Hell Arisen 3 or Batman 89

Apologies if this has been posted previously, but news of a Punchline one shot made me curious. Which book will ultimately price higher between Hell Arisen 3 and Batman 89.

I may be mistaken, but I believe I’ve seen HA3 price higher at points and at this moment, Batman 89 appears to have a couple higher sales.

I know print run doesn’t exclusively determine the winner and typically first full appearance prices higher than first cameo. But it looks like Batman 89 is in the lead atm, presumably on the back of the popularity of the main batman title. Thoughts?

Really tough call and I don’t know that the verdict is in yet. Hell Arisen certainly had far less issues available. Also had reports of many being in poor condition.

Having said that, the Batman cover (imo) is more appealing and like you said, the title is more popular.

I think given that Batman is more available/in more peoples hands, there will be a push for that book simply due to sour grapes as well.

Story will continue to unfold I think.

This is one of those situations where I would say, try to obtain both if you want her “firsts”… to save yourself the headache.

This could also be one of those situations where both end up being overall winners. Batman #89 was certainly a very brief introduction to the character while Hell Arisen #3 wasn’t much better. Yes, we got more panels of her but we don’t know that much about her and not nearly enough dialogue.

This could be one of those scenarios where Hell Arisen exceeds in value based on the fact that yes, the print run is smaller so certainly the supply vs demand plays a huge role as well.

As Hell Arisen #3 dries up, there might still be Batman #89 available… the only positive thing out of these two issues now is we can likely see some real value based on real demand since it’s not just the speculators offloading the copies for the quick flips like we saw initially… flooding the secondary market.

And just for throwing out the stats for these:

Batman #89 All Covers - 73,390 was it’s reported sales, so we can assume there’s roughly 73k print run. Also consider this was split between 2 covers as well. Yeah, some love Mattina but his cover doesn’t really depict what’s going on in the story. It’s just generic art so it’s likely less appealing to those seeking these out for Punchline’s first.

Year of the Villain Hell Arisen #3 - 36,250

The one plus side to Batman #89 as well is, since Batman was seeing huge dips in it’s sales, normally Batman was averaging around the 100k mark for each issue. The dips in sales made this first for Punchline possibly a nudge when demand is higher than the available supply. :wink:

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Purple cover to hell arisen 3.

Reprints are all the rage! :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

Actually, I do really like the HA3 3rd print.

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Heh… I think this round though, the HA3 and Batman89 additional printings might take a bit longer to catch on… I actually had to run an errand so I swung by the shop, I saw plenty HA3 and a few Batman89 addtional prints still on the shelves… As I like the HA3 purple cover better, it’s gonna take some time.

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I say hell arisen 3 will be the real winner

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I don’t remember another Cameo vs First full that was this close and popular. Hulk 180 vs 181 etc isn’t particularly competitive, Gambit first appearance vs cameo isn’t that close.

I’m slightly surprised by the back and forth boxing match that’s occurring between these two books given the details regarding each.

I have equal shares of each book, but at the time of purchase I remember thinking HA3 >> Batman 89. So now I’m glad I got both

I think Batman 89 is similar to Jimmy Olsen 134. If Punchlines popularity and use continues to grow at this current rate, Batman 89 will become ‘the book’, because it’s her 1st appearance ever. However, if she kinda fizzles out, both books will drop, but HA3 will have some staying power.

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Based on recent comments from Tynion, it seems like he wants to make this character his Opus of sorts.

And while we know that DC IS cutting back on titles. Punchline aligns directly with DC’s two cash cows, Batman and Joker. So at a time when it’s not going to be easy for a new DC character, she seems to have a clear path assuming fans keep buying her

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I kick myself on this one because Tynion released info in his newsletter before cutoff for HA3 and Batman 89. I like the HA3 cover and the low print run. When people can’t get the 1st prints they’ll get the 2nd/3rd prints, so I have some of those.

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So you think Batman 89 had a roughly even split in print run between cover A and B? If so that does actually make Batman 89 A cover and HA 3 a little closer in quantities than I realized…

Also, thanks to Tom King’s lack of popularity on Batman, #89 had a more reasonable print run lol

Most likely not. We’ll never know the exact split between the covers. I know one shop only orders Cover A while another splits them up evenly for the shelves. There is likely more Cover A than B would be my guess.

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I forgot for a second, HA3 also had a cover B to split that print run further as well. One that also would not be a target for those seeking Punchline appearances

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HA3 cover B was shorted at the stores in my area.

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Get both while they are reasonably cheap.

Have 6 sets and both in equal quantities.

If I had to pick, would probably be HA3.

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I was actually in Manhattan on the Wednesdays that both of these books came out.

Batman 89: At midtown comics west, they sold out sometime just after noon at one copy per person. I also made a stop at Forbidden planet that morning and they were sold out roughly around noon. I wasn’t aware of the hype at this point, but I went to multiple stores as I caught wind of the buzz. (I was able to get 2x copies at cover price that day. But was later able to snag multiple NM copies for $20 a couple weeks later at Midtown)

Hell Arisen 3: I came into work very early to be there when the doors opened (midtown west) and the line was already wrapped around the store and out the door. Despite being there a few minutes before store opening I was barely able to get a copy of cover A. They had sold out within an hour of opening. (I was only able to get 1x copy at cover price that day. But was later able to snag multiple NM copies for $20 a couple weeks later at Midtown)

I then immediately hopped on a subway shuttle to Midtown East in hopes of getting a second copy and they had literally just sold out. From there I speed walked down to JHU comics which is roughly 13 or so blocks away from Midtown East and they had been sold out basically as they opened.

Just a fun boots on the ground history on both of these books!

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yeah Hell Arisen 3 everything wen WRONG and thus right for that to become a speculator’s dream book. Stuff like that only happens a few times a year TOPS if you are lucky but the Punchline craze was something else entirely. its been an interesting year for comics!

nah i don think you’ll ever see 89 be “the book” over HA3. way higher print run for #89 and you legit cant even see her full face in that book shes like in shadow. HA3 is the book to have for Punchline. 89 will still sell dont get me wrong.

Typically the market likes first full over cameo in the long run. Which would be HA plus HA also has about 50% the print run. I think HA will end up being the book. But that’s not a guarantee. When it’s this close go with both.

I didn’t want to risk it and bought 9.8s of each for just over a $100 a month or two back.

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