Welcome to COVRPRICE's SHAKER Report, where we cover our favorite high comic book sales of the week, including comics from all corners of the hobby - from vintage comic books to modern comics! In this week's shaker, we have amazing covers with J. Scott Campbell on AMAZING SPIDER-MAN and ANT, a TACO TIME variant for DEADPOOL, Skottie Young on DEFEX, a classic Frank Frazetta on EERIE, Mike Deodato Jr. on THE IMMORTAL HULK, Ed McGuiness on WOLVERINE and so many other comics from all ends of the comic spectrum!

SHAKERS OF THE WEEK

These are all comic books that hit our daily SHAKERS list. This list refreshes EVERY day, so don't miss out!

SHAKER: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN: RENEW YOUR VOWS ISSUE #1 - J. SCOTT CAMPBELL - COLOR | MARVEL | 2015

By Jeremy Imlach

Featuring yet another iconic J. Scott Campbell cover, this issue has finally found its way onto our SHAKER list. Beyond its gorgeous cover, this key issue marks the first appearance of Anna-May Parker, who later becomes Spiderling. A Raw NM copy recently sold for $210, a new high in Raw (by $10). With only 42 total recorded sales, this issue rarely appears in the aftermarket. Despite this rarity, there are a total of 510 graded issues on the CGC census. Nearly half of these are signature series. While it may not often appear in the aftermarket, its value remains high, making it a shaker in the comic book market. Whether you're a fan of Spider-Man, Campbell's art, or both, this variant cover is a standout addition to any collection.

SHAKER:  ANT #1 - 2004 RETAILER SUMMIT - RED FOIL VARIANT | ARCANA | 2004

By Matthew Glover Esq.

Ideas for characters and stories can come from the most unlikely of situations. Mario Gully created Ant while incarcerated in 1996. Gully was in jail on the charge of attempted armed robbery. While in jail, Gully watched a crawl into his cell and vowed to do something with his life, so he came up with the idea of Ant. Ant has gone on to have several volumes and has made appearances in Savage Dragon and Spawn. This particular cover is very interesting. Variants from 2004 were much less common than they are today. Having a Foil Variant by J. Scott Campbell is rare, making it the 2004 retailer summit exclusive making it even harder to find. Recently, a 9.8 sold for $600.

SHAKER: DEADPOOL #27 - MATTHEW WAITE 8-BIT VARIANT | MARVEL | 2014

By Van Denby

The anticipation for the upcoming blockbuster Deadpool and Wolverine is much higher than any recent MCU release. Fans have waited years for Deadpool to make his official debut in the MCU and hopefully "right the ship," as some of the releases in the past few years have been lackluster at best. This excitement from fans has also led to collectors buying Wolverine and Deadpool books in the aftermarket. We have recently featured various Wolverine and Deadpool books, but this Taco Time variant from 2014 hasn't seen a high sale in some time. This week, a CGC 9.8 graded copy sold for $350, nearly doubling the previous all-time high of $180 from back in February of 2022. Keep an eye on incentive Deadpool variants, as many of them are seeing a lot of attention from collectors right now. If you love this cover, Mr. Waite did a TACO TIME 2 cover for Deadpool #10.

SHAKER: DEFEX #1 - SKOTTIE YOUNG - GRAHAM CRACKERS | DEVIL’S DUE PUBLISHING | 2004

By Nick Richardson

If you’re a fan of Skottie Young, look no further. This book goes WAY back to his early career and his roots. Before getting his big break with Marvel, Skottie Young lent his talents to Devil’s Due, which created this series focusing on teens manipulating their DNA to reveal latent human powers. Sound familiar? Still, Defex never really landed with audiences but has found its niche within the wider community, especially fans of Skottie Young, who search far and wide for his rarer work. This book epitomizes ‘rare’ work, as hardly anyone knows it exists. But, those who do pounce whenever a copy does hit the aftermarket. An NM raw copy sold for $135, up $35 from the previous high established for a VF raw copy earlier this year. 2024 appears to be the year for this book, as it previously topped out at $10 or less until now. Recently, it’s been on a tear, with a steady trend upward. It’s not surprising to see as the Skottie Young fanbase continues to grow and acquire his work, both past and present.

SHAKER: DC PRIDE 2023 #1 - JEN BARTEL (1:50) | DC | 2023

By Dana Forsythe

Beginning on TV’s Batman: The Animated Series, Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy’s relationship dates back to 1993 when the Joker kicked his on-again, off-again sidekick to the street. In 2016, the couple made their love comic book canon in DC’s Bombshells run and later in the pages of Injustice, Harley’s solo book in 2017, the 2020 Harley Quinn series on HBO and beyond.

