TALES OF SUSPENSE #24

This pre-1977 issue shows significant wear consistent with a heavily-read Silver Age book: multiple long vertical creases running through the title and cover art, noticeable spine stress with visible color break along the spine, corner wear/rounding at the top corners, and general surface soiling and dirt throughout the cover. There appears to be some edge fraying at the top and right border, and the overall paper looks aged with darkened tone. Interior and back cover were not visible in this photo and 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.