THE FLASH #136

This 1963 Silver Age issue predates the direct/newsstand distinction. Visible defects include a small tear/chip at the top edge near the spine, moderate spine stress with wear along the staple area, some surface creasing and rubbing across the cover art, and slight discoloration/soiling especially along the left edge. Corners show mild rounding and wear. Interior and back cover were not assessed from this photo, so grade could be adjusted with additional views.

The Flash #136 (DC Comics, May 1963) arrived during the height of Julius Schwartz's Silver Age revival of the character, with the regular creative team of writer John Broome and artist Carmine Infantino, inked by Joe Giella, continuing to define the fast-paced, science-flavored adventures that made the Barry Allen Flash one of the era's signature books. The issue is a representative entry in a celebrated run rather than a landmark first appearance, death, or origin story, and it is not cited in standard price guides as a key issue.

Market data drawn from certified sales shows a typical Silver Age demand curve: values remain modest and fairly flat through the mid grades, holding near $55-$65 from grade 3.0 through 6.0, before climbing sharply at the top of the census, with 9.4 copies bringing roughly $800 against thirteen recorded sales. That steep late acceleration, combined with no 9.6 or 9.8 sales on record among the 147 Universal-graded copies, indicates a book that is plentiful in mid grade but genuinely scarce in top condition, where a handful of collectors compete for the finest surviving examples.

This is a book for Flash run-builders and Silver Age DC generalists rather than speculators chasing a key issue; most trading activity happens in the $50-$100 mid-grade range where supply is ample and prices are stable. High-grade copies, by contrast, would draw strong competitive bidding given the complete absence of any 9.6 or 9.8 on the census, making a well-preserved slab a genuine rarity play within an otherwise affordable Silver Age series.