Both DC Comics and Marvel have been releasing pride variants, one-shots and anthologies for a few years now. Starting with the DC Pride anthology in 2021, the company has continued the tradition annually, and featured a rotating cast of artists including Mateus Manhanini, Gabriel Picolo and Jen Bartel, who produced this particular foil variant. Released as a 1:50 retailer incentive, this book has been hot since it was released in June of 2023 and this week it hit a new high. Doubling the FMV for a NM raw copy, a collector paid $200 this week for a NM+ copy of this modern variant.

SHAKER: EERIE #87 | WARREN | 1977

By Ron Reyes

Classic Frank Frazetta cover? Check! Record-breaking sale of a CGC 9.8 for $850? Check! First time we have a graded copy of this issue on our site. Check! Now, the head-scratching ensues; why? Eerie established itself in 1966 as a horror-themed magazine and creatively managed to escape the code of the Comics Authority by releasing the periodical as such, a magazine and not a comic book! Drawing from earlier "host" style narratives, such as The Crypt Keeper from Crime Patrol #15, Cousin Eerie brought us a creepy lot of stories to keep us on the edge of our seats! However, Eerie was not Frazetta's start, with Creepy #1 being his first artistic comic book endeavor, along with fellow illustrators Al Williamson, Angelo Torres, and Jack Davis. Frazetta grew to become one of the greatest fantasy artists of our era. His most famous painting, Death Dealer, created in 1973, has been reprinted countless times in numerous periodicals with the original valued well into the millions! As we try to find another reason for this incredible sale, and with CGC having three other 9.8 copies listed, we'll have to wait and see if those copies surface to make an accurate judgment. Either Eerie #87 is simply a die-hard, must-have collector's purchase, or it could represent the accurate value of a timeless piece from a legendary illustrator. Only time will tell…

SHAKER: THE IMMORTAL HULK #7 - MIKE DEODATO JR. - MKXX VIRGIN (1:200) | MARVEL | 2018

By Xavier

What a monster of a book! This comic has a ton going for it, so let’s jump back in. First off, this book marks a massive battle between the Hulk and the Avengers (and we all love those!). Second, this book was also printed with an error in coloring, giving Captain America a fully red suit instead of blue in a few panels. Error variants are all the craze lately! Third, this book has an epic cover, and the virgin edition is also a retailer incentive, an insane 1:200 ratio variant! If that wasn’t enough, this book only has 17 copies on the CGC census, making a high-quality copy of this book a true rarity! The book has been on a bit of a roller coaster of value. The first 9.8 sold for $200 in 2020. It went up again to nearly $300 in 2021 and then fell off in 2022. 2023 saw it jump back up to $250, and then it soared. This past week, a collector purchased a CGC 9.8 for more than double the previous sale, setting a new all-time high of $550! This recent sale brings this issue’s value up to join the other great covers in the series, like the B&W retailer incentive by Sal Buscema!

SHAKER: MAGIC ISSUE #4 - JENNY FRISON - VIRGIN (1:100) | BOOM! STUDIOS | 2021

By Jeremy Imlach

Another Jenny Frison Variant has blessed our shaker review this week, with the last recorded sale of a CGC 9.8 fetching $185 on May 12. With only one graded sale and five raw sales, all at a VF raw grade with an FMV of $28, this variant is a rare find for collectors. Given the 1:100 incentive, though, it's no surprise that this book has been scarce in the aftermarket for the past three years. Renowned illustrator and comic book cover artist Jenny Frison's fan base continues to grow thanks to her stunning artwork. Magic: The Gathering, a pop culture phenomenon, made its debut at BOOM! Studios in April 2021, when they released a new original comic book series. Whether you're a fan of the game, Frison's work, or simply a collector of rare comics, this variant is an easy aftermarket raw addition.

SHAKER: REVIVAL #26 | IMAGE | 2014

By Van Denby

Image Comics released Revival in 2012, receiving much praise from fans. The interesting premise and clever writing, not to mention excellent Jenny Frison covers, made this series an immediate hit. There was long talk of a television adaptation, but there have all been rumors until this past week when it was confirmed that SyFy is finally adapting the series. Issue #1 has seen a ton of movement, of course, but this week, we saw a new all-time sale of $150 for a raw copy for this Jamie McKelvie 1:15 ratio variant. This variant is only one of two variants for the entire series, surprisingly, the other being for issue #1. This series could continue seeing high sales if the live-action series we get is as good as its written predecessor.

