CAPTAIN AMERICA #230

Cover shows strong gloss and vivid color with sharp corners and no visible creases or spine stress; a faint minor line near the bottom left corner is present but not a true crease. Edges appear clean with no chipping, and the UPC barcode box confirms newsstand edition. Interior and back cover were not assessed, so grade is based solely on this front cover image.

Captain America #230 (Marvel, February 1979) arrives during the transitional McKenzie/Stern scripting period that bridged the Cap title's late-1970s creative shuffle, with Roger McKenzie and Roger Stern sharing writing duties and Don Perlin inking. The issue brings together an unusual roster for the era, crossing over with the Hulk and his supporting cast (Jim Wilson) while also featuring Quasar and Moonstone, cosmic and villainous elements that gave the book a slightly broader Marvel Universe footprint than a typical stand-alone Cap story. The cover, credited to Bob Layton and Ron Wilson, is representative studio work of the period rather than a widely cited classic image.

Market data shows a large certified population (413 total graded, 369 in the Universal census) with steady but modest demand: FMVs climb gradually through the mid grades before a pronounced jump at the top, where the 9.8 tier commands roughly ten times the 9.4 price despite a comparatively deep pool of 70 census copies. This pattern is typical of a well-collected but non-key Bronze Age issue — completists building a full Captain America run drive baseline demand, while condition scarcity at the very top of the grade scale (rather than character or story significance) accounts for the premium on 9.8 slabs.

This is a run-filler for Captain America and crossover collectors rather than a first-appearance or landmark issue, so pricing across grades stays modest until the 9.6-9.8 tier, where population reports show real scarcity. Low- and mid-grade raw copies are inexpensive and plentiful, appealing mainly to readers and series completists, while graded 9.8 copies attract registry-set builders and Bronze Age Cap specialists willing to pay a real premium for top-census condition.