did the last hype character/newfound key issue pan out a year ago? is it still hot? If not, why?
-What ceiling am I looking at to cash out if I own a hot book and want to sell?
-Does the new character have an origin story yet? If so, is it strong or weakly told/explained?
-Have I “seen” this new character before? Is it too similar to an older character? Is it a parody? Is Red Tool a serious parody or a real character that would pay dividends down the line?
-In what timeline does the new character appear? Is it an alternate universe? Will that mean the character stays in the said universe with no chance of breaking out into a major hero/villain among the current timeline?
-Will the introduction/newfound key issue fade out once the hype is over?
-Should I purchase the expensive variant cover? What is INSIDE the comic? A major introduction? A status quo? A death? A new hot creator’s first work? What is the asking price of the last scorching variant a year ago? i.e. Wolverine yellow cover.
-Can I resell this new character/newfound key issue a month from now? How strong do I see this carrying?
-What makes this newfound key issue/new character more special than the last hyped comic?
-Is the rising price due to an announcement or rumor? Where is the rumor originating from? Is the announcement from a major source?
-How far out before the announcement (movie/TV/cartoon) comes to fruition? (release date). Does the announcement mark a solid release date? Should I pay top dollar (hype) for a comic based on a release date that’s 2 or 4 years out, or should I let things simmer down?
-Who is pushing or creating the hype? Is there an agenda?
-Will I get emotionally attached to my purchase and miss the market to sell?
-Does the ratio of printed books really matter? Is this a true key comic or just scarce with a pointless sale tactic?
–How come there is a limit of 1000 comics, but said site says SOLD OUT, only to come back weeks later or months later with more “found copies”. Am I buying a limited comic or not?
-Do I personally feel strongly about this newfound key comic/Introduction?
-Should a rumor dictate my spending habit(s)?
-What about the constant rumors surrounding Squirrel-Girl, Invincible, Quantum & Woody, Cosmic Ghost Rider, Spider-Gwen, Power Pack, Adam: Blue Marvel, etc.? Need to figure out which character is most important regarding my monies. Will the investment be long term? How long will I wait before I dump?
-When searching multiply places for a hot newfound key/new release, am I factoring in gas and time into my sale? Gas + time=money.
These are just a FEW of the many questions one should ask themselves in the very volatile market of the new release/modern market. We’ll add on more as we come back to them. We’ll post them from time to time.
Speaking of from time to time. The new InvestComics post will be just that, from time to time. There will be no set release date when a new InvestComics article will appear, but rest assure, it will be worth it. Old meets new and new meets old. That’s what you’ll get. Hopefully, we can at help at least one collector realize their money and time is valuable. That they deserve to have a site like InvestComics help them along, like the old days, to accomplish a feeding to their passion and be educated along the way.
We are not here to save the speculation market, but we’re here to bring some sense to it.
Welcome back to the InvestComics world, old friends. Tell the newbies about the GOAT and how they’ll save a bunch and maybe make a bunch along the way too.
The GOAT is back, InvestComics.
Invest Wisely. Read Comics.
Carpe Diem.
Jay Katz
About Post Author
