FANTASTIC FOUR #156

Graded at 7.5 (VF-) on 2026-11-02, from new photos taken out of the sleeve: front, back and interior page. Bright, glossy front with sharp corners. One small spine tick near the top. Light soiling along the bottom edge of the back. Back lower corner slightly blunted. Cream pages.

Fantastic Four #156 (March 1975) arrived deep into the series' Bronze Age run, written by Gerry Conway with art by Rich Buckler and Joe Sinnott, and featured a guest appearance by the Silver Surfer alongside the core team of Mister Fantastic, Invisible Girl, the Human Torch, and the Thing. The issue is representative of the mid-1970s creative era on the title, when the book balanced cosmic-scale threats with the family dynamics that defined Lee and Kirby's original run, though it introduces no new characters and carries no origin, death, or landmark first-appearance significance.

Market data shows a large certified population (298 Universal copies within a 309-count census) with steady but unspectacular demand: sub-$100 pricing dominates from grade 9.4 downward, with a pronounced value cliff only at the 9.8 tier, where twenty-one recorded sales support a consistent average near $380-$400. This pattern is typical of a well-collected but non-key Bronze Age FF issue — value is concentrated almost entirely in top-census condition rather than driven by character or story significance.

This book suits Fantastic Four run-builders and Silver Surfer character collectors filling out guest-appearance checklists rather than key-issue speculators. Raw copies in low and mid grades trade as inexpensive filler for long-box collections, while the real premium sits with pristine 9.8 slabs, which command a substantial multiple over any other certified grade and represent the primary segment of active market interest.