Undervalued comics #10 – Big list of undervalued comics for movies in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020
Movie speculation drive comic prices nowadays. Love it or hate it, it is currently part of the investment climate and is something we need to play along if we want to make money with our comics buying and selling. Now, with many movies have already been announced, there seems to be a belief in the community that there is no longer any undervalued comics. I don’t believe that is true at all. Sure, the obvious keys are gone but there are still a number of books that are still under the radar. I have already highlighted a number of them on this blog such as Wonder Woman #9, Green Lantern #59 etc. In this article, I am going to do a simple summary that lists out the potential undervalued keys according to each movie.
Big list of undervalued comics
I am starting with comic book movies for 2017 because I believe 2016 is already very saturated with speculation. Most folks can only see 1 year out in advance so I believe there are still gems out there from 2017 onwards. Keys that are obvious are omitted from the list below.
Note: those marked with a * means a stronger price potential
| Year | Movie | Issue | Reason | |
| 2017 | Wolverine 3 | Wolverine V2 #66 | Old man logan is hinted | |
| GOTG 2 | Marvel Premiere #1* | Potential Starlord dad | ||
| Defenders #28 | Potential Starlord dad | |||
| Wonder Woman | Wonder Woman V2 #9 | Potential villain | ||
| Wonder Woman V2 #18 | Potential villain | |||
| Spider Man | ?? | |||
| Thor #3 | Journey into Mystery #103 | Potential villain | ||
| Avengers #83 | Potential supporting | |||
| Age of Ultron #10 | Potential supporting | |||
| JL #1 | Forever People #1 | Potential villain | ||
| 2018 | Flash | ?? | ||
| Avengers 3.1 | Strange Tales #180* | Potential villain | ||
| Black Panther | Black Panther V4 #2 | Potential supporting | ||
| X Men | ?? | |||
| Spider Man | ?? | |||
| Aquaman | Aquaman #11* | Potential supporting | ||
| Aquaman #29* | Potential villain | |||
| Captain Marvel | Hulk #228 | Potential villain | ||
| Han Solo | Star Wars 2* | Potential villain | ||
| 2019 | Shazam | Shazam #1 | Still affordable | |
| Avengers 3.2 | ?? | |||
| JL #2 | ?? | |||
| Inhumans | Fantastic Four #47 | Potential villain | ||
| Inhuman #1, #3, #4, #7 | Potential supporting | |||
| 2020 | Cyborg | Showcase #37 | Potential supporting | |
| Green Lantern | Green Lantern #59* | Lots of room for growth | ||
| NA | Batman | Batman #635* | Potential main cast | |
| Sandman | Sandman #1 and #8* | Lots of room for growth | ||
| New Mutants | New Mutants #18 | Potential main cast | ||
| X Men #160 | Potential main cast | |||
| Dark Universe | Justice League Dark #1* | Still affordable | ||
| Hawkman #4* | Lots of room for growth | |||
| HOS #92* | Room for growth |
Overall, the market is fairly efficient in that most of the obvious keys are already priced out of range. Under this efficient market, there are 2 options one can make:
- Focus on the supporting cast and villains of confirmed movies
- Focus on unconfirmed movies
Focusing on confirmed movies
This is a relatively fairer bet among the 2 options. However, you need to be selective here. Not all supporting character or villains can experience good price hikes. Nebula, Lady Sif, Collector etc are all examples of bad investments. Good examples included in the list above are strong supporting characters/villains like Mera, Adam Warlock, Magnus, Darkseld etc.
Looking through the list above, there are a still a couple of missing blanks when it comes to the supporting cast and villains. GOTG #2 for example doesn’t have a clear view on who can be its main villain. Similarly, we have no clue on which supporting characters can appear in the Captain Marvel movie. Spider Man is a total mystery. All these represents buying opportunities when further news is available.
Focusing on unconfirmed movies
In terms of growth potential, this second option tends to have better returns, which is to be expected given the higher risk. Why? Most collectors are fairly reactive so they will only start buying when news are confirmed. Hence, early birds do get the worms in this case.
To reduce the risk, I suggest focusing on really strong characters who have been used fairly extensive in the comics. Characters such as the Red Hood, Sandman, Death, Swamp Thing etc are no brainers. You should get have these in your collection before any movie confirmation happens.
Conclusion
One thing to note is that not all undervalued issues equal to cheap buying opportunities. I measured undervalued relative to where they can appreciate to. Showcase #37 for example is not a cheap book but I expect its prices to increase at least 2 to 3 times further if they were to appear in the Cyborg movie.
I have put cash where my mouth is and have already hoarded most of the issues mentioned above. If you are looking for undervalued comics related to movie speculation, this list should be a good start.
Wondering about Transformers #8 as it is the 1st appearance of the Dinobots. There are heavy rumors they will appear in the next Transformers movie? Thoughts?
Dinobots have already come and go. The market has no interest in them for whatever reason so I will pass.
Love the recommendations. Any chance of providing pictures or perhaps listing the actual character you reference in the far right column? Sometimes one site will refer to Volume 4 and another site will refer to it as Volume 3, so its hard to know which actual book and/or character we’re talking about. Thanks again for the great recommendations!
I have keep that in mind, Matt! Thanks for the comment.
Great tips!I already got a couple and am working on others.Why justice leauge dark 1?
It is the first appearance. The Swamp Thing #50 was just a gathering of characters. There was no intention for a team. We don’t call a random team up an official team, especially there was no continuation after the issue.
