Superman is back.
James Gunn and DC released the official teaser trailer for Superman on December 19th. With over 42M views, the teaser is one of the most viewed trailers in Warner Bros history and the film itself may be most highly anticipated movie of 2025.
After the fits and starts of the Snyderverse era of DC films (and most were misfires), many comic book fans, including myself, are hoping James Gunn nails this iteration of Superman and ushers in a decade of great superhero films. And Superman desperately needs a great film adaption. Even though he is the oldest and most recognizable superhero, he has been eclipsed in popularity by Spider-Man, Batman, and arguably even Wolverine. And let's be honest -- we haven't seen a truly great Superman movie since Superman II from WAY back in 1980.
And no matter what some people say, movies do matter for comic book collecting. If they're good, they provide the best marketing for comic books. If Gunn is successful, he could initiate a new generation of comic book readers.
Let's take a look at three Superman related key issues from Golden, Silver, and Modern Age.
Adventure Comics #210 (1955): 1st Appearance of Krypto
Krypto is arguably the biggest surprise in the teaser trailer. While we knew he was coming because Gunn posted a photo of Krypto on X a few months ago, he has a starring role in the trailer when he saves a badly injured Superman in an Arctic location presumably near the Fortress of Solitude.
We didn't see too much movement on the secondary market for Krypto's first appearance in Adventure Comics #210 in terms of sales volume, but that's not surprising considering that graded copies of this late Golden Age comic published in 1955 are extremely rare; there are only 171 universal blue label copies on the CGC Census.
But for those few sales that we did see, we saw movement in terms of value. The one copy that sold on December 19th (the day the trailer was released) sold for $3,479.95 which is almost twice its FMV of $1,850 according to GoCollect.
As another example of rising prices for Adventure Comics #210, the next day, on December 20th, a CGC 5.5 sold for a record high of $7,995 on eBay:
As a point of comparison, near the tail end of the comic boom in 2022, when values of comics were overinflated, another 5.5 sold for $5,008. The December 20th sale represents a nearly 38% increase in value over a 30 month period. That's an excellent ROI considering the current state of the market.
Green Lantern #59 (1968): 1st Appearance of Guy Gardner
Guy Gardner (played by Nathan Fillion), the second human Green Lantern, also makes an appearance in the trailer, resplendent in his bowl cut glory. Gunn is clearly not shying away from comic book accuracy! There was quite a bit of movement for Gardner's first appearance in Green Lantern #59 immediately after the release of the teaser. Less than twelve hours after the release of the trailer, seven copies sold on eBay with a high sale of $750 for a CGC 8.5. That sale seems right on the money; the FMV of an 8.5 is $750 according to GoCollect.
The Spectre #54 (1997): 1st Appearance of Mr. Terrific
A lesser known character that appears to have a significant role in Superman is Mr. Terrific played by Michael Holt. We see him briefly protecting Lois Lane in the desert with his force field. Like Guy Gardner's first appearance, Mr. Terrific's first appearance in The Spectre #54 also saw quite a bit of movement on the secondary market with nine copies selling on eBay on December 19th with a high sale of $359.99 for a CGC 9.8. That's also roughly in line with the FMV of a 9.8 according to GoCollect ($375).
