Upcoming Comic Book Movies - The Implications for Fans and Collectors

In a few days two major comic book movies will be released, The Incredible Hulk followed by Batman: The Dark Knight. We also have Wanted and Hellboy 2, but today I want to focus on Hulk and Batman.

My Fan Take

I'm looking forward to the Hulk, but more out of curiosity than any burning desire or excitement to see the movie. I want to know if Marvel can redeem themselves from their first attempt. Marvel has proven their plan of bringing their characters back in-house with Iron Man, and hopefully we'll see as good an effort with Hulk. I am cautiously optimistic, especially with the rumors of on-set disagreements. The HBO "First Look" is encouraging though. Let's hope for the best.

On the other hand I am genuinely excited to see Batman: The Dark Knight. In my opinion Batman Begins was one of the best, if not the best, comic book movie ever produced. It captured the essence of the character, conveyed many moral lessons from the mythology, and didn't overdue the "superhero" camp image of a man in tights. Heck, it was at least half way through the movie before we saw the costume.

Since they got it so right with the first one, I can't wait to see The Dark Knight and Heath Ledger's performance. Heath's tragedy alone probably secures this movie's place on the all-time blockbuster list. It opens July 18th and I'll be there on opening day or shortly after.

My Collector/Investor Take

I'm going to give you one simple sales fact:

Batman 232 (1st R'as Al Ghul), CGC 9.0 Sales in February of 2003: $110
Batman 232 CGC 9.0 Sales in January 2004: $250

Over 100% gain in one year, far in excess of any standard rate of return, driven by speculation about the Batman Begins movie.

This is just one of several examples I have of comic book movies affecting prices. What's surprising to me is more people don't take advantage of this connection. I've been writing about the comic book movie connection for over 4 years, and this year was the first time I saw a major collecting magazine even explicitly acknowledge it (Comic Buyer's Guide). What took so long?

With those facts in mind, I am excited about Batman and watching the Hulk.

First Batman. The comic book values we've been watching on my site are Batman 1, Detective 66 and Batman 234 (two-face). I think it's two late to buy these issues, but I would be getting ready to sell if you own them and want to profit, and at a minimum be tracking prices for future use. I am also anxiously awaiting any hints of a future villain in an upcoming movie.

Hulk on the other hand has had one chance. Can Marvel redeem themselves? Yes. If they do, I would expect another Hulk movie and will be watching for hints to the future and whatever comic books could make a move. Hulk #1 is the obvious choice, although it's in the stratosphere, and we'll be looking for any hints of future characters.

In the final analysis it doesn't matter if you are purely a comic book fan, collector/investor, or both, this is probably one of the most exciting years on the big screen for us all.

- Sean


© C Harris Lynn, 2008