X-Men #4

Marvel - Jan. 1992

Key Issue Notes
First appearance of Omega Red

Keeping on the Wolverine 3 movie rumor train, here's another first appearance of a character that may, or may not be featured in the next film. There's a lot of speculation going on out there as to who is going to be the big baddie in Hugh Jackman's last go as everyone's favorite Canadian mini mutant. One of the names I'm seeing fairly frequently is that of Omega Red.

Omega Red made his first appearance in the pages of this X-Men comic. He was created by the team of acclaimed writer John Byrne, and legendary artist Jim Lee.

Arkady Rossovich is from the former Soviet Union, and is the man who would eventually become Omega Red. There are a couple of origin stories out there, but I'm not sure which one is the true story, since I haven't read all of the comics that feature him. He's not a very good guy in either version. In the first version of his origin story, he was a serial killer that was captured by Interpol agent Sean Cassidy, also known as Banshee. Then, he was turned over to the KGB to be put into their version of the Super Soldier program.

The second version has Rossovich as a Soviet soldier, but still a serial killer. When his comrades found out about it, they put a bullet through his brain. Miraculously, he doesn't die, so they send him off to the same program as I mentioned before. 

Like I said, I'm not sure which version is the real version, but in this issue, when Omega Red finally meets up with the X-Men, Wolverine is very surprised to find out that he is alive.

While in the program, Rossovich is implanted with two retractable carbonadium tentacles in his arms, similar to the ones that Doctor Octopus has. He's also able to secrete a pheromone that can result in sickness, or worse, death.

I don't have any information about the print run for X-Men #4, but with it coming out around the peak of the comic boom in the 90's, you can expect there to be a lot of copies out there. As of right now, there are only 929 copies in the CGC census. That's not a lot, but don't let this number fool you. The current low number in the census doesn't mean that this book is rare, it only means that not many people think that this comic is worthy enough to send in to be graded. I expect that this number will start to rise in the near future.

Even though there are that many copies graded yet, almost 2/3 of them are graded a high 9.8. Of the 929 copies, 641 are 9.8's. I'm surprised that there aren't any copies graded higher than that, but that could change if everyone starts submitting this comic to be graded.

Values of X-Men #4 on GoCollect

If you're looking for a high grade copy of this book, it's not going to cost you an arm and a leg, or your first born child. 9.8 copies are still selling for less than $100. Signature Series copies will end up costing a little more, but even they are still selling for under $200. Don't worry about any sales lower than a 9.8 for this comic right now. For the best return on your investment, you should only be looking at high grade copies anyway.

If you were to snag a copy of this comic, now would probably be the time to do it. It's still very affordable in high grades. If the rumors turn out to be true and Omega Red is confirmed to appear in the new Wolverine movie, you can expect to see values rise very quickly, and if you don't jump on it now, you'll be digging into your profit margin.

Find a copy here
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NYX #3

Marvel - Feb. 2004

Key Issue Notes
First appearance of X-23 (Laura Kinney)

Rumors have been running rampant on the blogosphere lately about who's going to star along side Hugh Jackman in his final go as Wolverine. One of the names that's been popping up a lot is that of X-23.

When I first heard about the character of X-23, she was described to me as Wolverine's daughter. That's not true, she's not his daughter at all, she's his clone. X-23's real name is Laura Kinney, and she was cloned by using Wolverine's genetic material that was salvaged from the Weapon X program.

Laura Kinney is a prostitute in New York and when we first meet her, she is in a hotel room with a John. He thanks her for a great time, throws a roll of twenties on the bed and walks out the door. As he's getting dressed, you can see scratches all over his back.

At the end of the comic, she is in a room with the same guy, presumably to do what prostitutes do. This time, the John has a different idea. This time he brought a knife with him. It doesn't work out very well for him though. In the last few panels, you see him lying on the floor, covered on blood and Laura sitting on the bed with her Wolverine like claws exposed.

NYX #3 has an estimated print run of 40,000. I wouldn't say that's a lot of copies, but I wouldn't say it's not a lot of copies either. If you're looking to buy a copy, you'll have no problem finding one.

