There are comics that are more expensive than others, even if they are from the same hero. For instance, Batman vs Alien (first print) is cheaper than Batman vs Predator (First print too). why?
8 Comments
age, quality, quantity in the world, popularity when it was new.
There are dozens of different reasons for that to happen; the main one is demand.
In the example you wrote, the reason is because of demand, the writer and the artist (and in some measure because the Predator one had better reviews)
Certain comics will increase in value due to various reasons. The main reason is how rare the comic is compared to the number of people that are looking for it (also known as supply and demand). Since the 1980s, the comic industry has been producing an overabundance of comics making most of them relatively worthless (usually you can sell them for cover price at best). The few issues that do end up being worth lots of money nowadays are “key issues.”
Key issues usually have some significant event that causes a drastic change, first appearance of a popular character, death of a popular character, etc. Other reasons that some comics have more demand is because of certain storylines that get great reviews or when a high profile artist/writer takes over a new series. Pretty much something that causes an issue to unexpectedly sell out.
I don’t really know very much about DC key issues, but I can give you some examples from Marvel. Wolverine #145 is the issue where Wolverine gets his adamantium back. Around the same time, Marvel Comics went bankrupt so they had to drastically cut back on the number of comics that they produced (I think the figures were nearly half of what they were previously producing). As a result, the comic started getting a higher demand (along with issue #146) and they’ve gained a fair amount of value. Issue #145 had a little known variant cover that you could send away for from Nabisco that hardly anybody sent away for (I think they ended up destroying all but around 5,000 issues). Anyways, once comics started becoming popular again, the variant cover was so rare and in demand that it was selling on Ebay for upwards of $1200. I watched the prices on it for about 2 years before it started bottoming out around $200 an issue when the demand finally went away.
And then there was Captain America #25 when the original Captain America was killed. It received a lot of attention on the news just like the Death of Superman issue, and it ended up selling out just about everywhere on the day it was released. It was selling for $25 or so on Ebay and I remember that the Death of Superman was going for over $100 when it first came out. I’m not sure if the Captain America issue went down in price or not, but the Superman one dropped like a rock after his return since fans realized that he was not really dead (and all of a sudden there were an overabundance of them on the market).
As for the difference between values for Batman vs Alien and Batman vs Predator. It looks like BvA came out in the early 90s while BvP came out in 1997 (depending on which series you’re referring to). The early 90s were when comics were being overproduced and there really aren’t very many issues that can’t be found in a dollar bin at any comic book store. Around 1996 is when the comic industry lost a lot of its business and I think roughly 80% of comic book stores ended up going out of business because they couldn’t make any money. So the comics around that time up until 2002-2003 are harder to find and more valuable.
So in summary, comics pretty much just follow supply and demand and there is no real way to know when and if a certain issue will be worth anything.
Comment by BreakDanceFighter — November 14, 2009 @ 11:00 pm
a lot of factors.
A) what happens in the issue- if something happens in the issue that people want to see or if it changes the statue quo of the character
B) first appearances- first appearances of characters go for more money they regular issues
C) death’s- if a character dies in an issue it sometimes goes up
D) age- the old a comic is the more valuble it becomes.
Comics go up and downa lot and really it is all based on popularity. it everyone wants the that same issue it becomes more valuble, but after time if everyone stops wanting it the price will drop
Age, artist, quality of story, rarity of the print.
WWII era books are valuable due to the use of paper drives and recycling which means few if anyone saved a copy
If an artist gains a reputation for daring work, or moves on to other media (Frank Miller), or comes in from another(Kevin Smith, Joss Whedon) their arcs would be worth more that an average joe artist. Tim Bradstreet has an almost photo-realistic quality to his work, so he is held as an example and his stuff would sell better than another guy who’s just as skilled but perhaps more abstract, or ‘comic-book-like’.
in your example, perhaps one is a standard cross over arc, while the other coincided with a film release, and would then have been over printed.
The Crisis arcs in DC, or the Death of Superman are examples of ‘landmarks’ in canon, so they would be expected to be worth more, but then that value may be offset by their overprinting and speculation by people expecting them to be worth more, then stocking up, only to devalue them in the process
Comment by janssen411 — November 17, 2009 @ 2:48 pm
Are you talking about list price or what it’s worth? Pricing of comics is mostly set by the publisher – they base their price on the cost to manufacture the comic, and the anticipated demand of the comic.
If you are talking about net worth, you can count on rarity and condition to greatly affect the price.
Hope my answer helps,
-BatmanDeadEndDvd.com
Comment by BatmanDeadEndDVD.com — November 19, 2009 @ 7:59 am
Most importantly, first appearance of new character who goes on to bigger things.
Secondly, first appearance of writer or artist who goes on to big things.
age, quality, quantity in the world, popularity when it was new.
