FANTASTIC FOUR #113

Cover is in a protective sleeve which obscures some surface detail. Visible defects include a vertical crease/stress line running through the upper right corner and Franklin Richards panel, a small tear/nick at the top right edge, mild corner wear at all four corners, and slight surface soiling along the left edge near the spine. The spine shows minor ticking but no major color breaks visible in this photo. Interior and back cover were not assessed.

Fantastic Four #113 (August 1971) arrived during the John Buscema/Joe Sinnott art run that defined the title's early Bronze Age look, with Stan Lee scripting the closing chapters of a multi-issue arc that had pitted the Thing against the Hulk in the preceding issues. The story deals with the physical and psychological fallout of that battle for Ben Grimm, playing into the recurring Silver/Bronze Age theme of the Thing's fragile self-image and monstrous strength. It is not a first appearance or origin issue, but it is a solid example of the Lee-Buscema-Sinnott FF machine at a point when the title was Marvel's flagship superhero team book.

Market data shows a typical mid-run Bronze Age superhero curve: modest values through the mid grades, a steep climb only in the 9.4-and-up range, and a pronounced premium at 9.8 where census population is thin relative to overall submissions. Demand is driven primarily by Fantastic Four and Hulk crossover completists and by collectors assembling the Lee/Buscema FF run rather than by any single landmark event in the issue itself. Sales activity at 9.4 and 8.5 show consistent one-year and 90-day averages, suggesting steady, unspectacular collector interest rather than speculative spikes.

This is a book that trades as a run-filler and reading-copy staple in low-to-mid grade, picked up cheaply by Fantastic Four and Hulk readers rounding out a collection, with little differentiation in price until the high 9-range. High-grade 9.6 and 9.8 copies see meaningfully stronger demand from Bronze Age specialists and John Buscema collectors chasing condition census slots, given the relatively small number of surviving high-grade copies for a title printed in substantial quantities. It is a dependable, unglamorous piece of catalog inventory rather than a marquee lot.