Which comic books are good investments?

Question

When I was younger, I use to collect comic books for reading pleasure. Some years later, I started collecting them as a hobby. I haven't collected comics for a long time now. I was wondering which comics are popular now and worth collecting. There are a few series I am not familiar with, such as Civil War Initiative and Initiative.

Answer 1

The problem with speculating with comics is that the comics that become valuable are typically ones that very few people pay attention to when they first come out.

I will give you a couple of examples.

When DC announced that it was going to kill Superman every one had to have a copy. The comic sold out in record time, and the value shot up almost immediately. However after only a couple of weeks virtually every one that wanted a copy had a copy. Soon unopened copies of the Death of Superman (I forget the exact issue number) were showing up in the quarter bins at comic book shops because there was a glut on the market.

On the other hand Marvel Comics Secret Wars #8 quietly went on sale as just another issue of the mini-series. No one realized that it had the first appearance of what would become one of the most popular comic villains of all time (Spider-Man's symbiotic costume would later become Venom). The value of that book is on the rise and with the movie coming out will continue to rise.

It really has never made sense to collect comics, or sports cards, or stamps for profit. If you want to make a profit of comics try to find entire collections to buy and then part them out, or buy a few older titles that are sure to rise in value and sit on them a couple of years.

If you try to make money buying new comics and then turning them quickly you will end up frustrated and broke. You would be better off going to the stock market. If you want to collect comics do so because you enjoy comics.

Answer 2

Thinking of comics as an investment doesn't really work for most collectors unless they actually go into business for themselves. This means getting a business license and dealing from out of your home at first, opening a store if you can, that sort of thing. But unless you have a love for the medium, it's not something I'd advise going into. Better to collect because you feel strongly about comics. That way you get something out of it whether you decide to sell or not. I used to tell others that I could make money from my collection, but in the end it was easier to sell to local dealers than to try to make my money back. Dealers will only pay you a fraction of true worth. That was 20 years after my starting point. Had I waited another ten years I might have made money even selling to dealers. Most of those issues from the 60s and 70s skyrocketed in value, at least the ones I wished I'd held onto. Better to advertise on Craigslist instead. Bottom line: Think 30 years, not 15. Start young, sell in middle age. Also, check price listings and talk to dealers if you want to know what will be worth something in the future. The stuff I was talking about- old issues of the Fantastic Four and the Amazing Spider-Man- aren't titles that would appreciate as much today, though the specific issues I had continue to. Things change, and both FF and ASM hit their prime in the 60s and 70s. What to look for now? Pay attention to artists like Alex Maleev, Greg Land, Salvador Larroca, Alex Ross, John Cassaday, and Mike Mayhew, to name but a few. Great writing can be ruined by mediocre artwork. Writers are equally important, but art is what separates comics from other mediums. You can only get sequential art here, folks. One word of warning. At the 20 year mark I had 50 boxes of comics. That's roughly 50,000 comics, and nothing you'll ever move weighs more than a box of comics (other than furniture, natch). Believe it or not, even a box of regular softcover books weighs less. Significantly less. There are more titles available now, and it's still growing. You will have a hard time moving all your stuff at that point. I ended up sleeping on my comics more than once. Stacked 'em level, put a mattress on top and added another stack next to the bed for a nightstand. There. I've made what additions and changes I needed to. I think that about covers it.

Answer 3

If I could answer this I'd be a millionaire. It's nearly impossible to predict what will be valuable as far as new comics go. What I would do, if you're looking to stash away comics as an investment, is look for high grade graded comics from the sixties, seventies and eighties. CGC (Comics Guarantee Corporation) is a company that grades comics on a numerical scale and then places them in a plastic slab for protection. Comics I'd be looking for: Werewolf By Night #32 (1st Moon Knight), Amazing Spider-Man #300 (1st Venom), Incredible Hulk #181 (1st Wolverine). New comics may see some short term gain, but typically demand dies down and prices drop. Right now the current Captain America series is unbelievably hot but who knows how long that will last.

Answer 4

Comics aren't worth much nowadays cause the interest in them is limited to only the very rich. In my country i can get two McD meals for the rpice of a comic. If you oiwn an old mint copy of some silver age comics, then ya got a good investment but the present lot is not nice. You could check out Dc's identity crisis and Justice for a good read though.

Answer 5

If you're looking at comics as an investment, don't bother. The bottom totally fell out of that market years ago. There may be some that temporarily become hot because they're drawn by a hot new artist, but they just don't hold their value.

At this point, buy what you want to read. That way they'll have some intrinsic value to you even if they don't gain any monetary value.

Answer 6

The Avengers and House of M

Answer 7

If you like manga Hana-Kimi is one that is rather funny. Rorouni Kenshin is also a good one. If you like weird ones I suggest you read Petshop of horrors.