Traveling back in time with comics

Word Balloons #1167: Matt and Dean shop a comic-book ad of the past

One thing you’ve probably experienced if you’ve collected comics for any length of time is passing up on a deal that you’ve later regretted. My friend Dean Compton of the Unspoken Decade website and the Unspoken Issues podcast have talked about this often; when looking through old price guides or reminiscing about comics we saw for sale that we couldn’t afford at the time – and really can’t afford now! 

We thought it might be fun to travel back in time, in a way, and look for how we might spend an unexpected windfall in times past. We selected the August 1986 “East Coast Comics” Ad that ran in Marvel Comics, and each had $50 fictional dollars to make our comic-book purchases. 

A couple of weekend notes before we get started: “Kung-Fu Legume” creator Michael Adams will appear at the Speeding Bullet Comics 25th-year celebration this Saturday from noon-4 p.m. and at Tulsa Comic Book Swap from Sunday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Should be a fun couple of events, and say hi if you drop in at Speeding Bullet! Speeding Bullet Comics is also a sponsor of the Tulsa Comic Book Swap.

On to the ad! Note: Prices in this ad are, perhaps obviously, no longer valid, and East Coast Comics appears to no longer be in business.

Here’s what we came up with.  

Dean’s picks: 

Alpha Flight #1 2.50

Dean: I picked this b/c I have always meant to get into AF, and it goes for about 200 today!

Matt: Dean’s looking at CGC graded prices, here and throughout, but Alpha Flight, the Canadian heroes created by John Byrne, have held their value pretty well in raw copies as well. VF/NM ungraded copies sell pretty briskly in the $20-30 range. 

Atari Force 1-6 2.60

Dean: Not really an investment pick for me, but this would have caught my eye then.  I LOVED Atari, and I have heard great things about the series!

Matt: This series has some great art, and is harder to find than you might expect. Nice sleeper pick! 

Booster Gold#1 1.00

Dean: My little sister is a BG mark, and this would be a nice pickup, selling for 300-500 these days!

Matt: It’s only a matter of time before a Booster Gold movie hits, surely. This Dan Jurgens series is an underrated read. 

Coyote #11 1.50

Dean: The first Todd McFarlane would be too cool for me not to pick up, and it sells for 75-125 these days, so it is a sentimental and an investment fave!

Matt: Tough one to find, and if you’re a McFarlane completist, you need it in your collection! 

Daredevil #131 5.00

Dean: The first appearance of Bullseye will pull in a nice 5-8k at the 9.8 level, so I had to pick this one up!  Def overlooked a bit, especially if Bullseye winds up with some cool roles in the MCU coming up!

Matt: This is a nice pull at $5. 

DC Comics Presents 26 10.00

Dean: First New Teen Titans — need I say more?

Matt: Here’s one where I feel like I should have probably gone for it, but at ⅕ of our fictional money, I didn’t pull the trigger on it. 

DC Comics Presents 47 1.25

Dean: I actually have a copy of this IRL!  Mine is not 9.8, but if it was, we are talking 1200-1700 dollars, which is enough to get my 1.25 in 1986 dollars!

Matt: There are a lot of He-Man fans out there, and you’d think with all the new cartoons and related product, that this will continue to be a property with interest going forward. 

Fantaco complete set 12.00

Dean: I love ephemera.  I love guides to heroes, price guides, etc, and I have picked up a few of these Fantaco guides here and there.  I love them!  I would have jumped at the chance to get the set then.  

Matt: This is very much a Dean-style pick rather than an investment pick, but I like it. We had to scramble for information back in these days. 

Judge Dredd 1 3.00

Dean: Judge Dredd has always tickled my fancy, and his import comics via Eagle were my first exposure to the character.  I love the cover of #1, and it is a solid investment as a 9.8 will set you back 375 these days!  

Matt: I agree, this is a terrific cover and an important character. 

Marvel Two-In-One annual 2 7.50

Dean: Starlin on Thanos is always a must-get for me, and this is no exception.  Cosmic Marvel at its best, and it goes for 850 these days so not a bad return!

Matt: This is one that was tempting, and it is a great read. 

Swamp Thing 37 .50

Dean: The first john Constantine is so inexpensive at this time, I thought about just buying 100 of them lol, as you'd be hard-pressed to find a better investment.  Plus this is part of one of the best comic book runs of all time, and you see everyone's favorite Hellblazer for the first time!

Matt: This is an investment home run at 50 cents, and part of a great run of comics besides.  

Wolverine #1 3.00

Dean: Wolverine is too cool, and he just gets cooler when done by Claremont and Miller in his first solo series!  Easy to drop 3 bucks for this knowing that it nets 600-800 now!  

Matt: One of my favorite Wolverine covers, and a great Wolverine story. 

Voltron #1 .75

Dean: The Defender of the Universe commands a great place in my heart as well as some higher prices for its #1 comic today!  It goes for 200 now, but I love this character so much I may have nabbed it even at a loss lol!

