*Marvel: One of the later breakout characters of Marvel, Frank Castle, aka bereaved urban vigilante the Punisher, became one of the company’s super-stars in the 1990s, but had spent most of the previous two decades ‘bubbling under’ as a guest-starring anti-hero. His media presence – and commercial appeal – has been heightened by numerous film and TV appearances. The Punisher’s first appearance in Amazing Spider-Man #129, February 1974, is particularly rare in the UK, where, owing to the presence of Spider-Man Comics Weekly, the US title was embargoed for distribution for several years. This is a nice cents copy (there are no pence copies, of course), from the Good Doctor Collection, with bright colours and some gloss. Staples are tight and firm at spine and centrefold, and pages are a supple off-white. As is not uncommon with this issue and often attributed to ballast wear, there is an uneveness around the lower part of the spine, like a wavy effect, but in this instance it is a lot less pronounced than on many copies we’ve seen. Some minor corner blunting, a short crease not breaking colour across the bottom right corner, and a very faint and slim white line on the lower brown brick in the cover image which does not appear to be a crease. Very minor edge wear. Overall, a copy that presents well for the grade. High resolution images are available on request.
PICTURED: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #129 FN £975