BLUE BEETLE #3

Cover shows strong gloss, sharp corners, and bright unfaded colors with no visible creases, tears, or spine stress. The book is housed in a protective sleeve, which limits assessment of edge wear and the barcode/indicia area is not visible in this shot, so newsstand vs. direct edition could not be confirmed. Interior pages and back cover were not assessed.

Blue Beetle #3 continues DC's mid-1980s relaunch of the Charlton-inherited hero Ted Kord, written by veteran Len Wein with art by Paris Cullins and inks by Bruce Patterson. The issue brings in established DC rogues Doctor Alchemy and Chronos, tying the newly acquired Charlton property more firmly into the mainstream DC universe ahead of Ted Kord's eventual absorption into the Justice League. Julius Schwartz's editorial hand and the Wein-Cullins creative team place this comfortably within DC's competent, if unheralded, Copper Age output.

Market data for this title is thin, reflecting its status as a mid-tier Copper Age newsstand book rather than a widely chased key. Certified population is extremely small across the board, with only a handful of graded copies reported at any grade and just two recorded sales at the top grade of 9.8. The modest FMV at the top of the census, combined with the near-total absence of sales activity in mid and low grades, indicates a book that trades occasionally and quietly rather than one with active, competitive bidding.

This is a book for completists of the Ted Kord Blue Beetle run or DC Copper Age specialists rather than crossover or key-issue investors. Raw copies in low and mid grades are inexpensive and easy to source, with value driven almost entirely by condition and scarcity of high-grade newsstand survivors rather than character or story significance. High-grade certified copies carry a modest premium owing to their rarity on census, but the overall ceiling remains limited by the absence of a true first appearance, death, or landmark creative event within these pages.