Market Spotlight: Green Lantern # 30!

Here's the short of it - there's something in this issue important enough to "War of the Green Lanterns" that DC has decided to reprint GL # 30 in the FCBD Green Lantern/Flashpoint book.  That probably means buzz, which means more people interested in it than have it, and well....you know the rest.

But then again, maybe a reprint kills the action.  There was a day when I would have poo-pooed the notion, partly because the market used to really prize first prints in a way that it doesn't currently, and partly because I like saying poo.

I guess what I'm saying is that the issue is more complicated than it used to be.  I like this as a play because basically everything from Green Lantern # 21 on up has some heat behind it, and this news, when it finally sinks in for folks, really ought to bring more heat.  A book like Green Lantern # 37 is pretty easy to sell for $15+ right now, and there are several other issues in the current Johns run that are not that easy to find and quite desirable as people climb on board and want to complete their run.

This brings a couple of points to mind.  Firstly, comics are relatively scarce right now.  The myth is that old comics are scarce and everybody has 30 bagged copies of everything new, so there's no market for it.  The truth is that old comics in top condition are scarce, and nobody has 30 bagged copies of anything any more.  The direct market is just in a scary place right now, and the comics being printed today are printed in smaller quantities than they ever have been.  So when interest is piqued, it isn't hard to have more people looking for comics than can find them.

More importantly, though, it's worthwhile to observe what a remarkable thing Geoff Johns has done with the Green Lantern franchise.  I've often declared that the only book to avoid attrition is Kirkman's Walking Dead, and that's almost true.  Green Lantern is a much stronger piece of the DC lineup than it was five years ago.  Johns built that brick by brick with solid storytelling, and he has maintained that elevated status far past the initial surge of the Sinestro Corps War.

Bottom line?  I don't think it prudent to back up the truck on this, assuming you could even score a truckload of these if you wanted them.  But I think it's a good idea to tuck one or two away if you can find them at $5 or less, and that's still possible as I type this.

- Ryan