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InvestComics Comic Hot Picks 9-14-11 – DC Relaunch Special Part 2

Written by JayKatz on Sep 12, 2011
Filed in: InvestComics - Hot Picks - Comic Book Column | No Comments »

Welcome to InvestComics Comic Hot Picks for the second part of our DC
Relaunch Specials.

Last week DC owned the comic shops across the globe.
This week, and the following weeks ahead will be no different. As we did last
week, InvestComics will cover every number one issue including first
appearances, number one issues, and the collector’s price for each. Once again,
a special thanks to Comics Price Guide.com for providing the pricing for the
wonderful crop of comics this week. We’ll keep the trend in Part 2 here and go
from High to Low…..

Two words, Green Lantern. Two more words, Geoff Johns. There is absolutely no denying what Geoff johns has done for this character. Green Lantern is a force within the DC Universe and so are these numbers coming up. Reach deep in those pockets friendGreen Lantern #1 – We’re going to coverr most of the Lanterns first appearances for you! The drop off from the very first Lantern to the second is quite alarming. Actually, the drop off between each of the Lantern’s is quite noticeable. The first ever Lantern came with Alan Scott bearing the ring in All American Comics #16 1940. This comic is 71 years old. 71 years of age for ahuman being is not old age in today’s society in some cases, considering the conditioning of some folks in this day in age, but for a comic book? That’s old! To own a piece of the oldest ring bearer out there, you’re looking at least $300,000. Looking to save a few bucks? Look for the fan favorite second Lantern Hal Jordan in Showcase #22 from 1959. Only 19 years later and coming in some 275 thousand cheaper! Yes that’s right, GL Hal cost $25,000. Guy Gardner first appearance is Green Lantern #59 1968. Gil Kane art in this issue for only $280. Next up we have the first appearance of the first African American Green Lantern John Stewart in GL #87 from 1971. As Guy Gardner’s first comic was penciled by a legend, John Stewart’s was also penciled by a legend, Neal Adams. Only $180 for this one. We’ll round out the list with Kyle Rayner. Kyle’s first appearance was in GL #48 (1994) for only $6.

Legion Lost #1 – Adventure Comics #247 (1958) has the first appearance of Legion for what seems like an expensive $14000.

Superboy #1 – The majority of society will probably know that Superman first
appeared in Action Comics #1. Well what about the “boy”? As in Superboy? Wonder
no more, InvestComics has it covered. The first Superboy appeared in 1945 in a
comic called More Fun Comics #101. A comparison of the first Superman and
Superboy comics would be ridiculous and besides, they aren’t even in the same
Krypton galaxy as far as pricing goes. Pony up $12,000 and that’ll get you the 1^st Superboy. Pony up $1.6 million….well you know what that’ll get ya.

Suicide Squad #1 – Get the Squads first in Brave and the Bold #25 (1959) for
$750. Like Legions first, this too seems a bit on the heavy side.

Demon Knights #1 – Does this title belong in the Marvel
Knights line? Get Demon’s 1^st appearance in his self titled “Jack
King Kirby” Demon #1 (1972) for $60. This comic should be on any collectors buy
list. If it’s not in your collection, it should be.

Deathstroke #1 – Speaking of being on your “buy list”, The New Teen Titans #2 (1980) should be on there. This nugget happened to be at the very beginning of the decade that began the craziness of the collectors market. The good thing about this comic is that it missed the overprinting, 800 variant, 3D, glow in the dark covers era. It’s a scarce copy of a comic that features an extremely underrated DC Universe character. Why Deathstroke is not as big if not bigger
than Marvel’s Deadpool is a huge mystery. Maybe this number one issue will
breathe some life into this character that it so richly deserves. Maybe a movie
DC? Hello? Chop chop……. At only $48, this comic is THE InvestComics DC Relaunch Special Hot Pick of the week!

Here’s the rest of the pack, at single digit prices.

Batman and Robin #1 – Deciding not to go with Batman and
Robin’s first team up, we’ll save that for Tim’s first appearance, but for now
we’ll look at Robin in THIS book; Damian. Damian’s first appearance (as a baby)
is in 1987′s Batman Son of the Demon – one shot($6). Resurrection Man #1 –
1^st appeared with his self titled book in 1997 with character Mitchell Shelly. Pick this up for $5. Batwoman #1 – Kate Kane dons the costume in the latest female bat book. Check out Kate Kane’s first appearance in 52 #9(2006). Then Kate wears that sexy outfit for the first time 2 issues later in 52 #11(2006). Both comics are $4 each. Mr. Terrific #1 – Mr. Terrific? Was this comic really necessary? Anyway, find The Spectre #54 (1997) and you’ll be the proud owner the first Michael Holt, a.k.a Mr. Terrific. Red Lanterns #1 – Atrocitus leads the way in the new Red Lantern book. Check out the first appearance of big A in Green Lantern 28 (2008) a la’ Geoff Johns. Get this little gem for only $3.

