Posted in: Boom, Comics | Tagged: boom studios, ebay, siktc, something is killing the children

Something Is Making A Killing on eBay

There may not be a property in the comic market hotter right now than Something Is Killing The Children by James Tynion IV and Werther Dell'Edera. Not only did it launch the career of JT4 into the stratosphere, but there is seemingly no limit to how high the prices for back issues of the series can go on eBay.

But did anyone predict Something Is Killing The Children would shatter sales records on its way to be as big as the first appearance of Miles Morales in Ultimate Fallout #4, the modern Marvel key issue king?

It was not long ago that we were bringing your attention to the fact that copies of the second most rare Something Is Killing The Children cover, issue #6's 1-in-25 variant by Jenny Frison, were going for $500-$550 ungraded. Since then the rarest cover, issue #8's 1-in-25 variant by Jeff Dekal, has jumped from that price range up to over $1,000 for raw copies in less than a month.

Those numbers are certainly impressive for a rare incentive cover with a tiny print run, but perhaps more impressive are the sales we've seen posted in the last week for the main cover of Something Is Killing The Children #1 first printings. Raw copies are moving consistently for between $400 and $430 with a high sale in the last week of $490 but the CGC 9.8 copies more than doubled that high watermark, selling for nearly $1,000.

Maybe Something Is Killing the Children actually is the new Walking Dead, but it took seven years for The Walking Dead #1 to hit $1,000 in CGC 9.8 and Something Is Killing The Children has done it in two. And The Walking Dead hit those heights after having a hit show on the air for two years stoking fan interest. There's been no movie or TV show for Something Is Killing the Children… yet.

But SIKTC can't be contained by even the $1,000 price barrier. Sixth print copies of #1 go for $1,100, while the 1-in-25 variant on #8 commands even bigger dollars at $1,300, and the Black Cape exclusive edition of #1 tops those with a $1,400 sale. Improbably, this all pales in comparison to the price paid for a #6 1-in-25 incentive variant, which sold for a staggering $2,175.

And towering above them all is Erica Slaughter's queen: the variant for #1 from American Library Association's Midwinter Conference, which has sold for a stunning $3,000 ungraded. This is the first appearance of Mile Morales territory, as Ultimate Fallout #4 regularly sells in CGC 9.8 for $3,000. But this copy is raw. What would a graded 9.8 sell for? Could it become the new modern key issue to rule them all?

What is even more mind-boggling about these numbers is that collectors are paying them before any film or TV news, which is typically what drives rapid jumps in the aftermarket. Now that Key Collector has sent out an alert claiming a show is on the way, how much higher will all these prices go? And will the media announcement be tied to Boom's first look with Netflix?

Something Is Killing The Children #16 FOCs next Monday, May 3rd and it'd be wise to pre-order your copy now if you don't want to pay a premium in the back issue market now that the media announcement has hit.

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