Do villain 1st appearances matter....

[Spyder!]

I response to the original question, ignoring the strong implication that movies are the only driving force behind comic book value...

 

Yes! Villain 1st appearances absolutely matter! Sure, hero firsts are significantly more valuable, but it's important to remember that there is no hero without the villain, no good without the evil, no victory without the struggle. Opposition is essential in the way we define "hero" so that the villains are often as much a part of the hero as anything else. Is Batman really Batman without the Joker? Is Superman the same with Luthor? Spidey without Green Goblin or Dr. Octopus? The X-Men without Magneto? In so many ways the heroes we all love are defined by the villains. So yes, they matter.

[Comic Consortium]

Who are we to determine who is good or bad? A villain to one is a hero to another. Just turn on the news for a real life example. If you like a character, then buy the first appearance.

[Ducky13]

I guess it depends who you ask. I feel a hero is only as good as the quality of their nemesis. Some of the best heroes have the best villians. There are multiple villians 1st appearances on my want list including Deathstroke, Sabretooth, including many out of my price range like Lex Luthor and Dr Doom.

[COI]

So...a characters desirability and value is only tied to movies??

 

No, of course not.

 

It's tied to pre-movie speculation only.

[HighStakesComics]

Journey Into Mystery 85 & 103 are reasonably priced considering how key they are within the Thor mythos. Plenty of villains out there with 1st apps worth buying.

[Santos208]

So your telling me that only movies drive up the value of comics?

 

 

Sure , people hype them up, when movies news hit, and demand goes up, which causes people to get sucked into the hype and pay double or even triple value.

 

 

I love collecting batman villain books, is what I personally keep in my PC, and I'm sure many others love batman villains 1st app as well.

 

[Goldeneye]

Ya no one wants the first appearance of Joker...

 

Joker is probably the one true exception given the brilliant portrayals done by Hamill, Nicholson and ledger, being the most recurring Bat villain and where some people actually like him more than Batman, but the others just don't rise to that kind of iconic status which the joker has.

The 1st appearance of the Joker is a very hard one to really judge the value a super villain gives to a comic because your looking at Batman #1.

Are people buying the comic because it's Batman's very first title of his own and the most read Batman comic coming out monthly or are they more interested in the comic because it marks the 1st appearance of Joker and Catwoman?

[dupont2005]

Of course they do. Not as much as the title character of course. It's called Amazing Spider-man, not Sinister Six.

[FineCollector]

Change 'Movies' to 'VIdeo Games' or 'Wizard Magazine' or any other form of media that reaches audiences outside the niche, and that's pretty much it in a nutshell either now or 30 years ago.

 

I disagree with video games, although I'd be interested to hear anecdotes about how they may have driven demand. The only time I can picture a game selling a comic is if it was a game first, like Halo or Street Fighter. I never once heard "do you have the first appearance of Shuma-Gorath?" despite his appearance in a few popular fighting games.

 

I don't think Wizard went outside the niche at all, but that was a red hot poker that made people crazy seeking out keys of anything and everything they singled out.

[oakman29]

To me a key is a key is a key.If it's a superhero or supervillain I want it.

[Beige]

Batman #1

Fantastic Four #5

X-Men #1

 

Joker

Dr Doom

Magneto

 

3 totally excellent books.

[boatfund]

Action 242

 

[Goldeneye]

Batman #1 and XMen #1 are bad examples to use. Because with Batman #1 its his first title of his own not to mention his main title now most people read and XMen #1 makes the first appearance of the XMen both issues are hard to tell what value the villain's first appearance adds to the comic in monetary value

[AGGIEZ]

Action 242

 

 

 

 

I'd also add FF#49 to the list of my favorite villain 1st app books

[Jaydogrules]

Batman #1 and XMen #1 are bad examples to use. Because with Batman #1 its his first title of his own not to mention his main title now most people read and XMen #1 makes the first appearance of the XMen both issues are hard to tell what value the villain's first appearance adds to the comic in monetary value

 

+1

 

I would say that Action 23 (1940, first Lex Luthor) is the biggest (and most expensive), single "key" when it comes to stand alone villain first appearances, and is definitely high on a lot of collectors' wish list.

 

-J.

[HighStakesComics]

If you want something affordable check out X-Men #129 (1st Kitty Pryde, Emma Frost & Sebastian Shaw), Amazing Spider-Man #300 (1st Venom) and Forever People #1 (1st Darkseid). I don't see those cooling off anytime soon and you can get a nice copy of each for $150-$200.

[Santos208]

If you want something affordable check out X-Men #129 (1st Kitty Pryde, Emma Frost & Sebastian Shaw), Amazing Spider-Man #300 (1st Venom) and Forever People #1 (1st Darkseid). I don't see those cooling off anytime soon and you can get a nice copy of each for $150-$200.

 

Jimmy 134....

[HighStakesComics]

Jimmy 134 is barely a cameo. Per the new CGC label, FP 1 is the Darkseid book to own.

[Santos208]

Jimmy 134 is barely a cameo. Per the new CGC label, FP 1 is the Darkseid book to own.

 

New?

 

Market seems to pay more for jimmy 134, but i do think is funny since is a small cameo, haven't read forever people 1 yet, might have to take out of the box and give it a read.

 

 

 

 

 

[01TheDude]

Who are we to determine who is good or bad? A villain to one is a hero to another. Just turn on the news for a real life example. If you like a character, then buy the first appearance.

 

I agree--- the example that sticks out for me is when I first bought Hulk 180/181 off teh rack and thought of Wolverine as another bad guy that the Hulk had a run in with. Then again-- if you think about the Hulk or Sub-Mariner or Silver Surfer and several others got their own title and often were despised by the people in the books. If you liked them though-- they were your heroes.

 

 

unrelated--

as for movies impact on book prices and demand-- not sure I agree that non-collectors suddenly enter the market to buy a book in general. Investors might though.