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Nick's Picks 166

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Forever People, The #1

DC ⋅ 1971

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Forever People, The #1
 
Low
$18
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$60
High
$180

Key Facts

1st full appearance of Darkseid

1st team appearance of The Forever People: Beautiful Dreamer, Mark Moonrider, Serifan, Big Bear, Vykin the Black

First mention of Mother Boxes, sentient supercomputers of vast power and the Anti-Life Equation

1st appearance of Infinity-Man, a protector of The Forever People

✅ Nick's Picks: Darkseid Is...still very probable to enter the live-action scene as a primary antagonist yet his first real appearance, in full, is undervalued

The Absolute Universe which has been extremely successful early, was build on Darkseid energy so the villain is bound to make an appearance in a big way as the story arc moves ahead

A 9.8 of Forever People #1 sold in August for $2,640 versus Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen 9.8 for $16,200 in 2020

Granted, there are 80 copies in 9.8 of Forever People versus 12 in 9.8 of Jimmy Olsen but the cameo is unsatisfying as a first appearance (tap cover and swipe to view) considering he looks more like Ram Man from He-Man instead of the ruler of Apokolips

Overall, graded and ungraded copies of this issue are approximately 70% less expensive than #134

Spawn #5

Image ⋅ 1992

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Spawn #5
 
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$1
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$4

Key Facts

1st appearance of Billy Kincaid, a child predator

1st appearance of Sherlee Johnson, a seven-year-old victim of Billy Kincaid

✅ Nick's Picks: something strange is going on with Sherlee Johnson who will headline her own Spawn spin-off series titled 'No Home Here' on 32 years after her first and last appearance in this issue

Tap the cover and swipe to see her new Violator-esque design

View FUTURE KEYS for more upcoming premiere issues from independent publishers

Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind Part One #1

Viz ⋅ 1988

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Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind Part One #1
 
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Key Facts

Adaptation of Hayao Miyakazi's manga saga that was made into a feature film in 1984

Synopsis: Post-nuclear destruction world, a teenage princess of the Valley of the Wind becomes embroiled in a struggle with an empire that tries to use an ancient weapon to eradicate a jungle full of giant mutant insects

✅ Nick's Picks: this sprawling saga of 27 books written and illustrated by Hayao Miyazaki is perfect for fans of Studio Ghibli productions

Born to Be Wild

Eclipse ⋅ 1991

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Born to Be Wild
 
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$5

Key Facts

Anthology of stories that focuses on animal rights and abuse

✅ Nick's Picks: for Todd McFarlane completionists, this recently-brought-to-my-attention one-shot on animal rights includes one page of text with an illustration of a kitty (tap cover and swipe to view additional image) that is uncharacteristic of McFarlane's typical fare

X-Men #5

Marvel ⋅ 1992

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X-Men #5
 
Low
$1
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$2
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$8

Key Facts

1st appearance of Maverick, later becomes Agent Zero

2nd appearance and 1st full cover appearance of Omega Red

✅ Nick's Picks: Maverick will take center stage in the upcoming, ongoing Wolverine and Deadpool title which should give the underrated character some much needed exposure considering he has a fairly well-developed backstory and even his own twelve-issue series that premiered just 15 issues after his first appearance here

Doctor Strange #8

Key Variant ⋅ Marvel ⋅ 2023

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Doctor Strange #8
 
Price Trend
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$1
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$3
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$12

Key Facts

1st cover appearance of Monte

✅ Nick's Picks: The New Champions characters first appeared on variant covers last year and a few of these have commanded a solid resale value on the secondary market. Monte will make a first in-story appearance in the upcoming New Champions series which kicks off in 2025

Check out THE NEW CHAMPIONS category for all of the first cover appearances depicting potential upcoming characters

View FUTURE KEYS for upcoming issues that will introduce new characters

Magneto #3

Key Variant ⋅ Marvel ⋅ 2023

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Magneto #3
 
Price Trend
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$1
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$5
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$15

Key Facts

1st cover appearance of Magnetrix

✅ Nick's Picks: The New Champions characters first appeared on variant covers last year and a few of these have commanded a solid resale value on the secondary market. Magnetrix will make a first in-story appearance in the upcoming New Champions series which kicks off in 2025

Check out THE NEW CHAMPIONS category for all of the first cover appearances depicting potential upcoming characters

View FUTURE KEYS for upcoming issues that will introduce new characters

Timeless #1

Marvel ⋅ 2023

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Timeless #1
 
Low
$1
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$2
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$7

Key Facts

1st appearance of Power Man, a version of Luke Cage with the power of the Sentry, the Void, Iron Fist and Hulk

1st cameo appearance of James Stark, Iron Man who was fully introduced in Avengers #1

1st cameo team appearance of The New Champions

1st cameo appearance of Dracula 2099

✅ Nick's Picks: Marvel will circle back to this version of Power Man, seen just once in this issue, who will enter the mainstream Marvel Universe in February for a five-issue series

Wonder Woman 1984 #1

Variant ⋅ DC ⋅ 2020

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Wonder Woman 1984 #1
 
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$1
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Key Facts

Rooster Teeth variant

✅ Nick's Picks: ran across this cover again and remember the humorous reaction from fans when it came out that can be concluded from the artist's response to criticism: I drew an alien character with a realistic body, wearing a more everyday version of the Wonder Woman outfit. I didn't realize that featuring a Wonder Woman-inspired character with a realistic body type would be controversial.

Mister Miracle #7

DC ⋅ 2018

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Mister Miracle #7
 
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Key Facts

1st appearance of Jacob Free, the son of Mister Miracle and Big Barda

✅ Nick's Picks: after reading an advanced copy of New Gods #1, on sale December 18, I can give a recommendation that it is a solid premiere issue and left me wanting to read issue #2

Although still in his infancy, the son of Jacob Free and his soon-to-be-introduced sister could become a bigger part of DC's storytelling in the future

Superman: The Man of Steel #37

DC ⋅ 1994

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Superman: The Man of Steel #37
 
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$0

Key Facts

✅ Nick's Picks: a fun cover that I wanted to share for fans of alt-reality Batmen including Batman 1.0 from Detective Comics #27, the animated version, Frank Miller's Dark Knight, Red Rain: Batman vs. Dracula and others

Value unknown

Adventures of Superman #443

Variant ⋅ DC ⋅ 1988

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Adventures of Superman #443
 
Low
$1
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$2
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$3

Key Facts

Cranberry Mall located in Venango County, Pennsylvania

✅ Nick's Picks: if you like to collect niche oddities, you can pursue this Sisyphean task of locating 17 different mall exclusives, many of which are now closed or renamed but still evoke a sense of nostalgia in those who remember them as more than just a variety of stores in one place

See if your mall is one of the sponsors by searching Adventures of Superman #443 after switching on the Non-Keys toggle

Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man #9

Marvel ⋅ 1977

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Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man #9
 
Low
$4
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$12
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$45

Key Facts

1st appearance of White Tiger in a standard comic, previously appeared in The Deadly Hands of Kung Fu magazine #19

White Tiger is Marvel's first character of Hispanic descent

[January 2024 - set photos floating around online from Daredevil Born Again seemingly White Tiger for the series]

✅ Nick's Picks: this issue has had very little action on the secondary market despite confirmation that White Tiger will appear in Daredevil: Born Again

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