Books to Watch: Immortal Iron Fist #8 (2007)

Immortal Iron Fist #8 (2007)

Soon Marvel Studios will be two seasons deep into their successful and critically acclaimed collaboration with Netflix.  This year will bring the second seasons of Daredevil (March 18th) (trailer breakdown here) and Jessica Jones (November); by the end of the year we should also see the first episodes of Luke Cage.  The popularity of these shows has breathed new life into key issues related to their starring characters, including Daredevil #1, #168, Amazing Spider-Man #50, #129, Alias #1, Hero For Hire #1 and many others.  Next to film will be Iron Fist, and last we heard the main character is cast but being kept secret.  Marvel Premiere #15 is the obvious key to look at, but the subject of this post is a cheap modern book that may be flying under the radar of many collectors.

The 2007 Immortal Iron Fist series adds a lot to the Iron Fist mythology and is full of first appearances.  Issue #8, part one of a seven-part arc, is the most important in my opinion as it introduces five new characters (the "Immortal Weapons") and the Seven Capital Cites of Heaven, both which are likely to feature in the Netflix series, in a second season after the legend and supporting characters are established, if not in season one itself.  Disney's CEO recently said there is no end in sight for films featuring Marvel superheroes.  With storylines and contracts coming to an end in Phase 4, they will likely turn to a fresh batch of characters to keep the film universe going.   I believe the Netflix shows are serving to popularize characters that will move to the film universe post-Phase 4, and the Seven Capital Cities of Heaven would make an outstanding premise for a standalone Iron Fist film.

The Immortal Weapons are the champions of the Seven Capital Cities of Heaven.  They feature prominently in the remainder of the 27-issue run in addition to their own follow-up mini-series.  The characters which first appear in this book are:

Fat Cobra
Bride of Nine Spiders
Dog Brother #1
Tiger's Beautiful Daughter
Prince of Orphans

These characters are examples of what I call "retroactive legacies" - brand new characters inserted retroactively into comics' long and deep continuity (Peggy Carter being one of the most well-known).  Fat Cobra, for instance, is 111 years old, was inserted into the pre-war history of Ulyssess Bloodstone, the WWII adventures of Union Jack and the Kid Commandos, once competed against Hercules and Volstagg in an eating contest, is said to have taught Kung Fu to Elvis Presley, travelled to many of Marvel's mythical lands including Monster Island, the Savage Land, Wakanda and Atlantis, and fathered hundreds of children.

Matt Fraction seems particularly interested in fleshing out Marvel's early 20th century history and I'll talk more about other characters he has created in future posts. (It's too bad his days as one of Marvel's most talented creators seems to be over.)

As is the case when many characters are introduced in a single comic, one or more may be breakout hits (like Amadeus Cho in 2004's Amazing Fantasy #15) while others tend to vanish into obscurity.  With five new characters however the odds of this comic breaking out are good.

This was a sought-after book at the time of publication due to the popularity of Fraction's run, but I don't think it broke the $5 mark.  I see a copy on eBay for $4.52 with free shipping (which makes it practically free).  There is only a single graded copy in CGC's census (although other grading companies may have seen copies).  I would expect to see more than this if people were aware of its significance.

The book's cover imagery doesn't hurt since there are people who collect skull covers. 

Here is the Immortal Weapons interior and cover debut.

Intro of Immortal Weapons in Immortal Iron Fist #8

Immortal Weapons on the cover of Immortal Iron Fist #22

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Jungle Comics #2 (1940)

As I've mentioned before, a fun category I like to collect, and which I can see growing more popular in the future, is first appearances of obscure and public domain characters.  In this installment I wanted to highlight Jungle Comics #2, which is the first appearance of Fantomah, Mystery Woman of the Jungle.

What makes Fantomah different than any other obscure or public domain character?  The fact that she has gained a cult following that hasn't yet resulted in an increase in value of her debut, and the fact that she is widely accepted to be the first female superhero to appear in comic books.  (Google those three words and check out the blurb at the top of the results page.)

