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Marvel Top Heroes

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Motion Picture Funnies Weekly #1

First Funnies ⋅ 1939

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Motion Picture Funnies Weekly #1
 
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$14k
High
$33k
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Key Facts

1st appearance and origin of Namor the Sub-Mariner

1st appearance of American Ace

1st appearance of the Holy One, later known as Thakorr, a former ruler of Atlantis

Only nine copies are known to exist

This comic was intended to be a giveaway at movie theaters but it never went into full production

Marvel Comics #1

Timely ⋅ 1939

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Marvel Comics #1
 
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$68k
Mid
$400k
High
$1.2M
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Key Facts

1st appearance of the Human Torch, Jim Hammond

2nd appearance of Namor the Sub-Mariner - 8 pages of the 12-page story reprinted from Motion Picture Funnies Weekly #1

1st appearance of Dorma, Namor's cousin

1st appearance of Ka-Zar, David Rand

1st appearance of Angel, Thomas Halloway, a private detective and vigilante

1st appearance of the Masked Raider, Jim Gardley

1st comic book published by Timely, later becomes Marvel

Retitled Marvel Mystery Comics after this issue

80,000 copies were produced of the first printing with an October 1939 date on the cover

The second printing could be identified by the October 1939 date blacked out, replaced with November 1939

The first printing sold out within a week and was quickly reprinted at a quantity of 800,000, the same as Superman #1

Although published in October, the cover date was changed to have a longer on-sale period at newsstands

💰 In March 2022, a 9.2 known as the Pay Copy due to publisher notations that tracked creator payouts sold for $2.42 million

Captain America Comics #1

Marvel ⋅ 1941

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Captain America Comics #1
 
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$45k
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$160k
High
$680k
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Key Facts

1st appearance and origin of Captain America

1st appearance of James Buchanan Barnes aka Bucky, later becomes the Winter Soldier

1st appearance of the Red Skull, George Maxon, an agent of the true Red Skull

1st appearance of Doctor Reinstein aka Doctor Erskine, the inventor of the Super Soldier serum

1st appearance of Hurricane, later becomes Makkari

1st appearance of Tuk the Cave Boy, first offspring of the Inhumans

Introduction of Project Rebirth, the Super Soldier Program that eventually expanded into Weapon Plus

💰 In April 2022, a 9.4 sold for $3,120,000 (San Francisco Pedigree)

Fantastic Four #1

Marvel ⋅ 1961

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Fantastic Four #1
 
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$12k
Mid
$49.5k
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$240k
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Key Facts

1st team appearance and origin of the Fantastic Four: Mr. Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, The Thing

1st appearance of Mole Man

1st appearance of Giganto, a Deviant Mutate from Monster Isle

1st appearance of Tricephalous

Landmark issue that launched the Marvel Age of comics

💰 In April 2022, a 9.2 sold for $1.5 million

💰 In September 2024, a 9.6 sold for $2,040,000

Tales to Astonish #27

Marvel ⋅ 1962

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Tales to Astonish #27
 
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$1.4k
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$4.7k
High
$21k
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Key Facts

1st appearance and origin of Hank Pym, later becomes Ant-Man, Goliath, Giant-Man and Yellowjacket

Incredible Hulk #1

Marvel ⋅ 1962

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Incredible Hulk #1
 
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$7k
Mid
$37k
High
$210k
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Key Facts

1st appearance and origin of the Hulk

1st appearance of Betty Ross

1st appearance of Rick Jones

1st appearance of General 'Thunderbolt' Ross

Journey Into Mystery #83

Marvel ⋅ 1962

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Journey Into Mystery #83
 
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$4.2k
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$20k
High
$81k
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Key Facts

1st appearance and origin of Thor

Introduction of Thor's hammer, Mjolnir

1st team appearance of the Kronans, a race of rock-like aliens

1st appearance of Donald Blake, the human host of Thor

Amazing Fantasy #15

Marvel ⋅ 1962

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Amazing Fantasy #15
 
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$30k
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$115k
High
$695k
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Key Facts

1st appearance and origin of Spider-Man

1st appearance and death of Uncle Ben

1st appearance of Aunt May

1st appearance of Flash Thompson

1st appearance of Liz Allan, later marries Harry Osborn

💰 In Sept. 2021, a 9.6 sale of $3.6 million surpassed the previous record in this grade of $1.1 million from 2011

Tales of Suspense #39

Marvel ⋅ 1963

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Tales of Suspense #39
 
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$6.2k
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$18.5k
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$44k
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Key Facts

