Thief of Thieves #1 - CGC 9.8

Image Comics - Feb. 2012

Key Issue Notes
First appearance of Redmond (Conrad Paulson)

I've noticed that it's been a while since I've dug into my box of graded comics and shared one of them with you. Now, not all of my comics are gems and some I've overpaid for and I want to try to use this post as an example of what can happen if you're not really informed or that knowledgeable about market trends.

Let me start off by saying that at the time that I bought this, I knew absolutely nothing about this comic or the story that was in it. I bought this copy of Thief of Thieves at the very peak of it's hype when there were rumors going around that this title was going to be picked up by AMC and turned into a T.V. show. I thought it would be a good idea to snag a copy up before it got really expensive. After all, look what happened to The Walking Dead comics after that show came out. I thought that this comics could be the next to skyrocket out of the stratosphere.

Redmond

I found this copy on eBay for $200 and it was, at the time, selling for less than almost every other 9.8 NM/M copy that was available. Now keep in mind, I was still very green at the whole comics as an investment thing back then. I've learned a lot in the few years that have passed between then and now.

Anyway, over time there was less and less talk of a T.V. show actually happening. Even to this day, I'm not sure why it didn't happen. But, since there was less and less talk of it, values of this comic started to plummet. I watched, and still watch, as sales for this comic keep going lower and lower. I failed at making any kind of profit on this comic and I chalk this up to being a rookie mistake. However, if a show had been made, this could have been a very different story all together, but alas, it isn't.

So now I have this once hot comic that I bought for a couple hundred bucks that you can probably get for less than $100 now. I really don't even want it in my short box anymore, but if I tried to sell it, I'd be taking a big hit in the wallet. So, in my short box it will stay until I can make a little profit on it, or at the very least break even. Who knows if that will ever happen. 

Anyway, this is my little story of how I screwed up and I hope you can take something away from it. Unfortunately with every boost in demand for any particular issue, there is going to be someone getting hosed and spending too much money on a comic that isn't going to hold it's value, and in this case it was me.

I'll include some links below just in case you're interested in finding a copy for yourself. Chances are you'll probably be able to find a nice high grade copy really cheap, and who knows, maybe it will see another boost in value someday. My fingers are crossed.

Find a copy here
eBay - ComicLink - MyComicShop - ComicConnect

Outcast #1

Image Comics - June 2014

Key Issue Notes
First appearance of Kyle Barnes
First appearance of Allison Barnes
First appearance of Amber Barnes
First appearance of Megan Holt
First appearance of Reverend Anderson 

Outcast is a supernatural horror comic from Image Comics, and was created by none other than writer Robert Kirkman, the creator of The Walking Dead, and artist Paul Azaceta. Outcast is yet another Kirkman scripted comic that's headed to the small screen. Season one will premiere on Cinemax on June 3, and because of the upcoming show, Outcast #1 has seen a huge boost in demand.

Our tortured hero, Kyle Barnes, has been plagued with demonic possession his whole life. At a young age, his mother, Sarah, became possessed and started beating him. With the help of Reverend Anderson, the demon was exorcised but Sarah was left in a comatose state.

Because Kyle's mother was now in a coma, he went into the foster care. The family that took him in were the parents of Megan Holt. With a little persuasion from Megan, they decided to adopt him and raise him as their own son. Megan would eventually become possessed too, but not in this issue.

When Kyle got older, he married Allison Barnes. Eventually, like most married couples do, they had a baby, Amber. Can you guess what happens to them? Yup, you guessed it, possessed...both of 'em. This time, Kyle tries to exorcise them without any help from Reverend Anderson. The exorcism worked, but it left Allison with several wounds, making it look like Kyle was a wife beater. She now has a restraining order against him and lives in Charleston with Amber. For some reason, everyone Kyle is close to becomes possessed by demons, now he lives a lonely desolate life to protect his friends and family.

There was a lot of hype over this comic before it came out so Image printed a lot of copies. Outcast #1 had an estimated print run of 71,788. It's not like they printed 500,000 or a million copies, but this comic is in no way rare, scarce, or hard to find. In fact it's in the top 15 most printed comics for the month that it was released. However, even with the high print run, it seems that there weren't enough copies in their first printing, because there were 4 more printings after that. In total, Outcast went all the way to a fifth printing. Talk about a huge demand for this book. I don't have any numbers on any of the other printings, but that doesn't really concern me. For this post, I'm only concerned about first print copies. Be aware, many of the covers of printings two through five look exactly like or very similar to the cover of the first print. Be sure to pay attention to which one you're looking at.

CGC Census
Click to enlarge

There are a couple of things that surprised me when I was looking over the CGC census. One was that there weren zero copies graded over a 9.8. For a book this recent, it seems like there should be a few 9.9 copies, maybe even a 10. The other was at just how many 9.8 copies there were. To date, CGC has 3,146 copies in their census. Of those, 2,638 are graded a respectable 9.8. Wowza! Needless to say, there is no shortage of high grade copies of Outcast #1 out there for you to buy if you were looking for one. 9.6 copies are far more scarce than 9.8's. There are only a fraction of 9.6's compared to 9.8 copies. In fact, there are only 375 9.6 copies listed in their census at this time.

