Collector Keys Corner — Collectible Comics To Look Out For This Week
by Brendan M. Allen
Welcome to the very first Collector Keys Corner! There are basically two kinds of people buying comics. Those who read them, and those who collect them. There is quite a bit of overlap between the two groups, but comics consumers generally lean hard one way or the other. This column is aimed at the collectors, highlighting this week’s comics keys. I should probably say these are my opinions, for entertainment purposes only. Collectibles is a speculative market, and I can’t afford getting sued or whatever.
Justice League: Dark Tomorrow Special #1
In the wake of the We Are Yesterday crossover epic, a mysterious Quantum Quorum has emerged… stalked by a lethal enemy that takes no prisoners. The League deputizes a rag tag group of time displaced heroes like Batman Beyond, Gold Beetle, and Helena Wayne to fill the void left behind by the Time Masters and save the quorum from the mysterious threat that’s picking off time-travelers one by one. These Legends of Tomorrow are the only ones standing in the way of this cascading chronal Armageddon with the past, present, and future teetering on the brink in this oversized special leading to the next big DC All In event!
The Flash, Kingdom Come, Superman Birthright… Mark Waid is money. The Justice League Dark Tomorrow coming out this week looks like a banger, and with Waid’s name on the cover, collectors are likely to snap this one up.
Justice League: Dark Tomorrow Special #1 – Cover E 1:25 Mark Buckingham Variant
In addition to the points I made above about the main cover, the Buckingham variant is a 1:25 incentive, which means that your LCS will only get one copy for every TWENTY-FIVE open order covers. Shop owners usually mark these up at a premium due to rarity. It’s a dynamic image, with lots of open space for autos if you catch the creative team at a con or signing event.
Nightwing 2025 Annual #1
What is the Zanni? Commissioner Maggie Sawyer digs into the past crimes of the mysterious Olivia Pearce — and discovers far more than she bargained for when she uncovers the existence of a strange and terrible entity. What is the Zanni, where does it come from… and what are its true plans for Nightwing ?
If I’m being perfectly honest, I hate this cover. There are no variants listed, so this is unfortunately the one we get. Those handcuffs look like they’re someone’s attempt at a set of standard issue Smith & Wesson 100s. Except… they’re missing the double lock slot, the keyway is the wrong shape, there’s no pawl, the shackles and links are misshapen, and the cheek plates are smashed together.
Moving away from the cuffs that look like they were drawn by someone who has never seen a pair of handcuffs in their life, the file folder is a mess, the badge is asymmetrical, and the title character is barely more than a black smudge with bangs.
This one isn’t collectable for the cover, though. It’s what’s inside that makes this one a potential keeper. It contains the origin stories for Olivia Pearce and the Zanni.
Spider-Man vs. the Sinister Sixteen #1
Spider-Man versus everyone! Peter Parker was just trying to have a nice night out, but wouldn’t you know it: The Parker Luck has filled his evening with an assortment of some of the Marvel Universe’s most vile villains! J. Michael Straczynski saved the wildest of his Marvel pairings for last, and he brought the legendary Phil Noto with him for this doozy of a story!
You read that right. The Sinister Six-TEEN. An obvious play on the Sinister Six, this is the first appearance of these baddies as a team. First appearances can garner some serious coin on the secondary market.
Superman #1 Facsimile Edition 2025
Featuring the origin of the Man of Steel, Clark Kent’s first day at the Daily Star newspaper, and Superman, who stops a lynching, gangsters, and an execution.
Hear me out. This is obviously a reprint. I still love it for collectors and readers, and here’s why. Most of us will never be within arm’s reach of an original Superman #1. The book originally sold for $.10 in 1939. A CGC graded 8.0 copy sold for $3.6 million in 2022. Even if you owned that copy, you would never, EVER crack the slab to read that sucker. Here’s a chance to read the very first Superman titled comic (Notably not Supes’ first appearance. That one is MUCH rarer and much more expensive.) for the cover price. Not collectable. Still cool. Fight me.