SHAKER: THE SENSATIONAL SPIDER-MAN #0 DAN JURGENS RED WEBBING WRAPAROUND VARIANT (LIMITED 3000) l MARVEL l 1996

By Travis Millsaps

A powerhouse creative team, a limited run, and Spider-Man? Sounds like a recipe for a shaker! In 1996, fresh off his legendary Death of Superman run (and the following arcs), Dan Jurgens moved to Marvel. For his first full-time title following this big publisher jump, he and the equally renowned Klaus Janson on inks (Daredevil, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Batman/Spawn: War Devil) teamed up to bring readers a new Spider-Man series: The Sensational Spider-Man. This past week saw the premium wraparound variant of issue #0 sell for its all-time high of $1500, clearing the previous high by $200, as well as clearing the most recent documented 9.8 sale by a massive margin of almost $1200.

This series, centered around Ben Reilly becoming our web-slinging protagonist, doesn’t typically see the massive resale value. However, this issue may be the exception due to the low overall print count. The Premium Lenticular cover with Red Webbing in the background (as opposed to grey) was limited to only 3,000 issues. Additionally, at the time of this writing, there are only 22 total 9.8 graded editions of this book in the CGC census. Given the very marginal differences in the look of these books, you could certainly see yourself stumbling upon one of these in an LCS box somewhere if someone wasn’t hip to the webbing color difference! Happy hunting!

SHAKER: SUPERMAN #204 - JIM LEE - DIAMOND RETAILERS SUMMIT - SKETCH | DC | 2004

By Keith Shimabukuro

Everyone loves Jim Lee’s cover to Batman 608 2nd print, as it was the beginning of the Hush storyline and has become a $200 raw book. His connecting cover to that book depicting Superman has languished as it was not a key issue and was very easy to find. The sketch version of this cover was handed out as a freebie at the Diamond Retailer Summit, which first began in 2001 as a way for the distributor to connect with its comic book retailers and publishers. This sketch version has become very rare, and sales are so few that we haven’t written about this book in almost two years when a graded 9.6 sold for $250. Well, this week, we finally saw a significant sale as a raw book hit a record $190. The sketch version has almost caught up to the Batman 2nd print in raw pricing, so it’ll be interesting to see what the next graded 9.8 sells for, as this book is scarcer than its more famous counterpart.

SHAKER: TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES ISSUE #1 - KEVIN EASTMAN - COVER RI-A (1:10) | IDW | 2011

The Turtles have been around for a long time. This is the first TMNT issue at IDW, boasting a staggering 117 variants covered by Covrprice. In 2011, Kevin Eastman created this 1:10 cover as an incentive cover. Fast-forward 13 years, and this book is on our shaker list. Kevin Eastman co-wrote, did the page layouts, and provided this and other variant covers. The ongoing series was scripted by Tom Waltz, and the artwork was created by Dan Duncan. This was Eastman’s first time with the turtles since the 90s. The Turtles have always been a popular IP, and combined with the recent animated film and the groundbreaking Ronin story, it’s easy to see why collectors are willing to pay top dollar for this book. Recently, a 9.8 sold for $600.

SHAKER: WEIRD SUSPENSTORIES #1 | SUPERIOR | 1950

By The Professor

OH CANADA! One of the rarest pre-code horror comic books went onto the open market last week and a lucky buyer quickly snatched it up. Weird Suspenstories #1 is from a three-issue series only published in Canada (Toronto's Superior Comics) with permission from the US counterpart, EC Comics. The interior of these three issues are the same as Crime Suspenstories #1 - 3 but with different cover art and Canadian interior ads instead of American ones. Believe it or not, it was illegal to import crime comics into Canada from 1949-1953, hence the reason the title was changed from Crime Suspenstories to Weird Suspenstories on all three issues. This past week, a CGC 3.5 copy of the first issue was sold for $3400. NOTE: A CGC 3.0 copy of issue #3 also sold for $2700 this past week. Here's hoping issue #2 makes an appearance soon! 