And rounding out this week with a look in the $1 bin, Grifter #1 – Jim Lee’s WildC.A.T.s Covert Action Teams #1 (1992) earns you a
first appearance of Grifter. Then the final piece of this DC Relaunch madness is
Frankenstein Agent of Shade #1. Wow Frankenstein? Really?? Maybe Mr. Terrific
had something to do with this. Check out DC’s first Frankie in Detective Comics #195 (1948) for $1200. (Editor note:Frankenstein 1st appearance was a late correction)

That’s it for this week. We’ll see you next week with another round of
InvestComics Comic Hot Picks DC Relaunch Special.

Invest wisely.

Jay Katz

www.investcomics.com

InvestComics Comic Hot Picks 8-7-11 (DC Special)

Written by JayKatz on Sep 4, 2011
Filed in: InvestComics - Hot Picks - Comic Book Column | No Comments »

Welcome to one of the most comprehensive Hot Picks list to date from InvestComics. Last week we all witnessed the rebirth of the new DC Universe with only 2 new releases. This week DC goes with 13 titles, and InvestComics will give you the low down on each title. First appearances, Number one issues, and the collectors price for these gems. So sit back, get the check book, plastic, or cash whichever you choose and buy some of these very affordable comics. (And a special thanks to Comics Price Guide.com for providing the pricing)

Where to begin? Well let’s start with the Mecca of all comics, Action Comics #1. Some 73 years ago, most of our grandparents/parents were witness to arguable the greatest Superhero and First Lady of comic books in history; Clark and Lois. Action Comics # 1 from 1938 sold for $1.5 million dollars (yes you’re allowed to put your pinky to your mouth and say, with your best Evil accent “1.5 million dollars.” It’s okay; no one is watching….go ahead.) So let’s stick with a theme here and go from High to low.

Detective Comics #1 – Where there is Superman, Batman shouldn’t be that far behind. In this particular case he is. (We await the Batman #1 release where Bats catches up quickly!). Ask any collector a certain issue number and they will instantly know what it is. In some cases, you can give a collector just a number and they will know what you’re talking about. With Detective Comics, you have just that. Everyone knows about issue #27, but ask a collector what the cover looks like to Detective Comics #1 1937 and they may stall a bit. It’s an awkward cover isn’t it? You want some beauty? Okay how about the cover relates to one of the nine plus stories in this book called “The Streets Of Chinatown” written by Jerry Siegel and pencils by Joe Shuster? Yea, “those 2 guys”. The two JS’s also have another story in here called “Part 1”. One of the great things about this $100,000 Joe and Jerry comic is that it
predates Action Comics #1!

Green Arrow #1 -The next comic up for bid at $36,000 would be More Fun Comics #73 from 1935. If calculations are correct here, that means that 3 years prior to Superman (and Lois) making their debut, Aquaman, Speedy and Green Arrow all did in the same comic, but yet it cost 1.4+ million dollars less. Further proof that yes Superman is a badas*.

Swamp Thing #1 – One of the, if not THE greatest horror artist of all time had a hand in creating this Swamp Thing character. Mr. Bernie Wrightson. Swamp Thing is one of those characters that never seemed to find his footing (maybe it’s all of those twigs) in the DC universe. Or so it seems that way. Coming in at $1200 is Swamp’s first appearance in House of Secrets #92 from 1956. Not a bad buy if the Swamp Thing would ever get a big budget film like he deserves. Otherwise this comic will probably remain at the pace of a slow climbing valued comic for a long time.

Animal Man #1 – The first appearance of Animal Man came is Strange Adventures #180 1965. Animal Man was born on paper by an awesome artist; Carmine Infantino. But, very much like Swamp Thing, Animal Man needs a “place” and maybe, just maybe Writer Jeff Lemire and Penciler Travel Foreman will bring it. A very non-animal collector’s price of only $260 for this first appearance. You won’t get rabies if you buy at $200 plus, but as it applied to Swamp Thing’s first appearance, it’s a slow mover. Think of it this way, this comic is 4 years away from becoming a 50 year old book…..

Batgirl #1 – Written by Gail Simone, Pencils by Ardian Syaf, and a cover by Adam Hughes probably will equate to big sales for this comic. All rejoice! Barbara Gordon will be making a comeback as Batgirl! Catch her first appearance in Detective Comics #359 1967 valued at $240 (penciled by Carmine Infantino!). Batgirl will make some noise, and will be a force in the DC Universe. Look for the Detective Comic to gain a little bit of steam, much more so than Animal Man and Swamp Thing.

Hawk and Dove #1 – The last of the “upper level” spending list. Hawk And Dove first appeared together in Showcase #75 1968. It’s only $200. A $200 comic with a first appearance from Steve Ditko. Is there anything left to say here? Yes the comic is 43 years old and only worth a couple of hundred bucks, but we’re talking about a legend here debuting new characters that have a relaunch comic coming out, add to this the potential of a movie one day, and you have a collector’s item. Buy this.

