AVENGERS #122

Cover shows strong gloss and vibrant color with sharp corners and no visible creasing or color breaks. There is a faint diagonal crease line visible near the lower left corner and slight edge wear along the top and right border. The book appears to be in a protective sleeve, and interior/back cover were not assessed. Overall the cover presents as high-grade with only minor handling wear.

Avengers #122 (April 1974) arrives during Steve Englehart's celebrated run on the title, with art by regular series penciler Bob Brown, placed amid the Zodiac Cartel arc that also set the stage for the Mantis and Swordsman subplot leading into the acclaimed "Celestial Madonna" saga. The issue features the Vision, Scarlet Witch, Captain America, Thor, and Iron Man contending with the astrologically-themed criminal syndicate Zodiac, a storyline emblematic of the socially and mythologically ambitious plotting Englehart brought to the team book in this period.

The GoCollect census shows a healthy population of 219 certified copies with no CGC 9.8 currently unaccounted for, sales activity spread fairly evenly across grades 8 through 9.6, and a pronounced value jump at the 9.8 tier reflecting the difficulty of finding true white-page, pack-fresh survivors of a mid-1970s newsstand title. Demand tracks the broader popularity of the Englehart/Brown Avengers run rather than any single first appearance, and pricing at raw and mid-tier grades remains modest, consistent with a well-collected but non-key issue.

This issue suits Bronze Age Avengers run collectors and readers assembling the Englehart era rather than key-issue speculators, and it typically changes hands inexpensively in raw grades while commanding a real premium only at the top of the CGC scale, where population thins and cover freshness becomes scarce.