For some comic book collectors, there are few holy grails as iconic as Marvel Comics #1.

First published in August 1939, its October 1939 cover saw 80,000 copies sell quickly. As a result, a second printing was promptly tooled up, producing another 800,000 with a November 1939 cover date. Yet, with almost one million originally produced, VERY few remain today…begging the question, “if you could ‘affordably’ (NFA) own a piece of this history, would you be interested?”

This comic represents a monumental moment in the history of superhero lore — it’s where it all began for what would later become Marvel Comics. Created by Timely Publications (which would evolve fully into Marvel in the 1960s), this book featured the first appearances of legendary characters the Human Torch and Namor, the Sub-Mariner. These heroes, who paved the way for the likes of Spider-Man, The Fantastic Four and the X-Men, set the foundation for the vast universe of interconnected stories that Marvel would eventually become famous for.

Why though, is Marvel Comics #1 so Important?

Beyond being a first issue, it’s a pivotal moment in the birth of the superhero genre. In 1939, comic books were still a fairly new medium, and the concept of superheroes was just beginning to gain traction. The stories in this book were a daring departure from the light-hearted newspaper funnies that dominated the market at the time, offering readers a taste of the epic, action-packed adventures that would define Marvel’s future.

It is very, very scarce…

Despite its groundbreaking legacy we see today, physical copies of Marvel Comics #1 are exceedingly rare. According to GoCollect, fewer than 70 copies are known to exist in varying conditions, and finding one in even decent shape is a near-impossible task. When one does surface at auction, it typically sells for a hefty sum. In 2019, a CGC-graded 9.6 copy sold for $1.26 Million. Turn the page to March 2023 where a 9.2 CGC grade sold for over $2.4 Million! Even lower-grade copies can command hundreds of thousands of dollars, making this comic out of reach for most collectors.

If you think about it, what the heck did readers know back then about its future potential? A world war was brewing, where comics could draw a lot of supportive energy from, and these ‘superheroes’ we know today were just taking shape.

Parents then, must have viewed comics as many parents more recently did of the Internet, video games or those damned Sony Walkmans that completely blocked out our pesky parent demands. As the war ended, along with Hitler, the appeal of many of the comics faded, where most ended up in the trash. Kind of like a lot of Bitcoin from the early days LOL! So today, over 85 years later, it’s no surprise so few remain.

As a comic book fan, the idea of owning a piece of Marvel’s history that enormous is exhilarating, but for most of us, acquiring Marvel Comics #1 is a dream that feels unattainable based on its current valuations.

And heck, most of us either A) Didn’t Know this was possible, or B) Didn’t Know Marvel Comics #1 EVEN EXISTED.

Enter a New Marvel Fan Opportunity — Endorsed & Licensed by MARVEL

Imagine for a moment, you could own a limited, licensed version of MC#1. What if, instead of just watching auctions of physical copies costing millions, likely locked behind glass, unable to be read, going to the Richiest Richies, you could actually own a version of this historic comic, officially endorsed by Marvel themselves? Like a new form of stock / share ownership, but with…FUN & UTILITY. Maybe even without breaking the bank? WELL, GUESS WHAT...

Marvel has fully embraced the digital age, offering collectors a new, but very easy way to engage with its stories and characters, via Digital Collectibles. For true Marvel fans, this represents an unprecedented opportunity to actually own multiple pieces of Marvel history in a modern format. And let’s be honest, if you had known back in 2021 that Marvel was releasing limited-edition digital copies of Marvel Comics #1, wouldn’t you have at least investigated?

Just like its physical counterpart, these digital versions have capped, restricted quantities (‘minted’ onto the Ethereum Blockchain). Owning one doesn’t just mean having a cool digital asset, it means having a direct connection to Marvel’s rich history, in a form that’s accessible, verifiable, ownable, readable, and licensed.

Plus, it opens the door for future collectors to engage with Marvel in new, exciting ways, without the barriers of physical wear or astronomical prices. Even better, without the headaches of ‘crypto’ — just a simple, downloadable mobile app or web app that just accepts credit cards, once you are KYC’d as a legitimate human of course!

