CAPTAIN AMERICA #296

Cover shows strong gloss and sharp corners with no visible creases or color breaks. Spine appears tight with no stress lines visible in this view. Minor handling wear is possible but not evident at this resolution; the book is in a protective sleeve which may mask very minor edge wear. Interior and back cover were not assessed.

Captain America #296 arrives during J.M. DeMatteis's run on the title, continuing a multi-issue arc involving Baron Zemo, Mother Night, and Sin, the daughter of the Red Skull, alongside Sister Agony and a supporting cast that includes Bernie Rosenthal, Arnie Roth, Jack Monroe, and Sam Wilson as the Falcon. Paul Neary handles interior art with Sam De La Rosa inking, and Bob Budiansky supplies the cover, under the editorial oversight of Mark Gruenwald and Jim Shooter. The issue is a mid-arc chapter rather than an introduction or a landmark story beat; it deepens the Zemo/Mother Night/Sin conspiracy thread that DeMatteis was building across this stretch of the series but does not itself mark a first appearance, death, or other historically pivotal event.

Market data for the issue reflects its status as a minor, mid-run Copper Age Marvel book: certified population is modest at 26 Universal copies out of 29 total graded, with only a handful of sales recorded at the top grades. The 9.8 fair market value of $110 sits atop a steep curve from $28 at 9.4 to $55 at 9.6, the kind of grade-sensitive escalation typical of well-kept but unspectacular late Bronze/Copper Age issues where high-grade survivors are scarce relative to demand from completist collectors. There is no meaningful raw market signal in the low or mid grade bands, consistent with an issue that draws interest mainly from Captain America run-builders rather than speculative buyers chasing a key.

This issue suits collectors assembling a complete run of DeMatteis's Captain America or tracking the Sin and Mother Night storyline rather than those hunting a marquee key. Raw copies in lower and mid grades trade for nominal sums, largely as reading or filler copies within larger lots, while certified 9.8s command a real premium driven by scarcity at the top of the census rather than by narrative importance. Expect steady but unspectacular demand, with value concentrated almost entirely in the highest certified grades.