Speculator Corner: Jonathan Hickman's First Marvel Comic, Living Mummy

Posted in: Comics, Marvel Comics, Speculator Corner | Tagged: jonathan hickman, Legion Of Monsters, Living Mummy, midnight, Satana

Speculator Corner: Jonathan Hickman's First Marvel Comic, Living Mummy

Speculator Corner: Jonathan Hickman's First Marvel Comic, The Living Mummy, inside Legion Of Monsters: Satana

Published Fri, 08 May 2026 07:57:11 -0500
by Rich Johnston
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Article Summary

• Jonathan Hickman’s first Marvel comic was The Living Mummy backup mustDIE/eatSOUL in Legion Of Monsters: Satana #1.
• With Marvel’s rumored Midnight line heating up, Hickman’s 2007 horror one-shot is drawing fresh speculator interest.
• Recent eBay sales show Legion Of Monsters: Satana remains cheap, but Hickman’s first Marvel work may have upside.
• The post also tracks N’Kantu’s origin in Supernatural Thrillers #5, another Marvel horror key rising on the aftermarket.

With speculation mounting over Marvel's new horror universe line, dubbed Midnight, fuelled by an earlier Bleeding Cool report, folk have been looking for precedent. And if, indeed, Jonathan Hickman is one of the major talents behind the line, what may have led to it? Well, Jonathan Hickman's very first Marvel comic, before Avengers, before Secret Warriors, before Mojoworld, before Fantastic Four, was a back-up strip to Legion Of Monsters: Satana, called mustDIE/eatSOUL, which he wrote and drew, and starred classic Marvel horror character The Living Mummy.

Published in 2007, with a lead Satana strip by Robin Furth and Kalman Andeasofszky, it might have been worth a speculator flip purely as the first Marvel comic by Hickman, as well as one drawn by him too, given his current presence in the company. But if it in any way has any relevance to Midnight? It may have even more appeal…

A couple of copies sold on eBay in March for $5, with another for $8. The other issues in that Legion Of Monsters series of four one-shots have more market appeal, with all four going for $45 and the hardcover collection for $30.

N'Kantu, the Living Mummy, first appeared in Supernatural Thrillers #5 in 1973, created by Steve Gerber and Rich Buckler as part of Marvel's seventies horror/supernatural line, riffing on classic Universal Monsters-style mummies. Born over 3,000 years ago in Northern Africa, N'Kantu was the son of T'Chombi, chieftain of the Swarili tribe. As a young man, he passed the "Test of the Lion", slaying a lion to prove his worth as a warrior, and later became chief.   His people were conquered and enslaved by the Egyptian Pharaoh Aram-Set. Forced to build monuments, N'Kantu led a rebellion, killing the pharaoh. However, the high priest Nephrus paralysed him with a mysterious fluid, mummified him alive, draining his blood and replacing it with a preservative embalming fluid, wrapped him in papyrus, and sealed him in a sarcophagus. He remained conscious but immobilised for millennia.  In the modern day, the paralysing effect wore off. N'Kantu burst from his tomb in Cairo, initially deranged from his long imprisonment, and went on a rampage. He has since wandered the world as an immortal outcast, often clashing with descendants of Nephrus and seeking purpose or an end to his undead existence. Copies of Supernatural Thrillers #5 has also been getting a lot more attention on the aftermarket, a 9.4 CGC copy selling for $275, and raw copies selling from $60 to $135 in recent days... is something in the air?

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