Approximate
Condition Profile
DARK HORSE COMICS · 1/97 · NEWSSTAND
UNIT ECA-015521
GHOST #19
Ghost meets Barb Wire in a late-run Dark Horse newsstand issue featuring early Ivan Reis art
// Unit specification
| Publisher | Cover date | Era | Variant | Key attribute | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dark Horse Comics | 1997 | Modern | Newsstand | — | AVAILABLE |
// Copies in archive
| Unit | Grade | Variant | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| ECA-015521 | ~9.0 | Newsstand | AVAILABLE |
| ECA-029519 | ~9.0 | Newsstand | AVAILABLE |
// Run position
// Condition analysis
Cover shows strong gloss and sharp corners with no visible creases or color breaks. Slight spine stress cannot be ruled out due to the plastic sleeve covering the book, and there's minor surface glare obscuring fine detail near the top edge. Interior and back cover were not assessed, so grade is based solely on the visible front cover.
// Valuation — market reference
| Bracket | Grade | Est. market value | Marker |
|---|---|---|---|
| LOW_RAW | 0.5 – 1.5 | $2 | |
| MID_RAW | 4.0 – 6.0 | $4 | |
| HIGH_CERT | 9.8 SLAB | $55 |
// Archive commentary
Ghost #19 is a late-run issue of Dark Horse's supernatural action series, teaming the title character with fellow Dark Horse property Barb Wire. The issue is written by Eric Luke, who scripted much of the Ghost ongoing, with pencils by a young Ivan Reis, inks by Randy Emberlin, and a cover by Jason Pearson. It arrived during a period when Dark Horse regularly cross-pollinated its creator-owned and licensed characters, and it sits comfortably in the mid-to-late stretch of the first Ghost volume rather than at any pivotal turning point in the character's publishing history.
The book carries no fair-market listing from standard pricing references, which is consistent with its status as a common, easily found newsstand issue from a well-distributed 1990s Dark Horse title. Demand is modest and largely driven by two peripheral factors: collector interest in Ivan Reis's early art before his later mainstream superhero work, and the Barb Wire crossover angle for completists of that character. Neither factor has translated into meaningful aftermarket premiums for raw copies of this specific issue.
This is a reader-grade back-issue-box book for most purposes, picked up cheaply by Ghost or Dark Horse completists and by Ivan Reis art collectors assembling his early bibliography. Raw copies in any condition trade near cover price, and the only real premium potential lies in a top-graded certified slab, where scarcity of surviving high-grade newsstand copies — rather than any inherent story or character significance — can support a modest collector price for a true gem-mint example.
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