Silk may be a hot character, but her first appearance took a nosedive in the Hottest Comics rankings this week. Which issues followed that downward trend? Time to look at some of the coldest comics. This is a weekly update, so check out last week's here.

THE NOT TOP FIVE

Amazing Spider-Man #4 has been a hot issue for about two years now after Sony announced a Silk movie was in the works. Inevitably, that meant a spike for Cindy Moon’s 2014 first appearance. Prices have been out of control off and on since then, and that is likely the reason for the issue’s mighty plunge. Now this former top-10 seller is in danger of falling outside the top 400. 

The big question is, why? The fair market values may hold the answer.

388. AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #4 (-381)

Last week, this comic ranked seventh in overall sales, and it had been a staple of the top 20 before then. Suddenly, it fell close to 400 spots. When you look at the current values, you can see where it would. The standard cover graded at a 9.8 has been a $267 comic for the past 90 days, and one already set a new record high with a $397 sale earlier this year. Prices like that could be limiting this issue’s potential, at least for one week. That being said, ASM #4 won’t stay down for long, and I expect it to rebound by next Wednesday.

 

 

 

 

959. FANTASTIC FOUR #48 (-814)

Is it not fascinating when two key issues for the same character have polar opposite sales figures? 

On one hand, Silver Surfer #1 is one of the five biggest movers of the past week. On the opposite end of the spectrum, there is the Surfer’s first appearance in FF #48. This is not necessarily unusual. When it comes to holy grail issues, their sales data tends to have a wave effect. Like ASM #4, it all comes down to price. 

Even the lowest grade of FF #48, an incomplete 0.5, sold this year was still $440. When an issue is this expensive, this tends to be the case for most Silver and Golden Age comics, and it is why the bottom of the rankings are filled with issues from the 1950s and 1960s. It isn’t that they are not popular comics; they are just too expensive to consistently stay at the top of the sales charts.

930. AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #25 (-787)

Despite it losing so many positions in the past week, this is a great issue to have in your collection. Then again, Silver Age ASM comics are always a solid investment. This issue is a good one in particular because it features the first cameo appearance of Mary Jane Watson as well as the debut of Spencer Smythe and the Spider-Slayers. There is some speculation that Smythe will be a villain in the next installment of Spider-Man: Homecoming, which could turn this issue’s fortunes around.

The low grades could help ASM #25 rebound. Everything up to a 2.5 has been selling for less than $100 this year. Willing to invest a bit more? You can have as high as a 5.5 for about $200.

 

502. STRANGE ACADEMY #1 THIRD PRINT (-368)

When a new comic’s claim to fame is a first appearance of an unproven character, it tends to be a roller coaster of an investment. In the case of Strange Academy, there were six debuts. That explains why Strange Academy #1 went to four printings. 

Why are these first appearance issues a roller coaster? There is so much competition for investment dollars. Between Marvel and DC, the publishers roll out new characters like an assembly line. One issue will jump to the top of the rankings only to be replaced by the next comic du jour. What keeps an issue high regard depends on how the character is positioned overall and if there are any live-action rumors. At the moment, not much is happening with the six characters who premiered in Strange Academy #1, and that has helped these comics to plateau. Still, for $40 for this particular third print, it is worth the investment.

392. SPIDER-GWEN #1 (-363)

The alternate dimension Gwen Stacey was not popular among collectors this week. At least the first issue of her solo series, that is. What is interesting, however, is that while the first print lost nearly 400 spots, the third print of Spider-Gwen #1 was only one position behind after jumping 606 positions as of the time of this writing.

With fair market values on the way up for the standard edition, I anticipate this comic will rebound. It has a 90-day FMV of $71, which is up $10 from its 2019 average. 

CLOSING THOUGHTS

None of these five comics will stay down for long, but ASM #4 has the best chance to recoup after a bad week.