Happy Birthday, Superman!
James Gunn posted on Threads a few days ago that the Man of Steel recently celebrated his birthday on February 29th! In his efforts to promote the upcoming Superman film that will (re)launch the DCU, Gunn recently revealed that several other superheroes will be joining Superman in this film: Metamorpho, Mr. Terrific, and the Engineer, among others.
How has the market responded to Gunn's decision to introduce these characters in the new DCU?
Guy Gardner's 1st appearance in Green Lantern #59
We've known for a few months now that Superman will introduce the Guy Gardner version of the Green Lantern. Green Lantern #59, which contains the first appearance of Guy Gardner, has always been a sought after major Silver Age key issue. Let's take a closer look at a CGC 6.0 copy of this issue (the most common grade on the CGC Census).
Like many key issues which plummeted in value during 2022 and 2023, a CGC 6.0 copy of Green Lantern #59 held onto its value longer than many of its Silver Age peers, reaching an all-time high of $469 late in 2022 before succumbing to larger market trends and dropping to $240 in March of 2023.
It appears as though news about Gardner's big screen debut has helped to boost the value of Green Lantern #59 as it has steadily climbed in value reaching $400 in late August 2023. That's remarkable considering that many key issues have continued to lose value during that period of time.
Metamorpho's 1st appearance in The Brave & The Bold #57
Unlike Guy Gardner's Green Lantern, Metamorpho isn't a household name; however, he does align with Gunn's long-running preference to focus on offbeat characters. There are very few copies of Metamorpho's first appearance in The Brave & The Bold #57; specifically, there are only 574 graded copies of this issue on the CGC Census.
When you look at the pricing history of the most common grade of this issue (a CGC 6.5), it's interesting to see that this issue has resisted the broader trends of the market in recent years. Unlike most comics, it experienced no "boom" in 2020 through 2021 and actually steadily climbed in value throughout most of 2022. It appears that news about Metamorpho appearing in Gunn's Superman did have an impact on this issue's value as a CGC 6.5 reached an all-time high of $575 in July 2023.
The Engineer's 1st appearance in The Authority #1
The Engineer is another obscure character that will appear for the first time in Gunn's Superman. Possessing the power of technopathy, the Enginner has the ability to control machines with her mind, cover her skin with a protective layer of metal, and reshape the metal in her blood into any shape she can imagine.
Taking a closer look at the most common grade of her first appearance in The Authority #1 -- not surprisingly a 9.8 for this Modern key -- collectors had virtually no interest in this issue until the market heard rumors she would appear in Superman. Specifically, a 9.8 sold for a mere $48 in July 2022 (which would barely cover grading and shipping costs); just five months later this issue reached an all-time high of $550 when the news broke.
Do you think any of the first appearances discussed above will have any legs? Please let us know what your opinions are in the Comments section below!