Thanks so much for the clarification!I am somewhat new to comics and trying to learn as much as I can.One more question of the list if you do not mind.How much potential does uncanny xmen 160 have?Also what are your thoughts on the original OMAC series?
I think Magik will definitely if she is featured as she is also a fan favourite. The risk here is how muddled her first appearance is. Also, the cover is nothing to shout about so I would place somewhat moderate potential on this issue.
OMAC is too far away from the core characters currently. If there is any hype, it is going to be many years down the road.
That is a good point.However, right now, I mean OMAC 1 is available for like $3.25 to $5 in a very good condition on Ebay.Considering (to the best of my knowledge) this is the first appearance, and from the Bronze Age 1974, wouldn’t now be the best time to buy.I mean I am 20 years old.The way I see it, if it takes 20 or 30 or maybe even 40 years that is fine.But if in that time Buddy Blank becomes big, and lets say the comic goes up to at least 30-40 in the worst condition like Shazam or something of that nature,it seems to be a good investment. ( We are talking 1000%+ return).I am supposing it depends on how big OMAC can become, but I mean IMEHO, it seems like there is a lot of potential though.
There is always the possibility of what you have mentioned to happen in the future. In fact, you can say that for any cheap books.
Here is one. How about Spider Man Annual #16? First appearance of Monica Rambeau, currently in the Ultimates, ex-chairperson of Avengers and a more prominent character than OMAC.
The key is to know when to invest what. Maybe there are other books that will give you returns without waiting for 20 years? 🙂
I know we already settled that OMAC will not be big for a long time.But I would still like to get a nice one now and wait.Do you have any recommendations on how much I should pay for an Omac 1 in CGC 9.8 with White pages?
Below $100 is ideal.
Is $165 good for a CGC 9.8 Ironman 282 or pass?
Also a Flash 92 in 9.8 CGC?
It is reasonable
Mr.Chua, do you know anything about Comiclink?
Yes.
Thanks for the quick reply.Is it reputable and would you recommend it?
It is very reputable
Do you see any potential value in investing in Xfactor #5 and/or #6 with the upcoming Apocalypse appearance in the next X-men film?
Hi Mark,
This book has already went up significantly so if you have not gotten in then, it is a bit late now.
I have around $700 to invest and which one would you get brave and bold 54 higher grade or justice league of America 1 prob 4 or 4.5 or go in a different book all together . Thanks a lot
Adding also there’s a 7.0 show case 37 for $575 up a local book store ?
i would go for the less glamorous one which is BB 54. They are a great team but under performing because of lack of news. This is good for buyers.
$180 for a Flash 139 CGC 3.0?
Hey Aaron. I bought a copy of Old Man Logan’s first appearance back in January after reading this article. I got it for about $12. In the condition I got it in, its going for about $32 on Ebay now!! Thanks for your awesome articles!
I am glad you profit from it!
Aaron, what is your opinion on the Wytches series by Jock and Snyder?
Hi Aaron,
I’m a new reader to your blog (hailing from Los Angeles) and let me first start by saying I’m very impressed with your wealth of knowledge — not just comics but investing prudently across a variety of asset classes.
I used to collect comics when I was a kid and eventually stopped. I started again recently as both a hobby and for investing purposes. As with most things I’m very research oriented so I spent about a hundred hours of research to develop a strategy before investing in my first batch of comics.
That all said, what are your thoughts on comic variants? For instance newsstand comics with the UPC label instead of the Spider-Man face and even the Canadian variants with the higher price? My research has indicated that these books are rare and extremely rare in high grade as they were sold via newsstands and in Canada at much lower print runs. So, my question is given that the comic book industry is quite mature, why has the market only selectively reflected the rarity of such comic variants (Star Wars 1 – 35c variant and Iron Fist 14 – 35c variant to name a couple) compared with the Canadian variants of certain popular characters such as Spider-Man or Xmen price variants. For not as popular series such as New Mutants, I imagine the supply of Canadian price variants is much smaller and even rarer in high grade.
PK
Hi PK
You win a No-Prize for having one of the longest comment ever!
On premiums for the type of variants you speak of, I must say it is only valid for certain issues. As to the how and whys, there is no clear pattern as yet. The 35 cents variants have been historically significant so it has become part of the comic collecting group’s expectation of being rare. As to when the other variants such as newsstands will take off, it is hard to say. I just know demand conditions in the comic collecting world can fluctuate wildly even though the supply conditions might be the same. Just keep an eye out for future changes.
My rule is this: it doesn’t hurt to always buy the version with the least supply. Might not take but when it does, you will be in a healthy position.
Aaron,
Thanks for your thoughts! Haha sorry for long comment, will keep nice and short from now on.
Also, I’m curious what your thoughts are on Amazing Fantasy 15 (first Amadeus Cho)?
BTW, if you’re based on Singapore, I’m sure you’re aware of the 1/2oz AU Chinese Panda coin craze? Returns on those in a few short years have been very solid, too!
If I was to pay $20,000 for either a walking dead 1 or Final fantasy 15 for same price, it would be easy. Of coarse Spidey. 20 years that comic will only go up in value. Movie, especially big ones, comics stay as being part of history, almost like a great movie poster.
Hey Aaron. Any ideas for those blank spots yet?
Thanks for the reminder Matt!
from the list of comics you have for 2017 2018 2019 and 2020 which would list as the most desireable to get from say 1-10?
What do you think about Static Shock down the road? I was looking into him and he was a big hit on television. There was is a bunch of red-tape involved between Milestone and Warner Brothers.
Please let me know your thoughts on the potential of this character?
Thank you,