SUPERMAN’S PAL JIMMY OLSEN #144

Cover shows moderate wear consistent with a mid-grade copy: noticeable spine stress lines along the length of the spine with a couple of small ticks, mild corner blunting at top left and bottom right, and slight overall sheen loss/soiling to the cover surface. No major tears, creases, or color breaks are visible, and the book is in a protective sleeve, but the sleeve itself shows some scuffing that could be masking finer surface defects. Interior and back cover were not assessed.

Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #144 appeared during Jack Kirby's celebrated tenure on the title, the run he used to seed his Fourth World mythology within DC's existing Superman line. By this issue Kirby had already introduced Darkseid, Apokolips, and the Project Cadmus concept in earlier chapters, and #144 continues the adventures of Jimmy Olsen alongside the Guardian and the Newsboy Legion, characters Kirby had originally created decades earlier and now redeployed with his singular visual energy. The issue is emblematic of the era when DC handed Kirby a struggling secondary Superman title and let him reimagine it as a vehicle for cosmic ideas, science-fantasy concepts, and clone/duplication themes that still resonate in later DC continuity.

Market activity reflects a book valued primarily for its Kirby authorship and Fourth World tie-in rather than any singular first appearance. Certified population is substantial, with 91 Universal copies on census concentrated in the 9.0 to 9.4 range, and the bulk of recorded sales cluster there as well, indicating steady but unspectacular collector interest. Top-grade copies command a real premium: the sole certified 9.8s have traded for roughly the $200 mark, a meaningful multiple over the mid-grade band, while sales below 6.0 are scarce enough that pricing in that territory is thinly supported and driven more by curve extrapolation than active trading.

This is a book for Kirby completists and Fourth World specialists building out the full run rather than casual key-issue speculators, since it carries no headline first appearance of its own. Raw copies in low and mid grade move modestly and infrequently, reflecting ample surviving supply, while the tightest competition is at the top of the CGC 9.6-9.8 tier, where the small number of pristine copies draws disproportionate demand from Kirby run and Fourth World set collectors. Expect steady, unglamorous turnover in circulated grades and periodic premium sales when a superior slab surfaces.