I've been writing a series of blogs on GoCollect's new Collectible Price Index (CPI). A tool loosely modeled on the Dow Jones Industrial Average, a composite index that focuses on blue chip stocks. You can check out my blogs on the Big Spenders Club, Golden, Silver, and Bronze Age Indexes here. Today, we're going to do a deep dive into the CPI for the Copper Age.
The Bronze Age CPI consists of the 50 most important key issues of the Bronze Age.
GoCollect's Copper Age CPI consists of 50 of the most valuable (and historically significant) comic books published during the Copper Age. Except for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 (which is the only Copper Age book included in the Big Spenders Club), this index includes all of the usual suspects (this is a non-exhaustive list):
Amazing Spider-Man #300 (1st full appearance of Venom);
Batman Adventures #12 (1st appearance of Harley Quinn in a standard comic);
Spawn #1;
New Mutants #98 (1st appearance of Deadpool);
Amazing Spider-Man #252 (1st black symbiote costume);
Batman: The Dark Knight Returns #1;
Uncanny X-Men #266 (1st cover appearance of Gambit);
New Mutants #87 (1st appearance of Cable);
G.I. Joe A Real American Hero #1;
Transformers #1; and
Wolverine #1 (1st Wolverine solo series).
There are several books currently included in the Copper Age CPI that might stir up some debate such as Superman #75, Venom: Lethal Protector #1, X-Force #1, and X-Men #1. I know the boundary between the Copper and Modern Ages can be a little blurry (most accept 1991 as being the demarcation line), but, personally, I see the books above as being more representative of the Modern Age and the excesses of 1990s comic book collecting (e.g., use of polybags, inclusion of trading cards, gimmick covers, excessive print runs).
I'm not sure I would include Darkhawk #1 here as well since that book isn't worth very much and is arguably not historically important (sorry, Swagglehaus!).
What books would you or wouldn't you include in the Copper Age CPI?
The Copper Age Index is up 43% over the past five years.
Although it may be hard to believe since we've been in a bear market for over two years, the Copper Age CPI is actually up by about 43% since the beginning of the pandemic in early 2020. Of course, the Index is also down 37% since its peak back in July 2021 at the height of the so-called "comic boom."
When you take a closer look at the individual performances of each of the books that make up the Index, you can see that several non-Marvel and non-DC books, such as Caliber Presents #1, Evil Ernie #1, and Crow #1 have helped to keep the index afloat:
You observe the effect of the comic boom on both Caliber Presents #1 and especially on The Crow #1, but Evil Ernie #1 has probably been the best performer in the Copper Age Index during the past five years.
It was an eclectic set of books from Marvel and DC that weighed the index down including a few major Copper Age keys such as Amazing Spider-Man #300, Batman Adventures #12, The Tick #1, Thor #37, and Batman #386:
Batman #386 (1st appearance of the Black Mask) in particular has really plunged in value over the past five years. It could be a good time to pick up this minor key issue.
