Modern vs Golden/Silver posted by mikelutes

[CSJournals-migration]

Will comics like Walking Dead and Chew hold their value?

 

I am just curious what any of you think about modern comics and what kind of staying power their value will have over the years. I am not asking, of course, if modern comics will be worth more then golden/silver age comics someday, just if they will ever be comparable. Like two modern comics that really stick out in my head is Walking Dead and Chew, and right now they both are pretty hot and the 1st issue of each is worth quite the pretty penny, but I am just curious if you think that these will hold their value as well as golden/silver age comics have and if you think they will continue to grow in value.

 

See more journals by mikelutes

[AmazingSaul]

That depends on the interest. Are zombies always going to be popular? Think of it this way...Spiderman is for almost everyone. People just love spiderman children know of spiderman and Batman usually because parents are okay with it...they probably don't know about walking dead because its not for.children. Walking dead is great among adult collectors. It will increase in price but probably really slowly. But that all depends on the supply of the comic and the interest. I am 100% sure there are more walking deads #1 than AF15s in the highest grades. So yes its a small long term investment. This is just my opinion ofcourse....

[SREW]

My impression is that most releases after about 1979 will always be less valuable than earlier books because that's when people realized there was money to be made collecting books and the hording of mint copies began. Ever since it's become routine to put away comics in bags and while a few very significant series with low early print runs might become valuable (e.g. Bone #1), most will get diluted by sheer numbers available once a book is known to be in demand. Then again, Hulk #181 is a good example of a book that is in pretty plentiful supply but still has a high price because the demand is so high - however, while Wolverine has turned out to be a lasting character (37+ years), it's hard to say if people will be equally excited about Chew in 2048.

[TheLiamSturgess]

I think Modern issues in general won't hold their original value for a long time. There will still be a value to these, but not hundreds, IMO.

 

I think modern books like ASM #36 will keep their value because of their significance. While no one enjoyed 9/11, I'm sure everyone will agree that it impacted the world in one way or another. This, I'd say, gives it reason to keep it's value as an important piece of history.

[Triskelion]

Great food for rumination. Would be interesting to see if Walking Dead can indeed sustain its current hot value. From a scarcity perspective and as Babington alluded to, on the one hand its a modern - tends to be more prone to hoarding than earlier books. On the other hand, I heard issue no. 1 in particular only had a run of 3,000 copies (way lower than the average golden/silver age book, and also moderns from Marvel etc). There's a current Ebay listing for a 9.8 @ $1,200, and a 9.9 @ $3,000 (also a 2011 reprint -Walking Dead weekly- for, well, $34.95!)

 

I imagine a factor would be the mileage the series gets from the TV series also. My wife and kids are into it, but given the adult nature of the comic series I dont see any of them getting interested in reading, until perhaps my kids grow up and the series is still around. That said, my sense is the value of comics in general is driven up to a large extent by adult readers who now have the financial flexibility to relive their childhood comics fascination and begin collecting high grade slabs, and my hypothesis would be that assuming more folks get into actually reading Walking Dead (the trades/hardcovers are helpful, I personally peruse these more often nowadays rather than raw issues incl for Walking Dead), and with the exception of the more maintsream keys such as Action Comics #1 and Amazing Fantasy #15, the price gap between golden/silver age and the (current) modern age books would narrow a bit in the years to come.

 

 

 

[SREW]

Another way of looking at this is to see it as a somewhat unpredictable process - you need a comic with some significance, a first issue for example, and then over a long time a consensus will form about whether that book is collectible or not - but this process is erratic and the mood can change radically at a given time. I notice that this year everything is working for Green Lantern 76 - it was already desirable, but now there's a movie, and perhaps more important, bronze collecting is on the up and a lot of people seem to have decided that GL76 is the bronze equivalent to Showcase #22 - that is, an "age starter". As far as I know they didn't even talk about a bronze age of comics when GL76 appeared on the stands, so who could have predicted this significance? Retrospective importance is just as powerful and is probably much more powerful a factor in determining value than anything claimed for a comic at the time of its release. Perhaps Walking Dead #1 will be considered an "age-starter" one day if the trend towards horror continues to grow, but of course it's hard to say. How these kinds of issues turn out will greatly affect the value of the book.

[Holku]

I think it depends on why the comic has value currently. Walking Dead is not only ground breaking and well loved but also very short printed in the early issues. Today's comics in general do not over-print so if an issue isn't an over-marketed comic then orders are on par with reading demand (as opposed to after-market demand added in).

 

Something like NYX #3 will hold its value as long as X-23 is relevant because as generations go by there will be new fans that want that book. Walking Dead follows that same formula. This is why the 1st appearance of Moon Knight seems to grow in value when a new series is released (and dips when it's then canceled).

 

On the one hand, comic books are always only getting older. On the other, the more people that get their copy of the issue the fewer that will want one.

 

New Mutants #98 is the book I worry about. It's holding its value right now because he's so popular, but there are so many issues of that comic and so many are getting high grades that even if it grows over the long haul it's going to crash first when all of the current fans that want the issue get it in their desired grade. I think deadpool is going to be kept relevant by Marvel due to his popularity, but the value won't be helped when they have to cancel a few of his titles in the next year that aren't selling very well.

 

 

[TommyVercettiGTA]

Personally I feel that modern age books have more ups and downs than Silver/Golden Age book. Think of a few years ago the pricing on Ultimate Spider-Man 1 and 5 graded by CGC as compared to today. Also, with modern age books we will get a steady stream (even if only 3000-5000 copies are pirnted) of 9.0 and higher books as compared to Superman #1 which had over 5 million copies printed, but how many exist now even in 7.0 and higher? Overall the silver/golden age books have already aged and the demand is there, while the supply will get even lower as collectors hoard them.

[Mayor006]

Another aspect you should take into consideration is collector vs. flipper. Someone collecting is going to go after books that have an emotional tie to them, a flipper is only going to go after something they think will increase in value. Sometimes those are one in the same but not always.