TALES OF SUSPENSE #24

Cover shows significant wear typical of a pre-code-era 1961 book: heavy spine stress with multiple vertical creases and cracking through the logo area, a diagonal crease running through the upper left corner, and visible edge chipping/wear along the top and left border. There is granular surface wear and slight color loss along the spine, plus corner softness at top left and bottom right. The book is in a protective sleeve which obscures fine surface texture; interior and back cover were not assessed.

Tales of Suspense #24 arrived in December 1961 as part of Marvel's late-1950s/early-1960s suspense-anthology line, a title that would not find its signature identity until Iron Man's debut two years later in issue #39. Like its sister titles of the period, #24 collected short science-fiction and monster tales aimed at a readership still transitioning from the horror-adjacent comics of the 1950s into the superhero boom Marvel was about to unleash. The issue reflects the house style of the era, with Jack Kirby's cover work anchoring an anthology format that Stan Lee and the Marvel bullpen used as a proving ground before the Marvel Universe proper took shape.

Market data across the CGC census shows a book that is reasonably well populated in the mid grades, with active recent sales in the 4.0-6.0 range and a steadily rising price curve as grade increases. Demand is driven less by any specific character or story point and more by the book's place in the pre-superhero Marvel timeline and by Kirby cover interest among Silver Age completists. High-grade copies are scarce: only a handful exist above 8.5, and none have reached the 9.6 or 9.8 tier, which concentrates demand and pricing pressure at the very top of the population report.

This is a collector's book rather than an investment-grade key, appealing primarily to Tales of Suspense run-builders, Kirby cover collectors, and those assembling complete pre-Iron Man Marvel suspense-line sets. Lower and mid-grade copies trade steadily and affordably, making the title accessible for readers filling out early-1960s Marvel runs, while top-census copies carry a rarity premium disproportionate to the modest values seen at lower grades, reflecting how few surviving copies have been preserved above near-mint.