X-Men '97 exerted its dominance over the secondary market, decisively owning the eBay sales charts.
There was so much excitement for the X-Men that there was hardly room for any other comics in the sales rankings. The 10-day Hottest Comics index was covered in X-keys, and understandably so. After all, X-Men '97 has been a massive hit with audiences, whether from the comic fandom or the mainstream.
It would seem that Cable has officially joined the team in X-Men '97. After being teased for a few episodes, the time-traveling mutant joined the fray in full in recent weeks. That gave him a jolt in popularity, which trickled into the comic book collecting circles. In turn, it's given a huge boost to his first cover and first full appearance (he had a cameo the previous issue) in NM #87. If Josh Brolin reprises his live-action role as Nathan Summers for Deadpool & Wolverine, then we could see this issue reaching new heights.
Fans of 1990s X-Men comics were hoping to see this moment on the screen, and X-Men '97 delivered. First we got to see Wolverine get his chance to stab Magneto and deliver a great action-movie star line. Then the classic villain got his revenge and ripped the adamantium from Wolverine's skeleton like it happened in X-Men #25. Hopefully this won't lead to the comics' follow-up story with Logan rocking a bandana and turning into an actual wolverine.
If you're going to buy X-Men #25, then you might as well put Wolverine #75 next on your shopping list. This has become the more famous issue between the two, mostly thanks to the awesome Adam Kubert cover art. As far as the story, this is where Wolverine discovers that his claws weren't created by the Weapon X program after all. Without the adamantium, Logan finds the claws are made of bone, meaning they are part of his mutant abilities. No doubt, we will see that play out in X-Men '97.
In a week dominated by X-Men titles, the Silver Surfer was still feeling the community's love. Silver Surfer #1 continued to work its magic in the Hottest Comics, and the Galactus Trilogy followed in kind. Here we have what has become a much more appreciated key issue in recent years. With the booming values for FF #48, buyers turned their attention toward FF #49. It's a great addition to any Silver Surfer or Galactus collection, given that it marks both characters' first cover appearances as well as Galactus' first full appearance.
Those X-keys stole the spotlight from virtually every other title this week, but Batman still had a presence in the Hottest Comics. More specifically, it was Damian Wayne who stepped into the action. EBayers pounced on Damian's first canonical appearance when James Gunn initially confirmed he would be part of Batman: The Brave and the Bold. Since there's been no major announcements on that front in over a year, buyers cooled on Batman #655. However, seeing it inch into the top 100 once again could signal a change is coming.
