Even though it doesn't include the first appearance of any character, values have been rising for Punisher #218 -- a Modern Age key where we see, for the first time, the Punisher don the War Machine armor.
MCU speculation regarding Punisher #218 first began way back in 2019 when Kevin Feige announced an Armor Wars Disney+ TV show. The proposed show would allegedly focus on what would happen if Tony Stark's armor "fell into the wrong hands." After that statement, some speculated the Punisher would acquire the armor and become Punisher War Machine.
With Armor Wars now now stuck in development hell, another rumor about Punisher War Machine began when a rumor spread that the Punisher will receive a "major upgrade" in the upcoming Spider-Man: Brand New Day film. That may make sense since the Hulk is also set to appear in the film. Since many believe the upgrade will include the War Machine armor, demand for Punisher #218 has once again gone through the roof.
We're seeing that demand impact the value for Cover A. The value of this issue has been steadily increasing recently with the 30-day average of $199 exceeding both the 90-day average ($188) and the one-year average ($166).
This CGC 9.8 below, for example, sold for $199 on August 10th which is about 2.5x higher than another 9.8 that sold for just $81 on May 11th:
This increase in value is especially significant when you consider that the comic book market has been mired in a long-running bear market. At the same time, this bump up during the past year doesn't come anywhere close to what this book sold for during the "comic boom" when it reached an all-time high of $595.
In addition to Cover A, there are also six variants of this issue including two variants that pay homage to Iron Man #282, the iconic cover that features the debut of the War Machine armor. One of those variants is a so-called "lenticular" cover that switches back and forth from the War Machine armor from Iron Man #282 and the Punisher War Machine armor. Although not nearly as valuable as Cover A, the Lenticular variant did recently break into GoCollect's Hottest Modern Age Comics list for the first time appearing at No. 90.
One variant to pay close attention to is the TV variant that features Jon Bernthal on its cover (the actor who portrays the Punisher in the MCU and will appear in Brand New Day). He's not wearing the War Machine armor though. The last 9.8 for this variant sold for $425 on August 13th which is well above the 90-day average of $367:
The crown jewel among these variants could be this 9.8 yellow label of the TV variant that has Bernthal's signature and a simple sketch -- it sold on June 21 for a whopping $1,750:
