San Diego Comic Con Comics #2

Dark Horse Comics - Aug. 1993

Key Issue Notes
First appearance of Hellboy

It appears that Hellboy is back in the news again. It seems that Guillermo del Toro, director of the first two Hellboy movies, took to Twitter and created a poll to see if fans wanted to see a third installment of the film franchise. It would appear that the answer was a resounding yes. He stated on Jan. 18th, that if he got more that 100,000 votes, he would have a sit down with actor Ron Perlman and Hellboy creator Mike Mignola and discuss the possibility of making that film happen. Well, del Toro's 24 hour poll received over 130,000 total votes, with 32% say yes to the sequel, and 68% saying Hell Yes!

I'm sure there will be some controversy with me saying that San Diego Comic Con Comics #2 is the first appearance of Hellboy. I'll get to that in a minute, but first let me tell you exactly what SDCC Comics are all about.

Early Hellboy concepts

Between the years 1992 and 1995, Dark Horse Comics created a comic for SDCC that was given out as a promotion to attendees. If you've gone to one of the larger conventions lately, you'll know what I'm talking about. I've gotten a few convention exclusive comics, like the Wizard World Walking Dead #1 variants that were being handed out a couple years ago. It was in the second issue that shows the first appearance of Hellboy, but I'll get to that in a minute. I'm going to start from the beginning.

Dime Press #4

In the very beginning, creator Mike Mignola created some sketches that were his first idea of Hellboy. As you can see, these first sketches look nothing like the final version of the character. If you look, you can see that the characters name is written on his belt buckle. As you can see from the copy write, these sketches were made in 1991.

Jump forward a couple of years to May of 1993. In the Italian comic Dime Press #4, you can see that his character has been further refined. This prototype of Hellboy isn't featured in any story, but only appears on the cover, and even though this version is much closer to the final version, his skin is blue and not the signature red color and he is lacking his long trench coat. Mignola even claims that this is just a prototype, and not the actual first appearance of Hellboy. It would only be a few months later that we would welcome his actual 1st appearance.

From San Diego Comic Con Comics #2

And here it is, in the pages of San Diego Comic Con Comics #2 that we have the first full appearance. Mignola's Hellboy story is one of many in this comic, so it's only a few pages long, but in it we get to see the finished character. This issue is only in black and white, so we really don't get to see him as the big red beast that he is, but he is sporting that trench coat in this issue. It wouldn't be until John Byrne's Next Men #21 that we finally get to see him in all of his full color glory. There are also stories from many other great artists in this comic, like Dave Gibbons, John Byrne, and Frank Miller, just to name a few.

There have been 417 copies graded by CGC thus far. According to Recalled Comics, there were only about 1500 copies produced. Most of the copies that are in CGC's census are nice high grade copies. The lowest graded copy is a Signature Series 6.5 F+, and tops out at 9.8 NM/M with 119 copies. In fact, most of the already graded copies are in the 9.6 NM+ to 9.8 NM/M range, so there's no shortage of high grade copies out there. I also want to note that CGC recognizes this as the first appearance of Hellboy as well.

Value of San Diego Comic Con
Comics #2 on GoCollect

Values for this comic has been on the down slope recently. 9.8 NM/M copies that were going for over the $400 mark in July of 2015, have come settled into the $250 - $300 range. It looks like the same thing has happened for most other grades too. There could be a couple of reasons for this. 1) Hype for the character has died down like it often does in todays market, and 2) people have started gunning for copies of Dime Press #4, thinking that is the first appearance of Hellboy. Even though DP #4 has a higher print run (around 2000) than SDCC Comics #2, values are quite a bit higher, perhaps because it's a foreign comic and harder to find.

Either way, if a new movie gets confirmed, you can expect to see prices for both of these comics get another little boost in demand. I'm not saying that you'll get rich, but you could pull out a small profit to help fund that next comic that is on your want list.

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Iron Fist #14

Marvel - Aug. 1977

Key Issue Notes
First appearance of Sabretooth

Ok, just one more movie rumor concerning Wolverine 3 and I'll be done with them... for now. The movie that is set to hit theaters early in 2017.

If you saw X-Men Origins: Wolverine, then you know the God awful job they did of portraying Deadpool. But you also know that Liev Schreiber played the role of Victor Creed, also known as the Wolverine antagonist Sabretooth. Well, there have been whispers of him reprising his role in the latest installment of the movie franchise. We'll all have to see if this is going to happen or not, but it seems very plausible to me. Not much, or anything really, is known about the plot of the upcoming film so really, at this point, anything could happen.

Sabretooth has a long been connected to Wolverine, but he started out in comics going up against Iron Fist. When we first meet the character, he and his hired team of mercenaries have taken Jeryn Hogarth prisoner. When Iron Fist and Colleen Wing arrive, a huge battle ensues. As the battle rages on, Iron Fist becomes blinded by the sun reflecting off the snow, and has to rely on his training and remaining senses to defeat Sabretooth. In the end, the two are victorious and rescue Hogarth.

When Chris Claremont and John Byrne first created Sabretooth, the intention was that he would eventually become Wolverine's father. You can kind of tell, even in this issue, that was the way the wanted to go with the characters. The two even have a similar way of speaking, like their overuse of the word "Bub". As other writers took over the job, they got away from that and it was eventually proven that Sabretooth is not Logan's dad.

To date, there are 2,913 copies of this Bronze age key issue in the CGC census. Most of the copies are a nice high grade too. 1,592 of them are graded between 9.0 to 9.8, with 135 being the highest grade 9.8. Obviously the rest are in mid to lower grade, but even those might cost you a little bit of your hard earned dough. 

Click to enlarge

According to GoCollect, the latest sales for 9.8 copies are dropping at around the $1,500 mark. That's up there, but it is the first appearance of one of the more popular Wolverine villains. Values for 9.6 copies drop off significantly and are selling for less than $600. If you're budget is in the $200 range, you can still pick up a respectable 8.0 copy. Or, if you're lucky, maybe an 8.5.

If you're a fan of rare, short print comics, and you have deep enough pockets, then be on the lookout for the 35¢ variation of this comic. Marvel wanted to test the market to see how people would react to a price increase, so they printed a small number of issues do this. Iron Fist #14 was one of the comics.

Values of Iron Fist #14 on GoCollect

When I say rare, I mean rare. There are only 43 copies of this variant in the CGC census and the last sale on eBay for a 9.0 copy sold for $4,000 way back in 2014. Right now, there is an auction for a CBCS certified 8.5 that has an asking price of $8,900 with a best offer option.

Whichever copy you decide on, this is a good investment comic. Sabretooth is a fan favorite character and there is always a fan base for him. Also, if you're deciding to sell a copy you already have, then keep an eye out on sales. You could see them jump up with the rumors of him showing up on the big screen soon.

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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.

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