But now the tide may be shifting ever so slightly back into a bull market for some blue chip Silver Age books. All of the biggest movers over the past month have some (strong or loose) ties to upcoming MCU projects and are going to hit the pocketbook a little harder than in months past.
Here are the five highest risers among Silver Age books in the past month.
Avengers #11 (+65)
I have written about this book extensively over the past year and it continues to rise in the popularity rankings. It is now the 36th-most popular book among all Silver Age comics this month. This is the first meeting between the Avengers and Spider-Man. It is one of Spider-Man and the Avengers' earliest crossover books. And it involved all the heavy hitters getting together to collaborate: Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, Dick Ayers, and Don Heck.
As Avengers and Spider-Man inch closer to being back on the big screen in the years to come, these types of books that feature both will continue to gain in popularity and will, in turn, shoot up in value. Investors are buying the bear dip now, but time is running short.
The 50th percentile CGC grade for this book is a 6.5 (139 blue labels available). A copy in that grade sold on ComicConnect on December 14th for $298 while the same grade then sold at the end of January for $361 at Heritage. That grade is nowhere near the peak of $748 in August of 2021, but I think we are on the upswing now as comic book buyers get back in the game.
Amazing Spider-Man #16 (+63)
Let's see, what else are people a little excited about in addition to some more Tom Holland in our MCU lives? Could it possibly be the return of Charlie Cox's Daredevil? If that's the case - and we know that it is - why not kill two birds with one stone and grab this book where they share the pages for the first time together?
This is, of course, one of the few books that shows Daredevil in his original costume, and the costume that was introduced when Daredevil appeared in She-Hulk on Disney+. Add in the fact we are talking about one of the first 20 Spider-Man books, and this has been a valuable key for years running. Matthew Murdock and Peter Parker have appeared on screen together already. We know Daredevil is coming in less than two years. It's a no-brainer to grab this one while the prices are still low.
In a grade 6.0, prices are still falling based on the limited data we have on recent sales. The copy that sold at Heritage on January 31st for $660 was the lowest this book has been since a $650 sale on March 18, 2021. Will it continue to drop? That's the gamble for a key like this, but it's worth the risk now.
Avengers #10 (+58)
Who is Immortus, exactly? Is he Kang? Nathaniel Richards? He Who Remains? Rama Tut? The Whisperer? Who can say, really? All we do know is that Immortus is likely to be one of the variants that spawns from Kang who we have just been introduced to in the MCU by the indomitable Jonathan Majors. However these variants are used in the future, speculators are betting on Immortus being in the picture.
Avengers #10 introduces us to Immortus for the first time, and it is not until later that he is revealed to be a Kang variant. He tries to get the Avengers to battle one another in this issue, and is successful, until some time shenanigans reverse everything that happened. Another interesting fact about this issue? It's the first time "Avengers Assemble" is used by the team. Thor is actually the first one to give life to those words.
This book in a CGC 6.5 has held pretty steady for the better part of seven months. If you want a copy of this 50th percentile grade, it's going to run you around $400-$500 no matter where you look. A couple have snuck in under $400 in the last five months, but those were Heritage and ComicConnect auctions where you might not see another for a while.
Amazing Spider-Man #39 (+55)
When I looked at the hottest Silver Age comics in January, they were all Spider-Man, and relatively all "minor" keys from his early issues. A third appearance here, a crossover there, some nice art over here. But they were the books that are not in the stratosphere of value and had dropped even more thanks to a bear market.
But a book like Amazing Spider-Man #39 represents a Spider-Man issue that I would consider as the next tier up from the books last month. Why? This book has some key elements that make it more of a key issue than other early Spider-Man issues, while still not reaching the levels of an ASM #4 or ASM #14, or even ASM #20. This is the first work by John Romita in Amazing Spider-Man. But in addition to that, this is the issue that Green Goblin is revealed to be Norman Osbourne. Add in an iconic cover, and this book is high up on the desirability list.
This book in a 6.5 grade has mostly been between $450 and $600 for three months, save for one stray auction at Goldin ($360). But prices this month have settled around $450 in recent sales. This book has sold for almost $800 before in that grade, so there is certainly some upward possibility at a price below $500.
X-Men #5 (+52)
You don't need me to tell you why this book is so desirable. It's either the second or third appearance of basically all the classic bad guys in the original X-Men run with Magneto pulling together the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants for the second time. Included in that group are the second appearances of Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. Scarlet With now has a complicated history with Marvel and the MCU, but there is no doubting her collectible appeal.
With Marvel and Kevin Feige coming out recently and saying they definitely have a plan for how they are going to introduce mutants into the MCU, some of the best X-Men books may be about to go into overdrive.
Knowing that is coming, this is a great time to invest in this book which has seen some of its values drop almost in half in many grades. Take a grade 6.0, for example. In January of 2022, one sold for $840. An identical grade sold at the end of December for just $426. With no documented sales in 2023, it's hard to completely gauge value, but the time to grab this and any other mutant books is before the official announcements or reveals.
