AKA... Predicting the Next Big Comic Book Investment!

AKA... Gold Fever: Mining Robert Kirkman on the Yukon Trail!With the phenomenal success of AMC's The Walking Dead, and after the incredible price haul a CGC 9.9 of The Walking Dead #1 recently commanded, $10,000.00, I asked myself, what will be the next big thing? What will be the next comic book gem waiting for investment heaven?We all know the Mad Titan, Thanos is burning hot due to the Avenger 2 movie to be released in 2015. As for Iron Man 55, Thanos' first appearance... The Rent Is Just Too Damn High!!! But Warlock #10, Thanos' origin is still affordable. We also know The Winter Soldier will follow suit in Captain America 2. But who could afford Bucky's first Golden Age appearance? Uncle Sam I need help!The Mandarin... Iron Man's onetime arch-nemesis from Tales of Suspense 50... That ship has sailed Iron Man 3 to be released next year. The movie looks pretty good though... I can't wait!Star-Lord, Nova, Rocket Raccoon from Guardians of the Galaxy? Honestly, why would Marvel/ Disney invest a boatload of money on a bunch of nobodies? But, based on Marvel's announcement at San Diego Comic Con of a planned movie, prices for their keys are on course for interstellar overdrive! Bye-Bye! To be all honest, I'm not really interested in these space flakes anyway. Black Panther... here's another awesome Marvel Character. T'Challa made his first appearance in Fantastic Four #52, but that comic was hot before all the movie talks. However, there is a minor key that is available, which features the first meeting between a teenage T'Challa and his future bride, Ororo Munroe, aka Storm, who saves his in Marvel Team-Up #100. This story was later retconned and re-told in reverse order showing T'Challa as the savior. F*cking confusing and bogus! I guess you can't have a women save a man's ? Gimme a break! Any hoot... see the BP movie buzz: http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/23299/stan-lee-doctor-strange-and-black-panther-movies-in-developmentWhat about Doctor Strange? The Internet is abuzz about a green lit movie to star Viggo Mortensen and a possible appearance in Thor 2: The Dark World... which would be fantastic! If it pans out, the Master of the Mystic Arts keys will bake... but his first appearance in Strange Tales 110, his Origin in ST 115, or his first ongoing title and retelling of his origin as seen in Doctor Strange 169 are already expensive... so no thanks. Check out the buzz: http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/09/08/rumors-claim-doctor-strange-may-be-in-thor-the-dark-world Speaking of Thor... What about Malekith the Accursed? His first appearance is still affordable from Thor 344. But I'm getting the sense no one seems to care about Malekith, nor for the Thor 2 movie. Sorry goldilocks! Nonetheless I'm anxiously waiting for my copy, which I bought back in the day, to free itself from CGC's Verified prison.What about Swamp Thing, John Constantine, Phantom Stranger, The Demon, Deadman, Zatanna? Internet chatter and rumors abound about Guillermo Del Toro's interest in a Justice League Dark movie may make these secondary occult heroes hot, but what are the chances of a movie coming into fruition? Warner Brothers and DC have got a lot of other heroes to mine first: JLA, Flash, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern sequel, Man of Steel franchise... so if it ever happens I'm sure it's still years away. But nonetheless, check out the buzz: http://geek-news.mtv.com/2012/11/08/guillermo-del-toro-justice-league-dark-movie/ Keys for the bunch are somewhat affordable, but for how long?X-Men? It was announced, the next movie will be based on the "Days of Future Passed" storyline from Uncanny X-Men 141 and 142. How faithful an adaptation? I don't know... sounds like 20 Century Fox is trying to play fix it with continuity. But even before the latest announcement, I sent my copy of 142 to CGC... but it is also floating in CGC's verified limbo. UXM's 141 and 142 are affordable... and even if the movie didn't happen, they're investment worthy as a historical key in X-Men's already mythic run. Check out the movie chatter: http://insidemovies.ew.com/2012/12/19/hugh-jackman-x-men-days-future-past/ Well, I can endlessly rant about other movie projects on the Hollywood pipeline, but instead I'm going to jump ahead and tell you what I did... I made a bold and calculated move based on absolutely no recent gossip, no recent rumors, no recent confirmed reports, no nothing... just my logic and speculative reasoning. I asked myself... now that Robert Kirkman is a smoking hot Hollywood Commodity, where would the Studios possibly mine for another Kirkman Gem? He's got a number of wonderful comic creations under his belt but his best known work outside of The Walking Dead has to be Invincible. Apparently, back in March 2005, Variety Magazine reported Paramount Picture's bought the movie rights to make an Invincible film franchise (no relation to the 2006 Mark Wahlberg football movie of the same name). So far, nothing else has come out of that movie camp, but I say knowing how long these things take, one has to have patience... it's just a matter of time. So I decided to make a move before things get hot and I got me a CGC 9.8 of Savage Dragon 102, which features Invincible's first appearance in a 5-page preview, which predates Tech Jacket #1, and Invincible #1... and as an added bonus... signed by the man himself!Right now, Savage Dragon 102 is very affordable, with ungraded copies aplenty, available at dirt cheap prices! Troll the internet or go to your local comic book specialty shop, and you'll find them. On the other hand, prices for Invincible #1 remain rather high... more than likely due to the popularity of the character and its creator... I doubt any movies rumors have had any significant impact as of yet. Also to note, CGC Census lists that only a total of four (4) Savage 102 copies have been graded, the same can be said of Tech Jacket #1... incredibly low numbers for a 10 year old comic book and as compared to the 255 total copies graded for Invincible #1 and 105 total copies for Invincible #1's limited edition variant. So what do you guys think? Smart move? Dumb move? Or am I just an insufficiently_thoughtful_person for not keeping this a secret? Maybe I should buy every copy in an effort to corner the market on it and keep it all to myself. Muh Ha Ha Ha Ha! Damn!... Just hit the Save Entry button! Too late! There it goes out into the ethos.Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all!To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.