Sorry for the long absence but I have been busy with my startup company. As you might recalled, one of my early retirement options outlined in my plan is through a startup company that has the potential to grow fast. Based on current projection, my startup look to be entering that phase and I hope to tell you how well the company will do in 2 months time. Right now, it is sweating out the work but I believe the current direction we are undertaking is the correct one.

Today’s article will look at the investability of modern day comics. I am not a believer in the flipping model of comic selling due to the constraint of being in Singapore. The high shipping cost and the time needed to ship the comics back and forth are big barriers to me executing the flip model well. Hence, I focus on buying comics that will appreciate in value over time such that shipping costs can be well covered and there is little need to rush the buying and selling.

Comic investing using this approach tend to do well with silver age and bronze comics. How about moderns? Is it possible to adopt a longer term investing perspective to buying and selling modern comic books given that they fall in and out of trend so fast? My personal belief that it is doable if you ignore the hype and focus on strong characters that have room to grow in the future.

So, what are my personal picks for modern comics?

#1: Batman 655 or 666

These 2 issues are the first appearance of Daiman (son of bruce wayne) and Daiman as Batman. Personally, this is a longshot as I don’t believe Daiman will ever replace Bruce Wayne as the batman. What I am hoping to see is DC developing Daiman into another character on his own, like how Dick Grayson has evolved to Nightwing, Jason Todd to Red Hood etc. If that happens, then these 2 issues will grow in value.

Another plus point about these issues is that they have a rather low print run when compared to the current batman series. I believe 655 has only 75k print run while 666 has 81k+.

#2: New Xmen 129

One of the most successful marvel character to come out from the modern age is Fantomex. He has the characteristics of becoming a well known IP if there is sufficient development to build the character out. As such, getting his first appearance will not hurt once his popularity has grown. The downside to this issue is that Fantomex doesn’t appear on the cover. It is also plentiful in supply as the print is more than 100k due to the popularity of this series during the early 2000s.

#3: Todd the Ugliest Kid on Earth

I highlighted this pick before in my previous article on modern comic investing. Since then, this series has received a TV show announcement which will help it to gain more readers. I believe that once the readership increases beyond the initial 7k print run, the price of this issue will stay well over $50. In the unlikely event that the TV show actually becomes popular, a USD100 price tag is not out of the question.