COMIC BOOK MOVIES ARE NOW AFFECTING COMIC BOOK SALES! Just ask GROOT!

COMIC BOOK MOVIES ARE NOW AFFECTING COMIC BOOK SALES! Just ask GROOT!

By Barry Dutter





Movies based on comic books do not significantly affect the sales of comic books. This has been conventional wisdom for almost 50 years, ever since the first Batman movie came out in 1966.


Over the past five decades, comic fans have been treated to dozens of big-budget movies starring their favorite super-heroes -- everything from the Superman films with Christopher Reeve to more Batman movies to Spider-Man, the X-Men, Swamp Thing, Blade and more.


And through it all, one constant has remained: none of these movies has ever resulted in a sharp increase in sales of the characters featured in those movies.

In other words, movies do not create new comic book fans. There are now a couple of generations of movie-goers whose only exposure to characters like Superman, Batman and Spider-Man has been through blockbuster movies (and video games). The majority of these film-goers have not been inspired to go head to the local comics shop and seek out the source material.


But starting in 2011 with the release of the first AVENGERS movie, a curious phenomenon began to happen. That movie featured legendary Marvel villain Thanos in an after-the-end-credits cameo, and it was heavily rumored that the mad Titan was going to be the main villain in AVENGERS 2.

Sales of Thanos’ first comic book appearance (IRON MAN #55) began to go up. That book now goes for $300 to $400 in VF to NM condition.


That is the first example I can recall of a Marvel or DC back issue going up in value because of a movie or TV show. That started a trend where seemingly every time a Marvel (and now DC) movie was announced, it spurred back issue sales of whichever characters were making their cinematic debuts in that movie.


We’ve seen Deadpool in a movie before (X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE), but that wasn’t the DEADPOOL that fans know and love. When in 2015 it was announced that there would be a real Deadpool movie, featuring the actual character (and costume) from

the comics, the price of New Mutants #98 skyrocketed. What had been a $100 to $150 book until recently was now a solid $250 to $300 highly-sought collectible.


The trend has even started involving movies that are years away. A complete set of Marvel’s CIVIL WAR series skyrocketed up to $125 when it was announced as the sub-title of CAPTAIN AMERICA 3. And the INFINITY GAUNTLET Limited Series now fetches $100 and up since it will serve as the basis for AVENGERS 3 & 4 -- movies coming out in 2018 and 2019!

DC has come very late to the “shared movie universe” party, but now that they have announced an ambitious slate of new movies to come over the next few years, sales of their key back issues are being affected as well.


The most obvious example I can think of is the New 52 version of SUICIDE SQUAD #1. That back issue was semi-hot since it came out in 2011, but now that the Squad will be featured in a big-budget movie starring Will Smith as Deadshot, Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, and Jared Leto as the Joker, the 2011 first issue of that series is a solid $80 to $100 and will surely continue to rise in value as we get closer to the release of the film. 

I can't think on any example of comic back issue prices being affected by movies prior to Thanos in 2011. You didn’t see the first appearance of the Silver Surfer go up significantly in price because he was featured in a FANTASTIC FOUR sequel. You didn’t see prices go up on the first Joker or Luthor after the characters were featured in Super man and Batman movies. Even recently, you didn’t see Spider-Man characters like the Green Goblin or X-Men characters like Gambit go up after those characters made their movie debuts.


No, the trend really seems to have started with Thanos -- who, ironically, turned out to not be the villain in AVENGERS 2. (But will surely play huge roles in AVENGERS 3 & 4.)


Incredibly, the first appearances of entire GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY team have gone up in value, after the smash success of the movie -- and in many cases, those appearances could have been had for just a few bucks up until the movie was announced.


A few years ago, the first appearance of Rocket Raccoon was worth its 60-cent cover price, at best, if you could get someone to pay that much for it. Rocket was a throwaway character, a funny animal in a world of super-heroes, of little interest to most Marvel fans.

Then it was announced that Rocket would be appearing in the GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY movie. That 60 cent issue of THE INCREDIBLE HULK now sells for $100 and up. There is even a much rarer “1^st true appearance” of Rocket in a Black and white mag called MARVEL PREVIEW. That mag, which you could have gotten for a buck or two a few years ago, now sells for up to $500 on eBay.

A different issue of MARVEL PREVIEW featuring the first appearance of STAR-LORD, sells for $300 on average, and I see graded copies listed at $1,000.


STRANGE TALES #180 -- the first appearance of GAMORA -- lists for $80 to $100 on eBay.

But wait -- here’s the one that really blows my mind: A mid-grade copy of the first appearance of GROOT (TALES TO ASTONISH #13) is listed at $3500 on ebay right now.


Marvel made magic happen when they released Guardians -- a movie about a team of super-heroes that most people had never heard of, and even the people who heard of them didn’t like them very much -- and it became the biggest hit of the year. It remains to be seen whether Marvel can make lightning strike twice with the upcoming ANTMAN --a movie that no one demanded!


But one thing is for sure: demand for early Ant-Man appearances has never been higher.

The movie features Scott Lang and Hank Pym, both of whom have worn the Ant-Man costume in the comics. As you might have expected, back issues prices for both characters were affected.


The first appearances of Scott Lang, in MARVEL PREMIERE #47-48 (1979) now sell for about $100 for the pair.


But what of the first appearance of Hank Pym, who was just a regular non-costumed scientist in his 1962 debut in TALES TO ASTONISH #27?


That issue is very hard to find in decent condition. … A quick eBay search shows 4 copies, all graded. Three of them are in poor condition (3.0 or lower) and list for $1600 and up. The copy that is in the best condition is graded 7.0. How much does it sell for?


I'll tell you. (Are you sitting down?) A staggering $15,000. Yes, you read that right.

All because of a movie that hasn’t even come out yet.


One last piece of evidence? Consider the fate of Howard the Duck, a character whose 1986 movie was such a huge bomb, it seemingly poisoned the character and made film-goers never want to see him again. That 80s flop did not affect back issue sales of Howard comics at all.


Howard was largely forgotten as a character by Marvel. A few attempts to revive the character in recent years were largely ignored by fans.


Then Howard was featured in a 30-second cameo at the end of GUARDIANS. Suddenly, those ice-cold Howard the Duck comics started warming up again. Howard’s first appearance in ADVENTURE INTO FEAR #19 is a solid $60 book, and HOWARD THE DUCK #1 (1976) is also $60.

I can’t think of anything that shows off the effect of Hollywood movies on comics back issue sales better than that. If a brief movie cameo can make Howard hot again, I suppose anything is possible. (There’s hope for SQUIRREL GIRL yet!)


So there you have it. Judging by current sales figures, it seems unlikely that movies based on comic books are inspiring any non-comics fans to seek out the modern comics featuring those heroes of the silver screen.


But the movies sure are getting comic fans to seek out those key first appearances and number ones.