Comment by Greed — November 11, 2009 @ 1:36 am
if it is old or if it is issue one.
and if less people have it
if it is a comic that alot of people like then it is worth alot too
Comment by brett c — November 11, 2009 @ 3:37 am
There are dozens of different reasons for that to happen; the main one is demand.
In the example you wrote, the reason is because of demand, the writer and the artist (and in some measure because the Predator one had better reviews)
Comment by Frost — November 13, 2009 @ 8:15 pm
Certain comics will increase in value due to various reasons. The main reason is how rare the comic is compared to the number of people that are looking for it (also known as supply and demand). Since the 1980s, the comic industry has been producing an overabundance of comics making most of them relatively worthless (usually you can sell them for cover price at best). The few issues that do end up being worth lots of money nowadays are “key issues.”
Key issues usually have some significant event that causes a drastic change, first appearance of a popular character, death of a popular character, etc. Other reasons that some comics have more demand is because of certain storylines that get great reviews or when a high profile artist/writer takes over a new series. Pretty much something that causes an issue to unexpectedly sell out.
I don’t really know very much about DC key issues, but I can give you some examples from Marvel. Wolverine #145 is the issue where Wolverine gets his adamantium back. Around the same time, Marvel Comics went bankrupt so they had to drastically cut back on the number of comics that they produced (I think the figures were nearly half of what they were previously producing). As a result, the comic started getting a higher demand (along with issue #146) and they’ve gained a fair amount of value. Issue #145 had a little known variant cover that you could send away for from Nabisco that hardly anybody sent away for (I think they ended up destroying all but around 5,000 issues). Anyways, once comics started becoming popular again, the variant cover was so rare and in demand that it was selling on Ebay for upwards of $1200. I watched the prices on it for about 2 years before it started bottoming out around $200 an issue when the demand finally went away.
And then there was Captain America #25 when the original Captain America was killed. It received a lot of attention on the news just like the Death of Superman issue, and it ended up selling out just about everywhere on the day it was released. It was selling for $25 or so on Ebay and I remember that the Death of Superman was going for over $100 when it first came out. I’m not sure if the Captain America issue went down in price or not, but the Superman one dropped like a rock after his return since fans realized that he was not really dead (and all of a sudden there were an overabundance of them on the market).
As for the difference between values for Batman vs Alien and Batman vs Predator. It looks like BvA came out in the early 90s while BvP came out in 1997 (depending on which series you’re referring to). The early 90s were when comics were being overproduced and there really aren’t very many issues that can’t be found in a dollar bin at any comic book store. Around 1996 is when the comic industry lost a lot of its business and I think roughly 80% of comic book stores ended up going out of business because they couldn’t make any money. So the comics around that time up until 2002-2003 are harder to find and more valuable.
So in summary, comics pretty much just follow supply and demand and there is no real way to know when and if a certain issue will be worth anything.
Comment by BreakDanceFighter — November 14, 2009 @ 11:00 pm
a lot of factors.
A) what happens in the issue- if something happens in the issue that people want to see or if it changes the statue quo of the character
B) first appearances- first appearances of characters go for more money they regular issues
C) death’s- if a character dies in an issue it sometimes goes up
D) age- the old a comic is the more valuble it becomes.
Comics go up and downa lot and really it is all based on popularity. it everyone wants the that same issue it becomes more valuble, but after time if everyone stops wanting it the price will drop
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Comment by dutch — November 17, 2009 @ 10:25 am
Age, artist, quality of story, rarity of the print.
WWII era books are valuable due to the use of paper drives and recycling which means few if anyone saved a copy
If an artist gains a reputation for daring work, or moves on to other media (Frank Miller), or comes in from another(Kevin Smith, Joss Whedon) their arcs would be worth more that an average joe artist. Tim Bradstreet has an almost photo-realistic quality to his work, so he is held as an example and his stuff would sell better than another guy who’s just as skilled but perhaps more abstract, or ‘comic-book-like’.
in your example, perhaps one is a standard cross over arc, while the other coincided with a film release, and would then have been over printed.
The Crisis arcs in DC, or the Death of Superman are examples of ‘landmarks’ in canon, so they would be expected to be worth more, but then that value may be offset by their overprinting and speculation by people expecting them to be worth more, then stocking up, only to devalue them in the process
Comment by janssen411 — November 17, 2009 @ 2:48 pm
Are you talking about list price or what it’s worth? Pricing of comics is mostly set by the publisher – they base their price on the cost to manufacture the comic, and the anticipated demand of the comic.
If you are talking about net worth, you can count on rarity and condition to greatly affect the price.
Hope my answer helps,
-BatmanDeadEndDvd.com
Comment by BatmanDeadEndDVD.com — November 19, 2009 @ 7:59 am
Most importantly, first appearance of new character who goes on to bigger things.
Secondly, first appearance of writer or artist who goes on to big things.
Comment by James F — November 21, 2009 @ 6:58 am