When people are debating whether Zac Efron or Travis Van Winkle should play Adam Warlock, you know it’s no longer a question of ‘if’ but ‘when’ the cosmic perfect man known as Warlock will make his debut. The consensus of those in the know is that this will happen in ‘Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume III’. But, since James Gunn is busy producing a sequel to ‘Suicide Squad’ for DC, this means you have plenty of time to seek out your Warlock keys.

The important question now arises: Which Warlock keys should you put your money behind?

Let’s go over the available comics and scrutinize the data to find out.

Warlock early key appearances tend to come in twos. For the sake of simplicity, and because there’s little logic about how these are currently valued, for example: is cocoon proto-HIM more or less important than the first ‘HIM’ appearance? If HIM is more important than cocoon than is ‘Warlock’s’ first full appearance a better or worse investment than the first HIM? What about the first ‘Warlock’ versus the first full ‘Adam Warlock’ appearance? See what I mean. If we stay with cocoon proto-Him, just to take an example, than why is Fantastic Four #66 (Sept. 1967)- Origin of HIM begins, generally less valued than Fantastic Four #67 (Oct. 1967)- First brief appearance of HIM?

Let’s start with these Fantastic Four appearances. These are the very first 'cocoon' Adam aka 'HIM'. FF #66, as stated, is valued less than its companion even though both feature Adam’s cocoon. For my money, #66 has the better Jack Kirby cover, but probably because the cocoon is featured prominently on the cover of #67 it is considered the more central Warlock key. The CGC data breaks down as follows: FF #66 currently shows 708 total graded copies. The number of 9.8s = exactly 2. FF #67 shows 1,825 graded copies and the number of 9.8s = 11. Obviously both are hard to find in high grade, issue 66 especially so given its black cover. This may be why FF #66 is worth far more in 9.8 at $14,500, versus the mere $9,500 you need to obtain a FF #67 in 9.8. But by all other measures, FF #67 is considered the more valuable Warlock key once we drop below 9.8 grades. 67 outshines its brother all down the line. Returns over the last year bear this out. FF #67 shows positive returns over the last 12 months in all grades, FF #66 is strongly negative. Verdict: the people have decided that FF #67 is the book to own. It will probably remain more valuable.

Jumping to keys featuring HIM, the books to find are: Thor #165 (June 1969)- First full appearance HIM (Adam Warlock), and Thor #166 (July 1969)- Second appearance of HIM (Adam Warlock). These are the two HIM keys. Here the order of importance is completely reversed. You want the earlier (June 1969) book for this one. CGC data is as follows: Thor #165 shows a total of 1,369 on the census. Thor #166 features 433. Once again it’s the first book (issue 165) that has the black cover and is hard to find in 9.8 – only 5 recorded CGC 9.8 copies, versus 9 for the lesser slabbed #166. But prices and returns all speak to the higher desirability of Thor #165 as an Adam Warlock key. In 9.8, issue 165 has a FMV of $24,000.00. Issue #166 is worth $1,950.00. This disparity extends all the way down the line. 9.6 Thor #165 = $12,500, Thor #166 =$700; in 9.0 Thor #165 = $1,050; Thor #166 = $190. Returns over the last year are also again consistently stronger and more positive for Thor #165.

Finally, Warlock and Adam Warlock.

The important keys here are Marvel Premiere #1 (April 1972) - Origin of Adam Warlock; First appearance as Warlock , and Marvel Premiere #2 (May 1972) - Second issue; First appearance as Adam Warlock.

This one closely follows the pattern of the two full HIM appearances, although here we have a distinction in that MP #1 simply calls HIM Warlock and he only gets the name Adam in issue #2. CGC numbers stack up at 1,305 copies for issue #1 and 293 copies for issue #2 (it's not even close). Again the first issue has the black cover, so the number of 9.8 copies recorded is a mere 10 and each has a current FMV of $7,500. Issue #2, with a full 50 9.8 copies reveals a FMV of $230.00 for each (around 32 times less valuable). Values are constantly stronger for Issue #1 and returns over the last year are also consistently better on issue one over the last year, with the exception of 6.5 and 6.0 grades which are very slightly down on MP #1, while the same grades held steady on issue #2 but barely sell for enough to justify the slabbing cost. My advice, if you have the funds: pick both up; issue #2 is very affordable in mid-grade. If you are tight on cash, seek out issue #1 and grab a copy of: Warlock #1 (August 1972) - Origin by Kane; First issue of titled series

instead. This comic is almost keeping pace with Marvel Premiere #1, plus has great Gil Kane art.