The Comic Speculator – New Comics Roundup 03/17/2010

Posted by:
Matt Baum on 17th Mar

The Comic Speculator is a blog written by WorthPoint Comic Book “Worthologist” Matt Baum that takes a look at each week’s hot new comics and back issues and the comic market place in general. Prices discussed here are taken from the Overstreet Guide to Comics (OVST), Comicspriceguide.com (CPG) and current online auction sales. Sales numbers and rankings are courtesy of ICV2.com. The codes under the prices of new titles discussed are Diamond Comics order codes that can be used to help your local comic retailer in ordering the issues discussed.

New Comics Roundup:

Welcome to the St. Patty’s Day edition of TCS. I assure you I’m sober while writing this but, not by choice. Later this evening I’ll be drinking Black-and-Tans and studying my last minute choices for my NCAA March Madness Brackets, but right now I’m all business. Anyone who wants to join my “Nerd’s Only” bracket look me up on Facebook and shoot me a friend request. It’s fun for all, with plenty of nerdy smack-talkin’ about a subject I admittedly know very little about. But enough of this foolsihness. Let’s get to it!

New Comics Round-Up:

Welcome back to the TCS New Comics Round-Up, where I have gathered all the info you could possibly need on the comics hitting the shelves this week. Click here for the full list of comics shipping this Wednesday, March 17, 2010. Click here to find a comic shop near you.

Perhaps the biggest news this week, or predicted biggest, is the Twilight Manga Graphic Novel hitting shops this week. Some are even making the book available Tuesday night at midnight (or is that Wednesday morning). I wouldn’t expect to see huge Twilight GN sales on the direct market, but without a doubt sales in major book retailers like Barnes and Nobel and Borders will make it a best seller. Teenage girls are still creeped out by comic shops for the most part.

Let’s take a look at this week’s Reprint, Sell Out and Variant news:

DC leads off the Reprints this week with . . . surprise, surprise;

DEC098499 Blackest Night #5 Second Printing

There’s still plenty of Blackest Night back issues to go around, so not much action here yet.

Marvel has another big reprint week with four titles:

DEC098477 Hit-Monkey #1 – 2nd Ptg. Variant
DEC098493 The Invincible Iron Man #23 – 2nd Ptg. Var
DEC098492 Siege: Embedded #2 – 2nd Ptg. Var
DEC098474 Siege #2 Second Printing Coipel Variant

Hit Monkey #1 first prints are not selling for the $10 I predicted, yet but a copy with a CGC Universal grade of 9.8 did sell for $35. First prints of the Invincible Iron Man are still selling for around $5 each and will probably continue to go up in price as the Heroic Age approaches. Not much action on the Siege titles yet, which isn’t surprising, seeing as they’ve been the highest-ordered comics for the last two months. Watch the variants on these though, in the short term anyway.

Just one this week for Boom!

JAN108115 Choker #1 2nd Ptg.

Choker #1 first prints aren’t selling for much more than cover price, but there is a Larry’s Comic variant, limited to 1,000 copies, selling for around $20 on eBay. I would suggest Larry spell check his auctions though.

No sell outs to announce, so let’s get to this week’s Variant List:

BOOM!

28 Days Later #8 (Brett Weldele Variant Incentive Cover)
Die Hard Year One #7 (Joe Jusko Variant Incentive Cover)
Irredeemable #12 (Jeffrey Spokes Variant Incentive Cover)

American Vampire #1 (Jim Lee Variant Cover)
Blackest Night #5 (of 8) (Ivan Reis & Oclair Albert 2nd Printing Cover)
Green Arrow #31 (Mike Mayhew Variant Cover)
Green Lantern Corps #46 (Rodolfo Migliari Variant Cover)

Dynamite Ent.

Green Hornet Year One #1 (Alex Ross Black/White/Green Variant Cover)
Green Hornet Year One #1 (John Cassaday Black/White/Green Variant Cover)
Green Hornet Year One #1 (Matt Wagner Black/White/Green Variant Cover)

Marvel

Avengers Vs Atlas #3 (of 4) (Andrew Robinson Variant Cover)
Hulk #21 (Frank Cho Variant Cover)
Incredible Hulk #608 (Frank Cho Variant Cover)
Siege #3 (of 4) (Deadpool Variant)
Siege #3 (of 4) (Gabriele Dell’Otto Variant Cover)
Siege #3 (of 4) (Joe Quesada Sketch Variant Cover)
Siege #3 (of 4) (Joe Quesada Variant Cover)
Wolverine Origins #45 (Deadpool Variant Cover)

Now it’s on to the Speculator Picks of the Week. These are comics that could sell out very quickly due to conservative ordering, popular demand, shipping errors, voodoo curses or any other set of unforeseen events. Pick them up while you can or pay too much later.