Coming in at the $16 mark; Men of War #1 1977, and Omac #1 1974. Both of these comics hold some promise, and In case you haven’t heard (no bird bird isn’t the word) the Bronze Age is the way to go as far as collecting comics go. An era still poised for some serious upside. Omac #1 1974 for example, Jack “King” Kirby draws the origin of Omac. Men of War #1 1977; written by David Michelinie. So put that variant cover of Spider-Island back and get one of these books.

For $5 you can get the first appearance of Justice League International. Or you could possibly find one in the long boxes at your local convention for a buck. Look for Justice League #1 from 1987 for the 1^stJLI. While in those long boxes, move over to the 50 cent boxes and look for Static #1 1993 (the late great Dwayne Mcduffie), and Jim Lee’s Image title Stormwatch #1 from 1993. Then after that, move on over to the current books and grab Batman Incorporated #5 for cover price. The African American Batwing makes his debut in there. He’s also making the cut in DC’s relaunch with Batwing #1.

Here are the rest of the comics to check out this week.

Marvel – New Avengers Annual #1, and Annihilators Earthfall #1. Image Comics – 27 Second Set #1. Bluewater Comics – Orbit Stan Lee #1, and Walter Koenig’s Things
To Come #1.

Until next week, Invest wisely

Jay Katz

www.investcomics.com

InvestComics Comic Hot Picks 8-3-11

Written by JayKatz on Aug 1, 2011
Filed in: InvestComics - Hot Picks - Comic Book Column | No Comments »

Welcome to InvestComics Comic Hot Picks for the week of
8/3/11

Marvel cranks out the hype machine once again (seems like
they do every week…….wait a sec, they do) with 2 “must get” comics. One they
claim will be talked about for the next 10 years; S.H.I.E.L.D. #2. What happens
on the exact day after day 3650? Do we stop talking about it? The second “must
get” comic of the week is Amazing Spider-Man #667. Why is this comic one you
should not pass up? -According to Marvel-. Maybe something to do with everyone
having Spider powers and the whole Spider-Island push. Doesn’t sound like
anything major, but probably a cool story nonetheless?

Rob Liefeld leads the way for the Independents this week.
JUST like the old days too! Image Comics releases Infinite #1 with 6 variant
covers! Ridiculous isn’t it? Who cares?! Like it or not it’s happening. Check out the Deluxe edition cover from
Liefeld. Doesn’t that remind you of days gone…….ahhhh the absurd 90’s. In the
NOT so absurd department is another Image comic coming out this week called
Severed #1. A horror comic from Eisner nominated Scott Snyder with art by New
York Times best selling artist Percy Jackson makes THIS comic a “must get.”
Titan Comics releases a comic book of one of the most downright politically
incorrect cartoons to ever hit the airwaves; Family Guy #1. If the inside of
this comic is as disturbing as the show, it’s going to be……….awesome!!

Okay too many great covers this week, so if you’d like to
check them out, click on the video.

Enjoy the music and nice pictures.

Music (Score) from the newly released Comic Book movie Cowboys
and Aliens

See you next week! Invest wisely.

Jay Katz

InvestComics Comic Hot Picks 7-13-11

Written by JayKatz on Jul 13, 2011
Filed in: InvestComics - Hot Picks - Comic Book Column | No Comments »

Welcome to InvestComics Comic Hot Picks 7-13-11.

Marvel – This week Marvel releases yet another
re-launch in Captain America #1. Looks like this one will have somewhere in the
range of 8 covers. Buy the Variant with the best ratio and sell it on Ebay next
week when the movie hits. There will be a quick interest in the Cap books, but
will die very soon thereafter.

Check out who Marvel’s hottest team is right now, Alpha
Flight! Alpha Flight #2 with a great Puck cover will do well at the shops. If
you want to invest in a great collector’s item, look for Uncanny X-Men #120. It came out in 1979 and cost only $100 (Comics Price Guide). The current “mini-series” will do one of two
things. 1, it will go longer than the slated 7 issues (continue). Or 2, it will
end at issue number 7 only to start up as a regular series with a new number one
issue. Add this up with a very good possibility of an Alpha Flight movie coming
one day and all of a sudden that $100 doesn’t seem like much does it?

FF #6 eyes the return of Black Bolt! BB’s first
appearance is a very affordable $360 (Comics Price Guide) from Fantastic Four
#45 1965. That beautiful Jack Kirby cover alone is worth the price of this
book.

Black Panther The Man Without fear #521 debuts American Panther. That cover
makes BP look like a bad as* so check out this debut.

Well the Ultimate Spider-Man is dead. Now one of the first elements within
the grieving process begins. This part may fall into the denial or depression
category, and money in Marvel’s pocket, which may leave you depressed! Ultimate
Comics Fallout #1 focuses in on the end of Ultimate Spidey and the beginning of
the New Ultimate Universe. Yes, acceptance.

DC continues their onslaught of Flashpoint with several
more books to check out this week. Booster Gold #46, Emperor Aquaman #2,
Deathstroke and the Curse of the Ravager #2, and Citizen Cold #2. Also on the
path of DC’s onslaught, Green Lantern’s War of GL’s wraps up with Green Lantern
#67 and check out some aftermath within the pages of Green Lantern Corps
#61.