100 Hot Comics #66:
Tales to Astonish #44, 1st Wasp
DOWN 35 PLACES FROM LAST YEAR

Why Tales to Astonish 44 is a Hot Comic

2019 MARKET UPDATE: PROFIT TAKING SWATS THE WASP

The Wasp movie has been and gone, and despite the shocking post-credits scene, which tied into the end of Avengers: Infinity War, not much was said about the movie.

I thought it was merely so-so. I didn't find it as funny as the first Ant-Man movie, and unless they roll the Wasp into the MCU's Avengers team (she was a founder member in Avengers #1), I don't see much upside in this book.

I managed to tip a grade which is so scarce that there have been no sales recorded in the past two years!

But other grades are reporting very mixed prices. Mid-grades are doing OK, lower grades are falling as interest turns elsewhere.

The sale of CGC 8.5 for $8,000 is a huge increase year-on-year (probably a lunatic who pulled the trigger on a buy-it-now item) and supports my chosen grade range.

But the 7.5 price of $2,200 was disappointing, and is probably a better reflection of the market for this Silver Age key issue comic.

This book is typically seen in VG-FN.

Recent sales:

• CGC 8.5 $8,000 (!)
  
• CGC 7.5 $2,200
  
• CGC 7.0 $1,500
  
• CGC 6.5 $1,194
  
• CGC 6.0 $1,231
  
• CGC 5.0 $642
• CGC 4.0 $504
• CGC 2.5 $288

2018 MARKET UPDATE: 

Ant-Man and the Wasp is due out soon, just one of the upcoming Marvel movies having an impact on comic book prices.

Wasp is a hot character in both senses of the word. Her inclusion should make this movie the latest in the humorous Marvel movies, and add a love interest which was missing from the first storyline.

There have been no super-high grade copies sold in the past year, but steady increases in most grades. Here are recent sales.

• CGC 8.5 $4,700
  
• CGC 7.5 $2,750
  
• CGC 7.0 $1,675
  
• CGC 6.5 $1,200
  
• CGC 6.0 $800
  
• CGC 5.0 $670
• CGC 4.0 $390
• CGC 2.5 $230

2017 MARKET UPDATE:

The big news is a new record high-grade sale of this book in February 2017. No matter what happens lower down the grade scale, it's always exciting when a book sets a new highest ever sale.

Wasp was a founder member of the Avengers original team. She is far more important than her current status in the Marvel Universe dictates. Sales of Tales to Astonish #44 have started to reflect this, at last.

• CGC 9.6: $26,290
  
• CGC 8.0 $3,100
  
• CGC 7.5 $2,300
  
• CGC 7.0 $1,700
  
• CGC 6.5 $1,200
  
• CGC 6.0 $800
  
• CGC 5.0 $750
• CGC 2.5 $330

It's no surprise that the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies have shaken up the values of some long-undervalued Silver Age key issue comics. This is one of them.

Anybody who watched the Ant-Man movie all the way to the credits will have seen the reason for this book's super-hot status. The Wasp was introduced as a future character in the series in an extra post-credits sequence. This is her first appearance.

A tough book above FN grades, so be patient and pick a good-looking VF- to VF copy.

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