BATTLE OF THE SILVER AGE KEYS: DC showcase VERSUS marvel first appearances

In the 1990s the two biggest comic book publishers (Marvel and DC) decided to do a cross-over event called ‘DC Versus Marvel’. several comics were released where the plot consisted of the biggest heroes from the DC universe battling their marvel counterparts. Well, in this post I want to set up a similar battle, but this time not by telling a story. Instead, I want to look at some major DC keys in relation to their marvel counterparts. The question I originally set out to answer was the following: are the DC Silver Age keys currently undervalued in relation to the marvel keys?

This might seem like a strange exercise. Undervalued compared to what exactly? While there are many indicators of any comic book’s value, the best and most reliable is probably its fair market price which can usually be determined by checking Ebay ‘sold items’ listings, or a collectibles website like GoCollect.com.

But the present monetary value of a comic is only one aspect of its overall potential value for a speculator. A good way to figure out full value is also to look at other factors connected to that comic. Is a movie based on the comic coming out at some point? Do any signs exist that the trending price of sales will increase (or decrease)?

Unfortunately this is a lot more tough than determining current fair market value. To figure out whether DC’s showcase keys are under-valued I decided to compare DC Silver Age keys with their peers from Marvel. I used the DC showcase title, since it was perfect for this exercise. The original purpose of showcase was to act as a platform to launch tryouts for new characters and ideas. This means that a select number of the early showcase comics are modern keys regarding important first appearances. By a ‘peer comic’, I mean one that came out at about the same time, or that features a similar hero, or a hero with a similar significance in the respective comic universe.

In what follows, I will be looking at the following data: number of copies submitted to the CCG as an indicator of supply, value in lower grade (5.0), then sale of highest recorded grade in the last 15 years and the price fetched. Let’s start with:

Showcase #4 (October 1956) – first Silver Age Flash

The modern Flash premiered in October of 1956 and his debut in showcase #4 is sometimes used as an unofficial date to indicate the very beginning of the Silver Age itself. The peer comic from marvel in terms of date, simply doesn’t exist, but we can use fantastic four #1 (October 1961) since it is similar as regards importance and influence. FF#1 is the beginning of the Silver Age marvel universe in the same way that showcase #4 is the beginning of DC’s Silver Age.

How do the numbers look?

Showcase #4:
Number of copies submitted to CGC = 446
Current fair market value at 5.0 grade = $28,000.00
Highest recent sale = 9.6 copy at Heritage Auction on 05/21/2009 for $179, 250.00

Fantastic four #1:
Number of copies submitted to CGC = 2,101
Current fair market value at 5.0 grade = $20,000.00.
Highest recent sale = 9.2 copy at Heritage Auction on 08/01/2013 for $203,150.00.

While there seem to be fewer copies of showcase #4 in graded form, it commands a higher fair market value at a 5.0 grade. When it comes to high grade sales, however, the FF beats it with higher sale numbers, but not astronomically higher (note that, this could change if a 9.6 copy of FF #1 goes up for sale). Verdict: they stack up fairly well, especially since there may be a Flash movie in the works and Marvel/Disney will most likely do something with the FF. I would rate showcase #44 as NOT undervalued.

Showcase #22 (October 1959) – first Silver Age green Lantern

Green lantern is an important character in the DC Universe. GL is a charter member of the ‘Justice league of America’ and has had his own ongoing series throughout the modern era. since he is a ‘green’ character and again there was no marvel debut in 1959, I will compare the first green lantern to the first appearance of the Hulk in incredible Hulk #1 (May 1962).

Showcase #22:
Number of copies submitted to CGC = 945
Current fair market value at 5.0 grade = $4,800.00.
Highest recent sale = 9.2 copy at Heritage Auction on 11/16/2017 sold for $149,375.00.

Incredible Hulk #1:
Number of copies submitted to CGC = 1,559
Current fair market value at 5.0 grade = $14,500.00.
Highest recent sale = highest recent sale = 9.2 copy on ComicConnect online Auction 08/27/2014 for $326,000.00.

As in the case of FF#1 it also has a higher high-grade sale and, once again, there are more copies recorded as graded, but unlike showcase #4, Hulk is worth more than three times as much as green Lantern’s showcase premiere in 5.0 grade. This is true even though more Hulk comics have been graded. Verdict: showcase #22 seems to indeed be under-valued. green lantern is just as popular as the Hulk. If a decent green lantern movie comes outnull