Matt: I didn’t have the Voltron comics, but I dug the cartoon. Seems like a solid pick at 75 cents! 

Matt’s picks

Captain America 105, 106 - $3 each

Matt: I have all these Captain Americas, but it’s hard to turn down original Stan Lee-Jack Kirby comics for $3 each! 

Dean:  Yeah, where was I on these?  I just read the Lee/Kirby Cap run and it still holds up great and it will almost certainly continue to be mined for ideas for the shows and movies.

Captain America 118, 121 - $1.50 each

Matt: Issue #118 is the second appearance of the Falcon, and in #121, Gene Colan draws Captain America’s confrontation with the Man-Brute! OK, maybe that last one is less of a key, but it was the earliest Captain America issue I had in my collection for quite a while. 

Dean:  You can't separate those feelings and sentiments when looking at these old comics and their prices.  That's why I had to go for the Fantaco stuff.  2nd Falcon is def a big deal here too!

Fantastic Four #59 - $6

Matt: Another Lee-Kirby combo, featuring Dr. Doom and the Inhumans. Findable at $20-30 in lower grades, a CGC 9.8 has gone for more than $5,000. 

Dean:  I really slept on the fact that they had SA Marvels available here.  Those start to skyrocket in the 90s and have kept value since.  Can't go wrong with Lee/Kirby!

Amazing Spider-Man #33 - $8

Matt: A Stan Lee-Steve Ditko classic that features Spider-Man escaping from under the wreckage. The most I spent on one comic in this exercise. To me, this is one of the key comics of the Silver Age, and also one of my favorites. A higher-grade copy is likely to go for four figures. 

Dean:  I missed this or I would have gotten it instead of something.  This issue has one of those seminal Spidey moments (canon events for those of you have seen the new flick) that is going to live forever!

Marvel Super-Heroes Secret Wars #8 - $0.75

Matt: The debut of the black Spider-Man costume, which eventually bonds with Eddie Brock, becoming Venom. Raw copies regularly go for over $100, and a CGC 9.8 has sold for over $1500. 

Dean:  I should have gotten this one b/c this is one that I recommend to people looking for one or two solid investments for not much money.  This is the genesis of so much Spidey stuff, and if the Venomverse takes off, it will just get hotter!

Wolverine (miniseries) #s 1-4 - $3 each

Matt: I went for the entire Claremont-Miller miniseries – the whole thing is a great examination of the character and two comics legends at the peak of their powers. 

Dean:  I got #1, so I totally agree with this pick.  This might be the best thing either of those hall of famers ever did, and that is saying something!

Omega Men #3 - $0.75

Matt: Jumped in here for a one-off, the first appearance of Lobo, the Czarnian mercenary. CGC 9.8s have sold for around $350, whereas raw NM copies have hung around $90-100 in recent sales. 

Dean:  I have one of these in real life that has already paid off.  I bought it in 2016 for about 40, and now it goes for double that.  If Gunn can get the DCEU going, this one may get white hot. 

Star Wars #107 - $0.75

Matt: The final issue of Marvel’s original “Star Wars” run is hard-to-find and highly collectible now. For 75 cents, very much worth grabbing. A raw copy in VF/NM could go for $40-50; a CGC 9.8 might draw over $500. (Keep in mind there’s a huge premium for 9.8s in the market on certain comics; a visually nearly indistinguishable 9.6 is more likely to go for $175.)

Dean:  Star Wars comics have never appealed to me for whatever reason so I missed this one.  This also reinforces the adage that the last few issues of popular series always go up.  That low print run makes them HTF later!

Marvel Tails #1, $0.75

Matt: With the third “Spider-Verse” movie coming, I see this first appearance of Peter Porker, the Spectacular Spider-Ham, going up. Plus, it’s a super fun comic that I owned as a kid. Tough to find in high grade, but maybe not in 1986! A CGC 9.8 recently went for $595. 

Dean:  I have this one too, and I am glad.  I have always loved Peter Porker!  The Spider-Verse movies have really gotten people into this character.  When I bring my Spider-Ham toy to work, it gets a lot of attention.  I wouldn't be shocked if the Ham gets his own movie in the future too!

Uncanny X-Men #141-142 $7, $5

Matt: Iconic cover on #141. The “Days of Future Past” storyline features Chris Claremont and John Byrne, and is maybe the most famous X-Men storyline of all. 

Dean:  The 141 cover is so iconic.  This is a total home run here.  I didn't even think to look at it for some reason.  Thankfully, I do have these IRL so I am not too upset about overlooking them here!

Matt: This time-travel tale with the X-Men is where we mark the end of our time-travel adventure with comics. Readers: What looks like a can’t-miss buy to you? Let us know in the comments!

Matthew Price, matthew@matthewlprice.com, has written about the comics industry for more than two decades. He is the co-owner of Speeding Bullet Comics in Norman.