Practical guides, expert advice and resources to manage, value and grow your comic book collection.
Iron Man #118 (1979), #170 (1983), both issues from 1992: three separate markets. Where the character begins, and the particular market for spin-off characters.
Read article →Only one event places him at the center: Civil War II (2016), where his death triggers the conflict. Elsewhere, he's a supporting force: the "competent extra" of crossovers.
Read article →Mutant Massacre (1986), X-Tinction Agenda, Age of Apocalypse, Avengers vs. X-Men, Krakoa: the events where Storm's situation really changes.
Read article →Avengers Disassembled (2004) and House of M (2005): the only character in the corpus whose major crossovers are events she causes. Participant, issue or cause.
Read article →Mutant Massacre, Fall of the Mutants, X-Tinction Agenda, Age of Apocalypse: the events where his stolen consciousness and his past as an adversary are really at stake.
Read article →The Marauders, Madelyne Pryor, the Summers line, Apocalypse. The only character in the corpus whose entourage is only made up of things he made or bought.
Read article →Stargirl (2020) vs Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. #0 (1999): the only character born from an intimate homage, and the Justice Society of 1940. Key issues.
Read article →Grading a comic can create a lot of value as well as destroying one. Real cost of slab, break-even point, risk of disappointing rating and raw vs slab arbitration.
Read article →First appearances of female characters in which to invest: underlying trend, adaptation catalysts, pieces to watch out for and selection method.
Read article →Ororo Munroe's key issues: Giant-Size X-Men #1, UXM #173, #185-186, #201. Why her best issues are the ones where she loses her powers.
Read article →X-Men #4 (1964), Avengers #16 (1965), House of M #1 (2005). Her real key numbers are disasters she causes, not victories. What to aim for according to your budget.
Read article →Adversary, Avenger, ally of the Inhumans, member of X-Factor. Five swings in sixty years, and no key: where the market has no words, it has no price.
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