The secondary comic market regularly ebbs and flows as book sales go through moderate changes, and occasionally see big jumps (or falls) in value. Overstreet Access tracks these changes through diligent research into the market and via assessment of The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide marketing reports. Those changes are routinely updated on OverstreetAccess.com’s Recent Value Changes page, which can be viewed with a membership to the website.

Some comic books are best known for the creation of a new character, for a striking cover, a characters first self-titled book or for telling an origin story. They are collectible for a single factor like the first appearance of Spider-Man or the first chapter in Batman’s “Hush” event. Then there are other books that gain fame and collectability because they contain multiple important factors.

Pep Comics #26 (April 1942) is one such book. Overstreet Pricing Editor Yolanda Ramirez did a recent valuation update on the title, which is now priced at $45,000 at the 9.2 / Near Mint- grade. The new price represents an increase of 12.5% and $5,000. Overstreet Access is now reporting comic prices above the 9.2 level, and the Golden Age key is up to $360,000 at 9.8 / Near Mint/Mint.

Pep Comics #26 is most famous for introducing Archie Comics mainstay, Veronica Lodge. She is one of the publisher’s biggest stars and part of the most famous love triangle in comics with Archie Andrews and Betty Cooper. Veronica is a rich young woman whose father, Hiram Lodge, is a very successful businessman. That wealth shapes Veronica’s view of the world as she loves to shop and throw extravagant parties at her house. But while Veronica is materialistic, she has proven to be a good person and a good friend to the rest of the Riverdale gang.

The book contains multiple stories featuring early Pep heroes like the Shield, Hangman, Dusty, and Sgt. Boyle. It features the fifth appearances of Archie, Betty, and Jughead, who were introduced just a few months earlier in Pep Comics #22 (December 1941). This issue also opens with a “Remember Pearl Harbor” cover by Irv Novick.

Overstreet Access users can find the Recent Value Changes by clicking on the “Search Titles” tab in the Quick Navigation bar on the home page. Then click the green “Recent Value Changes” button on the “Titles” page.