Here we are at the start of 2025, but which issues made the most gains in 2024?
As we begin a new year of collecting, it's time to take a step back and reflect on which issues owned the secondary market in 2024. No surprise, Marvel and the MCU paved the way thanks in no small part to Spider-Man, Wolverine, and Taylor Swift.
In case you're out of the loop, the Hottest Comics index ranks the top-selling single issues across eBay, the most famous of all auction sites. The data is sorted by sales volume rather than fair market value. For today's edition, we will be looking strictly at the comics from each collecting era that gained the most positions compared to this time a year ago. At the top of that list sits an all-time classic.
SILVER AGE
Even in a year without any new Spider-Man MCU content, there was no slowdown in the sales department. Here we have the biggest mover of any comic age, Amazing Spider-Man #1, ending the year with a huge 65-spot gain and ranking 35th in a crowded field of Silver Age keys.
Of all Marvel's early heroes, Spidey is the most endearing. Designed to be a relatable superhero with real-world problems to solve while fighting crime, which was quite different for the 1960s, it's that quality that helps him stay connected with each generation of fans. Even the Marvel Studios anti-comics brain trust got on board with the concept, having reset his corner of the MCU, thus leaving him as a self-sufficient superhero at the end of Spider-Man: No Way Home.
Spider-Man's appeal to all age groups is what makes his Silver Age issues among the best investments in all of comic collecting. He is a cultural icon, ranking alongside the most famous characters ever created for a comic book. Besides his first appearance in Amazing Fantasy #15, there's no better issue to own than his first self-titled series and legitimate Holy Grail, ASM #1.
Those Spidey keys will only get more popular in 2025. He's getting a brand-new cartoon series that appears to be taking the character back to his roots with a modern twist.
Besides Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man and the possibility of a 1990s Spider-Man: The Animated Series reboot or at least an appearance in X-Men '97's next season, we should get some word on what Marvel Studios has planned for him in the live-action MCU. That will put added emphasis on owning a piece of his comic history, and ASM #1 will be as popular as ever.
BRONZE AGE
This time next year, Dazzler #1, and indeed all those dazzling key issues, could be among the Coldest Comics of 2024.
There were rumors for years that Dazzler would get her long-awaited featured role in a live-action movie (yes, she had a cameo in the forgettable X-Men: Dark Phoenix, but I'm talking a full, fleshed-out part). Going all the way back to X-Men: Apocalypse, the gossip sites reported that Taylor Swift wanted to rock the costume on the silver screen. When Deadpool & Wolverine began churning out an infinite number of fan theories and rumors, it was inevitable that Swift's name would join the conversation. Then the pop star was spotted hanging with Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman, and eBay was lit on fire.
Everything Dazzler was white hot...for a time. The more the rumors made the social media rounds, the hotter those early appearances became. They were by far the biggest comics on the market right up until the early D&W screenings. Once it was confirmed that Swift was not part of the film, collectors and investors abandoned ship on all things Dazzler. As hot as those issues had been, they were equally ice cold.
The fact that Dazzler's first self-titled issue was able to climb 46 positions despite the massive drop-off tells you just how popular this issue was for a few months.
COPPER AGE
Of all the Copper Age issues to be crowned the year's biggest mover, I doubt anyone would have guessed it would be Thundercats #1. On the plus side, that's what keeps things interesting in the Hottest Comics and breaks up the MCU monopoly on the eBay sales charts.
Classic 1980s cartoons have been all the rage since Transformers returned to the pop culture zeitgeist with its long-running live-action film franchise. That triggered plenty of vintage reboots, most notably another Hasbro property, G.I. Joe's live-action movies. All the while, Thundercats fans were bidding their time and waiting on the news that the cat-people would make it to the silver screen.
Sure, there was the popular-but-short-lived Thundercats cartoon reboot, but nothing impacts the comic book collecting market quite like a new movie. Three years ago, those patient fans were rewarded with some big news: the Thundercats would indeed be getting a feature film. Although the news front grew quiet, there were reports earlier in 2024 that the movie is still in the works.
The more we learn about the project, the more it will send buyers to eBay for the cartoon's original comic, Thundercats #1.
MODERN AGE
There was a tie in the Modern Age movement department, but they both had one very popular commonality: Wolverine. Coming in at 39th for the year, Wolverine #75 felt the love from collectors thanks to a clear reference to this iconic cover in X-Men '97.
While Logan was intentionally kept mostly in the background, his few moments of badassery sent pulses across the collecting market. One of Wolverine's biggest moments came in the season finale. As Magneto appeared to have things going his way, Logan does what he does best. He popped his claws straight through Magneto's chest in shocking fashion. Just when it seemed Wolverine had killed Magneto, the classic X-Men villain-turned-hero-turned-villain-again would channel his best impression of Wolverine #75. It was in that issue that the Master of Magnetism showed his ruthlessness by ripping out Wolverine's adamantium skeleton through his skin.
In the comics, this triggered a larger story with Wolverine losing much of his healing factor (which was an interesting turn of events) and slowly becoming a human-wolverine hybrid (which was much less interesting). Where X-Men '97 will take this story remains to be seen, but the first season gives comic readers hope. After all, the show stayed true to the original stories, something the live-action MCU could learn from.
Between X-Men '97 and Deadpool & Wolverine, fans reiterated their devotion for the original Wolverine, Logan. While we have seen Laura Kinney take up the mantle and Daken rock the cool brown and yellow costume as a villainous version, there's no replacing the OG. Deadpool may disagree, but Wolverine truly is Canada's greatest export.
All that affection thrown at Wolverine kept his key issues surging all year long. After years of rumors that another actor would take up the massive role, fans were shocked when Hugh Jackman casually announced his return to the part in the D&W teaser. Then X-Men '97 rolled around, and, though mainly a side player he may have been, Wolverine still received plenty of attention from his hardcore fans. It all translated into huge sales for his most coveted key issue, Hulk #181.
Yes, Hulk #180 is Logan's first appearance, no question. CGC still signifies it as a cameo first, but that remains his first, even if it's for one panel. That makes Hulk #181 Wolverine's first cover appearance with CGC designating it the first full appearance, and those two factors are what makes this the Bronze Age's Holy Grail of Holy Grails to have.
What do you do when those grail prices get well outside your budget, even for low-grade copies? In collecting's Modern Age, you grab yourself a copy of the facsimile edition. Otherwise known as a reprint, these comics are exact replicas of the original issues upon which they're based, and Hulk #181 has been among the most popular. It's been such a hot commodity that it received a second facsimile in 2023.