Fantomah was created by Fletcher Hanks, a creator who entered comics late in life, stayed in the industry only a short time, and died on a Central Park bench in 1976.  Many of his modern fans came to appreciate his weird and distinct style from the 2007 book I Shall Destroy All the Civilized Planets! Anyone remotely interested in the child-like, uncomplicated directness of Golden Age comics should check this book out.

For comparison, I am going to offer up just one Golden Age "first", and that is Jungle Comics #1, prized as being the first comic book dedicated entirely to the "jungle adventure" genre.  At $10,500, it's listed as 3 times as valuable as #2 at $2900 (which is in turn only listed as $600 more than issues 3 and 4).  In my opinion the situation should be reversed: the debut of the first female superhero should be valued three times as much as the first "jungle" comic.

Jungle #27 is another nice "key" issue to have, as Fantomah is given a new origin.

I use the following search string to get alerts for the book on eBay:

jungle comics 2 -nyoka -tarzan -"jo-jo" -journal -jim -dvd -sheena -tales -action -zegra -kaanga -ramar -disks -zago

Here is a copy sold on that venue in December for $50, described as missing the back cover with front cover and one interior page detached.  That's a little less than a third of GD price so not greatly out of sync with the guide.  A few hundred should land you a decent, readable copy.

The census shows only 9 graded copies, of which one is the Mile High.

 Below is the entire Fantomah story from Jungle #2 as reprinted in
I Shall Destroy All the Civilized Planets!, in addition to the cover and first page of a Fantomah story from a 2011 issue of Hack/Slash.

For an interesting view of the investment potential of female comic book characters, check out this blog entry by my friend and fellow collector Aaron.



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Hack/Slash #5.  Art by Kyle Strahm

Captain Marvel Adventures #22 (1943)

I have a couple of Golden Age picks and a Bronze pick coming up.  First is Captain Marvel Adventures #22 from 1943, the first appearance of the Monster Society of Evil.

This article assumes that the Shazam film franchise due to begin in 2019 will be a success, spawning sequels, with characters crossing over into a wider DC film universe.  If you even slightly agree, begin speculating now.  If you don't, take a "wait-and-see" approach.

The most important Shazam key is obviously the first appearance of Captain Marvel himself, Whiz Comics #2 (#1).  Prospects for that book are beyond the scope of this article.  There are many, many other nice Fawcett keys to speculate on, given that Fawcett books have always been slow sellers and relatively cheap.  For decades, the interest in these books has paled in comparison to the interest in Marvel and DC.

The number one Captain Marvel antagonist is Dr. Sivana.  Given that he first appears in the aforementioned Whiz Comics #2 (#1) and that he does not have a huge modern fan base, we will move on.  The second most important antagonist is Black Adam, who first appeared in 1945's Marvel Family #1, and who of course is to be played by Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.  The Rock famously teased audiences for more than a year about which character he would be portraying.  To me Black Adam was the clear choice, and I purchased a couple of copies before The Rock's official confirmation.  One I sold for four times my cost, and the other for 10 times.  Had this blog existed at that time, I would have mentioned this book, but today I have another in mind.

The number 3 antagonist for Captain Marvel, in my opinion, is the Monster Society of Evil, first appearing in 1943's Captain Marvel Adventures #22.  In that issue, a long serial started that ran for 22 issues, which features the first appearance of another major Shazam villain, Mr. Mind.  Mr. Mind is an alien worm and only his voice was heard in #22, but it is quite significant nonetheless.  Moreso when you consider his first "real" appearance (#26) he appears in only one panel.

This is a relatively cheap book and I have seen perhaps 15 copies of it for sale in the past year.  For many years in the 1940s, Captain Marvel in his various magazines was the best selling superhero.  CM #22 is more common than you might think so do not be put off by its age.  This book is 52 pages and was manufactured with only one staple, so be sure to check listings for mention of detached staples and loose centerfolds.  There was also a cut-out printed on the back cover and I have seen this missing in several cases.  

