FANTASTIC FOUR #21

Cover shows moderate wear typical of a mid-1960s Silver Age book: soft, rounded corners, a small chip at the top-left edge, and visible surface creasing/wrinkling across the upper left banner and central artwork. There is a date written in pen ("SEP 23") in the top margin, which is a value-reducing defect, along with some spine stress lines and minor discoloration/staining near the top edge. The book is in a protective sleeve, and the interior and back cover were not assessed for additional defects such as tears, foxing, or coupon cuts.

Fantastic Four #21, cover-dated December 1964, is a Stan Lee and Jack Kirby production inked by Chic Stone that introduced the Hate-Monger, a hooded demagogue whose Ku Klux Klan-styled robes and inflammatory rhetoric mask a startling reveal: he is a clone of Adolf Hitler, engineered by the Nazi scientist Arnim Zola. The story also folds Nick Fury into the contemporary Marvel Universe, following his introduction as a World War II commando, giving the issue a secondary point of interest for Fury completists. Coming at the height of the Lee-Kirby FF run, the book reflects the title's mid-1960s ambition to fuse superhero action with topical, if heavy-handed, political allegory.

Market data shows a typical Silver Age Marvel demand curve: values are modest through the mid-grade tiers before climbing sharply above 9.0, with the largest jumps concentrated in the 9.2-to-9.6 range as census population thins. Sales activity is heaviest in the 6.0-7.5 band, indicating this issue circulates primarily as a mid-grade reading and collecting copy rather than a high-end investment vehicle, though pockets of premium demand exist at the top of the certified population. The absence of any 9.8 sales or FMV data, despite four such copies existing on census, points to holders sitting on those slabs rather than active trading, which tends to compress reported comps at the summit while allowing informal asking prices to run well ahead of the curve.

This is a book collected chiefly by Fantastic Four and Silver Age Marvel completists, along with Nick Fury enthusiasts and readers interested in the era's Nazi-villain storylines; it does not carry the cross-genre draw of a first appearance of a marquee villain like Galactus or Doctor Doom. Low- and mid-grade copies trade steadily and affordably, making the issue an accessible entry point for run-builders, while high-grade and pristine certified copies are scarce enough that a confirmed 9.8 sale would likely set a new benchmark well above the current top comps.