Fantastic Four Key Issues
A collector's guide to the Silver and Bronze Age keys, 1961 to 1986
Fantastic Four is where the Marvel Universe started, and about forty issues carry most of the value in the first 300. This page lists them in tiers, says why each one matters, and gives you two shortcuts per issue: a live eBay search filtered to CGC-graded copies, and a price-history lookup so you know what the grade has actually been selling for before you bid. We sell slabs from this run ourselves, eleven of them right now; the books in the eBay results belong to other sellers.
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Grail tier
The issues that set the price of the whole run. Every one of these is a first appearance that still drives a movie franchise.
- Fantastic Four #1
First Fantastic Four and first Mole Man. The book that started the Marvel Universe. Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.
- Fantastic Four #4
First Silver Age Sub-Mariner. Namor returns after more than a decade away, and Marvel's first anti-hero is back.
- Fantastic Four #5
First Doctor Doom. Marvel's greatest villain, in a Kirby cover that shows wear on every edge.
- Fantastic Four #45
First Inhumans: Crystal, Black Bolt, Karnak, Triton and Lockjaw. Gorgon debuted one issue earlier in #44.
- Fantastic Four #48
First Silver Surfer and first Galactus. The start of the Galactus trilogy and the most-wanted Fantastic Four book after #1.
- Fantastic Four #52
First Black Panther, the first Black superhero in mainstream American comics. Kirby and Sinnott.
- Fantastic Four Annual #6
First Annihilus and the birth of Franklin Richards. A square-bound annual that is hard to find without spine stress.
Early Lee and Kirby keys (1962 to 1965)
Before the Inhumans and Galactus, the first forty issues built the cast and the villains. Prices climb steeply above 6.0 on all of them.
- Fantastic Four #2
First Skrulls. The shape-shifters that still anchor Marvel crossovers sixty years later.
- Fantastic Four #3
First costumes, first Baxter Building, first Fantasticar. The issue where the team starts to look like the Fantastic Four.
- Fantastic Four #12
First meeting of the Fantastic Four and the Hulk, one of Marvel's earliest crossovers. First Wrecker (Karl Kort).
- Fantastic Four #13
First Watcher and first Red Ghost and his Super-Apes. A Steve Ditko-inked Kirby issue.
- Fantastic Four #25
Hulk vs. Thing, round one. The fight that every later Hulk-Thing brawl is measured against. Continues in #26 with the Avengers.
- Fantastic Four #26
Hulk vs. Thing concludes with the Avengers joining in. First meeting of the Hulk and Captain America.
- Fantastic Four #28
Early X-Men crossover, between X-Men #5 and #6. Puppet Master and Mad Thinker team up.
- Fantastic Four #36
First Frightful Four and first Medusa, who is also the first Inhuman to appear. Reed and Sue get engaged.
- Fantastic Four #39
Daredevil guest stars against Doctor Doom. Wally Wood's inks over Kirby make this one of the best-looking issues of the run. Concludes in #40.
- Fantastic Four #44
First Gorgon and the first mention of the Inhuman race. The opening of the Inhumans saga.
Kirby's peak (1966 to 1970)
From the Galactus trilogy to Kirby's exit, this is the stretch most collectors call the greatest superhero run ever drawn.
- Fantastic Four #49
"If This Be Doomsday!" The middle of the Galactus trilogy; Galactus on the cover for the first time.
- Fantastic Four #50
The Galactus trilogy ends; the Silver Surfer is exiled to Earth. First Wyatt Wingfoot.
- Fantastic Four #51
"This Man, This Monster!" Routinely named the best single issue of the run. First Negative Zone.
- Fantastic Four #55
"When Strikes the Silver Surfer!" Thing vs. Surfer, one of the most reprinted Kirby covers.
- Fantastic Four #57
"Enter... Dr. Doom!" Doom steals the Silver Surfer's power. Start of the four-part Doom-with-the-Power-Cosmic story.
- Fantastic Four #62
First Blastaar. The Negative Zone gets its first recurring villain.
- Fantastic Four #64
First Kree Sentry, the first appearance of anything Kree in Marvel comics. Ronan follows in #65.
- Fantastic Four #66
First Enclave and the first (cocooned) appearance of Him, who becomes Adam Warlock. #67 is his first full appearance.
- Fantastic Four #67
First full appearance of Him, later Adam Warlock. Bought as a pair with #66.
- Fantastic Four #72
"Where Soars the Silver Surfer!" A Surfer cover from the year his own title launched; one of the most popular covers of the late run.
- Fantastic Four #73
Daredevil, Spider-Man and Thor vs. the Fantastic Four. A crossover cover that sells on the art alone.
