Ugly American: Market Spotlight Edition!

It's been awhile since we've stooped to worrying about profit around here. I start to feel wrong if we don't sully ourselves with greed from time to time, so here goes.

I'm typing this on Cyber Monday, which isn't really a thing, it's just something we're told is a thing, so we bend over and make it a thing rather than "miss out" on something. Mostly we miss out on things that actually are things (i.e dignity, self respect) with that kind of neurotic mental gymnastics. But on the plus side, I made 8 sales on Amazon today, which is pretty robust even by the Ugly American's lofty standards.

I even sold a book to James Tynion IV this week. I won't tell you what it was, because you never know who reads this damn column, and for all I know the book was a gift. So we're going to keep that info on the down low. Tynion writes Talon for DC Comics, if you didn't know.

So that's my brush with fame this week. Not nearly as impressive as attempting to boot Tom Fowler out of the Foggy Goggle because you're having an art event... but that's pretty good for me.

I've been upping my game, folks, gearing up for the Christmas selling season. I recently went on a research rampage, complete with a Rocky theme-laced montage in my head. Did you know that Ebay refuses to show more than 10,000 auction results on a search? I was unjustifiably proud of that little feat. Did you beat testicular cancer? Pffft. I did enough research that an auction site turned off the faucet on me. How am I still single? A world wonders.

Point being, I have a lot of market info banging around in my brain right now, and will now share a few bytes of it. Why? Because I care about you. You know another comics blog that's going to help you earn some money for your insane Christmas shopping this year? Didn't think so.

Preacher

Word on the street is that AMC is feeling the loss of Breaking Bad and looking for a real ass kicker to pick up the slack.

Enter Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon's Preacher. Now, we've heard this song and dance before, as far back as 1998. The difference this time is that shadowy sources are claiming that AMC have ordered a pilot. When people start spending money, you know they're serious. It's certainly no guarantee. Global Frequency actually got their pilot made, it was good, and the show still got scrapped. But this is looking like it might actually happen.

Collectors are noticing. This summer, you were able to grab copies of Preacher # 1 in stated NM for $25-$50, and a CGC 9.8 was in the $200-$225 range. As of this week, raw copies in NM have been selling for between $200 and a staggering $385! I also watched a Preacher # 1 in CGC 9.8 achieve a $649.99 closing price.

A few years ago DC produced some $1.00 comics in conjunction with the Watchmen film release. They were supposed to function as cheap gateways into other DC material for folks who liked the Watchmen movie so much they just had to find other comics.

I'm not sure that ever happened, but I do know that I just watched the $1.00 Preacher: Special Edition comic sell for $17.00 last week. Not sure how replicable that is, it looks like an outlier. On the other hand, it's only going to cost you a buck to stash that away and see if the AMC show really takes off. There is precedence for this underdog reprint kind of thing working. Remember when Walking Dead Weekly # 1 came out and you just laughed at it? That's an easy sell at $25, and often goes much higher.

I'm pleasantly surprised to hear the AMC pilot news. The Walking Dead contains violence and some dark/mature themes...but there's nothing incendiary built into the concept. The 21st Century loves its false piety, political correctitude, and heaping piles of bullshit. Preacher is NONE of those things. If they build the show with the comic's foundation, (and why option the property unless you want the foundation?) there will be angry letters. Oh yes, there will be letters. I will be very curious to see what happens then. Other than me clapping and jumping like a six-year-old at his birthday party, that is.

New 52 Hardcovers

Have you noticed how hard it is to find most of the Volume 1 New 52 books in hardcover? They're gone, baby, gone. DC is lagging on going back to press on these, and the results are surging prices in the secondary market. Here's some current Amazon mins for HCs in new condition:

Justice League Vol 1: Origin $60+
Aquaman Vol 1: Trench $60+
Wonder Woman Vol 1: Blood $50+

Batman & Robin: Born to Kill looks poised to be the next big winner, and the Detective Comics Vol 1 seems legitimately scarce and simmering as well. Batman books in particular have a habit of becoming solid earners in the secondary market - it will pay to keep an eye on those books.

There's always a danger that DC could go back to press at any minute, and that instantly smashes the profit potential, at least for new material like this. It's pretty weird to me that DC wouldn't have scads and scads of the Justice League HCs available. Your creative team on that book is Geoff Johns and Jim Lee. They are running the publishing firm. How in the world do they let their own work lapse out of print? Very weird.

Journey Into Mystery TPBs

Here's a bulletin for you - the ladies love Loki. Tom Hiddleston does more moisturizing in one hour than aloe vera does all year. If you have a uterus, you looooooove Loki. As you should. I'm right with you.

Now, the ladies don't necessarily love all Lokis equally. What they really love is Hiddleston, of course. There isn't really a direct Hiddleston corollary in the comics, but the Keiron Gillen young Loki is in the heart-throbby ballpark, and certainly seems to be sufficing. That's where the Journey Into Mystery stuff comes in.

So young Loki shows up in Journey into Mystery # 622. That might be one to have. Did you know that Marvel produced a variant of that issue with Tom Hiddleston on the cover? Huh. If you like money, I might look into that one. Seems like it might have a future.

In the here and now, though...some of the Journey Into Mystery trades are rather scorching. It's the even numbered volumes you're looking for:

Journey Into Mystery Vol 2: Fear Itself Fallout
Journey Into Mystery Vol 4: Manchester Gods

I sell a lot of books, and you kind of get a feel for how desperately hot certain books get by how long it takes to sell them. I've had three copies of Manchester Gods now, and when I price them competiively, (within 5% of the current min) they don't make it more than an hour or two. That is a RABID fan base, and I attribute it largely to women.

Women are a powerful force in the comics economics landscape. You won't hear that from any comics creator or the pundit sites, because nobody claps when you speak truths like "women actually do haves some agency within the medium". You only get to hear clapping when you say "women are oppressed and sad creatures, and we should all be sad for them."

Here's some truth for you - The Harley Quinn Phenomenon is exceeded only by Batman and Spider-Man, in my opinion. That's women that are driving the Harley Quinn bus. There are men on it, but the women are driving it. About 38% of them are applying eye shadow while driving said bus, and I'm not into that. But they're doing it, and I'm making money on it, and yay!

Long story longer, JIM Vol 2 is a $50 sale in nice condition, and JIM Vol 4 is a super easy $60+ sale. These books could be sitting in your local comic shop right now! Go and conquer!