For readers who are not part of the Google+ group, the Comic Book Speculating and Market Trends (CBSMT) community is a great place where members are knowledgeable, friendly and best of all, civislied in discussions (even during heated ones).  We started a new feature called Spec book of the month, where we try to recommend the best comic book to invest in that has not been featured in our discussions before.

Rather than letting all the good picks go to waste, I thought of documenting them here for easy reference. It is notorious difficult to find old threads in G+ groups since there are so many new discussions everyday. Putting it here will save members and myself lots of time in searching for the information.

Below is the list. I separate into 2 groups based on my own personal opinion which can be WRONG. So, if you are the one that recommended any books that belong in the ‘I passed’ category below, please don’t be offended as it is purely my own judgement of the book. I also added an Ebay link in case you want to check out current prices or even to buy them. Names in brackets are the members who recommended them so as to give credit where it is due.

Here we go:

New comic books to speculate on

• Hulk #228 – My own pick that I have further elaborated on here in my cheap comics to speculate article. Since other members concur with this pick, I am putting it here. (Ebay listings)
• Hulk #449 (Mike Jensen) – Mike made a couple of nice suggestions. This is the first one that I agree with and deals with the first appearance of Thunderbolt. I made a similar suggestion when I was recommending cheap comics to invest in for 2014.  Since then, James Gunn has said that what he wanted to do with Thunderbolts, he has incorporated them into GOTG so that dashes any movie of a James Gunn Thunderbolt movie. However, I have heard from my source recently that there might be a Thunderbolts movie in phase 4 but the team will be the current one with Red Hulk, Punisher, Elektra, Ghost Rider etc. Still this book might get the interest if that rumor turned out to be true.(Ebay listings)
• New Mutants #86 (Mike Jensen) – First cameo of Cable. I recommended this as well in my Cable key issue to invest in article last year. (Ebay listings)
• Justice League of America #64 (Ben Leong) – The first appearance of Red Tornado. This is a great suggestion as Red Tornado features heavily during the second phase of the JLA team during the silver age. It is an item on my ‘to pick up list’. Unfortunately, I have not done so and hope there is no news until I have picked up a copy. (Ebay listings)
• Fantastic Four Annual #6 (RavageX-9) – I have little doubt that this first appearance of Annhilus will pick up steam once he is announced for the sequel. It is very obvious Fox is setting him up in case the first reboot does well and a sequel is needed. (Ebay listings)
• Hulk #141 (Bryan Smith) – Doc Samson’s first appearance is a nice book to own but he is a third tier character currently and doesn’t have a regular comic appearance.  I picked up a copy last year but never recommended on my blog as I am not sure about its potential. Consider this just barely passing my investment criteria. (Ebay listings)
• Eternals #1 (Donald von Glitchenberger) – I was unsure whether to include this book as it has been discussed quite extensively in CBSMT, espeically by Mr Marc, our resident high grade book collector. However, given that most members probably can’t participate in every discussion, I will include it here to remind everyone. Personally, I have a few copies even before it was brought up but I hesistated to recommend it because of the print run and the long gestation period. If Eternals was ever to receive any media hype, it will be after the Inhumans which means at least 4 years down the road. Can speculators wait that long or will the comic market crash before that? (Ebay listings)

New comic books that I passed

• Action Comics #267 (Mike Jensen) – It is the first appearance of 3 members of the Legion of Superheroes: Colossal Boy, Chameleon Boy and Invisible Kid. The recommendation is of course betting on a movie being made as there was rumors of it some months ago. Problem with this book is that there are so many members that it will be hard to predict which ones will be feature eventually if there is even a movie down the road.
• Justice League of America #140 (Mike Jensen) – First appearance of the Manhunters who are a race in the Green Lantern mythology. I personally don’t like to invest in races as there hasn’t been a strong historical case for them appreciating in prices.
• Strange Tales #138 (SpideyFan78ct) – I struggle with this recommendation as I kept thinking how collectors will respond to the first appearance of Eternity. I have no doubt it will raise interest if it appears in the Infinity war movie but I am not sure if it will be more than a passing fad as I have never encounter an Eternity comic fan. Consider this barely failing my investment criteria.
• Journey into Mystery #99 (William Hild) – Surtur will definitely be in Thor 3: Ragnarok and this is his first appearance. Despite this, I don’t think collectors will invest heavily into such a villain character so we will see minimal returns. Yes, prices will increase but not to the extend that will interest me :p
• Amazing Spider Man #265 (Bryan Smith)  – I recommended this book before in the same article on cheap comics to invest for 2014. However, that was before the Sony Marvel collaboration. Silver Stable looks too much like Black Widow and probably don’t make an appearance if Spider Man can now use her instead of Silver Stable.
• Iron Man #17 (Bryan Smith) – Madam Masque first appearance is something I am not too keen on because she is too minor a player. Unlike Moonstone who has a chance of appearing as the main nemesis to Ms Marvel, Madam Masque doesn’t have that quality. The best chance is on Agents of SHIELD but that probably wouldn’t spike the book too much.
• Fantastic Four #19 (Donald von Glitchenberger) – First appearance of Rama Tut, who some are arguing as the first appearance of Apocalypse. Despite the evidence, I think the market has somehow ignored them and continued to focus on X Factor #6. It is hard to overturn a market’s perception and I am not one to bet against it.
• Dark Hawk #1 (Jason Shannon) – James Gunn has said he has cut down the number of new characters for GOTG #2 to probably 1-2. One of them is probably either Starhawk or Adam Warlock. Hence, the chances of Dark Hawk appearing is very slim. Coupled with the large print run of this book, it prevented him from recommending a buy on this.

Conclusion

Originally, the idea was to select the most suggested book and use that as the spec book of the month. Unfortunately, there was little overlap. Only 1 book received recommendations from 2 members and that is Amazing Spider Man #265. However, I already mentioned why I am passing. Interestingly, Strange Tales #138 received the most likes so maybe the community thinks that should be the spec book of the month. I obviously disagreed but please don’t let me stop you as it is just my opinion 🙂

Have fun with the list and I will see you again next month. Thanks CBSMT members for your valuable contributions!