Two comic book events took over the top ten lists this past week: the release of Venom: The Last Dance‘s final trailer and Marvel’s promotional partnership with Whatnot. The Venom trailer has created a massive boom in the aftermarket for a particular villain of darkness. While this new promotional sale has fans wondering about the future of comic books. Ironically, the outliers of this week’s Top Ten are The Outliers themselves! Scroll down to check out their first cover appearance!
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1: VENOM #3 – RYAN STEGMAN – REGULAR | MARVEL | JUNE 2018: Last week, Sony released their final trailer for Venom: The Last Dance. The trailer focused heavily on the intergalactic nature of the film and highlighted top-tier Marvel Comics villain – Knull. There has been an alleged rumor floating around that Marvel was aiming to make a grounded Spider-Man 4 movie and that Sony wanted a multiversal film, including Knull and Venom. With the trailer drop, the latter theory now has more reason to be believed. Kevin Feige came out and said, “When we said we wanted Spider-Man to be more grounded, we just didn’t tell you that ground was from an alien planet in another universe.” However, neither studio has confirmed whether the King in Black will play a role in any future movies. While we’re waiting for more news on Knull, take time to look through your back issue bins at your LCS, as this book has been steadily dropping in price these past few years. As with most Sony-related books, buyers beware. They have not had the best track record at keeping their movie-related keys at top value! We tracked it at a high sale of $280 for a CGC 9.8 copy and a current NM raw of $140.
2: X-MEN ’97 #1 – ROB LIEFELD – WHATNOT – SEALED COMIC TRADING PACK BLIND BAG | MARVEL | SEPTEMBER 2024: In case you were unaware, Marvel Comics partnered with Whatnot to launch their Marvel Comic Trading Packs. There were four pack designs, with three random X-MEN ’97 #1 variants in each one. The pack designs were collaborations with renowned Marvel artists Ariel Olivetti, Rob Liefeld, Salvador Larroca, and Stephen Segovia. Based on tracking of each sealed pack and individual issue sales, Liefeld’s sealed pack design had the most traffic. When this marketing concept was announced, the fan base was divided on whether this would be good for comic books. However, the sales clearly show that the tactic was a success. Not only were the blind bags selling at record speeds, but they immediately were also trending in the aftermarket as well. This promotional run was only offered to a select few in the Whatnot community, but time will tell whether Marvel Comics will decide to offer these blind bags to your local comic shops as well. We tracked it at a high sale of $200 for an NM copy and a current NM raw of $188. Keep in mind that we track each individual cover and sealed mystery pack separately. So, overall, the volume of sales is much higher. Liefeld’s blind-back cover definitely seemed to capture the demand amongst all offerings.
3: GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY #23 | MARVEL | JANUARY 2015: It is fair to say that the latest Venom: The Last Dance trailer would kick all related keys into high gear. This is an unexpected one to hit so high on the list: the first appearance of Klyntar (the symbiote planet). The trailer offers us a brief glimpse at Knull and his throne. Some fans speculate that this would be most of what we see of the symbiote planet, with the story mostly focusing on the invasion of Earth. While VENOM #3 has a larger buy-in, this book is an easier find and has a lower price, making it a top key to hunt down. We tracked it at a high sale of $100 for a CGC 9.8 copy and a current NM raw of $17.
4: VENOM #3 – RYAN STEGMAN – 3RD PRINT | MARVEL | JUNE 2018: While the first print of this issue is at the top of this list, don’t count out this third print! It may be lower on the list, but it is the 2nd most valuable reprint. The reason is that many believe it to be the first cover appearance of the God of Symbiotes. However, a less flattering first cover appearance occurs in the 2nd printing of VENOM #4, which was released before this issue. This issue is more attractive to collectors because the 3rd print had a low print run, making it that much harder to find. We tracked it at a high sale of $400 for a CGC 9.8 copy and a current NM raw of $165.
5: THOR: GOD OF THUNDER #6 – ESAD RIBIC – REGULAR | MARVEL | MARCH 2013: This book saw a significant bump when Thor: Love and Thunder announced Gorr the God Butcher as the main villain. After the lackluster reception of this film, this book took a nosedive and rarely makes an appearance. Aside from being the origin of Gorr, this book also harbors another key, a Knull cameo. This cameo is why we see this book trending on the aftermarket again. We tracked it at a high sale of $180 for a CGC 9.8 copy and a current NM raw of $57.
6: VENOM #4 | MARVEL | JULY 2018: By now, you’ll have an idea of where this list is going, and while Knull may not succeed in conquering Earth in Venom: The Last Dance, he certainly has conquered this Top Ten list! This book features the origins of Knull and the creation of Knowhere through the severing of a celestial head. In this issue, we see how Knull created his planet of symbiotes. We also get a nice full art page of Miles Morales punching Knull right on the jaw. This artwork is used for the second printing of this book and could be considered Knull’s first cover appearance. Regardless, this book tells a great origin story for the titular villain. We tracked it at a high sale of $72 for a CGC 9.8 copy and a current NM raw of $14.
7: VENOM #3 – MOLINA (1:25) | MARVEL | JUNE 2018: Fans of Jorge Molina and Venom are flooding the aftermarket to pick up this issue. This was the retailer incentive for VENOM #3 and it is now one of the harder variants to track down. The raw NM value of this book is nearly twice the amount of Cover A. It is likely this book could trend higher if it was easier to find and more affordable. For the time being, it looks like this book will be going to the avid comic book hunter who is willing to pay a decent price for a Venom key. We tracked it at a high sale of $385 for a CGC 9.8 copy and a current NM raw of $223.
8: VENOM #3 – SKAN – FRANKIE’S COMICS / GOLDEN APPLE COMICS | MARVEL | JUNE 2018: Another popular Venom artist is Skan, and his variant of Knull’s first appearance has been making aftermarket waves. This book was a collaborative store exclusive with Frankie’s Comics and Golden Apple Comics. The book also has a virgin variant version, but it seems that the trade copy is much easier to find. We tracked it at a high sale of $125 for a CGC 9.8 copy and a current NM raw of $63.
9: VENOM #3 – 2ND PRINT | MARVEL | JUNE 2018: All VENOM #3 books are currently hot commodities. While this book is lower on the list, it still has had a ton of sales growth in the past few days since the trailer debuted. Even though it is not the most popular reprint of issue #3, it still holds value for collectors of Knull. We tracked it at a high sale of $95 for a CGC 9.8 copy and a current NM raw of $51.
10: UNCANNY X-MEN #1 – DAVID MARQUEZ – 2ND PRINT (1:25) | MARVEL | SEPTEMBER 2024: While the X-Men seem to still be on the back burner over at the MCU, the comics have been releasing great content. In the latest release, UNCANNY X-MEN #1 introduced us to a new mutant team, The Outliers. In true comic book fashion, a request for help is misunderstood, and a battle ensues. Once the confusion is cleared, the X-Men will welcome the new super team. This second printing retailer incentive is the first cover appearance of that team. As we’ve seen in all these Knull keys, second prints and cover appearances are top-tier collector items! We tracked it at a high sale of $150 for an NM copy and a current NM raw of $132.
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