The Star Section: Lifestyle Ad Value: RM 41,217 16-Mar-2021 Size : 819 cm2 PR Value: RM 123,651 The power of 181 Poison Ivy's first appearance in Batman The Avengers #787 features the first appear­ Elektra may have been resurrected in record Hal Jordan telling the Guardians to take #787 wasn't that memorable, but her stock ance of Scott Lang, the future Ant-Man.— time, but her 'death' in Daredevil #181 was their ring and shove it in Green Lantern #787. has risen significantly lately. - DC Comics Marvel Comics still a pretty significant event. - Marvel -DC Comics Comics WORLDS OF WONDER The power of 181 By KALEON RAHAN [email protected] If you're thinking of venturing into comic book collecting, you could do IF there is one golden rule in collecting com­ ics, ifs always “buy the first and anniversary worse than targeting some of these #181 issues. issues”. Well, that's true most of the times but course, our focus of this week's col­ Government; Falcon becoming an Avenger; there are also “anomalies" like #15 (first umn... #181. the revelation of the Scarlet Witch and Spider-Many, first Amadeus Cho), #129 (first A few months back at a comics Quicksilver,s Maximoff heritage; and the Punisher, first Kitty Pride, first Emma Frost), gathering, I saw a friend wearing a artistic presence of 1980s comics legends, #137 (death of Phoenix), #149 (first Spidey **Gang 181" T-shirt with pride. If the George Perez (cover) and John Byrne (interi­ Clone), #337 (first Beta Ray Bill) and of armour maketh the man, this t-shirt ors). maketh the collector, as it confirms the However, it is Scotfs single page introduc­ possession of the highly coveted tion here that is the main attraction, despite Incredible Hulk (Vpol.1) #181, which the lack of Ant-Man. A CGC 9.8 copy of this marks the first full appearance of com­ issue fetched a “mere” US$325 (RM1.337) in ics, most popular mutant... Wolverine. February 2021, a price that is still within the So why is there a Gang 181 and no reach of many collectors. With a third Ant "Gang T' for those who own Action Man movie looming and Scotfs character Comics #1 (featuring the first appear­ pretty much immortalised after his Avengers: ance of Superman and the most expen­ Endgame heroics, the only direction is UP for sive comic ever) or even a “Gang 15" this issue. (for Amazing Fantasy #15, which fea­ tured the debut of a wall-crawler)? Daredevil (Vol.1) #181 Well, my only plausible explanation is that the scarcity of those books would From debuts, we move on to deaths. definitely result in a rather gang-less Specifically, this 1982 Frank Miller classic gang! For the record, Incredible Hulk featuring the “death" of Elektra. The invert­ #181 has a 200,000+ print run, which ed commas are a result of her subsequent makes it a lot more attainable than those resurrection in #190, but that doesn't two books. dampen the impact of this single issue, in Anyway back to today's auspicious which Bullseye skewers Elektra with her number 181. Here are a few comics with own Sai and Daredevil avenging her by those numbers that stand out as must- crippling Bullseye. haves in any comics collection. After reading many long dragging revenge plots, this one is simple and com­ Incredible Hulk (Vol.1) # 181 plete, and even sports a Punisher appear­ ance for added measure. This is the “Mother of all 181s", courtesy Probably eclipsed by her resurrection of Wolverine's first full appearance. Sure, (and present role as... Daredevil!), a CGC 9.8 some may argue that Incredible Hulk #180 Wolverine's first full appearance has driven copy is only worth US$200 (RM823). Market is where Wolverine made his actual first up prices for Incredible Hulk #181 over the value aside, its intrinsic nature and the appearance, but the difference in terms of years. — Marvel Comics entertainment value of this issue is certain­ value between #181 and #180 speaks for ly worth a whole lot more. itself. GoCollect - a site that keeps track of Murphy Anderson, it boasts the fist appear­ fair market value and sales history of comic ance of Poison Ivy. Green Lantern (Vol. 1) #181 books in the US - recorded a US$50,000 Despite its sinister "Beware of-Poison (RM205,800) sale of a CGC 9.8 copy (almost Ivy!" header, the femme fatale featured here Normally, Green Lanterns only leave the perfect condition!) of issue #181, compared pales in comparison to the modem day ver­ job when they die, but Sector 2814's greatest to US$12,500 (RM51.450) for a copy of #180 sion. but thanks to Ivy becoming an A-grade Emerald Knight, Hal Jordan, decided he had in similar condition vs similar condition, Batman rogue today (courtesy of her affilia­ enough of being the Guardians5 errand boy, which simply reaffirms #181 as Wolverine's tion to Harley Quinn), you can expect this hence the title of this issue - Take This Job numero uno birthplace. issue to feature more on collectors' radars. And Shove It. Published in 1984, this Len Wein-Herb Price-wise, GoCollect's records surprisingly This Len Wein-Dave Gibbons 1984 title Trimpe production Introduces Wolverine as show a CGC 9.8 copy fetchingd US$90,000 has Hal turning in his ring and shunning a Canadian super-agent, who attempts to (RM370,440) last November, which surpasses the Guardians. Preferring a normal life over stop an ongoing Hulk-Wendigo slugfest in even Incredible Hulk #181. saving the world on a daily basis, Hal's Canada. Despite not emerging triumphant in (All the countless Hulk #181 reprints/fac- 20-plus years of (comics time) service as this threesome battle royale, Wolverine does simile editions has probably caused a dent to Sector 2814's guardian came to an end enough to appear on Professor X's radar, the book's rarity.) (momentarily). Of course, Hal reclaimed the earning him an eventual call-up into the ring after a year's "sabbatical“ and resumed X-Men (see Giant SizeX-Men # 1). Avengers (Vol.1) #181 his role until his Parallax meltdown years later. Batman (Vol.1)#181 Apart from featuring the first appearance Despite the significance of this issue, of Scott Lang (who later becomes the second whafs good (and bad) is that you can still Released in 1966, this is the oldest #181 on Ant Man), this 1979 issue also boasts more get a decent copy at lower than US$10 our list. Featuring the creative team of than one significant element - namely a new (RM41). Heck, even GoCollect has no recent Robert Kanigher, Carmine Infantino and Avengers' roster chosen by the Federal sales records of a CGC9.8..