Time for another non Star Wars comic speculation picks post for next week’s FOC deadline and NCBD! I’ve got to get 3 kids ready for a birthday party that’s an hour away so I have to be brief today.
See All New Star Wars Comics Coming Our Next Week Here
Big shoutout to sequential_art and Don from the Department of Comics discord for submitting their top NCBD and FOC picks for the week of July 31, 2023.
Also, if you love comic speculation, and if you’re reading this you probably do, the Department of Comics is a super fun and positive online community for comic fans. If you want to hang out, here’s the join link.
DISCLAIMER: The picks in this post are just opinions and the comics listed are not guaranteed to go up in value. Your money is your money. You work hard for it. Please only buy things you really want or that you agree will go up in value (if that’s your thing).
Let’s do it…
NCBD Comic Speculation Picks
Wonder Woman #800 2nd Printing Cover B Incentive (1:25) Sampere | DC Comics
Submitted by Don
In-Store Date: 8/1/23
Well, this one probably won’t be a cheap one to find. Keep scouring to find a copy at ratio or close. I’m not entirely sold on the character after reading, but if Trinity ever becomes a mainstay in DC, this one will skyrocket. I’m in anywhere from $25-$40 for a copy, if I can find one.
(This book was also featured in our FOC picks for the week of July 10th.)
Pre-Order Wonder Woman #800
Red Sonja #1 Frison Limited Virgin (Cover ZO), 1:25 Foil (Cover ZU) and Metal (Cover ZV) Variants | Dynamite
Submitted by sequential_art
In-Store Date: 7/19/23 (8/2/2023 for Cover ZO, 8/9/2023 for Cover ZV)
Jenny Frison’s work is scorching hot right now. It’s rare that I don’t preorder her covers, but, this cover turned out to be sort of tricky when it got down to FOC. Prior to the Friday before FOC (when the catalog is finalized, by the way – things can and do often change before then), there were only two variants of this cover, a trade dress (Cover G) and a ‘Limited’ Virgin (Cover ZO). Then, things got nuts. First, they extended FOC on the book.
Then, they added the 1:25 foil (Cover ZU) – now, there’s a 1:200 for the book and too many under ratios to count (in typical Dynamite fashion), but most shops don’t order heavy on Dynamite books, so it’s possible it could go under the radar a bit. The gem, however, is going to be the metal (Cover ZV). It wasn’t on the consumer-side FOC list; instead, it was listed as a ‘special incentive or promo item for retailers only.’
Update: there were a few more exclusives and a higher print run than I would have expected, but the foil seems to be holding above ratio (i.e., $25 for a 1:25) on the secondary market, for now. The ‘limited’ virgin releases this week, a week after the other covers for the book; a $50 MSRP on it may have kept orders low after they added the 1:25 foil, which used the same art. The retailer incentive/promotional metal cover doesn’t release until August 9th, but it might be very, very difficult to find. Keep an eye on these covers the next two weeks! CGC has a Private Signing scheduled with Jenny Frison, too.
Pre-order Red Sonja 2023 #1 Here
Moon Knight City of the Dead #1 SDCC Previews (PX) Exclusive | Marvel Comics
Submitted by sequential_art
In-Store Date: 8/2/23
We featured variants of this book on our NCBD picks for July 17th, but this 3,000 print run Previews (PX) exclusive comes out this week. It’s not a ‘true’ SDCC exclusive, because it wasn’t sold at the convention, but its release is (more-or-less) timed with SDCC. I don’t fully understand how that works, but, there it is.
Anyway, expect a 3,000 print run book through Previews to be allocated, there may not be more than a couple of copies at your shop. Get it reserved or in your pull before NCBD! There are several SDCC PX exclusives, some of which you can still preorder, too, but I think this is the best one for speculation purposes because it’s the first appearance of Layla El-Faouly as Scarlet Scarab. Honorable mention goes to the Jae Lee virgin dress for Dead by Daylight #1, which is still orderable and limited to 1,000 copies.
Pre-order Moon Knight City of the Dead
- TFAW (this variant may be sold out)
- eBay
- The Comic Corner (this variant sold out but there are more ratios up)
Conan the Barbarian (2023) #1 Cover M Stanley Artgerm Lau Black & White Inks Virgin 1:100 | Titan Comics
Submitted by sequential_art
In-Store Date: 8/2/23
I feel like this is going under the radar right now because the art was solicited as a big, gray mess, but it’s actually a line art variant, which is sort of rare for an Artgerm cover. You can see what it actually looks like here on eBay. The art was used for several covers (a Cover A trade dress, a virgin exclusive, and a foil SDCC exclusive), and there were a few other exclusives for the book, but I think Artgerm collectors will want this in their collection, and I suspect that most shops didn’t order 100 copies. It’s available for under ratio at the moment, but I expect it to pick up next week when people actually see the cover.
Pre-order Conan The Barbarian #1
FOC Comic Speculation Pics
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers 30th Anniversary Special #1 Cover G 1:5 Incentive | Boom! Studios
Submitted by sequential_art
FOC Date: 7/31/23
In-Store Date: 8/30/23
This is the low ratio on a book that has a 1:10 and a 1:30, but it’s $9.99 cover price and these wraparound character covers are universally popular across all brands and genres. I do wish it wasn’t the low ratio, and Boom! often sells ratios on their own website – but, I’ve seen it out in the wild for cover price or below on pre-order, and at that cost, I don’t think you can lose.
Pre-Order Mighty Morphin Power Rangers 30th Anniversary Special
Amazing Spider-Man #31 2nd Printing Skan 1:25 Incentive | Marvel Comics
Submitted by sequential_art
FOC Date: 7/31/23
In-Store Date: 9/6/23
We already know that this is the first appearance of Mary Jane Watson as Jackpot (but, not the first appearance of her powers… that’s in a different book, wink, wink). This second printing will have Jackpot’s first cover appearance on the Cover A (man, Humberto Ramos doesn’t disappoint!), the Cover B, and the 1:25 (which is a virgin of the Cover B) – but, it’s a $10 cover, it hits FOC before the first print even hits shelves, and it’s a Marvel hero first cover appearance (side note: the JTC for the first printing was solicited as a spoiler variant and I really thought it was going to be Spider-Boy, then I thought it must be Jackpot, but I was very, very wrong).
I don’t really think Jackpot has a thriving future in comics, but it has lower print run written all over it, and lower print run ASMs are great speculation pickups. You should definitely pre-order the Cover A and Cover B, but I think the $10 cover price will keep the 1:25 at much higher prices at most shops.
Pre-order Amazing Spider-Man #31 2nd Print Here
The Incredible Hulk #3 Cover A | Marvel Comics
Submitted by sequential_art
FOC Date: 7/30/23
In-Store Date: 8/30/23
There is a ton of great reader buzz about this Hulk run by Philip Kennedy Johnson and Nic Klein (but I’m pretty sure I’ve said that before). It’s possible this is the first appearance of the Mother of Horrors? From the language in the solicit and a 1:50 incentive (a virgin of the Frank Miller Cover B), Marvel sure wants us to think so… but, we’ll see. I’m not a huge fan of the 1:50 on this book unless you just really love Frank Miller, but I’d recommend getting Cover A of this run on your pull list, at a minimum.
Pre-order The Incredible Hulk (2023) #3
