Here are more Marvel supernatural comics to speculate on. This will be my third entry into this series. Check out my earlier articles on marvel supernatural comics here and here.

The books I purchased from these previous two entries turned out to be pretty good comic investments. Hopefully, it can be third time lucky.

Unlike the first 2 entries, this third one will mostly comprise of lottery book buys as most of the well known Marvel supernatural characters are already tapped out. However, there is still still a bunch of less well known or less speculated characters that can still be bought for cheap.

Selection Criteria

In order to look for supernatural characters that are still currently used in Marvel comics, I used the “concept investing” approach that I first wrote about when I talked Children of the Vault.

In almost all comic book investment talk about Marvel’s supernatural, we focused a lot on the characters.

However, how will these characters be implemented on a big or small screen?

Will it be a straight good vs bad guy film? Will it be more horror or thriller based? I know most of the 70s supernatural stories cannot be adapted as they are too cheesy or stereo type.

We need to look at how modern supernatural is done. Charmed is one example.

By speculating on the HOW, rather than just the WHO, we can gain insights into supernatural or horror books that we might not consider.

 

The Dimensional Man is a forgotten character until he was recruited by Nick Fury.

I find this character interesting due to his similarity with Rorschach’s design. However remember that the Dimensional Man was created years before the Watchmen was published.

One of Dimensional Man’s creator is Steve Ditko, who also created the Question and Mr A. Both characters worn trench coat with masks on. Could this character be Ditko’s effort to bring the same concept to Marvel?

Think Constantine but for Marvel.

 

The next approach is the Charmed approach I mentioned earlier. This leverage on 2 big intersecting trends: strong female characters + supernatural. Marvel has one such team and it is called Witches. This and the next book came from this speculation.

In recent years, most of the female supernatural characters from Marvel has seen solid price appreciation. From Satanna, Elsa Bloodstone to Lilith and Vampire by Night, prices for these books have increased by 3 or more times.

Jennifer Kale is one of the last remaining female characters who have not seen as much interest. However, she is pretty closely associated with Man-Thing as well as being in different teams such as Howling Commandos and the short lived Witches.

Hence, I consider her first appearance in Fear #11 is still pretty affordable for a 1972 brozne age book. However that affordability only applies to mid and low grades. For high grades, they are hard to come and I am sure they will command a pretty big premium if they do.

But you know what they say: low grade is better than no grade!

 

Speaking of Witches another female character in that team is Topaz. She started in the Werewolf by Night series but quickly became a regular Doc Strange supporting character in the 80s.

Currently, Topaz is a forgotten character, which is why her first appearance is cheap.

Another good thing is that the character actually appeared on the cover. Topaz used to be blonde but her hair became black as the times go by. You can see her latest look on the image to the left.

Together with Jennifer Kale and Satana, a MCU version of “Charms” might be a potentially winner. Which comic geek can resist 3 beauties on screen every week?

 

I mentioned about the how vs the why in my selection criteria. This book falls into the how aspect.

One common format for TV shows is to have a host that narrates the stories. This format was commonly used in the older horror shows like Twilight zone.

With MCU modernizing older TV formats, like what they are doing with WandaVision’s interpretation of “I Love Lucy”, this can be a way Marvel supernatural shows can develop.

Digger can then be such a host.

Digger is also part of a team called Nightshift, which leans on the supernatural side of Marvel. If that team gets used, Digger might show up as well.

 

The last entry focuses on Elsa Bloodstone. She is a current darling for the speculative crowd as most are betting on her making an appearance in MCU’s supernatural world. Think of her as Marvel version’s of Buffy, the Vampire Slayer.

Everyone knows Bloodstone #1, there is another book that I feel is important to her, which the focus on today’s article: Next Wave #1.

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Next Wave #1 is important because it reinvented the look of Elsa from a blonde to the current redhead that we love. See pics below for the difference.

This kind of transformation is pretty significant as the visual design is a big part of the overall appeal of a character.

We have seem, for example, how Amazing Spider-Man #86 became a key book because it introduces the black suit Black Widow that we know and love.

Hence, you can see Next Wave #1 as the equvialent of ASM #86, but for Elsa Bloodstone instead of Black Widow.

Sales number for this book falls under 30,000. This number is further divided into the 2 different covers. In case one gets hotter than the other, you are looking at a number that is half of that (assuming equal numbers for both covers)

As an added bonus, the book also features the first appearance of the Next Wave team as well as new character called The Captain.

Conclusion

I hope this article has given you new lens to view the Marvel supernatural theme. By thinking from “which character are they going to use” to “how are they going to implement Marvel supernatural”, it can give you new ideas on which books to speculate.

In this article, I have touched on:

• A Constantine approach
• A “Charms” approach
• A Twilight Zone approach
• A Buffy the Vampire approach

There can be other ways to think from the “how” perspective.