FANTASTIC FOUR #276

Graded at 7.5 (VF-) on 2026-11-04, from new photos taken out of the sleeve: front and back. Two short color-breaking ticks low on the spine beside the barcode. Tiny crease at the top edge through the black corner band. Faint date stamp in pale ink with a small patch of the same ink by the logo. Thin strip of the back's dark art along the front fold. Corners lightly blunted, faint hairline in the white field by the spine.

Fantastic Four #276 arrived in March 1985 during John Byrne's celebrated run as writer, penciler, and cover artist on the title, a stretch widely regarded as one of the most influential creative tenures in the book's history. By this point in the continuity, Ben Grimm remained sidelined following the events of Secret Wars, with Jennifer Walters, the She-Hulk, filling out the team alongside Reed Richards, Sue Richards, and Johnny Storm. The issue is a representative artifact of Byrne's tightly plotted, character-driven approach to the family dynamics that defined his interpretation of the team, rather than a landmark first appearance or origin story.

Market activity for the issue is modest and consistent with a mid-run Copper Age Marvel title that lacks a marquee first appearance. Certified sales cluster heavily at the 9.8 tier, where a healthy population of 62 census copies and two dozen recorded transactions point to steady collector interest in top-grade Byrne-era FF material, with recent sales trending upward toward the current FMV. Mid- and lower-grade copies show comparatively flat demand, with several grade bands from 6.0 through 8.5 settling at the same narrow price point, suggesting the book trades as a completist or run-filler item outside the 9.6-9.8 range.

This issue appeals primarily to Fantastic Four run collectors and Byrne-era completists rather than speculators chasing a key. High-grade 9.8 copies command a real premium and are the primary focus of active bidding, reflecting the relative scarcity of pristine surviving copies against a large raw print run. Raw copies in low and mid grade remain inexpensive and are typically acquired as part of broader Byrne-run or team-title collecting projects rather than as standalone investment pieces.