And yes — you OWN them. These are not subscription products on Marvel Unlimited you can only read. These are not facsimile copies, reprints or fakes. They are licensed digital assets, produced by Marvel and their artists, distributed across a fun and easy-to-use partner app (VeVe), the FIRSTS of their kind, with T&C available on the brand IP websites and product sales pages. Buy, read, stack, hold, trade or SELL. It’s up to you now. Anywhere on earth, at any time, without even the cost of shipping or insuring eBay packages, worrying about fraudulent products or storage space concerns.

*** VERY, VERY IMPORTANT — THE PHYSICAL COLLECTOR CAVEAT ***

NO - IMHO, I do not see these digital variants offsetting the value of their physical counterparts in ANY WAY. In fact, quite the opposite. Marvel has found a unique way to tap into the explosion of digital assets, turning the page to a market of potentially millions of new buyers. From direct experience I’ll attest — MANY people in this space had no idea Marvel Comics #1 EVER existed, nor what it, FF #1, AF15 or many more FA titles meant to the greater Marvel experience.

Many audiences watch Marvel movies for their typically huge entertainment value, often with little to no idea the history that led to END GAME, DEADPOOL III, DAREDEVIL (Disney+) or LOGAN.

COMICS Did That.

They are, however, becoming familiar with names like Stan Lee, Steve Ditko, Chris Claremont, Skottie Young and more, while the digital space has further led 100’s, if not many 1000’s of new users to sites like Heritage Auctions, Marvel Unlimited and GoCollect to do their homework. I am asked regularly for my personal opinions on physical books, why one title or storyline is more important than another, how they all fit together, why certain dates could equate to stronger digital mint numbers and more, which are all impacting audience growth.

Do know, however, some of these digital apps are bringing in BIG DOLLARS. VeVe alone now generates over $1,000,000 in typical weekly revenue, with BOUNTIES placed on certain items like digital comics with key mint #s (edition numbers) like the year of the comics’ release that are MORE than their CGC physical counterparts at certain grades! This is indicitive of a very active, very REAL MONEY BASED retail market.

WHAT THE #@!* DO “MINT #S” HAVE TO DO WITH IT? IS THIS SOME NEW BS?

I asked veteran physical comic collector, Denis M, who now owns an incredibly impressive collection of “628 Mint Number VeVe Comic titles,” what he enjoys most about this new form of comic collecting:

“As you know, we “physical” or real world(?) comic collectors know or care almost nothing about edition numbers. We don’t typically care about the month/year of a tile since CGC provides a rating for comics based on their physical conditions. That’s how we price & value them. A book’s year is really only important such that it would define its genre (Golden vs Silver vs Modern age, etc.) that could of course, impact value.

For those entering the digital assets space, however, mint number collecting is a GAME CHANGER. These digital comics are almost virtually identical (except maybe by the scarcity or uniqueness of a variant cover). They’re digital — they don’t degrade, so how can you find added value across them? THE MINT NUMBERS, that’s how.

The beauty is each collector can use these special mint #’s to create something individual, something visually powerful, or just something NEW in very unique ways, which is difficult to do, if at all, with physical books.

We can now chase binaries, palindromes, 888’s, sub-100, historically-connected dates (think 1939, 1961, etc.), match numbers across assets — essentially, the sky is the limit, but when you see these sets on socials, in digital ‘vaults’ and in the near future online collectible museums, you just suddenly have a smile on your face. We are ALL PROUD of each other’s accomplishments.

