Aquaman is coming to Christmas and I think this might be Jason Mamoa's best part yet. Yes, we saw him recently in Justice League and honestly, I thought he was ok. The recent trailers for his solo movie debut have done Aquaman justice, an old comic book character that will finally make it on the big screen solo. Forget the fact he is wearing green pants and a golden shirt on one poster; this character is obviously not color coordinated. However, it may just be Momoa's top performance yet, certainly better than his brain-dead barbarian knockoffs. I think the studio wrote this part for him and it seems to hold water (ahem). Aquaman first appeared in More Fun Comics #73 in 1941 he was created by Fox, Weisinger, Siegel, Wilton Weston (script) and Sherman, Papp, Grothkop? Norris, Moore, Baily, Kaye (pencils). This comic also has the origin of Aquaman, introduction to Green Arrow and Speedy, not to mention a Dr. Fate cover. Additionally, over the weekend we received the record opening for Aquaman in China $94 million, the returns are a whale of a tale! Aquaman will finally get his time in the limelight here in America on December 21st just two days from now. I am looking forward to Black Manta. He is the one villain I always thought was cool in the underwater realm. Between the Black Manta and Aquaman who will win this epic showdown? More importantly, how do their first appearance comic books stack up?
Is it too late to pick up Aquaman villains by the boatload? Maybe, but Black Manta is going to appear in the upcoming movie so let's take a look at his first appearance and potential as an investment. The Black Manta was first created in Aquaman #35. This character appeared in DC Comics in 1967 by Bob Haney, Henry Boltinoff (script), Nick Cardy, Henry Boltinoff, and Bob Brown (pencils). The FMV's for this comic are very promising with grades (6.0) at $500, (8.0) at $950, and (9.2) at $2700. The most recent (9.6) grade sale was on 11/27/2018 for $5877. Those of you looking to invest a more modest amount might pick up a copy at grade (6.5) for $525 FMV. The returns on this first appearance of the Black Manta are as powerful as one of his optic blasts with (9.4) at positive +559.1%, holy mackerel!
Aquaman himself has been around a great deal longer than his bubble-headed foe. He first appeared in 1941 in More Fun Comics #73 written by the script team of Fox, Weisinger, Siegel, and Weston. An even larger team of creators was used for the penciling ( Sherman, Papp, Grothkopf, Norris, Moore, Baily and Kaye). This book is both the first appearance and the origin of Aquaman. As a Golden Age comic book, it is still reasonable in a manner of speaking; CommicConnect last sold grade (8.0) in August 2018 for $93,111. The best return on this book is grade (4.5) which has shown a positive +904.2%. Good lord, that is like shooting fish in a barrel! What a commanding return.
The King of the Sea, Aquaman will finally get his time on the big screen as the primary superhero, not just one of the Justice League. Jason Momao was made for this part, and I think he will do well. This investment More Fun Comics #73 is probably the caviar of speculation even at this late date in 2018. Opening in the U.S.A. during the weekend of Christmas could have huge results for this third appearance of Aquaman in the DCEU. Merry Christmas to all the die-hard fans of Aquaman because Santa is probably going to leave nice speculative returns under your Xmas tree, Bravo Zulu!
