Jack Kirby is probably one of the most beloved comic creator for many fans. Most of his silver age character creations need no introduction. In this post, we will zoom in on Kirby’s DC creations. Specifically, we are looking to see if there is any Bronze age books that can mimic the performance of Kirby’s creations which have media exposure like  Forever People #1. Below is a comparison table showing the different candidates, their supply in high graded conditions and their ebay prices for the past 3 months.

For ease of reference, I have included 2 benchmark books that featured first appearances of characters who have been confirmed for upcoming movies: Darkseld and Steppenwolf. It is good that these characters are villains as it sets a more conservative benchmark since collectors generally prefer buying heroes. If villains’ first appearances can achieve this kind of appreciation, heroes might have a higher price ceiling.

High room for growth

One thing you immediately notice is that there is still plenty of growth left in many of the so called undervalued books. If you take a book like Forever People #1, which has a relatively higher supply of high grade copies and a competing book in Jimmy Olsen #134, the fact that it can reach USD700 in 9.6 shows how much potential the other books can be. I wouldn’t be surprise if these other books go beyond the 1k mark, especially for books like Mister Miracle series, which has a relatively lower supply of high grade copies.

If you look at Demon #1, some of what I am saying about growth is already happening to this book. Justice League Dark has been confirmed as a movie and the Demon looks to be part of it. This explains why the book is currently going through a price appreciation curve. If you observed its pattern, you will get a good idea of what can happen to the rest of the books that have no media exposure yet. I am confident a 9.6 copy of Demon #1 will break 1k between now and the movie release.

Not easy to find high grade Bronze age comics

Some books, you have noticed, have no data. It is because there are no available copies for sale even in a liquid marketplaces like Ebay. If demand for them shots up due to media exposure or collectors focusing on Kirby creations, then the price jump might be incredible. I strongly recommend that you keep an eye for these books in super high grade. Keeping one of those in your collection will not go wrong. These are Kirby creations and will have value beyond the media hype.

One thing to note is the submissions to CGC is still fairly low. Mister Miracle #4 for example has only 100 copies being submitted. However, we can gauge from this number that the ratio of high grade to total submission is only 30%, which is not high, especially when early submissions tend to have a bigger portion of high grade books. If you want to understand more about how to read the CGC census data, check this article out.

A note on Kamandi

This book is not a recommended buy even though it is Kirby. Two things

• Plenty of supply compared to other books. I would focus on getting those hard to find books rather than this
• Doesn’t fit well into DCU’s current movie plan. Space is where DCU will be going and Kamandi just doesn’t cut it. Sure, I can be completely off base but I will take this bet.

Undervalued Bronze age books are still available

I touch on this in my last post on copper age book investing. While some believed that Bronze age books are generally higher in prices, it does not mean there is no more room for growth. If we look at the data, the trends and do some reasonable predictions, books like the ones shown in this post are still viable investment candidates.

In fact, exposing this range of books in only the beginning. There are other Bronze age books that can still grow but I can only cover them in future posts.