I’ll add that before VeVe (and to some degree DC Digital Comics), I NEVER would have known as much about comics, Marvel, DC or the history of their dates, production, print run sizes…even GoCollect was seldom visited, which I’m now visiting at least weekly. Digital assets have changed my entire appreciation of comic collecting, where knowledge is the new power. I can’t thank VeVe enough for exposing me to this new comic collecting opportunity…”

NOBODY THOUGHT DIGITAL READERS LIKE KINDLE WOULD MAKE IT EITHER

Think of this YEARS from now — digital is already so ubiquitous today that it’s barely even considered as “digital collecting” by its audience, but just plain old ‘collecting.’ Further, it’s sending THOUSANDS of digital fans into physical comic book stores to pair their items (known around the ‘hood as PHYGITAL Collecting), participating in live events at Comic Cons and yeah…fully supporting the ecosystem Marvel is entertaining them with.

If that’s not important to the future success of physical comic collections, then what is?

Years ago, I worked for Canada’s largest daily newspaper chain. During that time, they fought the idea of their content being “On the Internet.” They fought Craigslist’s Classified Superiority. They fought Google. Eventually, they reluctantly subsided and began offering digital products, but by that point, the iceberg had been well struck. In one major market, they dropped from 1100 employees to around 40, over 500,000 subscribers to darn near none today. And you know what their core advertising product is now? GOOGLE ADS.

They’re still battling Facebook over who keeps the revenues from links to news content. And during all that time arguing, consumers simply walked away to choose digital properties they enjoyed that fulfilled their needs. That is, the reader base quickly learned to adapt to…yup, news content on the Web. Same thing with radio, same with TV-turned-streaming. So think about where things can go now if new digital assets are viewed as complements, or enhancements to an industry that needs the boost.

As a dedicated fan or seasoned collector, this may be an evolution in your journey. You don’t need to be a multi-millionaire to own a piece of Marvel Comics #1 (or 100’s of the other grails & keys available). Geesh, with the current state of the economy, these are selling for around $20 a piece right now, down from their $750 floor price all-time-highs. You just need to be open to exploring the world of digital collecting for what it is — a new asset class (and yes, a FIRST), and what being part of this very engaged, supportive community means to the enjoyment value of collecting.

FYI: MARVEL JUST RELEASED ITS OWN LOGO IN DIGITAL COLLECTIBLE FORMAT. DID YOU KNOW THAT HAPPENED?

Yes! Marvel just released a mere 1939 mints of ITS OWN LOGO this week, as a fully licensed, ownable & sellable digital collectible on VeVe, prepping for the 2024 New York Comic-Con event. Should we debate this is still a fad? Should we FIGHT MARVEL for sharing their IP? Should we take to the streets or comic shops and scream out our disdain that they did this to us?

Or maybe, we could just say “hey that’s kinda neat, kinda new…maybe worth checking out while the market is still young, in its infancy. Gee…only 1939 of ’em exist? Well THAT’S rare…and what a great amount to release, connecting the distribution amount to that key date!”

Of course this isn’t for anyone, but we can certainly all agree, and happily, that this is onboarding a lot of new fans into collecting what they enjoy while having some fun doing it, and that is a 100% SuperPower!”

Either way, this isn’t some crypto nerd or tech geek speaking. I’m certainly not telling anyone what to do, what to collect or what to enjoy. Do your own homework, collect what you love and damn, don’t even bother reading further or doing anything really, if it ain’t your thing!

I’m simply writing this as a 40+ Marvel year fan, open to the IDEA.

I’ve had abusive comments, I’ve had mockery & negativity thrown at me, even coworkers and family have doubted my passion, yet I continue to participate for the simple reason that this is easy to do, and I love it.

In fact, I have never had so much fun collecting comics and their associated assets in my entire life.

I’ve connected with THOUSANDS of great people, have made HUNDREDS of fantastic new friends, been truly inspired by some of the incredible collections many people have amassed, and keep learning volumes of new things about a fandom I used to just scratch at the surface. So yeah, I guess I kind of like writing about it as a way to do something positive with all that energy!

Marvel re-opened that door for me after more than 20 years of a comic collecting absence. If they could do that for me, if they could do that for Denis, if they could do that for the thousands of people now actively buying & selling these assets in public marketplaces, maybe, just maybe, a few more of you might be interested in peeking inside too.

But only if you’re curious! :)

Thanks for Reading…