1st appearance of Iron Man

Debut of Iron Man's 'Model 1' armor

1st appearance of Wong-Chu, a Viet Cong warlord and Iron Man's first enemy

Strange Tales #110

Marvel ⋅ 1963

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Strange Tales #110
 
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$1.7k
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$8.6k
High
$27k
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Key Facts

1st appearance of Doctor Strange

1st appearance of the Ancient One, former Sorcerer Supreme

1st appearance of Wong, Doctor Strange's assistant

1st cameo appearance of Nightmare, multiple panels, named but obscured by shadows

Uncanny X-Men #1

Marvel ⋅ 1963

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Uncanny X-Men #1
 
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$6.2k
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$14k
High
$85k
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Key Facts

1st team appearance of the X-Men: Cyclops, Jean Grey aka Marvel Girl, Iceman, Angel, Beast, Professor X

1st appearance of Magneto

Homo Superior concept, coined by Magneto to describe humans born with special abilities introduced in this issue

Daredevil #1

Marvel ⋅ 1964

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Daredevil #1
 
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$1.7k
Mid
$6.8k
High
$21k
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Key Facts

1st appearance and origin of Daredevil, Matt Murdock

1st appearance of Foggy Nelson, a lawyer

1st appearance of Karen Page, the love interest of Matt Murdock

Tales of Suspense #52

Marvel ⋅ 1964

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Tales of Suspense #52
 
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$650
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Key Facts

1st appearance of the Black Widow, Natasha Romanova

Death of the first Crimson Dynamo

1st appearance and death of the second Crimson Dynamo, Boris Turgenov

Tales of Suspense #57

Marvel ⋅ 1964

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Tales of Suspense #57
 
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$150
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$400
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$1.5k
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Key Facts

1st appearance and origin of Hawkeye

3rd appearance of Black Widow

Fantastic Four #45

Marvel ⋅ 1965

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Fantastic Four #45
 
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$110
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$380
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$1.5k
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Key Facts

1st team appearance of the Inhumans, a race created by the Kree: Triton, Karnak, Lockjaw, Gorgon, Medusa, Crystal and Black Bolt

1st cameo appearance of Black Bolt

1st appearance of Crystal, ability to manipulate the elements

1st appearance of Karnak, a skilled fighter and advisor to Black Bolt

1st appearance of Triton

Fantastic Four #48

Marvel ⋅ 1966

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Fantastic Four #48
 
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$400
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$1.2k
High
$4k
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Key Facts

1st appearance of Silver Surfer

1st cameo appearance of Galactus

Fantastic Four #49

Marvel ⋅ 1966

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Fantastic Four #49
 
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Key Facts

1st full appearance of Galactus

1st cover and 2nd appearance of the Silver Surfer

Fantastic Four #52

Marvel ⋅ 1966

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Fantastic Four #52
 
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$600
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$1.8k
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Key Facts

1st appearance of the Black Panther, T'Challa, king of Wakanda

Marvel Super-Heroes #13

Marvel ⋅ 1968

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Marvel Super-Heroes #13
 
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$40
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$12
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$400
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Key Facts

1st appearance of Carol Danvers

2nd appearance of Captain Marvel

Avengers, The #57

Marvel ⋅ 1968

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Avengers, The #57
 
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$115
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$1.1k
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Key Facts

1st appearance of Vision

2nd appearance of Ultron

Uncanny X-Men #54

Marvel ⋅ 1969

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Uncanny X-Men #54
 
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$80
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$225
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Key Facts

1st appearance and origin of Alex Summers, later becomes Havok in X-Men #56

1st appearance of the Living Pharaoh, later becomes the Living Monolith

Origin of Angel

Captain America #117

Marvel ⋅ 1969

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Captain America #117
 
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$60
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$180
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$650
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Key Facts

1st appearance and origin of the Falcon, Sam Wilson, the first African-American superhero in mainstream comics

1st appearance of Redwing, a falcon and Sam Wilson's sidekick

Conan the Barbarian #1

Marvel ⋅ 1970

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Conan the Barbarian #1
 
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Key Facts

1st appearance of Conan the Barbarian

1st cameo appearance of King Kull

Avengers, The #83

Marvel ⋅ 1970

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Avengers, The #83
 
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$80
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$225
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Key Facts

1st appearance of Valkyrie, Enchantress in disguise

1st team appearance of the Lady Liberators: Valkyrie, Scarlet Witch, Wasp, Black Widow, Medusa