- Fantastic Four #94
First Agatha Harkness. Quiet for decades, then WandaVision happened.
- Fantastic Four #100
Anniversary issue with nearly every villain of the first hundred. Kirby's last big set piece on the title.
- Fantastic Four #102
Jack Kirby's final issue of the run he co-created. The end of an era, and a cheap book for what it is.
High-grade sleepers from the Kirby run
None of these is a first appearance. All of them are Kirby and Sinnott at full power, and a 9.6 or 9.8 copy of a 1960s Marvel is scarce whatever the issue number. These are the books we keep in our own case.
- Fantastic Four #43
The Frightful Four story ends and the Thing rejoins the team. Last issue before the Inhumans arrive.
- Fantastic Four #54
First Prester John. Johnny and Wyatt Wingfoot set out to find Crystal, right after the Black Panther arc.
- Fantastic Four #59
"Doomsday." Doom, holding the Surfer's power, attacks the Inhumans' Great Refuge. Peak Kirby spectacle.
- Fantastic Four #69
"By Ben Betrayed!" The Mad Thinker turns the Thing against his own team.
- Fantastic Four #77
"Shall Earth Endure?" Galactus, the Silver Surfer and the Psycho-Man in the Microverse.
- Fantastic Four #83
"Shall Man Survive?" The Inhumans against Maximus; Black Bolt on the cover.
- Fantastic Four #88
The Mole Man's trap house. A late Kirby and Sinnott issue with a strong black cover that shows every flaw.
- Fantastic Four #97
"The Monster from the Lost Lagoon!" Franklin Richards' first cover appearance as a baby. Frank Giacoia inks.
Bronze Age and the Byrne years
Cheaper books with real demand. 9.8 copies are common from 1981 on, so pay for 9.8 only on the true keys.
- Fantastic Four #112
Hulk vs. Thing, round three, and the apparent death of the Thing. John Buscema's most famous Fantastic Four cover.
- Fantastic Four #232
"Back to the Basics!" John Byrne begins his run as writer, penciller and inker.
- Fantastic Four #244
Frankie Raye becomes Nova, herald of Galactus. The best-known Byrne key.
- Fantastic Four #286
Jean Grey returns, and the Phoenix Force retcon begins. The issue that launched X-Factor.
In our case right now
Slabs from this run that we own, photographed in hand, with the CGC certification number on every listing. Availability changes; if a link shows sold, it is sold.
- Fantastic Four #39 CGC 9.2View listing
- Fantastic Four #43 CGC 9.2View listing
- Fantastic Four #54 CGC 9.4View listing
- Fantastic Four #57 CGC 9.2View listing
- Fantastic Four #59 CGC 9.6View listing
- Fantastic Four #62 CGC 9.6View listing
- Fantastic Four #69 CGC 9.8View listing
- Fantastic Four #77 CGC 9.6View listing
- Fantastic Four #83 CGC 9.6View listing
- Fantastic Four #88 CGC 9.6View listing
- Fantastic Four #97 CGC 9.8View listing
Before you buy any copy
- Verify the certification number on CGC's site and make sure the title, issue and grade match the label in the photos.
- Check page quality. White pages sell for more than cream or off-white in the same grade, and 1960s Marvels are often off-white.
- Pull the last three to five sales of that exact issue in that exact grade. One outlier sale is not the market.
- Look for a Restored (purple) or Qualified (green) label. They are priced far below Universal (blue) and often listed without saying so in the title.
- On raw copies, assume the seller's grade is a sales pitch until a grader says otherwise.
Common questions
- Which Fantastic Four issue is the most valuable?
- Fantastic Four #1 (1961) is the most valuable issue in every grade. After it come #48 (first Silver Surfer and Galactus), #52 (first Black Panther) and #5 (first Doctor Doom), then #4 (first Silver Age Sub-Mariner) and #45 (first Inhumans).
- What is the Galactus trilogy?
- Fantastic Four #48, #49 and #50 (March to May 1966) by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. #48 introduces the Silver Surfer and Galactus, #49 puts Galactus on the cover, and #50 ends with the Surfer exiled to Earth. #48 is the key; #49 and #50 trade for a fraction of it.
- Are non-key Fantastic Four issues worth buying in high grade?
- For 1960s issues, yes, if the grade is 9.6 or 9.8. The CGC census for most Kirby-era issues shows only a handful of copies at those grades, so the scarcity is in the grade rather than the issue number. The same logic does not hold for 1980s issues, where 9.8 copies are common.
- Do you buy Fantastic Four keys?
- Yes. Send photos of the front, back and label through our About page and we reply with an offer based on recent sales of that exact book in that grade.