Discussions about whether Captain Britain will or will not appear in Marvel movies began to heat up the other week. Some people commented how, now that Henry Cavill is free of his Superman duties, that British actor should play Captain Marvel in an MCU movie. I think that’s a bad idea, but it will not be the topic of the current post. I’ve already speculated about the good Captain (here); one rumor that is worth investigating in connection to CB is how Marvel may decide to include the Black Knight in a Captain Britain film.
The Black Knight is one of those characters that has been around for a while and appeared in comics in various incarnations. In what follows, I will try to list all the significant Black Knight appearances I can think of in case his appearance leads to rampant speculation on his key comics.
Featuring Mordred and Morgan le Fay, the first version of the Black Knight is Sir Percy who is also Mordred’s nephew. The Black Knight #1 is the earliest significant comic appearance of the character. “The Menace of Modred the Evil!” is the title of the story featured in his first self-titled Atlas publication. Straight out of Arthurian romance and the ‘knights of the round table,’ we have this modern take on medieval sword and sorcery. With only 28 of these on the CGC census and after 17 sales in the last ten years, this scarce comic is worth seeking out. The last high grade sales were an 8.5 (in February of 2008) that sold for $2,151.00 at a Heritage Auction and two 7.0 sales (in November 29, 2015 and October 10, 2002), also from Heritage, which sold for $776.75 and $322.00 respectively. That means the comic currently has a positive + 141.2% return on investment in sales of 7.0 graded copies. Not bad at all.
Tales to Astonish #52 (February 1964) – First Appearance of Nathan Garret, the second Black Knight
Here is the first Marvel Comics appearance of the Black Knight, but it’s not Sir Percy, this is the second Black Knight and Giant Man villain Nathan Garret. In this story we are told Garret’s origin as the villainous Black Knight. Starting out as a Communist agitator (ah, the bygone days of the cold war), Garret is arrested by Hank Pym and then is liberated by his fellow communists and takes refuge in a remote Balkan kingdom. While there, he finds a statue of a winged horse and that somehow inspires him to buy a castle and genetically engineer his own Pegasus. Going back to America on his flying horse, he then tries to rob a helicopter and is once again foiled in his attempt by Giant Man. This is a surprisingly vibrant comic in terms of sales activity. 87 sales in the past five years without any help from a movie or TV appearance. But there are still only 205 copies of this on the CGC census. Best returns have been on 5.5 graded copies at positive + 68.8% return on investment in the last three years and 8.0 at positive + 66.7% after 3 sales over the last eleven years. An 8.0 graded copy currently has a fair market value of $180.00. That may change if the Black Knight appears in a Marvel movie.
Avengers #48 (December 1967) – Dane Whitman becomes the Third Black Knight
Now we arrive at the best contender for a Marvel cinematic Black Knight. This is chronologically the third character to take on the mantle of Black Knight but the first and definitive heroic Marvel comics version: Dane Whitman. Although this is the first full appearance of the Black Knight III, Whitman’s first appearance is in Avengers #47 and the Second (evil) Black Knight appeared in Avengers #6. It is Whitman who will later join the Avengers and that is the reason this comic is worth $925.00 in 9.8 graded form. Best returns have been on 9.2 graded copies at positive (+95.7%) return on investment over 18 sales since 2005.
Marvel Super-Heroes #17 (November 1968) – Origin of first Black Knight (Sir Percy)
Coming back full circle to where we started, but this time under the Marvel logo is the first Black Knight who has his origin retold by Roy Thomas in this 1968 comic book. Not as popular as the Avengers #48, or the first appearance of Dane Whitman, this comic nonetheless is a Black Knight key explaining how Sir Percy of Scandia, the original Black Knight, is related to Whitman. Basically Marvel here takes the Atlas Arthurian version of the character and ret cons him to fit into the Marvel Universe. If the Black Knight appears in any kind of Marvel film, I expect this comic will immediately be noticed and sought out. Currently a 9.4 graded copy for around $100.00 and a 9.6 copy for around $400.00 up + 52.1% over the last seven years.
