CAPTAIN AMERICA #140

This 1971 pre-1977 cover shows significant structural damage: a large chunk of the right edge is torn away exposing interior pages, with additional splits and tears radiating from that corner. There is heavy diagonal creasing across the upper right corner with visible color break, plus general surface wear, soiling, and spine stress lines running through the top logo area. The left corner has a small crease/bend, and overall the paper shows aging and yellowing. Interior and back cover were not assessed.

Captain America #140 (Marvel, August 1971) arrived during the run's transitional Bronze Age period, when Sal Buscema had settled in as regular series artist and Cap's ongoing partnership with the Falcon was a fixture of the title following the character's introduction a few years earlier. The issue is a representative chapter of the era's espionage-and-super-villain plotting rather than a landmark single issue, with no first appearance, origin recap, or major character debut attached to it.

Market activity reflects that status: certified sales cluster tightly in the $36-$75 range through the 7.0-9.2 grade bands, with a modest premium emerging only at 9.4 and above as census population thins. The 127-copy Universal census (out of 136 total graded) shows healthy raw supply relative to demand, consistent with a well-collected but non-key Bronze Age Captain America issue. Price appreciation is driven almost entirely by condition scarcity at the top of the grade curve rather than by character-driven demand spikes.

This is a book for run-builders and Captain America/Falcon completists rather than key-issue investors. Raw copies in lower and mid grades trade as inexpensive filler for long-box collectors assembling the 1970s Buscema-era run, while highest-grade certified examples command a real but modest premium tied to the extreme rarity of pristine survivors rather than any narrative significance. Expect steady, unspectacular demand with typical Bronze Age liquidity.