SHAKER: WOLVERINE #310 - MCGUINNESS VARIANT | MARVEL | 2012

By Nick Richardson

What an exceptional cover! Homaging X-Men #207, using Sabretooth was a perfect way to encapsulate the story. Wolverine is fighting Sabretooth clones when he gets a helping hand from Remus (who first appears in this book), Romulus's twin sister. Some may remember Romulus from the web he spun around Wolverine being descended from Lupines, which Remus would go on to debunk. Despite being quite the liar, Romulus is a handful, and so is his sister. While the 1:100 & 1:200 ratios typically get all the fanfare for this book, this 1:50 from McGuinness is steadily gaining value. Recently, a CGC 9.8 copy, and 1 of 27 on the census, sold for $765, a substantial jump from the previous high it achieved in that grade of $163 back in 2021. A CGC 9.6 sold a week prior for $218. An NM raw copy sold two days later for $120, further pushing this book into $100 territory regardless of grade in recent years. It's a stellar book for Wolverine fans and those who collect his numerous battles with Sabretooth over the years. After being overshadowed by its higher ratio brethren, this book is breaking out mostly due to availability and cost. As the community shifts its focus to cheaper and easier to attain books, this variant may continue to climb for those who can get their hands on it!

SHAKER: WONDER WOMAN #28 - J.G. JONES - STEAMPUNK (1:25) | DC | 2014

By Keith Shimabukuro

DC released a slew of monthly themed variants in the mid-2000s, but the most popular (and valuable) came from these steampunk-themed variants. A couple of weeks ago, we covered Batgirl #28 when a raw NM copy sold for $400. The last time we covered this Wonder Woman book was in January of 2022, mainly because it only came up for sale three times in 2023, where a raw NM sold for $300 and two graded 9.6 copies sold for $850 and $1K. Well, this month, there were two raw sales of this book, which is quite amazing considering how rare these sales have been. The first sale occurred on May 3rd, when an NM+ raw book sold for a record $603. Then, on May 14th, a no-grade raw book sold for $500. These two solid sales continue to solidify that this is the Steampunk variant to own, and DC did fans solid by choosing this variant theme.

WHAT THE WATCHER WATCHES

WHAT THE WATCHER WATCHES: HULK ANNUAL #1 MAIN COVER | MARVEL | 2023

By: Lefteros

When this Hulk Annual was released, it blindsided a lot of us. The solicitation read that we would get a preview of the shocking new direction the next Hulk title would take. That suggests maybe there would be a first appearance, but no one was certain of it. Then factor in that it said it would feature a preview. Lots of people thumb their noses at previews. As a result of this, plus the fact there was no incentive, this does not seem to have been heavily ordered at FOC.

Leading up to its release we learned two things. First, it was not a preview but more of a prelude to the forthcoming Phillip Kennedy Johnson and Nic Klein Incredible Hulk series. Second, we saw that this prelude contained the first appearance of a new character called The Eldest. As a result, this issue began seeing sales of over $30 before the ink had even dried.

Since then, the Incredible Hulk series has been a favorite of mine, which has brought an onslaught of first appearances, but we have not seen much of The Eldest. This has resulted in this Annual cooling off in a big way. There are currently copies available for nearly cover price on eBay. Well, looking at the solicitation for the upcoming Incredible Hulk #14, The Edlest is coming back in a big way. Will that result in renewed interest in her first appearance? We are watching!

CONTENT/CONFIRMATIONS:

CONTENT: SPIDER-MAN: NOIR

Per Deadline, MGM+ and Amazon Prime have ordered a series for NOIR, a live-action series based on the Marvel Comic of the same name. It was also confirmed that Nic Cage will reprise the role of Spider-Man: Noir.

CONTENT: TOMB RAIDER

Lara Croft has found a new home (and media format) with a Tomb Raider series moving forward at Amazon. The Hollywood Reporter reported that Emmy winner Phoebe Waller-Bridge of Fleabag fame will write and produce the adaptation.

KEY OF THE WEEK

KEY: RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER | MONTGOMERY WARD | 1939

By Xavier

Every Christmas, mail order firm Montgomery Ward would purchase large numbers of coloring books to give away to their customers during the holidays. The company decided that this method was too costly and asked one of their copywriters to create a small book to use as a promotional gift. Robert L. May took on the project that would lead to the creation of a character that would be beloved across the world for generations to come. In 1939, May published the first edition of his holiday poem, RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER, distributing 2.4 million copies. It would be nearly seven years before the book was printed again as a mass-market product. Two years later, in 1949, May’s brother-in-law, songwriter Johnny Marks, worked with May to transform the story into a song. The song was performed by the “Singing Cowboy,” Gene Autry, and became the first No. 1 song of the 1950s. The rest, as they say, is history. The first appearance of Rudolph, in any medium, only has 18 copies on the CGC census, with the highest grade being a 7.5. This past week, a fan wanted a piece of that history and purchased a CGC 5.5 copy for a new all-time high of $1140!

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