Some people say this is the first group of supervillains in comics to consist of characters a hero previously faced.  See here for an interesting and informative analysis of this claim.  Suffice it to say that the Monster Society of Evil is at least among the first supervillain group in comics, in addition to the longest lasting.

Read the story here:

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Green Lantern #29 (1964)

Green Lantern #29 (1964).  First appearance of Black Hand (William Hand)

Last week I was telling a friend how I thought Green Lantern #29 was undervalued.  He had never heard of the Black Hand.  This is one of the problems many of us vintage comic collectors run into: we don't read new comics anymore.  When a character's profile grows in modern story lines, we are the last to hear about it.  The rise in value puts us off, or we end up paying more for the "new key".  If you have been reading DC comics the past five or six years (Green Lantern in particular), you'll know how important Black Hand has become in the DC Universe.  I see his star rising the same way as Black Adam and Black Manta, but so far the market value of his first appearance has not changed.  My one hesitation is that his portrayal won't engender the kind of fandom these other two characters enjoy.  In short, he is not quite bad-ass enough.  His first appearance is one to watch.

Comparisons must be made to Sinestro, who is still Hal Jordan's #1 adversary.  We've seen his star rise in the past twenty years.  He has evolved into a character of shifting allegiances rather than a pure mustache-twirling villain.  He is sometimes at odds with the Green Lanterns, sometimes an ally.  Black Hand on the other hand (pun not intended), is just plain bad.  This list from 2011 ranks Black Hand at number 4 amongst Green Lantern villains behind Sinestro, the Manhunters and Krona.

In the 2015 Overstreet guide, I see that Green Lantern #7 (1st Sinestro) is valued 6.5 times more than #29 ($2000 vs $310).  A CGC 9.4 #7 recently sold for $10,755 while a CGC 9.6 #29 recently sold for $657).  The 10 least valuable of the first 30 issues of the Silver Age GL series are each worth $270.  The first appearance of Black Hand is only worth $40 more than that.  According to ComicVine, Black Hand has appeared in more issues than Sonar (a minor, perhaps irrelevant GL character?), yet #29 is only 3/4 the value of #14.  It is worth less than half the first appearance of Carol Ferris as the (Silver Age) Star Sapphire.

Black Hand has been a near-constant foil in the current Green Lantern series (he appears on the cover of the December 2015 issue).  I think some market correction is in order.

Warner Brothers has already used Parallax, Hector Hammond and Sinestro as big screen adversaries.  Considering the disappointing results of the 2011 GL film with Ryan Reynolds, they are likely to go for a different direction in the do-over that is five years away.  I can't think of many more important story lines as Blackest Night.

Another thing this book has going for it is that Black Hand actually appears on the cover, something that can't be said for Hector Hammond or Sinestro's debuts. Finally, this book was published in June of 1964, right in the sweet spot of where I like to look for undervalued Silver Age material.

As a treat, check out the original cover art for this comic, which just sold at auction on Heritage two weeks ago.   

Enjoy this video of Black Hand's history...

... and gallery of Black Hand covers.

Flash (Vol. 1) #258 (1978)

Flash (Vol. 1) #259 (1978)

Green Lantern (Vol. 2) #147 (1981)

Green Lantern (Vol. 2) #206 (1986)

 

Green Lantern (Vol. 4) #6 (2005): "Mutilated by the events of REBIRTH, Black Hand returns to wreak horrifying vengeance..."

Green Lantern (Vol. 4) #43 (2009).  There is also a second printing.

Green Lantern (Vol. 4) #43 1:25 Variant (2009)

Blackest Night #3 (2009)

Green Lantern (Vol. 5) #9 (2012)

Green Lantern #11 (2012)

Green Lantern #12 (2012)

Green Lantern #23.3 (2013)

Green Lantern #37 (2015)

Green Lantern #45 (2015)