Between the Eternals first look and some big-time casting announcements, this was a crazy week for Hollywood news impacting the comics market. We've got a lot to cover, so let's dive in.
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This Week in Comic Collecting: Hollywood Announcements Galore
Eternals Teaser Drops
There are still huge ROI opportunities if you are interested in investing in the Eternals film. Issue #11 is the first appearance of Kibgo, who will be played by the extremely popular actor Kumail Nanjiani. He is seen front and center in teaser shots as well as on promotional art. This tells me his character will be at the forefront of the Eternals saga and makes me increasingly interested in #11's potential, especially since the issue underperforms compared to other Eternals keys. Dealers are charging $500 for 9.6 copies and just under $1000 for 9.8.
The issue that stands out to me is issue #3 . This issue boasts the first appearance of Sersi. Sersi is a main female lead in the Eternals team and will be played by Gemma Chan. I am particularly interested in this issue because, in the comics, Sersi is the love interest of The Black Knight, whom we know is going to be portrayed by Kit Harrington. The Black Knight and Sersi are Avengers members and part of some of the biggest comic events of the 80s and 90s. There is a huge price difference with #3s slabbed copies as a 9.6 trades for around $550 while a 9.8 will run you at least $1,300. I like this book long term in any condition.
Todd Phillips Returns to Deliver Joker 2
Having said that, I am extremely bullish on the opportunity surrounding the Clown Prince of Gotham. Between the Joker sequel, The Batman with Robert Pattinson, and rumors about an Affleck vs Leto future film, I feel like The Joker will remain one of the most prominent villains in comics lore and in pop culture as a whole. Joker #1 from 1975 features Joker's first solo title and is criminally underpriced in my opinion. 9.6 copies can be had for $600-700 and a 9.8 will run you about $1500-1800. I just don't see Joker going anywhere for a long time and a play on the Joker seems like a play on the comic market as a whole, or at the very least DC Comics.
Sandman Full Cast Revealed For The Upcoming DC Comics x Netflix Series
While this news reinvigorated sales of classic Issues like #1 and #8 (first appearance of Death), what was interesting was seeing all of the minor keys that now came into play due to more roles being revealed via the casting announcement. Sandman is one of those properties that has a legit chance to break out and be popular with a wider mainstream audience than traditional comics from the Big 2, all while having the ability to feature and cross over with characters people are familiar with like Swamp Thing and Constantine.
Is Wytches Coming To TV?
Kraven Is Here
This is a character that was rumored to be played by a slew of A list actors including Keanu Reeves, but don't sleep on A.T.J. Aaron Taylor Johnson is no rookie to comic book films, having played both Quicksilver in Avengers: Age of Ultron and Image Comic's Kick Ass as the titular character in that feature and its sequel. Kraven first appears in Amazing Spider Man #15, which is an absolute Silver Age Key. To give an idea of the heat behind this key, an .5 (that's right, an .5, as in below a 1.0), from CBCS sold for over $500. A 3.0 in this book can run you upwards of $2000. This has a lot of people turning to 80s Kraven's Hunt cross over series as a potential alternative investment in Kraven rather than the largely out of reach first appearance.
Well that was one action packed week in comics! Hollywood went heavy this week as a return to normalcy in how we live means a return to theaters and film production. I expect to see more weeks like this where the news is fast and plentiful. I will be right here with the team at ONE37pm to break it all down for you as the comic market continues to grow. Are you jumping on board yet?