yoda12288 Posted March 11, 2022 Share Posted March 11, 2022 Hey everyone , Do any of you know there print runs of Akira from the 1988 series from Epic (Marvel) ? I've been trying to slowly collect the series and I've beem wondering because there aren't very many graded copies of any on the census . Figured they are good spec too Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan. Posted March 11, 2022 Share Posted March 11, 2022 On 3/11/2022 at 2:56 PM, yoda12288 said: Figured they are good spec too Any particular reason why? Randall Dowling 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djzombi Posted March 12, 2022 Share Posted March 12, 2022 While Akira's legacy is enduring, I don't see any reason for a sudden spike, but who knows. As for print run, while I don't have exact numbers, it's my understanding that the final issues had an EXTREMELY low print run. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpepx78 Posted March 12, 2022 Share Posted March 12, 2022 On 3/11/2022 at 11:56 AM, yoda12288 said: Hey everyone , Do any of you know there print runs of Akira from the 1988 series from Epic (Marvel) ? I've been trying to slowly collect the series and I've beem wondering because there aren't very many graded copies of any on the census . Figured they are good spec too Thanks I don't know the print runs but do you consider 934 graded copies of 1st printing of Akira #1 as not many copies? https://www.cgccomics.com/census/grades_standard.asp?title=Akira&issue=1&publisher=Marvel%2fEpic+Comics&year=1988&issuedate=9/88 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yoda12288 Posted March 12, 2022 Author Share Posted March 12, 2022 On 3/11/2022 at 6:56 PM, Ryan. said: Any particular reason why? Taika Waititi has stated he's absolutely committed to try and bring it to the big screen but he keeps doing Thor movies. I'm sure he'll get around to it at some point. Also, Jordan Peele said he'd love to do it but he'd need a limitless budget and is too busy doing original stuff, which I think is better I don't think either of these comments hold much weight, but it's too grand a story and too influential work to not be adapted at some point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yoda12288 Posted March 12, 2022 Author Share Posted March 12, 2022 On 3/11/2022 at 7:29 PM, jpepx78 said: I don't know the print runs but do you consider 934 graded copies of 1st printing of Akira #1 as not many copies? https://www.cgccomics.com/census/grades_standard.asp?title=Akira&issue=1&publisher=Marvel%2fEpic+Comics&year=1988&issuedate=9/88 In a way I kind of do. That's why I am curious. I am sure #1 had a heavy 1st print run but from what I know the numbers dropped significantly as it went along. Some modern books like UF#4 have way more copies graded in 9.8s and that book is not even close to its ceiling imo. Granted it's Spidey but still. If something was done with Akira these books would all get really hot I think. Also, the fact that the Epic series was colored by Steve Oliff makes them cool as hell. To me they are severely undervalued . They are also hard to find in high grade because of the format Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdandns Posted March 12, 2022 Share Posted March 12, 2022 #1 had two printings, and those print runs were both big, certainly for a comic that expensive. I think our LCS carried them thru #21, as that's where my set ends, unfortunately. The Epic release is actually a reprint series, albeit in English and in color for the first time, since the story was already available in thick softcover volumes, with black & white art in Japanese language. Those early manga collections (6, I think, for the full tale), and especially the original monthly magazine installment publications of "Akira" would likely get the most heat if a blockbuster live-action version of it ever happened. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yoda12288 Posted March 12, 2022 Author Share Posted March 12, 2022 On 3/11/2022 at 10:38 PM, jdandns said: #1 had two printings, and those print runs were both big, certainly for a comic that expensive. I think our LCS carried them thru #21, as that's where my set ends, unfortunately. The Epic release is actually a reprint series, albeit in English and in color for the first time, since the story was already available in thick softcover volumes, with black & white art in Japanese language. Those early manga collections (6, I think, for the full tale), and especially the original monthly magazine installment publications of "Akira" would likely get the most heat if a blockbuster live-action version of it ever happened. Yeah, I imagine those Young Magazine copies must be super hard to come by considering they were a monthly mag and published in Japan. That's why I think a lot of collectors will gravitate to the Epic copies as they are in English, comic format, full color and just really dope overall. Turnando and jdandns 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdandns Posted March 12, 2022 Share Posted March 12, 2022 I have some doubles of some of them, but all #21 or earlier, as I mentioned. If you have a want list of any of those earlier issues, feel free to send it along. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John R Posted March 13, 2022 Share Posted March 13, 2022 (edited) The Standard Catalog of Comic Books (2003 edition) only shows Capital City order numbers but you can see the drop from issue 1 to the later issues. 1 - 21300 2 - 15600 3 - 14100 4 - 26 approx. 