*Marvel: Iron Man’s very first appearance, in the pages of Tales of Suspense #39; abducted by Reds behind the Bamboo Curtain (it was a different time…) and forced to manufacture advanced weapons to crush capitalism, Tony Stark turned the tables on his captors by devising a cybernetic suit of armour which transformed him into an unstoppable juggernaut of justice – but at the cost of a near-fatal injury to his heart, which required constant contact with his robotic armour to keep beating! Under the artistic talents of (usually) Don Heck (who devoted special attention, bless him, to the many shapely ladies Tony Stark romanced), the sophisticated world of Tony Stark vied with the action-adventure of his Iron Man persona for the readers’ attention. Following the blockbuster success of the Iron Man movie franchise, demand for this issue has never been higher.

We’ve graded this pence printed priced copy as Apparent VG/FN. It lies tight and flat with considerable cover gloss, a totally unmarred cover image and only very minor edge wear. The original staples are non-rusty and are firmly attached at both the spine and the centrefold with minimal wear. Additional (but uncessary) staples have been added at upper and lower spine, but these could easily be removed leaving just unobtrusive tiny holes. The corners are mostly square, although the bottom of the spine has a very slightly rounded edge and a very tiny chip (attached and present). There is a barely noticeable crease across the bottom right corner which is flat but very slightly breaks the colour. Page quality is an exellent off-white. The reason we have applied the ‘Apparent’ term is that we believe the right edge has been micro-trimmed, although this does not detract from the considerable eye appeal of this very presentable copy. However, we have priced it well below a VG/FN grade to allow for this and it’s on sale at £4000.

Front and back cover scans and splash page image are shown below; high resolution scans are available on request. Please note that this is not stored at our shop and viewing is strictly by appointment only.