X-23 has become a recent darling for modern comic book speculation due to her new series as Wolverine as well as rumors that she might appear in the Wolverine 3 movie. Regardless of the cause, Laura Kinney is hot and her appearance in NYX #3 has been steadily increasing in price. In fact, I pick that book as one of the potential candidates as the next Batman Adventures #12.

Fortunately, NYX #3 is not the only X-23 key issues you can invest in. In fact, most of the issues I discussed below are very undervalued and I will explain why is that so. If you have missed out on NYX #3, be sure not to missed out on these below.

Potential value of NYX #3

Before going into the undervalued issues, let’s take a step back to analyze where NYX #3 is going. This is already a $400 book in 9.8 so it is not a cheap comic investment by any means. Hence, before putting down a single cent, let’s compare this to the 2 biggest modern books: Batman Adventures #12 and Walking Dead #1.

On the surface, NYX #3 is not in the league as the big two. Even if there is a movie with X-23 and she becomes as popular as Harley, NYX #3 will never reach 2k just because its supply is 3 times more than BA #12.

However, this logic cannot explain why WD #1 is worth more than BA #12 as the former clearly has more supply in 9.8. Are we saying that the demand for WD #1 is twice that for BA #12 such that it can overcome the 100% difference in supply? Personally, I don’t think that is the case. After all, the monthly sales of WD and Harley is about equal. Some will argue that WD has a big TV audience but I don’t think it translate directly to comic fans. If that is so, we should see at least a million copies being sold every month. Clearly, that is not the case.

My hypothesis for this phenomenon is that total supply matters as well in the determination of said prices. When an issue is limited in supply like WD #1, all demand will concentrate on a few available copies at any time in the market. Such demand concentration tend to drive prices up faster relative to a title like BA #12 where supplies in grades other than 9.8 are steadily available, thus diffusing the intensity of the demand.

Using this perspective, there is a chance that NYX #3 might go higher in prices other than what its 9.8 supply indicates. Overall supply for this issue is only 40k and that can lead a concentration of demand as explained above.

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X-23 #1: First series of X-23 as well as origin

Now that we got the value of NYX #3 out of the way, let’s go back to the undervalued X-23 key issues.  This particular recommendation  of X-23 #1 comes from my observation that #1 and first appearance always go hand in hand. When a first appearance breaks out like the way NYX #3 has done, it is a matter of time before #1 gains interest as well. Let’s see the following recent examples

• BA #12 raw in NM ~ USD500 : Harley Quin #1 (2000) ~ USD50-60
• Captain Marvel #17 (2nd print) in NM ~ USD 150 : Ms Marvel #1 (Marvel Now) ~ USD35

You can see #1 issues will be at least 10-20% of what the character’s first appearance is commanding. Currently, NYX #3 commands around USD200 in raw so shouldn’t its #1 be worth at least USD20+? Guess what, it is now a USD2 book. if that is not undervalued, I dunno what is.

Among the list here, I recommend picking this issue as the best value for money. Once NYX’s Wolverine series comes out or if she is announced in the movie, this issue will definitely pick up steam.

Currently, there are 2 covers: white and red. The red came out later but rather than being labeled as a 2nd print, it is called a variant. I guess this will be good for us as collectors tend to want the more ‘rare’ variant than just 2nd print.  Here are the print runs for the 2 covers:

• White: 68k
• Red: 27k

X-23 #1 is now a 10 year book. It falls into the realm of books being important but forgotten as it is not old enough to be nostalgic nor is it new enough to generate speculator interest. To me, this is the best time to pick this up!

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NYX #4: 2nd appearance of X-23

Another often overlooked key issue is the 2nd appearance of the character. This applies to NYX #4 as well. If you looked at the price of Harley’s 2nd appearance, Mad Love, you will know it is going for some serious coin. Now, I am not saying Laura is currently on par with Harley but there should a correlation between prices of 1st and 2nd appearance. If the gap is too big, it usually indicates undervaluation by the market and will only be corrected when the first appearance goes out of price range for most. Looking at the current traction of NYX #3, I will say this is more likely to happen so it is a good bet to stock up on NYX #4 now.

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X Men #450 and #451

These 2 issues represents the first meeting between X-23 and the X-Men.  They will not go for much since these issues were heavily printed and this type of significance is not often valued by collectors. However, it should be worth more than the $1 it is commanding now so I will pick up a few copies.

X-23 seems destined to be one of the rising starts in Modern comics. How she will be treated in the coming months will determine if she can sustain the interest or be just another one of those passing fads.