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The Comic Speculator – New Comics Roundup 09/29/2010

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:

Below you will find all the info you could possibly need on the comics shipping this Wednesday, Sept. 29, 2010. For a full list of comics shipping this week, click here. To find a comic shop near you, click here.

Variant Watch:

DC:

Wonder Woman #603 variant
Wonder Woman #1

Wonder Woman #603 ships with another DC 75th Anniversary variant cover, this time a 1:10 by J.H. Williams of Batwoman and Promethia fame. The cover is in homage to Wonder Woman #1 and looks absolutely stunning. I love this guy’s work. Orders have been higher on WW since the new series writer J. Michael Straczynski took over the writing and changed her costume (let’s all get over it), but I would still expect this cover to be very hard to find. Look for $7-$8 price tag if you’re trying to complete you DC Anniversary set.

Image:

Artifacts #2 1:50 sketch variant

Artifacts #2 ships with another 1:50 sketch cover by Michael Broussard. Even with the popularity of this crossover, I’m guessing there aren’t a lot of comic shops out there ordering 50 copies to get this variant. If you need it, you might be shopping online. There’re several retailers asking $40 and up for these covers, but if you look hard enough, you should be able to find one for $24.

Marvel:

Amazing Spider-Man #644 variant

Amazing Spider-Man #644 ships with another “Spidey Vs.” cover, this time by Chris Bachalo featuring Spidey vs. the Lizard. The Spidey Vs. covers are 1:20 and have been pretty easy to find due to the high orders on the title. Look for a $12-$14 price tag here.

Speculator Picks of the Week

These are comics that could sell out very quickly due to conservative ordering, popular demand, shipping errors, a ridiculous amount of false-start penalties from the Green Bay Packers offensive line or any other set of unforeseen events. Pick them up while you can or pay too much for them later . . .

Artifacts #2: Image/TopCow

Artifacts #2

Solicitation: The event five years in the making! Thirteen mystical Artifacts will guide the fate of the world. Thirteen Artifacts will destroy the world. A mysterious being has taken Hope, the daughter of Sara Pezzini, the Witchblade bearer, and Jackie Estacado, the Darkness bearer; but his intent remains in shadow. As the two frantic parents search for their missing child, other players—including Dani Baptiste, the Angelus bearer, Tom Judge, Magdalena and others—are brought onto the board.

32 pages
$3.99
JUN100499
Written by Ron Marz; art by Michael Brussard; cover by Ryan Sook.

Why it’ll go fast: Issue #1 of Artifacts sold out very quickly; like before the end of week it came out. Now, there aren’t very many for sale online even, and those that are sell for $5 and up. Variant covers are also selling very well, presumably because the main covers are getting harder and harder to find. Watch for Artifacts #2 to sell out even faster than #1 due to retailers upping their orders after the initial sellout. If you didn’t special order this one, you might have a heck of a time trying to find it.

Lady Death Premiere: Avatar/Boundless

Lady Death Premiere

Solicitation: Lady Death is back, and this first chapter is FREE from participating retailers! This special book is the first chapter in an all-new, on-going Lady Death series that will be coming out from Boundless Comics. The most terrifying tale of Lady Death is about to begin, in an apocalyptic saga that will tear through two dimensions and give birth to a new horror that will leave long-time fans reeling! Before the new Lady Death ongoing monthly series is unveiled, this crucial prelude chapter will set the stage for the destruction of everything she once knew . . . and it comes to you absolutely FREE! For the first time, the most monumental threat Lady Death has ever faced will be revealed: the viciously sadistic villainess named Death Queen! She has Lady Death’s face, she has her powers, and before their first encounter is over, she will have her life! This is the Lady Death that fans have been waiting for, in an all-out, blood-drenched spectacle that will usher in a new era of greatness in the illustrious history of one of comics’ most recognized and beloved femme fatales!

16 pages
Free
AUG100907
Written by Brian Pulido and Mike Wolfe; art by Marcelo Muelle; cover by Garrie Gastonny.

Why it’ll go fast: My guess is that a lot of retailers passed on this one altogether, thinking that no one cares about Lady Death any more. I can’t see Avatar printing a whole lot of these to give away either, which will make this one even harder to find. For one reason or another, there is still a ton of Lady Death nerds out there and they are pumped for this one. The myriad Lady Death special editions and variant covers aren’t selling like they used to, but they are still selling regularly. Some for $20 and up. There’s still plenty of Chaos Comics nerds out there (Lady Death’s original publisher) and they will be more than pumped to hear that her creator and Chaos Comics founder Brian Pulido is writing again. Chaos fans were a devoted bunch of nutcases who profess their love of cheesy horror comics with the Chaos Comics pledge “Sworn to the Black.” They will crawl out of their caves looking for this free issue and, rest assured, it’ll be selling for at least $5 by this weekend.

Franken-Castle #21: Marvel

Franken-Castle #21

Solicitation: The shocking conclusion of the FrankenCastle era! After his brutal struggle to kill Daken in Tokyo, the Punisher is in rough shape. In order to restore his health, hacker comrade Henry Russo sends Frank to the nearest remote place he can find—Monster Island. However, as his body heals, Frank’s mind begins to fade into madness. Someone needs to take him down. Someone named Elsa Bloodstone.

40 Pages
$3.99
JUL100582
Written by Rick Remender; art and cover by Dan Brereton.

Why it’ll go fast: This one is not going to sell out quickly. This is a long-term investment I’m talking here. Sales have been slowly dipping on the Punisher since it became Franken-Castle. The crossover with Dark Wolverine gave the comic a small sales boost but, now that it’s over, I would expect the numbers to go back down. Rick Remender is going to be a huge name at Marvel in the near future and his run on Punisher has been nothing short of excellent. I expect this final issue to be similar to other series with high-dollar final issues. Look at the Marvel G.I. Joe and Transformers series of the ’90s. When the final issues of the series shipped, no one cared. But years later, they sell for $50 and up. It may take a while but I think this one will be hard to find.

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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.

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