Debut of the Rutland Halloween Parade, a real parade held in Vermont annually that has been depicted in both Marvel and DC comics nearly 20 times with parade attendees wearing superhero costumes from both publishers in each book

Hero for Hire #1

Marvel ⋅ 1972

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Hero for Hire #1
 
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$40
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$120
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$400
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Key Facts

1st appearance and origin of Luke Cage, the first black superhero to headline a title in mainstream comics

Luke Cage became invincible to harm through a Super Soldier program called Project Power aka Weapon VI

1st appearance of Diamondback, Comanche and Shades

Marvel Spotlight #5

Marvel ⋅ 1972

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Marvel Spotlight #5
 
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$800
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$2k
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Key Facts

1st appearance and origin of Ghost Rider, Johnny Blaze

[January 2023 - rumor that a Ghost Rider project is in development, possibly a Halloween special - no info on which version of Ghost Rider will be used in the event that this is true]

Tomb of Dracula #10

Marvel ⋅ 1973

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Tomb of Dracula #10
 
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$550
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$1.5k
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Key Facts

1st appearance of Blade

Amazing Spider-Man #129

Marvel ⋅ 1974

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Amazing Spider-Man #129
 
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$2k
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Key Facts

1st appearance of the Punisher

1st appearance of the Jackal

Marvel Premiere #15

Marvel ⋅ 1974

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Marvel Premiere #15
 
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$45
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$120
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$450
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Key Facts

1st appearance and origin of Iron Fist, Daniel Rand

1st appearance of Yu-Ti, a Dragon Lord

1st team appearance of the Dragon Kings

Introduction of K'un-Lun, one of the Seven Capital Cities of Heaven

1st appearance of Wendell Rand, father of Daniel Rand

Astonishing Tales #25

Marvel ⋅ 1974

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Astonishing Tales #25
 
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$15
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$50
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$150
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Key Facts

1st appearance of Deathlok, Luther Manning

1st appearance of Major Ryker

First published artwork for Marvel by George Perez, interior two-page backup story

Prior to the publication of this issue, George Perez was published in the science-fiction magazine Hot Stuf'

Giant-Size X-Men #1

Marvel ⋅ 1975

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Giant-Size X-Men #1
 
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$1.5k
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$5.5k
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Key Facts

1st appearance of the new X-Men: Storm (1st), Nightcrawler (1st), Colossus (1st), Thunderbird (1st), Wolverine (3rd)

Many resources label this the 2nd full appearance of Wolverine and The Incredible Hulk #182 a second cameo

1st appearance of Illyana Rasputin as a child, later becomes Magik

Introduction of Krakoa, the Living Island

First use of the sound effect 'snikt' associated with Wolverine's claws

Werewolf By Night #32

Marvel ⋅ 1975

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Werewolf By Night #32
 
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$135
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$450
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$1.4k
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Key Facts

1st appearance and origin of Moon Knight

Marvel Preview #4

Curtis ⋅ 1976

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Marvel Preview #4
 
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$80
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$200
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Key Facts

1st appearance of Star-Lord in a magazine - see Marvel Spotlight Vol. 2 #6 for Star-Lord's first appearance in a standard comic book

1st appearance of Ragnar, Master of the Sun

1st appearance of Prince Wayfinder, later created the Microverse

1st appearance of Meredith Quill, the mother of Star-Lord

Nova #1

Marvel ⋅ 1976

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Nova #1
 
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$12
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$45
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$130
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Key Facts

1st appearance and origin of Nova, Richard Rider

1st appearance of Rhomann Dey, Corpsman of the Nova Corps

1st appearance of Robbie Rider, brother of Nova

[March 2022 - Deadline reports a Nova project is in development]

Captain Britain #1

Marvel ⋅ 1976

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Captain Britain #1
 
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Key Facts

1st appearance of Captain Britain

1st cameo appearance of Roma

Debut of the Sword of Might

Captain Britain mask included inside of this issue as a bonus item

Captain Britain #8

Marvel ⋅ 1976

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Captain Britain #8
 
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$150
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$500
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Key Facts

1st appearance of Betsy Braddock, later becomes Psylocke

First mention of Jamie Braddock Jr., later becomes Monarch

Marvel Premiere #47

Marvel ⋅ 1979

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Marvel Premiere #47
 
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$15
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$50
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$150
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Key Facts

