Batman & The Joker: The Deadly Duo #1 is the latest comic to be added to DC Collectible Comics (DC3) exclusive range of extremely limited NFT editions. That means you can get shared ownership of an original, never-to-be-replicated digital version of surely the hottest new Batman title out now.
For just over a year now, DC has been building a portfolio of digital products available on the NFT market (full story here). NFTs are units of data that mark a digital asset as unique. Think of it as buying shares in a company – and if the value of the company increases, so does the value of your shares.
Let’s not get ahead of ourselves because aside from the investment factor there’s the thrill of part-owning original DC product, albeit digital rather than physical, and DC3 have made a variety of digital assets available, from character packs to vintage comics, and more recent releases.
Batman & The Joker: Deadly Duo #1 represents a newer release of course, but why collectibly digitize this comic, which has only been out a few weeks?
The first answer to this question is the writer/illustrator. Marc Silvestri made his name at Marvel before becoming one of a collection of seven superstar artists to form Image Comics. Despite his acclaim, Silvestri has only worked on Batman once before, for a short story in the Black & White anthology.
As suspected, the pull of working on a full Batman series is never far from the mind of any comic creator, and in 2018 it was announced that Silvestri would be writing and illustrating a Batman mini-series, a story that had been percolating for years.
Jump forward four years (better make that a Superman leap) and Batman & The Joker: Deadly Duo #1 finally made an appearance earlier this month. This brings us to the second reason why this comic deserves to be picked for DC3’s NFT collection: it was a masterclass of gothic dread and intrigue with Batman in grim charismatic form, and the Joker dangerously unpredictable (read our review for more details).
The delicious twist? Batman and Joker need to form an alliance to face a particularly vicious new villain. Be warned; it’s originally published under the Black Label banner, usually reserved for darker stories.
Comic collectors know all about buying something we love whilst also being aware that it could increase in value. With only 8,000 shares made available (the industry standard usually starts at 10,000), Batman & The Joker Deadly Duo represents a great Batman issue and a superstar comic creator working on his very first Batman miniseries. It’s easy to see why DC3 sees it as a great investment piece.
See here for the product listing.
Images and press release courtesy of DC Entertainment