FANTASTIC FOUR #123

This 1972 issue predates the direct/newsstand distinction, so no variant designation applies. Cover shows moderate wear consistent with a Good-range grade: soft, slightly rounded corners, a visible crease near the lower right portion of the cover, and general surface wear/scuffing across the yellow background. There is a small stain near the bottom center of the cover and the book is in a protective sleeve which slightly obscures fine detail via glare; a prior owner's pencil grading note ('Good 4.00') appears in the lower right corner. Interior and back cover were not assessed from this photo.

Fantastic Four #123 (Marvel, June 1972) delivers one of the most memorable slugfests of the Lee/Buscema Bronze Age run, pitting the Human Torch and the rest of the team against a rampaging Hulk in a battle that spills across a city block. Scripted in the tradition of Stan Lee's dialogue-heavy Marvel style and rendered by John Buscema with inks by Joe Sinnott, the issue is prized less for any first appearance than for its dynamic, widely reproduced cover and interior action sequences, which have made it a perennial favorite in Hulk and FF crossover discussions.

Market data shows a typically steep Bronze Age grade curve: values sit in the modest $25-90 range through most mid grades, with a sharp escalation only above 9.4, where population thins and the small handful of 9.6 and 9.8 copies command outsized premiums. Recent 90-day and 1-year averages at 9.6 (roughly $363-$411) and the $800 FMV at 9.8 reflect steady collector demand for pedigree-quality copies of a book with genuine art and story appeal but no landmark first-appearance status to drive speculative spikes. Sales volume across grades (over 150 recorded certified sales) indicates a well-traded, actively collected issue rather than a sleeper.

This is a book collected primarily by Fantastic Four and Hulk completists, Buscema/Sinnott art enthusiasts, and Bronze Age run-builders rather than key-issue speculators. Raw copies in low and mid grades trade cheaply and steadily as reading/run copies, while high-grade census-topping slabs see disproportionate premiums driven by scarcity rather than character significance, making this a book where condition census position matters far more to value than any narrative milestone.