Do Marvel Movies and TV Shows Impact The Sales Price of Comics? An Investigation

In the modern era, we’ve frequently seen comics adapted into massive film and TV properties accompanied by demands that comics tie into what’s happening on screens. The thinking there is that exposing people to X-Men, Spider-Man, or any other superhero comic through widely consumed media has some impact on sales and would get more people reading comics. And while that narrative hasn’t necessarily borne out on new stories and series, it still might be worth taking a look at back issue sales to see if a media tie-in moves the price on key issues. 

Before we start digging into any data, it’s worth noting a few things. First, publicly available information about eBay sales is somewhat limited, so I’m doing a lot of this by hand. Second, we’re going to look at key issues and not some random issue of Scarlet Witch – stuff in the dollar bins is going to be in dollar bins even if there’s a movie on screens making a billion dollars. And third, there’s…a lot of other economic stuff happening right now that might impact collectibles markets, so take it with a grain of salt. But with that in mind, let’s go!

Agatha Harkness

Disney+ blazed a new trail at the end of 2024, premiering Agatha All Along – a full television miniseries about Wiccan and Speed’s nanny. Agatha Harkness played a big role in the Scarlet Witch’s story both in comics and on screens, but she’s never been a huge seller on her own. Her first appearance, in Fantastic Four #94 hit a high water mark in November during the show, selling for $105, before dipping through December, bottoming out in early January at $40, and rebounding to and settling in at around $55 in mid February. 

Her death in Avengers #503 hovered around the $15 mark through December until it hit cover price again in early February. And Vision & Scarlet Witch #12, the issue that saw Billy (Wiccan from Agatha All Along) and his brother Tommy joining the Marvel Universe, peaked at about $30 in December and settled back in at about $15 in February. 

Sam Wilson

In theaters now is Sam Wilson’s first feature with the shield – Captain America: Brave New World. The movie is seeing :cough: mixed reviews. But if movies move comics, that shouldn’t impact sales, right? 

Sam’s first appearance as Falcon came in Captain America #117, which ended November going for $200 a copy, dipped through December and January, and then came back up to $275 in mid February. It’s back down in the $100-150 range now. His first appearance as Captain America came in 2014’s Captain America #25 and sold for around $10 before shooting up in February, going for $22 mid-month as the movie was released. The first issue of his solo Cap series, All New Captain America #1 from 2015, has been going for about cover price, but saw very high volume – a search for it returned about twice as many results as some of the Agatha Harkness books.

Daredevil

Disney resurrects the Netflix Marvel Universe in March 2025 with Daredevil: Born Again. Named for an incredible arc in Frank Miller’s stupendous run on the original book, the series is being advertised as something incredibly violent for a Disney show, which I’ll confess I’m pretty into. It doesn’t seem to be translating to increased dollar value though. 

Early issues of Daredevil seem to be fairly stable – there are a few low-grade copies of Daredevil #1 sold, but not a ton because…you know, the world. The second issue of the series can be had for anywhere between $350 and $1000, all from the last two weeks. Daredevil #184, the first team up between Matt Murdock and Frank Castle, has been fairly stable at about $15 for a few months, but is seeing very high sale volume. And the first issue of the titular Born Again arc, Daredevil #227, is steady at around $30 but is also moving in high numbers. 

Thunderbolts and the Future of Comic Speculation

From a quick look at sales data, I think the conclusion we can draw is that you can expect lots of people to be trying to move their key issues around when a major media property hits, which likely depresses sale values. The time to get in is probably a couple of months before the tie in launches. 

Marvel’s kinda-sorta-Suicide Squad, the Thunderbolts, join the MCU as a team this spring, though not as they did in the comics. The movie team is a combination of supporting characters from other flicks – Ghost from Ant-Man, White Widow and Red Guardian from Black Widow, Bucky and US Agent from Falcon & Winter Soldier, Julia Louis-Dreyfus from Veep (I assume), the writer from Salem’s Lot. I’m mostly joking – it looks fun, but that hasn’t translated to higher sell prices for back issues. 

That may be because unlike the movies, the comic was a secret team of villains, so the sales boosts might be in the individual characters’ histories and not the team’s. Incredible Hulk #449, the first appearance of the team, has been going for $40-50 for a couple of months, and the first issue of the 1997 series can be had for around $20. The movie is due out in May, so mid-March, after the Daredevil fever breaks, is probably your best time to move your copies. And if you’re looking to buy, wait until after the movie releases.

We don’t have enough information to make an educated guess about what’s in the Fantastic Four movie, but considering the characters’ centrality to the big Marvel Universe (and likely the MCU), if you’re sitting on a key issue with Reed, Sue, Johnny, Ben, or Galen of Taa, prep it for auction now. You should make bank by May. I’ll take any copies you have of Al Ewing’s Defenders, though.

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