Values for Outcast #1 on GoCollect

This comic has seen a lot of action in terms of sales lately, but with so many high grade copies, there hasn't been a dramatic increase in value. According go goCollect, the latest sales for high grade 9.8 copies are just a hair under the $100 mark. If you're looking for a more affordable option, the latest sales for 9.6 copies are currently selling for under $40, but that's probably not a good option considering how many copies are graded higher than that. There are a few sales for copies graded lower that a 9.6, but honestly, the prices are so low, they're not really worth mentioning.

With the new T.V. series coming soon, you can probably expect to see values for this comic rise slightly, but don't buy it expecting it to be the next Walking Dead #1. With the amount of copies out there, that's probably not going to happen. But, if you're looking for a short term investment, this could be one to snag and flip it for some quick cash, but only if you act soon.

Find a copy here
eBay - ComicLink - MyComicShop - ComicConnect

The Walking Dead #1

Image Comics - Oct. 2003

Key Issue Notes
First appearance of Rick Grimes
First appearance of Shane
First appearance of Morgan Jones


The Walking Dead has become a huge franchise spawning a hit t.v. show of the same name, a spin off show "Fear the Walking Dead", and multiple video games, and it all started with this comic right here.

The Walking Dead was created by Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard. The comic series had a small following at first, but it didn't really take off until after the show debuted on AMC in 2010, then prices for the early, high grade comics started to go through the roof. 

I'm not sure that Image Comics had a lot of faith in this series when it first came out in 2003. There were only an estimated 7,266 copies of The Walking Dead #1 produced. Needless to say, with so few first print copies and the huge success of the show, prices for a copy of this comic are now through the roof. I'll get into some sales prices in just a little bit. For now lets talk about the comic.

If you've seen the first episode of the T.V. show, then you pretty much know what happens in this issue, because they are very similar. Rick Grimes and Shane are cops, and Rick gets shot while on duty. He wakes up in an abandoned hospital not knowing anything of the zombie apocalypse. As he makes his way back to his house to check on his family, he runs into Morgan Jones and his son Duane. Actually, Duane whacks Rick on the back of the head with a shovel thinking that he's a zombie. When Rick comes to, he gets himself geared up to continue his search for his wife and son. If you've never read this comic, but have seen the show, it should sound very familiar. Like I said, this issue is very similar to the first episode.


There are a lot of variant covers out there for The Walking Dead #1. According to goCollect, there are at least 47 different covers for this comic. A couple of them look similar to the first printing cover, so if you're looking to buy, then pay attention. You don't want to overpay for a reprint. There are a lot of Wizard World variant covers out there too. They handed out 2 variants of this comic book at most, if not all, of the conventions that they held last year. A sketch and a color variant. I've included a picture if you're not sure what I mean by "sketch variant". If you're a fan of variant covers, there are plenty of them for you to choose from.

Values of Walking Dead #1 on GoCollect

As I've already stated, the print run on The Walking Dead #1 is small, but a lot of these copies have already been graded. Of the 7,266 printed, 2,436 have been graded by CGC, mostly in high grade 9.0 or higher. The highest graded copies on the census are 9.9 and there are a whopping 23 of them. That's not too surprising for a comic that came out after CGC was around. Some people probably bought a copy and immediately sent it off to get graded. 

Now when I said that prices for high grade copies went through the roof, I wasn't exaggerating. The latest sale on eBay, for a ultra high grade, 9.9 copy sold for a staggering $22,825 on March 18 of this year. I'm completely dumbfounded by that number. I mean, I knew that high grade copies were expensive, but over 20 grand? Give me a brake. There is a CGC 9.9 copy for sale right now on eBay for $28,525 and another one at MyComicShop for $25,000. Yikes. Those are way out of my price range. Even 9.8 copies are quite pricey, selling for well over $2,000 right now. If you were lucky to snag one of these off of the shelf in 2003, congratulations. I must say, I'm a little jealous.

There is one copy out there that is in the worst 0.5 condition that has actually gotten some attention. Back in 2014, this copy sold on eBay for $756. As you can see from the chart above, that is more than the average of a mid grade 5.5. Why would someone pay that much for a comic in that condition? Sure, there is only one copy at that grade, but it's not too hard to take a nice looking comic and make it look like garbage. Leave it out in the sun for a few days, crease the hell out of it, and just for good measure, throw a few tears into it. If I knew that a lowest of the low graded copy of Walking Dead #1 could fetch that much money, I'd find a cheap 4.0 copy at a shop or convention and abuse the hell out of it. But hey, I didn't buy it. If someone was willing to pay $756 for it, then good for them. I'm not sure I would have though.

If you're looking to get a rare, first print of The Walking Dead #1, it's probably going to be a little bit of work. Since there are so many variant covers out there, trying to weed out the one you're looking for may take a little bit of time, but I wish you luck on your hunt.

Find a copy here
eBay - ComicLink - MyComicShop - ComicConnect