It was a rough week for X-Men collectors as those mutant keys occupied all five slots in this week's Coldest Comics.
With Deadpool & Wolverine in the rearview mirror, the related keys are taking a hit in the secondary market. This week finds all five movers and shakers over the past six months to be X-Men comics, and each one saw its spike in the days leading up to D&W's premiere. Such is the ebb and flow of the movie hype.
Remember, these rankings are not based on fair market values. Certainly, there may be issues commanding massive prices that grab your attention, but the Coldest Comics is all about those that lost ground over the past 10, 30, 60, 90, and 180 days. This week, there is a noticeable trend between all five date ranges.
10 DAYS
When it comes to MCU flicks, the shock value of big stars and new character cameos drives the box office as much as the main cast or even the plot. Marvel Studios has been using the formula since 2008's Iron Man when Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury was revealed in the post-credits scene. That set a precedent for virtually every movie since. After Spider-Man: No Way Home crossed franchises with Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, and a host of villains from the Sony-verse, returning characters from different studios has been all the rage. Such was the case with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Deadpool & Wolverine, and the box office returns speak for themselves.
Naturally, all those rumored cameos for D&W had collectors and investors chasing numerous key issues. After Josh Brolin brought Cable to life in Deadpool 2, it seemed logical for him to appear in D&W. Despite there being no reports of Nathan Summers appearing in the film, that didn't stop buyers from tossing their dollars at Cable's first full appearance in New Mutants #87. Then came the movie, and Cable was nowhere to be found.
That disappointment sent NM #87 spiralling to the bottom of the collecting heap. Sure, it will rebound on occasion; just days ago, it ranked as high as 25th in the 10-day category. However, it soon lost 60 positions to have it clinging to the back end of the Hottest Comics.
30 DAYS
When an X-key as massive as GSX #1 has a 61-position fall in the Hottest Comics, you know things have gotten serious.
The title debuted in 1963, and while X-Men #1 is by far the most valuable comic in the franchise, GSX #1 is the fan-favorite choice. Just when the X-Men title was on life support and in danger of being axed altogether, the team was reinvented with Hulk-villain-turned-antihero Wolverine as the centerpiece. The X-Men went on to overtake the Fantastic Four and the Avengers as Marvel's most popular team. It all began with GSX #1, thus etching the comics' place in Marvel history.
Between the hype for the X-Men joining the MCU, X-Men '97 becoming a major hit with fans, and Deadpool & Wolverine dominating the summer box office, it was no surprise that buyers were willing to pay top dollar for GSX #1 in any grade. The trouble with holy grail-level keys is the price tag. Anything worthy of the holy grail label commands huge FMVs, which keeps it out of reach for the average collector. When the excitement and buzz from all the X-Men content wore off, people weren't willing to keep forking over thousands for a holy grail that was now on the backburner.
The best part about investing in a holy grail is that it will always command high prices. Whether or not you can flip that for a profit is a different story. In the case of GSX #1, it's a perennial favorite. With the X-Men's popularity, this issue will rebound when we next see the team on either the big or small screen. If the current FMVs are lower than what you paid, hold tight and be patient because the next wave is coming.
60 DAYS
The MCU giveth, and the MCU taketh away. The most popular of D&W-related keys, New Mutants #98 reached its inevitable peak and is now officially among the Coldest Comics. Here's hoping you sold at the right time. Even if you didn't, NM #98 will get another chance at the bestsellers' list. There's already talk of more Deadpool & Wolverine adventures, and we're bound to see the Merc with a Mouth in other MCU projects. That will trigger another sales landslide that will have buyers all over Deadpool's comic debut.
In this particular case, we're talking about the coveted newsstand edition. These are prized among collectors, especially in higher grades because they're typically hard to find. For those new to the game, newsstands are comics distributed to stores that sold newspapers, books, and magazines. Once upon a time, it was common to find new issues of Marvel and DC comics at grocery stores, magazine and newspaper stands, and other businesses. Instead of getting the love care of direct editions, which were sold to comic shops, these were manhandled and haphazardly tossed on store shelves. It left most copies with some degree of damage that immediately lowered the grade. That's why it's relatively difficult to find a near-mint newsstand key, and that raises their values.
The only difference between the newsstand and the direct editions is the barcode. In the 1980s and '90s, newsstands had a barcode for easy scanning while direct editions had a picture in that space, usually a character's mugshot. That small change is enough to fetch much higher prices in some cases. Of course, it's that availability and elevated price that has the newsstand edition of NM #98 falling nearly outside the top 100. With Deadpool's MCU potential, those issues are most definitely worth holding onto for a future investment.
90 DAYS
The D&W train keeps a-rollin' down the line, and the past three months have seen Wolverine and Deadpool's first meeting plunge into cold waters. When the film was first announced, buyers put Wolverine #88 high atop their wish lists. The best part was that it wasn't an expensive key to own, which only made it that much more appealing to all manner of collectors and investors.
This issue was not hard to find, and there were (and still are) numerous copies of all grades floating about the auction sites. It didn't take long before collectors and investors had their fill of Wolverine #88, and the issue experienced the yo-yo effect, bouncing all across the Hottest Comics week after week. Just when it would climb the rankings, buyers would turn their attention elsewhere, and the key would fall toward the bottom. Days later, it would rebound and move well into the top-50 bestsellers. And this was the pattern for months on end.
With D&W old news at this point, the secondary market has moved on from Wolverine #88. It has likely seen its peak prices and the values will slowly dwindle until the FMVs are closer to where they were pre-D&W. However, if Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds tag-team another MCU movie or lead a team of X-Men, then we could see the issue get a quick resurgence.
180 DAYS
The final entry in this week's Coldest Comics is yet another Deadpool & Wolverine-related key that was once the hottest issue on the market. Back when fans were convinced that Taylor Swift would don the roller skates as the X-Men's mutant disco queen, collectors and investors lost their collective minds over X-Men #130. This issue happens to be the first appearance of Dazzler, Marvel's very own popstar-superhero, a fitting character for Swift to bring to life.
Unfortunately for Swifties and those looking to score profits off the pop queen's arrival in the MCU, it was another rumor that didn't pan out on the silver screen. Although X-Men #130 and Dazzler's other keys would hover inside the top-100 bestsellers, it wouldn't hit those same high notes that came with the initial gossip. Since Swift didn't waltz across the screen in D&W, it left many fans with buyers' remorse, especially those who bought at peak prices.
Dazzler has long been rumored to make her feature debut, but we could see her join the team in animated form first. She made a cameo on Genosha in X-Men '97, and she's popular enough that the writers may include her in a more substantial role in season two. While that wouldn't have nearly the same impact as her joining the live-action MCU, it would give those X-Men #130s a quick boost in the sales charts.