Click to enlarge

There were no surprises when I was looking at the CGC census. At the time of this writing, there are quite a few copies graded by them already, 2,258 to be exact. And it also comes as no surprise, since this is a Modern Age comic, that almost half of them are graded 9.8 or higher. There are 4 copies graded an ultra high 9.9 as well. Don't expect to find any slabbed low grade copies. The lowest grade in the census so far is a 5.5, but it is a Signature Series copy.

Values of NYX #3 on GoCollect

Now let's get to the fun part. Let's see how much the sales have skyrocketed over the past few years. I was thinking about snagging a copy of this two years ago for about $200, but I passed it up because I didn't think there was any growth potential. Boy, was I wrong. I couldn't find any sales for the ultra high 9.9's but recent sales for 9.8 copies have recently gone for close to the $1,000 mark. It was less that two years ago that you go snag this comic for under $200. In June of 2014, a 9.8 copy sold for the bargain price of $171.50. I'm kicking myself in the ass for not jumping on that when I had the chance. Even 9.6 copies have started selling for over the $600 mark, and only two years ago, you could have gotten one for less that a hundred bucks.

If you're looking for snagging a copy for under $100 now, you're probably out of luck. Even mid grade 6.5 copies are up over that mark. You're best bet might be to find a nice raw copy, but like I've said in the past, be wary, you never know what you'll get when you're buying raw.

Is this a flash in the pan kind of comic? I have no idea. I never thought that prices for this comic would ever get as high as they are now. There is a lot of speculation out there and I'm sure that's one of the factors driving up values for this comic. Usually, after the hype dies out, then values die out too, especially in the current movie driven market we're in now.

Find a copy here
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Incredible Hulk #181

Marvel - Nov. 1974

Key Issue Notes
First full appearance of Wolverine

Wolverine, the pint sized mutant from Canada, has been a very popular since he was introduced in 1974. He has been made even more popular in recent years by Hugh Jackman, who's played Wolverine in the X-Men and Wolverine movies by Fox.

For the record, this is actually the second appearance of Wolverine in comics. His first appearance is in the issue prior to this one, Incredible Hulk #180. He is only shown in the last panel of Hulk #180 so it is only considered the first cameo appearance. What constitutes a cameo, brief or full appearance is beyond me, but this is how the industry is labeling them at the moment, so who am I to argue.


As most of you know, Wolverine is a product of the Weapon X program. It was in this program that he had his bones and claws fused with Adamantium. Adamantium is one of the strongest medals known in the Marvel Universe. It is second only to Vibranium, the medal that Captain America's shield is made from. Also, it's because of Wolverines ability to heal extremely fast that he is able to survive the procedure. Those facts about his origin aren't revealed in this issue though.

As of this writing, there are an astounding 8,315 copies of Hulk #181 in the CGC census. That's not counting copies from any of the other grading companies. A lot of the copies graded are high grade 9.0 or above, but there is only one graded at a highest 9.9. This copy sold for $150,000 at ComicLink.com in 2011. It jumps up to 99 copies graded a 9.8. In all, there are over 2,000 copies graded 9.0 or above, but some of those are restored copies. The grade with the most copies is 8.0. There are a total of 774 8.0 copies.

Values of Hulk #181
on GoCollect

Even considering that there are almost 8,500 CGC graded copies out there, demand is still outweighing supply at this point. There are a lot of copies out there and I'm sure you will be able to find one online or at a convention, but it's not going cheap, since Wolverine is so popular and such a fan favorite. As you can see in the chart to the left, even the average sales of mid grade 6.0 copies are jumping past the $1,000 mark on eBay. There have also been a few 5.5 copies selling over that mark. Like I said, demand is high. You can take a chance and snag a copy at the prices that they're at and hope that demand and the price increases, or you can wait and see if the demand is going to fall. If the demand goes down and people start to lose interest, then the prices will come down too. I'm not expecting demand to go down anytime soon but, I'm going with the latter anyway, unless I can find a really good deal somewhere. And, like always, you can try to find a raw copy and send it in to be graded, but that's always a risk, especially when you have to shell out that much money for a copy.

Find a copy here
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