1st appearance and cover of Scott Lang as Ant-Man, in costume

1st appearance of Cassie Lang, daughter of Scott Lang, later becomes Stature and then Stinger

[January 2023 - Cassie Lang expected to appear in a Young Avengers project]

1st appearance of Darren Cross, later becomes Yellowjacket

Savage She-Hulk, The #1

Marvel ⋅ 1980

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Savage She-Hulk, The #1
 
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$12
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$40
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$120
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Key Facts

1st appearance and origin of She-Hulk, the cousin of Bruce Banner

Marvel Team-Up #95

Marvel ⋅ 1980

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Marvel Team-Up #95
 
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$4
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$12
High
$40
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Key Facts

1st appearance of Bobbi Morse as Mockingbird

Hidden Message: interior panel of a vehicle in an airport parking lot with a vanity plate that reads FUQ

Avengers Annual #10

Marvel ⋅ 1981

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Avengers Annual #10
 
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$50
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$150
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Key Facts

1st appearance of Rogue

1st cover appearance of Mystique

1st and only appearance of a girl named Maddy Pryor, not to be confused with Madelyne Pryor aka the Goblin Queen

X-Factor #24

Marvel ⋅ 1988

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X-Factor #24
 
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$4
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$12
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$40
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Key Facts

1st cover and second appearance of Angel as the Horseman, Death

In X-Factor #38, Beast gives Warren Worthington III the new codename Archangel

Worthington appears in full as the Horseman, Death in X-Factor #23 and in multiple cameos leading up to the issue

New Mutants #87

Marvel ⋅ 1990

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New Mutants #87
 
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$30
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$100
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Key Facts

1st full appearance of Cable

1st full team appearance of the Mutant Liberation Front: Stryfe, Wildside, Reaper, Fourarm, Thumbelina, Strobe, Tempo, Zero

Uncanny X-Men #266

Marvel ⋅ 1990

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Uncanny X-Men #266
 
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$150
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Key Facts

2nd appearance and first cover of Gambit

1st chronological appearance of Gambit in-story / in-continuity

X-Men Annual #14 went on sale three weeks before this issue and is often considered the first cameo appearance of Gambit

This would imply that his appearance is brief though he appears in 15 panels throughout X-Men Annual #14 with at least 10 instances of dialogue

Tap cover and swipe left to view images where Gambit is the main or partial focus of the sequence in X-Men Annual #14

Uncanny X-Men #266 was written as if it were to be published prior to the annual, therefore #266 would be the first chronological appearance of Gambit in-story (or in-continuity)

CGC, the grading certification company for comic books, recognizes Uncanny X-Men #266 as the first full appearance of Gambit

[January 2024 - Gambit rumored for the X-Men MCU reboot according to a casting grid]

New Mutants #98

Marvel ⋅ 1991

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New Mutants #98
 
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$120
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$400
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Key Facts

1st appearance of Deadpool, a subject of the Weapon X program

1st appearance of Copycat, impersonating Domino

1st appearance of Gideon, a member of The Externals

Uncanny X-Men #283

Marvel ⋅ 1991

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Uncanny X-Men #283
 
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$2
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$10
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Key Facts

1st full appearance of Bishop, a time-traveling mutant who can absorb and redistribute energy

1st appearance of the Gamemaster, a powerful mutant telepath

Marvel Super-Heroes #8

Marvel ⋅ 1992

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Marvel Super-Heroes #8
 
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$30
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$100
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Key Facts

1st appearance of Squirrel Girl

NYX #3

Marvel ⋅ 2004

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NYX #3
 
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$450
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Key Facts

1st appearance of X-23, Laura Kinney

Laura Kinney debuted in the animated series X-Men: Evolution (2003)

Ultimate Fallout #4

Marvel ⋅ 2011

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Ultimate Fallout #4
 
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$30
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$100
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$375
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Key Facts

1st appearance of Miles Morales, Spider-Man from an alternate reality

Distributed in a polybag

Diamond Comics Distributors estimates 65,000 copies of the first printing were shipped

[May 2023 - Sony Spider-Verse producer Amy Pascal tells Variety a live-action Miles Morales movie is in the works]

Ms. Marvel #1

Marvel ⋅ 2014

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Ms. Marvel #1
 
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$8
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$25
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Key Facts

First solo titled series featuring Ms. Marvel, Kamala Khan

1st appearance of Zoe Zimmer

1st appearance of Nakia Bahadir aka Kiki

Origin of Ms. Marvel, specifically the development of her powers

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