MARVEL TEAM-UP #40

Cover shows strong gloss and bright inks with sharp corners overall; slight rubbing/wear is visible at the top left and top right corners, and there's minor edge wear along the spine area with a couple of faint stress lines. No major creases, tears, or color breaks are apparent, and the book is protected in a plastic sleeve. Interior and back cover were not assessed, so grade reflects front-cover appearance only.

Marvel Team-Up #40 (December 1975) pairs Spider-Man with Iron Fist during the early years of Iron Fist's own solo title, part of Marvel's ongoing effort to cross-pollinate readership between its flagship web-slinger and newer properties. The issue reflects the era's team-up format popularized by the title itself, with rotating guest stars each month drawing from across the Marvel Universe. While not a first appearance or origin story, the pairing captures a notable early meeting between two characters who would go on to share continuity threads for decades, including later Daredevil and Defenders crossovers.

Market data shows a book that circulates modestly, with a Bronze Age census concentrated in mid-to-high grades and thin transaction volume at the bottom of the scale. Demand is driven primarily by Spider-Man completists and Iron Fist collectors rounding out guest-appearance runs rather than by any landmark status. The pricing curve is typical of a non-key Bronze Age team-up book: flat and modest through the mid grades, then rising sharply at the top of the census where true gem copies are scarce relative to the overall population.

This is a book that trades as a supporting piece in larger Spider-Man or Iron Fist collections rather than as a standalone target. Raw copies in low and mid grades see limited but steady interest from readers filling out Marvel Team-Up runs, while CGC 9.8 examples command a premium disproportionate to the raw market, reflecting genuine scarcity at the top rather than storyline significance. Collectors should expect thin comp data at the census extremes, with pricing driven more by grade rarity than by narrative importance.