American Vampire #1: DC Vertigo

Solicitation: Witness the birth of a brand new species of vampire in this new ongoing series that begins with five extra-sized issues featuring back-to-back stories by exciting new writer Scott Snyder and the master of horror himself, Stephen King! When notorious outlaw Skinner Sweet is attacked by an old enemy (who happens to be a member of the undead), the first American vampire is born . . . a vampire powered by the sun, stronger, fiercer and meaner than anything that came before. Plus . . . Pearl Jones is a struggling young actress in 1920s Los Angeles. But when her big break brings her face-to-face with an ancient evil, her Hollywood dream quickly turns into a brutal, shocking nightmare.

40 PGS
$3.99 US
JAN100344
Written by Scott Snyder and Stephen King; Pencils by Rafael Albuquerque; Cover by Jim Lee.

Why it’ll go fast: Back in 2007, Marvel announced the first comic book adaptation of Stephen King’s Dark Tower, which was actually a prequel and not written by King. Fortunately, fans of King either didn’t notice or didn’t care that he wasn’t writing the comic adaptation and the flooded comic shops and bought two or three copies each of issue. Comic shop owners everywhere rejoiced while King fans slowly realized that he wasn’t writing the comics and sales slowly decreased. With each new Stephen King adaptation, sales slipped even more as fans of King continued to notice that he was not writing them. It seems DC noticed the problem with this pattern and got King to actually write a comic for them. Well, a back-up story anyway. But it should be enough to make this issue sell like crazy. Oh, and it’s about vampires and I hear they’ve been very popular lately.

Choker #2 of 6: Image

Solicitation: Issue Two: . . . Where Angels Go To Die. Johnny is introduced to his maniacal new partner on the Shotgun City police force, and experiences a vicious foretaste of what’s in store for him. Meanwhile, a new mob of villains rears their ugly head, suggesting Hunt Cassidy’s clutch on the city is tighter—and deadlier—than first thought . . .

RETAILER WARNING: May Not Be Suitable For All Ages.
32 PGS
$3.99 US
JAN100458
Written by Ben McCool; Pencils by Ben Templesmith.

Why it’ll go fast: Not more than a few paragraphs ago, I was talking about how the first printings of this title aren’t selling for much and making fun of Larry’s Comics for not being able to spell. Now, here I am picking this comic as a sell out again. It’s controversial, I know, but if there’s two things I learned in journalism school, it was how to pour a perfect Black-and-Tan and controversy sells papers (I may have heard that second one from J. Jonah Jameson). But really, I like this comic and I’m telling you the only reason it’s not hotter is because its lack of a big name writer. I’m telling you, Choker is going to catch on and get hot with this issue. Why, because everyone orders less of issue #2 than issue #1.

Doomwar #2 of 5: Marvel

Solicitation: Doctor Doom’s latest power play has the Marvel Universe up in arms. Wakanda has been conquered and Storm faces execution in the next 48 hours—unless the X-Men, the Fantastic Four and the two Black Panthers can rally to the rescue! With Doom only minutes away from stealing enough Vibranium to help him conquer the world, T’Challa faces the most dreadful decision possible: let Doom win . . . or let Storm die!

32 PGS
$3.99 US
JAN100571
Written by Jonathan Maberry; Pencils by Scot Eaton; Inks by Array; Colors by Carlos Franco; Cover by John Romita Jr.

Why it’ll go fast: I’m picking this one for the same reason I picked Choker #2. It’s the second issue of a comic that sold out quickly, written by a relatively unknown writer, in comics anyway, that will have lower orders than the first issue but more buzz behind it now that the word on issue #1 is out. Wham! (I’m going to start dropping “Wham!”s every time I have a particularly long or run-on sentence.*) Unlike Choker, Doomwar has one big thing going for it; Doctor Doom. Doom is always hot but right now with his involvement in “Fall of the Hulks” and the lead-in to Siege in Thor, nerds can’t get enough of him. A J.R. Jr. cover featuring the X-Men never hurts sales, either. Yes, there’s plenty of Doomwar #1’s around online, for now. Next month, this time we’ll be getting excited for MLB opening day and hunting for Doomwar issues. I’m calling my shot here.

*Again, something I perfected in Journalism school

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Matt Baum is WorthPoint’s comic book Worthologist. If you have any questions about these books or anything else in the comic book world feel free to contact me or post your question below in the “comments” section below. Also, you can follow him on Twitter, where I’m always screaming about something nerd-related. Thanks to all Matt’s new followers and keep the comments coming! Want to know what your comics are worth? Join WorthPoint to search its database or use its “Ask A Worthologist” feature. Remember to post the title, issue number and cover price. And finally, a word to the Federal Trade Commission; all the comics discussed here are purchased solely by the writer, who receives no gifts or free merchandise from any publishers, even though he would graciously accept them.