Approximate
Condition Profile
CHARLTON COMICS · 5/62
UNIT ECA-000544
FIGHTIN’ ARMY #46
Silver Age Charlton war anthology, May 1962, with Charles Nicholas/Vince Alascia cover.
// Unit specification
| Publisher | Cover date | Era | Variant | Key attribute | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charlton Comics | May 1962 | Silver | — | — | AVAILABLE |
// Copies in archive
| Unit | Grade | Variant | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| ECA-000544 | ~4.0 | — | AVAILABLE |
// Run position
// Condition analysis
Cover shows notable wear including a heavy diagonal crease/scuff through the lower right panel, corner softness at the top left and bottom left, and general surface rubbing consistent with handling. Spine area is not clearly visible in this rotated shot, so spine stress cannot be assessed. Interior and back cover were not shown and were not assessed.
// Valuation — market reference
| Bracket | Grade | Est. market value | Marker |
|---|---|---|---|
| LOW_RAW | 0.5 – 1.5 | $4 | |
| MID_RAW | 4.0 – 6.0 | $12 | |
| HIGH_CERT | 9.8 SLAB | $160 |
// Archive commentary
Fightin' Army #46 is a May 1962 issue of Charlton Comics' long-running war anthology, carrying a cover by Charles Nicholas and Vince Alascia with interior stories and art from the reliable Charlton stable including Bill Molno and Charles Nicholas. The issue collects a typical spread of standalone combat tales — among them "Goliath Had a Gun," "Observation Post," and "Banzai" — reflecting the anthology format that dominated Charlton's war line during the early Silver Age. It carries no first appearance, origin, or landmark creator debut, and functions as a solid mid-run entry in a series aimed at newsstand readers rather than the higher-profile war titles from DC.
The market for early-1960s Charlton war books is driven by set collectors and genre completists rather than by key-issue speculation. Charlton's low cover price and modest print runs were paired with cheap paper and loose binding, so surviving copies skew toward lower grades and true high-grade examples are genuinely scarce — a dynamic that lifts certified premiums even where raw demand is soft. Absent a documented key, values remain modest across the board, with raw copies changing hands inexpensively and price movement tied more to grade scarcity than to character or story significance.
Buyers for this book are Charlton war-title run builders, Silver Age anthology enthusiasts, and collectors who appreciate the house artists of the period. Low- and mid-grade raw copies trade quietly and affordably whenever they surface, making the issue easy to acquire for someone assembling the run. High-grade certified examples are uncommon enough to command a disproportionate premium, but liquidity at that level is limited and largely confined to dedicated Charlton specialists.
INQUIRE_ABOUT_THIS_UNIT
Institutional buyers, auction houses, and private collectors — direct line to the archive.