10000 - 11000 27 - 36 approx 9000 There are 2 issues that show order of 1000? not sure if this is a print error. The issues are #6 and #28. Edited March 13, 2022 by John R Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bronty Posted March 14, 2022 Share Posted March 14, 2022 (edited) I'm not sure I trust the last line. In particular the later issues are scarce due to the publishing timelines. A loooot of time passed between the last few issues. The series became hard to follow and must have felt cancelled to people subscribing at that time. It would have become a total afterthought. Imagine you're trying to follow a series, and there's 3.5 years between a pair of issues. Akira 30 - July 91 Akira 31 - Jan 92 Akira 32 - Apr 92 Akira 33 - May 92 Akira 34 - Oct 95 Akira 35 - Nov 95 Akira 36 - Dec 95 Akira 37 - Jan 96 Akira 38 - Feb 96 Edited March 14, 2022 by Bronty onlyweaknesskryptonite and djzombi 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dupont2005 Posted March 14, 2022 Share Posted March 14, 2022 On 3/11/2022 at 4:05 PM, djzombi said: While Akira's legacy is enduring, I don't see any reason for a sudden spike, but who knows. As for print run, while I don't have exact numbers, it's my understanding that the final issues had an EXTREMELY low print run. I bought issues 1-36 for a dollar each. #37 was $75. #38 was $200. This was at least 5 years ago. Recently sold the whole set for $700 djzombi and Randall Dowling 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yoda12288 Posted March 19, 2022 Author Share Posted March 19, 2022 Congrats on selling it Wow, I had no idea there was that much time between those issues . That actually explains a lot in regards to why the last several issues are so scarce . Again, i think these are such a good spec for anyone specking . I just happen to be such a huge fan of this piece . the art of Otomo is so mind boggling in the amount of detail and storytelling . If anyone has any cool links to interviews or videos about how he drew this stuff it would be appreciated ! IMO you can pretty much take it to the bank that something huge is going to be done with this work, just a matter of time . I have no insider knowledge , just good comic instincts Turnando and The Velcronomicon 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Qalyar Posted March 19, 2022 Share Posted March 19, 2022 I'll second that all the 32+ issues are scarce, especially the last book. The only real challenge for the early issues, including #1, is finding them in high grade. yoda12288 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randall Dowling Posted March 19, 2022 Share Posted March 19, 2022 On 3/13/2022 at 7:58 AM, John R said: The Standard Catalog of Comic Books (2003 edition) only shows Capital City order numbers but you can see the drop from issue 1 to the later issues. 1 - 21300 2 - 15600 3 - 14100 4 - 26 approx. 10000 - 11000 27 - 36 approx 9000 There are 2 issues that show order of 1000? not sure if this is a print error. The issues are #6 and #28. It's worth noting that these are Capital City numbers (as you did). It doesn't include Diamond or other distributors. Actual print run would be much higher. John R 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D2 Posted March 19, 2022 Share Posted March 19, 2022 On 3/11/2022 at 8:18 PM, yoda12288 said: In a way I kind of do. That's why I am curious. I am sure #1 had a heavy 1st print run but from what I know the numbers dropped significantly as it went along. Some modern books like UF#4 have way more copies graded in 9.8s and that book is not even close to its ceiling imo. Granted it's Spidey but still. If something was done with Akira these books would all get really hot I think. Also, the fact that the Epic series was colored by Steve Oliff makes them cool as hell. To me they are severely undervalued . They are also hard to find in high grade because of the format Not close to its ceiling? What gives you that impression? Because the prices keep going up? Sorry but this collection mentality is hilarious. I like Miles Morales, but there are literally 3270 9.8s… and this does not count the variant. People talk about Ultimate Fallout 4 like it’s the second coming of Christ, but no one talks about how people are HOARDING this book. It is common to see collectors have multiple 9.8 copies. Never mind just, multiple copies, but multiple 9.8s. Good on you for selling a copy at a rocket price, but people that are buying it now? I don’t think it’s the surefire bet everyone is making it out to be. Randall Dowling and The Velcronomicon 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post onlyweaknesskryptonite Posted March 19, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted March 19, 2022 Scored this one the other day and with it my run is now complete. Randall Dowling, greggy, Qalyar and 6 others 8 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yoda12288 Posted March 20, 2022 Author Share Posted March 20, 2022 On 3/19/2022 at 12:18 PM, D2 said: Not close to its ceiling? What gives you that impression? Because the prices keep going up? Sorry but this collection mentality is hilarious. I like Miles Morales, but there are literally 3270 9.8s… and this does not count the variant. People talk about Ultimate Fallout 4 like it’s the second coming of Christ, but no one talks about how people are HOARDING this book. It is common to see collectors have multiple 9.8 copies. Never mind just, multiple copies, but multiple 9.8s. Good on you for selling a copy at a rocket price, but people that are buying it now? I don’t think it’s the surefire bet everyone is making it out to be. I don't think it's close to it's ceiling because I don't think that 3,270 9.8s, plus whatever people are hoarding is ever going to equate to an oversupply of that book. Miles is most definitely now a legacy character in the comics alone, not to mention live action MCU along with all the young kids, including my daughter, who say Miles in Spider-Man, not Pete. Hulk 181 has a ton of copies, albeit not 9.8s but that book will always be a blue chip. I think that 9.8s, even if there ends up being 6k+ is an oversupply. It's not going to be a 10k+ book anytime soon or ever imo but it's definitely a blue chip baby AF 15 of the modern age Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yoda12288 Posted March 20, 2022 Author Share Posted March 20, 2022 On 3/19/2022 at 12:21 PM, onlyweaknesskryptonite said: Scored this one the other day and with it my run is now complete. Niiiiiiiiice! Looks like a beautiful copy What did you pick it up for? I want to get a copy but I'm broke so I bought a second print of #1 onlyweaknesskryptonite 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onlyweaknesskryptonite Posted March 20, 2022 Share Posted March 20, 2022 On 3/19/2022 at 7:21 PM, yoda12288 said: Niiiiiiiiice! Looks like a beautiful copy What did you pick it up for? I want to get a copy but I'm broke so I bought a second print of #1 The guy I got it from was asking $300. I offered $200 and we settled at $250. Little more than I wanted to pay, but it was the only one I didn't have. So I decided the search was over. John R, Semicentennial, Randall Dowling and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
