So Many Skrulls
In a series that’s all about an invasion of Skrulls – a million of them, according to Talos – the first place to look for any kind of market reaction to Secret Invasion is their first appearance in Fantastic Four #2. There are 1,535 graded copies, of which a miniscule six have traded hands since the start of the series on June 21.
Five copies sold over the course of the three weeks prior to June 21, meaning the increase in volume has been lackluster at best.
The highest graded copy of Fantastic Four #2 to sell was an 8.0 going in the June 25 Heritage auction for $6,900. That’s down 26% from the previous sale of an 8.0 in the June 2022 Heritage auction for $9,300. It’s also down 34% from the peak price in the grade of $10,499 set in June 2018. Between the low sales volume and the cratering value, it doesn’t look as if Secret Invasion is doing Fantastic Four #2 any favors.
Super-Skrull
Now that Gravik has taken on the mantle of the Super-Skrull – although his power set is somewhat different from Kl’rt’s – we next turn to this character’s first appearance in Fantastic Four #18. There are 1,134 graded copies in the CGC census.
Ten of those copies have sold since the start of the series, while four sold in the three weeks prior. So, we’re seeing a definite uptick in volume.
The high since June 21 was a 6.5 selling in a June 25 eBay auction for $713. A subsequent sale in the same grade in a June 25 Heritage auction dropped considerably to $444, giving us an average of $579. That’s down 40% from the previous sale - $960 in a February 6 Heritage auction – and down considerably more from the peak price of a slashed $2,000 paid in October 2021.
The Skrulls’ starring role in the MCU doesn’t appear to have stopped the downward trend for their early appearances in the pages of Fantastic Four.
Comic Book Namesake
The Secret Invasion Disney+ series is nominally based on the 2008 comic book series of the same name. While the basics of a Skrull invasion of earth are there, including the aliens taking on the forms of some Earth heroes, the specifics are very different.
Secret Invasion #1 had been heavily speculated on when the series was first announced, leading to a peak price of an absurd $1,200 for a 9.8 graded copy set in September 2022. A more realistic high of $450 was reached in September 2021. Let’s assume the $1,200 was an outlier and go with $450 as a peak.
A 40% increase is nothing to sneeze at. However, $98 is a far cry from $450, or even the one-year average of $161. If you have a copy, hopefully it was purchased before the recent boom. With the lackluster performance of MCU-related books, it’s hard to see Secret Invasion #1 reaching heights as high as $450 any time in the near future.
Other Keys
As with all MCU productions there are rumors prior to release that cause a run up in sales for particular comic issues only for a subsequent drop when the rumors don’t pan out or fans just aren’t excited by the characters as they’re portrayed on screen. In the case of Secret Invasion, there are a few comics that haven’t budged in sales since the start of the series or have dropped in price.
They are Meet the Skrulls #1 – the first appearance of G’iah (only two sales since June 21), Secret War #2 – the first appearance of Quake (30-day average down nearly 20% from one-year average), and Astonishing X-Men #6 – the first appearance of Abigail Brand (30-day average down nearly 25% from one-year average). Barring a surprise in the final two episodes, expect the slides for these three books to become steep drops in the coming weeks.
Are you watching Secret Invasion? What are your thoughts on the series and associated comic books? Let us know below.
