Although only three episodes have been released, it looks like Marvel has a hit on its hands with Daredevil: Born Again. It's a rare show that has received praise from both critics (84% on Rotten Tomatoes) and general audiences (82% on Rotten Tomatoes). And we know from the show's trailers that Frank Castle -- aka the Punisher -- will also be reappearing in the show.
While he isn't Daredevil's greatest enemy -- that honor belongs Kingpin or Bullseye -- he's most certainly his greatest frenemy. While both believe in fighting crime, they have fundamentally different approaches to delivering justice. Daredevil, an attorney by day, believes in the legal system and seeks to bring criminals to justice without executing them. The Punisher sees the justice system as broken and views killing as the only way to prevent criminals from harming innocent victims.
As most collectors know, crossover events in comic books between major characters usually don't sell for a lot of money unless that issue also contains first appearances. But the first time Daredevil and Punisher cross over in Daredevil #183 and #184 are definitely key issues. It certainly helps that the writer and artist for both issues was the legendary Frank Miller at the height of his powers.
Let's take a closer look what these two issues typically sell for in today's market.
The 30-day average sale for a CGC 9.6 copy of Daredevil #183 is 22% higher than its one-year average.
With 790 universal blue label copies, the most common grade on the CGC Census for Daredevil #183 is a 9.6; that's a little surprising for a late Bronze Age comic published in 1982. Over the past year, this book has been on a tear; the 30-day sales average ($111) is up 22% over its one-year average ($91):
This is a remarkable ROI for any type of investment but especially for a comic book during the past year. As I wrote in my State of the Comic Book Market blog, we've been stuck in a long-running bear market. The Bronze Age CPI, which includes the most important key issues of the Bronze Age including Amazing Spider-Man #129 (which includes the first appearance of the Punisher), is down nearly 6% over the past year. When you consider that context, a 22% return for Daredevil #183 is downright impressive.
This particular 9.6 sold for $150 earlier this month:
A 9.9 copy of Daredevil #184 sold for $6,900 three years ago.
With 733 universal blue label copies, the most common grade on the CGC Census for Daredevil #184 is also a 9.6. It isn't surprising that this issue isn't producing the same kind of return that #183 is producing because it isn't the first time Daredevil and the Punisher cross over. Its sales have basically been flat with the 30-day average ($62) being essentially the same as the 90-day ($66) and one-year averages ($65). Still, in this bear market, this issue is still beating the market.
It is worth pointing out that, unlike #183, there are several 9.9s of Daredevil #184 on the CGC Census. One of those 9.9s sold for a whopping $6,900 in April 2022 just as the comic book market was entering a bear market:
