The big news this week was the rumored confirmation of The Rock in a Shazam movie. It is unknown whether he will be Shazam or Black Adam but the news has already sparked the price of Shazam #1, which I told you guys to buy last year in my undervalued bronze age #1 article. This article examines just how high Shazam #1 can go and whether it is worth to buy at current prices of around $45 for a VFNM condition book and $60-$70 for a NM condition book.

What is the value of Shazam #1

The biggest problem with Shazam #1 is its high print run and the fact that it is pretty much a hoarded book. How many were printed? I am not sure but according to this comiclink article, the print run for Shazam #35 is around 325,514 so #1 should be much higher. I guess it would be in the region of 500k?

Given this large print and that it is a hoarded book, don’t expect Shazam #1 to have price appreciation like other Bronze age keys such as IM #55 or silver age keys such as X-men #4. In fact, I think the best benchmark would be in the vein of Nova #1 or Ms Marvel #1. Both books were massively printed and they have also experienced some price appreciation due to movie rumors.

Currently, these are their prices at VFNM and NM condition.

Nova#1: $50 and $100

Ms Marvel #1: $30-$40 and $60

Looking at the above, it seems that Shazam #1 has reached similar prices as the above 2 titles and would not see much price appreciation without further news.  However, once the movie is set and all the excitement of costume reveals, cast confirmations, trailers, interviews etc come in, the prices will definitely rise above what they are commanding now.

How high would Shazam #1 go with movie confirmation?

Again, using the benchmark method, a very suitable comparison book would be Hulk #271, which is also a plentiful book although it is not hoarded like all the Bronze age #1s.

This is what Hulk #271 is current priced:

VFNM: $110-$120

NM: $170-$180

Let’s say Shazam #1 has more supply, and achieves only 75% of the above, you can clear earn the following profits if you buy at current ebay prices.

VFNM of Shazam #1: (75% * $110) – $45 = ~$35

NM of Shazam #1: (75%*170) – $60 = ~$65

Overall, there might still some money to be made if a Shazam movie is made. Just don’t expect them to be like ST110 or FF52 and you will do fine.